ACTS 15
Read Acts 15:1-41
In the previous chapters of the Book of Acts we have seen the church growing and, as is often the case when many people are involved, we get a variety of opinions on some subjects. It is true in the church today and it was in the church then. Here we see what might be called the first General Assembly of the church as there was a difference of opinion that had to be settled or the church would be torn apart into several factions. Sadly, that is what we have seen recently in the Church of Scotland, but it has happened to all denominations throughout the history of Christianity.
The issue at stake here is the admission of non-Jews into the church. There was a group of Christians (and we have to remember that the first Christians came from within the Jewish community) who insisted that believers must be circumcised. Circumcision was a mark of Jewish identity, so what they were saying was that to become a Christian you had to become Jewish. In fact, they said, if not, you could not be saved (v1).
Paul and Barnabas were outraged by this suggestion. They had been travelling all over the place and seen many people, from all different nationalities and backgrounds, come to faith in Jesus. And furthermore, they said, it was clear that God had accepted these people and had poured out his Holy Spirit upon them. The household of Cornelius was a good example (Acts 10). When Peter spoke to Cornelius and his family and attendants, they all accepted Jesus, and “the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message” (10:44). Paul’s argument at this council was the same as Peter’s when he reported back after being with Cornelius: ”It is clear that God accepts these people, so if God accepts them, who are we to reject them?”
While on the face of it this may seem to be an argument about Old Testament customs, there are important issues involved here. The Old Testament people of God had a special relationship with God, but they were also told not to keep God to themselves; they were to be “a light to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 49:6). God is for everyone; a point that Paul stressed time and time again, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
The opponents of Paul and Barnabas in the council meeting wanted the salvation to be limited to Jews only and not for ‘outsiders’. Sadly, in some of our churches, there has been a similar attitude to outsiders and these churches want to keep Jesus for ‘people like us’. They sometimes only accept people who conform to them in things that are not really important. Things like the way they dress, the Bible version or hymn book they use, the style of worship they prefer or whatever other limits they impose.
Paul said in his speech here that everyone is saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus (v11). We are all saved on the same basis, whoever we are.