We Are Saved By Grace Through Faith (Acts 14:24-15:35)
Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone. And that is the point of what is probably the central event in the entire Book of Acts. We are at the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 today.
It was back in Acts 10 that Peter preached to Cornelius. That event was probably a full decade in the past by the time we reach the events of Acts 15. Since that time, Paul and Barnabas have been preaching the gospel to Gentiles and seeing many people come to faith in Christ.
Then they went back to the Church that commissioned them to go and declare “all that God had done with them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27 ESV). And there they remained preaching and teaching for “no little time” (Acts 14:28 ESV). We believe this to have been around 2 years.
And some people came and started a problem. They started a controversy among God’s people in Antioch. They were visiting from Judea and said that a person must be “circumcised according to the custom of Moses to be saved.” (Acts 15:1 ESV).
Paul and Barnabas grew upset. And Luke informs us in a rather polite manner that these two groups had it out. They had “no small discussion and debate” with these people (Acts 15:2 ESV). And so, Paul, Barnabas, and others went to Jerusalem to settle the matter. And, as Paul and Barnabas traveled they told of the mighty work that God was doing among the Gentiles (Acts 15:3).
They were greeted joyously as they made it to Jerusalem by the church, apostles, and elders (Acts 15:4). But there was a group that did not greet them. Of course…it was the Pharisees (Acts 15:5).
The Pharisees that had believed in Jesus believed it was necessary for a person to be circumcised and to keep the Law of Moses to be saved (Acts 15:7). They had not abandoned the Law when they came to Christ. They had added Jesus to what they had always done.
So, a meeting took place to settle the matter. This gathering probably lasted for days. We only get some of the highlights of what took place here. But this outline of what took place does paint to us a vivid story and message. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone.
Galatians and Acts 15
I think that it would be helpful here to think about the Book of Galatians and how it fills in a few details for us. It definitely adds to the drama of the situation, if nothing else. As you read this, you need to realize that Cephas is Peter. And you’ll understand why this whole thing adds to the drama of Acts 15.
“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:11-16 ESV)
Peter was apparently in Antioch before the men who started the circumcision talk showed up. And before they came, Peter was in full fellowship with the Gentile believers. But when the circumcisers showed up, he withdrew from the Gentile believers. Paul tells us the reason for his withdrawal. It was out of fear of the circumcisers. And the other Jewish believers followed Peter in this.
Paul became irate and said that he confronted Peter to his face right then and there for his behavior. In fact, Paul’s confrontation was to say that Peter wasn’t living like a Jew 5 minutes before these folks showed up, why would he think that these Gentile believers could do so.
And the reason Paul told this story is that it explained to the Galatians that a person is not justified by works of the Law, but only by faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:15-16).
Apparently Peter quickly repented of his sin because his testimony is a powerful witness against the circumcision party in Acts 15.
The Main Idea
So, the main idea that comes out of our text today is that God has testified that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone.
We rebelled against God and earned His wrath and justice. And God made a way for us to be saved. We can be forgiven of our sins. God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us. He accomplished all righteousness on behalf of wicked sinners and died on the cross as punishment for sin. In Him we can be cleansed of sin and counted as righteous before God. And He rose from the grave three days later, so now we can be declared righteous before God.
And the response to that message is not works, but faith. It is not cleaning ourselves up. It is not doing righteousness on our own. It is trusting in the finished work of Christ for our redemption.
That is the message we proclaim. It is the message Peter proclaimed. And it is the message Paul proclaimed. We are saved by God’s grace alone, which is unmerited and unearned favor. And this is accomplished by the finished work of Christ. And we take hold of that salvation by faith in Christ.
God has testified that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, do not add to it.
God Has Testified That Salvation Is By Grace Alone Through Faith Alone
Peter stood up and testified to the salvation of the gentiles. And his testimony was powerful. Everyone in the room knew that Peter was chosen by God to take the gospel to the gentiles (Acts 15:7). And when he had preached this message to them, they heard it and believed. But that is not all. God gave to them His Holy Spirit, which was God testifying to everyone that they were His people (Acts 15:8).
We don’t know as much about Paul and Barnabas’s testimony, but it seems that they testified to the same thing from a little different direction. They testified of the many signs and wonders that God did through them among the gentiles (Acts 15:12).
This is not just about circumcision. This is about whether or not a person must keep the moral and ceremonial laws in order to be cleansed from sin and brought into God’s family. And the testimonies given here is a resounding “no”.
If you are here today and have not come to Christ because you think you must make something of yourself first, I must tell you now that you don’t. The testimony of Peter, Paul, and the rest of Scripture is that you come empty handed. You don’t bring any righteousness with you. You can’t earn your salvation and you’re not expected to.
One of my favorite hymns is “Rock of Ages”. Notice what it says, and what you’ve probably sung a lot of times.
“Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy Law’s demands
Could my zeal no respite know
Could my tears forever flow,
All could never sin erase,
Thou must save and save by grace.”
No amount of effort and languishing on my part can fulfill the demands placed before me. I simply cannot do it. I cannot earn God’s grace. But the hymn goes on to say,
“Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling
Naked come to Thee for dress
Helpless look to Thee for grace:
Foul, I to the fountain fly
Wash me Savior, or I die.”
That is the response of faith to the saving message of the gospel. I bring nothing, nothing at all into this redemption. I came “foul” polluted with the stain of sin. I came “naked”, that is devoid of all righteousness. I came “helpless”, that is unable to do anything about it. And so, I bring my sinful and polluted self to the fountain of God’s grace where there is forgiveness of sins.
God testified to this by giving the Holy Spirit apart from circumcision and the keeping of the Mosaic Law.
And if you will but trust in Jesus Christ, He will give to you forgiveness of sins and bring you into His family.
That is the message we proclaim. And it is where we find forgiveness of sins.
Don’t Test God By Adding Works To Grace
God has obviously testified to salvation by grace alone through faith alone. The testimony of Peter and Paul and Barnabas testified to this. But so did the citation of Amos from James, who was overseeing this meeting.
Peter says something here that is quite powerful and it is also picked up on by James. Peter says that to testify that we are saved by works and grace is to grumble as the children of God did in the wilderness and test God. The Israelites did not believe God and grumbled for water. By doing so they were grumbling against God’s provision of them. And here the circumcisers were going against the testimony that God had given them concerning salvation by grace alone through faith alone.
James says that people should not “trouble” the “Gentiles who turn to God” (Acts 15:19). And it seems to me that he was saying much the same way. The word translated trouble, does mean “trouble” but it is quite literally to “crowd in on”. And it gives us a word picture of someone just piling trouble upon these new converts that they don’t need to have.
The plain truth of the matter is that to believe that our works make us right with God is to believe something that is very objectionable to God. Again, we can see this plainly in the Book of Galatians.
It is thought that the people that came to Antioch from Judea just kept right on preaching their troubling message to the churches that Paul and Barnabas had just founded. That was the reason for the writing of Galatians. They had spread their brand of trouble there. So Paul’s words help us here.
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain–if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith– just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” (Galatians 3:1-9 ESV)
And we see this sort of language again later in Galatians.
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!” (Galatians 5:1-12 ESV)
The person that says you must do something more than place your faith in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins is a stench in the nostrils of God.
And this also means that if you are here today and are thinking that you need to do something before coming to faith in Christ, again you don’t.
You don’t have to become a better husband or wife. You don’t have to get over your drug addiction first. You don’t have to make yourself better apart from Him before coming to Him.
But here’s what you must do. You must stop attempting to merit your own righteousness before God. You must come to him with the empty hand of faith and trust in Him alone.
As Christians who proclaim forgiveness in Christ, we must truly understand deep in our souls that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone. We don’t want to lay any burdens upon people that the Lord has not called upon them to bear.
Keeping The Law Is A Burden No One Can Bear
The circumcision party was placing a yoke on these new believers that they themselves were unable to bear (Acts 15:10). A yoke is a device that went on the shoulders that enabled an animal or multiple animals to pull a heavy load. The image is of placing a yoke that is attached to a trailer that is far too heavy to carry. That is what they were doing to these new believers.
What is the yoke that they were placing on these gentiles? Well, there were 613 Jewish commandments in the Old Testament that they were required to keep. But no one was actually able to keep them perfectly. And this was seen time and time again in the Old Testament.
In the Jewish calendar there still exists Yom Kippur, or The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:1-34). It is considered the most holy of Jewish days. It is a day devoted to the sacrifice of sin. You see, the people rebelled against God. They all knew they didn’t keep the Law perfectly. And so, there was this day on the calendar every year in which the sins of the people of Israel were atoned for. Two goats were killed on that day. The priest laid his hands on one goat and the sins of the people were ceremonially placed upon the goat and it was slaughtered for the sins of the people. And another goat had the sins of the people ceremonially placed upon it and it ran off outside the camp, signifying that the sins of the people were now gone. And besides that, there were many guilt offerings in the Old Testament sacrificial system (Leviticus 5:14-19, 17:1-7, 14:2-28).
There was a deep understanding that they didn’t measure up to the standards of the Law. And every time they made an offering for guilt, it was right before their eyes. Every time they attended the services at Yom Kippur, they understood that the goat took their place on the altar. They had broken the Law and the goat paid the crime.
Keeping the Law is a burden that no one can bear. But this realization is not supposed to drive us to despair. It is supposed to drive us to Jesus Christ.
We are not to attempt to find forgiveness by our own efforts. The despair is to drive us to Him.
“Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.” (Galatians 3:21-26 ESV)
The word there that is translated “guardian” is translated in some other translations as “tutor”. And it’s because this was an actual job that people had in Paul’s day. It is παιδαγωγὸς (paidagogos). And it looks a whole lot like pedagogy, because it has to do with education. A paidagogos was a servant that took children to school. He oftentimes served as a tutor as well.
Paul’s meaning here is straight forward then. The role of the Law was always to reveal your sinfulness and need for Jesus Christ.
It’s easy to see how this is accomplished. How many of you have lied, stolen, used God’s name in vain?
What does this tell you about yourself? It tells you that you are a sinner that has rebelled against God. And the Law is what revealed that to you.
But the Law is a real standard. It’s not just for show. It is a real Law that we have broken. It’s not just educational. It is the standard by which we are all judged. And if you face God’s judgment apart from Christ, you will face the wrath of God on your own. And it is this realization that causes us to flee to Christ for forgiveness.
“Foul I to the fountain fly
Wash me Savior or I die.”
Though Personal Righteousness Does Not Save, You Are To Live Righteously
A letter is drafted that is to be sent to the churches. It is going to be carried by Paul, Barnabas, Judas, and Silas. The end of the letter gives a list of behaviors that gentile converts are not to participate in. And these behaviors had already been agreed upon by the group (Acts 15:20-21, 29).
This group has taken such trouble to ensure that everyone knows that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone. Why would they now write this?
I don’t believe for a second that they would say all that they have said and then go back on it at the end. And that just doesn’t seem to be what they are doing. So, what are they doing?
There is a code of conduct that Christians should live by. Just because the Law is not our judge, does not mean it is meaningless to us now. Christians have long taught that there are three uses of the Law.
The first is what we have already talked about. It reveals to us our sinfulness and our need for the Savior. The second purpose is the restraint of evil. And the third is what we are going to discuss for just a moment. And that is that it reveals to us what is pleasing to God.
When a Christian turns to Christ by faith, they are not just free to live life however they please. Christians are to live righteously, not to merit salvation but to please God.
The response to God’s grace is repentance and faith which are two sides of the same coin. Repentance is a change of mind, that’s what the Greek word means. We now believe what God says about us and believe Jesus is Savior and King. So, we turn away from self and turn to Christ in faith. We trust in Him who accomplished salvation for us.
This means that if you have truly trusted in Christ you will not feel the freedom to live like the devil. We don’t just live according to the whims of our sinful desires. We long to follow Christ. This seems to be the case when the letter states that the gentiles should abstain from “sexual immorality”.
Another part of this, and another part of righteous living, is keeping the unity among brothers and sisters in Christ. Passages like 1 Corinthians 8:4-13 tell us that we are to live in an understanding way with our brothers and sisters in Christ. And when we put all the data together, that seems to be why they wrote to abstain from “things polluted by idols” and possibly strangled food. These would be things that the Jewish believer’s conscience, through years of conditioning, would not be able to tolerate.
So, the letter told the Pharisees to stop troubling these people. And it also told the gentile believers to live righteously and live in an understanding way with their brothers and sisters in Christ.
All this amounts to understanding that though we are not saved by works, we will live righteously. Works are not the root of right standing with God, but they are the fruit of it. And all those who’ve trusted in Christ will have this fruit in their lives.
Conclusion:
God the Son took on human flesh and accomplished our salvation for us, without us, a long time before we were born. Jonathan Edwards is credited with saying that “The only thing we contributed to our salvation was the sin that made it necessary.” And that is the truth of the matter.
We don’t preach a message of works and grace. We preach the message of the Apostles, and that is salvation by grace alone through faith alone.
If you’re here today and don’t know Jesus, then you must know that you can’t do anything to clean yourself up. Jesus does it all. It’s only in Him that we find salvation.
R. Dwain Minor