Acts 15 reminds me of hazing. That is the ritualized harassment of potential new members to an organization. While it is often associated with fraternities, many groups practice an initiation challenge. I believe established members want new recruits to pay the price for admission, just as they did. Today’s chapter looks at the requirements for righteousness. We begin with the old guard coming to the new Gentile converts in Antioch, and adding conditions to salvation. They taught, “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved”. This of course, brought them into “sharp dispute” with Paul and Barnabas. This division needed to be resolved, so a meeting was called in Jerusalem with the apostles and elders. There Paul explained “how the Gentiles had been converted”. Some “who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses’”. They believed a Gentile must first become a Jew before they could qualify for the forgiveness of sins. They argued that without standards, the righteous requirements of the Law are invalidated. Peter then stood and spoke about God’s limitless grace, “He did not discriminate between us and them, for He purified their hearts by faith”. Peter opposed the additional requirements “that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear”. The purpose of the Law was to show that we cannot achieve righteousness on our own. “We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are”. There is not one single thing you can do to earn salvation. More importantly, there is nothing you can do to be disqualified from His forgiveness!
Those gathered in Jerusalem “listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them”. James confirmed that the words of the prophets agree; quoting from Amos, “I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent… I will restore it, that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear My name”. James concluded, “we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God”. This same James would later write that “faith without deeds is dead”. How do we balance these two positions? I believe the key is in our motivation. Although we cannot make ourselves righteous, we can desire to live out our faith. We can voluntarily honor God in word and deed out of gratitude. His compassion in us becomes a powerful example to the lost. Salvation requires only one step of faith.
James proposed that a letter be sent to the Gentiles outlining a standard of behaviors for believers. His purpose was to reduce the distain the Jews had for the uneducated Gentiles. “You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality”. To be clear, avoiding these things will not make you a Christian; they were meant to remove a barrier separating Jew and Gentile. Paul later taught the church in Rome we should willingly give up our freedom to avoid offending someone. “It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall” (Romans 14:21). Friend, are you adding barriers to those in need of God’s Peace? After delivering the letter, the visitors from Jerusalem stayed in Antioch and “said much to encourage and strengthen the believers” before returning home with the blessings of peace from Antioch. Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch where they “taught and preached the word of the Lord” until it was time to return to the mission field. The entire cost for our forgiveness was paid on the cross. My friend, complete restoration is given to everyone that believes that Jesus Christ is Lord. Anything added to that diminishes the work of Christ.