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This is often called the Jerusalem Conference/Council. Be careful with this because some people use it for justification for their denominational conferences/councils to determine truth. This was simply a conversation that was necessary to clear up a misunderstanding.
15:1-5 – The Problem
15:1-5 – The Problem
1) Gentile salvation has been an issue quite a bit up to this point.
A) Acts 10-11 – Cornelius
1) 10:34-35 – Peter had to learn it
B) 11:1-4, 17-18 – The church in Jerusalem had to learn it
C) 11:20-22 – The church in Antioch
D) 13:38-39 – Paul’s core message at Pisidian Antioch
1) 13:46 – “behold, we are turning to the Gentiles”
2) Lesson #1: This is a WHO problem, not a WHAT problem.
The Gentile salvation issue has been brewing, and it’s going to get even hotter, but we have a zoomed out picture and the benefit of hindsight, and we can see that we have a people problem, not a issue problem.
A) 15:1
1) Who: men from Judea
2) What: “unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved”
B) 15:5
1) Who: “believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees”
2) What: “It is necessary to circumcise Gentiles and order them to keep the law of Moses”
C) 15:23-24 (The resolution letter)
1) Their teaching was neither from God, not the church in Jerusalem
2) “we gave them no instruction”
D) Gal. 2:3-5 – aggressive
1) v. 4 – “false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery”
2) These are not good actors.
E) 2 Tim. 3:1-7 – “Avoid such people.”
F) Lesson #1
1) There are issues that pop up and we need to talk about them like they did in Acts 15.
2) WHO is the person starting stuff and making this a problem, and WHY are they doing it?
We have a problem. Now what?
We have a problem. Now what?
1) Talk TO, not ABOUT.
A) 15:1-2 – Let’s go straight to the source and get this worked out.
1) Matt. 5:23-24
2) This is NOT, if YOU have something against you brother, then you go and work it out.
3) This is, if YOUR BROTHER has something against you, then YOU proactively take steps to go and get this problem sorted out.
B) 15:4-5 – It became apparent very quickly what the real problem was here.
C) Gal. 2:1-2 – “privately”
1) 15:6 – “The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.”
2) Writing articles in magazines and on the internet ABOUT people you disagree with is probably not the best way to actually move towards a solution to a problem.
3) I’m not making a statement about what is Scriptural and morally proper (i.e. Matt. 18 says I need to go to the person privately first, and then take witnesses, etc.).
4) I’m saying that if you want to actual solve the problem, going to the person to talk about it privately is where you’re going to find your best chance to do that.
15:6-18 – How to understand *God’s* will
15:6-18 – How to understand *God’s* will
1) 15:7-11 – Peter
A) Acts 10
1) 10:15 – “What God has made clean, do not call common.”
2) 10:34-35 – Peter finally understood it
3) 44-48 – first time ever, answers why Holy Spirit given before baptism
4) Acts 11:17-18
B) (Peter does specifically refer to the words that God spoke to him, and he draws inferences, but…)
C) Peter called their attention to an example of something that God had done in the past.
1) 15:8-9 – God gave those gentiles the Holy Spirit, and they weren’t circumcised. How are you going to say that a person must obey the Law in order to be saved?
D) Answer #1
1) Do Gentiles need to become Jews and follow the Law of Moses in order to be saved?
2) No, because here is an example of God giving His Holy Spirit to people who were not Jews and who did not follow the Law of Moses, and yet, they were saved, and nobody can question that.
2) 15:12 – Barnabas and Paul
A) What are they referring to?
1) 14:1-3 – Iconium (“who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands”)
2) 14:8-10 – Lame man healed in Lystra. Remember, this healing sounds very similar to the lame man who was healed by Peter in Acts 3.
B) Answer #2
1) Paul and Barnabas were telling about how they were teaching Gentiles the Gospel, and they were being saved, AND God was validating their work with miracles (bearing witness to it).
2) Question: What does that sound like to you? Does that sound like a Gentile needs to be a Jew in order to be a Christian? Obviously not.
3) This was a necessary inference. There was no other possible conclusion. If God was validating this situation with miracles, then that’s God’s will.
3) 15:13-19 – James
A) v. 15 – “the words of the prophet agree, just as it is written” (quotes Amos 9:11-12).
B) Answer #3
1) We have a question: Do Gentiles need to be Jews to be saved?
2) James: What does the Bible say? According to Amos 9:11-12:
(a) “the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord”
(b) “and all the Gentiles who are called by my name”
4) Summary: Acts 15 gives us a roadmap for working through problems and disagreements.
A) Identify the problem.
1) We can’t solve a problem if we don’t know what the problem is.
2) It is hard to silence all the noise and get to the root of what is really the issue. You have to remove biases, past experiences, emotions, pride, etc.
3) And a whole lot of the time, our problem is not a what problem, but a who problem.
B) For a solution, talk TO people, not ABOUT them.
1) Going to people and being in their presence is even better.
C) Bottom line: What does God want? (out of order from Acts 15)
1) What does the Bible say?
2) Has God given us any examples of anything like what we’re talking about?
3) Has God given us information that any reasonably person would use their brain and conclude?
5) 15:31-35 – The Ideal Outcome
A) v. 25 – having come to one accord
B) v. 31 – they rejoiced because of its encouragement
C) v. 32 – “strengthened the brothers with many words”
D) v. 33 – “they were sent off in peace by the brothers”
E) v. 35 – Back to work teaching the word
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