The Decision That Changed the World

Sermon for 15 August 2021

I was going to jump right to the great compromise in Acts 15 but there are just too many wonderful stories and good lessons between the time Peter and Paul began baptizing Gentiles and the time the church council decided what to do with these non-Jewish Christians.

The early church had three informal centers of authority. The first was the church council in Jerusalem. This group was led by James the brother of Jesus. If you get confused trying to keep the players straight without a program, you are in good company. Even today’s Phd experts are not sure they have them straight. There are two or three followers named James. James the Just and James the Less may or may not have been the same person. One was certainly the brother or cousin of Jesus and one was the son of Alphaeus. Both were leaders of the church council and were stoned to death by the Pharisees. Neither of them became prominent in the movement until after the resurrection, so they were able to operate under radar of Herod and the high priest. James refrained from making waves and was the authority to which Peter justified the baptism of Cornelius. James the Great, the brother of John and son of Zebedee was executed by King Herod. He was the first of the original 12 to be martyred.

The other center of authority was Peter. Peter, however, quickly became a target of the authorities. Recall that Peter addressed the crowd at Pentecost then he and John preached in the synagogue until they were thrown into prison. God helped them escape, but Peter was a wanted man. King Herod found him and once again God performed a miracle and helped Peter escape. God wanted this Christian movement to expand and He wanted Peter to play a play a part. Then Peter went to a house hold of believers. He told them to tell James and the others, then he left town.

The third influential group was the relatively few who followed Paul. Recall that Paul tried to join the disciples but was sent home to Tarsus to wait until called. Then a group of evangelists began baptizing gentiles in Antioch. The council in Jerusalem led by James were less than pleased. Officially the Christian movement was still for Jews only. These other people are less than human, they are unclean, and eat forbidden foods. Barnabas was dispatched to straighten out the situation in Antioch. Barnabas remembered the firebrand who was converted by Christ on the road to Damascus. Paul was in Tarsus and Barnabas would pass through there a day or so before he got to Antioch, so he stopped and asked Paul to go with him. Funny how things like that just seem to work out. After some time in Antioch, Paul and Barnabas set out on their first missionary journey. Anyone who questioned the4 dedication of Paul had better take a second look. He got out of Iconium one step ahead of a lynch mob and was stoned and left for dead in Lystra. But they continued to convert gentiles and planted churches in a half dozen cities in Asia minor. When they returned to Antioch, they were met by a group demanding that new believers become Jews before they can become Christians. Acts 15:1 “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” Paull and Barnabas were teaching otherwise so they went back to Jerusalem to plead their case before the council.

Meanwhile, Herod tried to put himself on a level with the Almighty and was struck dead and the royal decree for Peter’s execution died with Herod. Peter was free to continue his ministry and appeared before the council with Paul and Barnabas. Thus, the three influential groups met to argue their cases. On one side the council led by James was steeped in Jewish tradition and law. Paul had been raised in both camps. He was a Jew but was surrounded by gentiles in Tarsus. The testimony of Peter convinced the council. “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. His entire speech is the Scripture reading we just heard. The summary is “God told me to accept Gentiles as our Christian brothers.” Recall that after Peter baptized Cornelius, he was called on the carpet to explain his actions to the Council. Peter said at that time that God said all men would be judged by faith.

And the council decided to make it easy for Gentiles to be joined with the body of Christ. The Council sent a letter to all the churches. Its text is in Acts 15: 24-29. The laws of Moses didn’t apply to non-Jewish converts. They didn’t have to be circumcised, they didn’t have clean and unclean foods, they didn’t have to obey the volumes of kosher customs. They only had to refrain from idol worship, adhere to the sexual taboos, and honor God’s creation by not killing and eating animals like the wild beasts.

Those are the rules that apply to us today. Note the three prohibitions are forward looking. They don’t address past behavior only avoidance of future activities. Anyone can become a Christian regardless of ethnic background, regardless of social status, regardless of what they have done in the past. We are all saved by faith and faith alone. We are all children of God.

Jesus brought a new covenant. As Jesus himself said the old laws are fulfilled. No longer and eye for an eye no longer are any foods or any people unclean. All are judged by faith. It doesn’t matter who you were before you accepted Jesus as your savior. The only things that matter are what you do from now on.

Pray with me. The decision of the Council of Jerusalem as revealed in Acts 15:19-21 is as applicable to us today as it was 2000 years ago. We do not choose who can become a Christian. We are not the gatekeepers of the body of Christian believers. That is god’s job. God gave us the rules. God decided there were only three prohibitions of membership in the worldwide congregation. We are all children of God.