Letter to the Gentiles
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2023 · 28 May 2023
Now, the salvation question, law or grace, is the crucial issue in Acts 15. If you were to understand everything about Christianity, and not understand the doctrine of salvation, everything else wouldn’t do you any good. You’d spend all your eternity in hell going over what you knew. Salvation is the issue. How a person comes into the relationship to God is the essence of everything.
And it’s not a dead issue even today. The greatest heresy in the world today is the heresy of false systems of salvation. They are the things that damn people. And in the early church, Satan threatened to split and fracture the church, and to destroy the whole doctrine of salvation, and that is the issue dealt with in Acts 15. Now, let’s back up just a minute, so we get kind of a running start.
As we have been studying the book of Acts, we are aware that it is history. And we have found that it is unlike some history courses; anything but dead. It is alive, it is vibrant, it is now, and it is practical. Because, the book of Acts projects principles that are timeless. So, what we have here is really applicable to every church in every age. Of what pleases God and what displeases God.
And the dominating factor is the power of the Holy Spirit, isn’t it? Everything was caused by God using the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1, Jesus gives all of the important equipment to finish the work which He began. And then in Acts 2, the Spirit comes to empower them to do the job. The church is born and the Spirit descends. They’re baptized into the body, and they’re filled with the Spirit.
And the church grows tremendously. And in Acts 3 and 4, we saw the ministry of Peter and John as they preached, and the power of the Holy Spirit began to spread. The Jewish leaders reacted negatively, and they hauled them into jail, and they told them to stop preaching, and that only gave them greater impetus. And then in Acts 5, we saw that Satan infiltrated the church with sin.
And he picked out Ananias and Sapphira, who were susceptible to temptation and who fell, and he got them to lie to the Holy Spirit. And the church was threatened, and God dealt sternly. The Holy Spirit singled them out of the congregation, and God struck them dead right there in front of everybody, and the church was purified instantly and learned a great lesson, that God hates sin.
And then in Acts 6, they had to get organized, because the Spirit was doing things. And so they chose men full of the Spirit, and put them in charge of caring for the needy. And immediately after that, we look at individuals. And we see a man named Stephen who was fearless. And Stephen preached Christ, and he didn’t just preach to Jerusalem Jews but to Hellenistic Jews.
Stephen was so fiery that they killed him; they stoned him to death. And standing there at Stephen’s stoning was a man by the name of Saul. And Saul picked up the persecution of the church, and he began to slaughter Christians. That scattered Christians. And when Christians got scattered, the gospel got scattered with them. And they evangelized in Judaea; and Samaria.
In Acts 9, Jesus stopped Paul on the Damascus Road, blinded him, and turned him into the Apostle Paul. He was selected to evangelize the last dimension of this four-fold scope, Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth. And then in Acts 10, God used Peter to open the door, and Peter opened the door for Cornelius and company, they were Gentiles who got saved.
And we see the preparation of Paul, the preparation of the church at Antioch, which was the church that Paul pastored. And then from there, he and Barnabas went out with the gospel to the Gentiles, in Acts 13 and 14. They went to Cyprus and Galatia. They not only preached, but many people were saved. They went back and strengthened the believers, confirmed them, and organized them.
And Acts 15 deals with the issue that Satan brought up to try to fracture the church. The issue of how do you get saved came up, and instead of splitting the church, the church set down for all time the doctrine of salvation. We know that a man is saved by grace through faith plus nothing. But there were some Jews in Jerusalem who believed that the Gentile first had to become a Jew.
This group was called the circumcision party, also known as Judiazers were imposing Judaism into Christianity. Salvation by works and legalism. Well, this had to be dealt with. Notice the dissension, in Acts 15:1 - 5. Paul and Barnabas decided that they ought to all go to Jerusalem and let the Apostles and elders deal with the question. They came to Jerusalem and were officially received.
And then “they declared all things that God had done with them.” Certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed that it was needed to circumcise them then commanded them to keep the Law of Moses.” While, they had been willing to let a few half-breed Samaritans in, and they had been willing to let in Cornelius and company, and the Ethiopian eunuch, both of whom were Gentiles.
Well, the dissension led to the discussion, verse 6. We know the Apostles had already made up their minds; verse 11, “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, the same way as they.” And there are three speeches to support it: Peter’s, and that of Paul and Barnabas, and that of James. And Peter gives us six solid reasons why salvation by grace is to be accepted.
Reason one, verse 7, ”Peter rose up, and said, ‘Men and brethren, you know how a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the Word of the gospel.” Before when Cornelius was saved, all he had to do was believe. Second reason: the gift of the Holy Spirit. Do you think God gives His Holy Spirit to somebody who’s not truly saved? Of course not.
Thirdly, cleansing from sin; look at verse 9, it says, “Purifying their hearts by faith.” That was all God required then. And then fourthly, Peter says why put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” And their fifth proof that salvation is by grace, and that was the miracles. “They declared what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.”
James was last, and he showed that prophetic promise indicated Gentiles would be saved by grace. These are Old Testament prophecies from Amos 9. James says in verse 17, “That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the nations.” You don’t have to become a Jew. And that led to the decision, verse 19 to 29, and it was stated in the letter that was taken to the Gentiles.
Verse 19, James says, “And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.” Verse 20, “Instead, we should tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood.” Those were offensive to Jews. So these are for the sake of reaching unsaved Jews.”
Verse 21, “For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations.” And so, remember how we talked about the law of love in Christianity, which says, “I don’t do certain things, because they make my brother stumble?” We will be careful in fellowship, so not to offend unreached Jews, but to show them love.
Verse 22, “Then the apostles and elders together with the whole church in Jerusalem chose delegates, and they sent them to Antioch of Syria with Paul and Barnabas to report on this decision. The men chosen were two of the church leaders, Judas (also called Barsabbas) and Silas.” They were not only pleased with the decision, they were pleased to send along two of their leaders.
James was one of the chief men. He was the one who wrote the letter, so he was maybe the one who could articulate better than others. No, there should be a plurality of chief men, raised up by God. Hebrews 13:7 says, “Remember them who have the rule over you.” It is the same word that is used in Acts 15. It means the command, the authority that is mentioned on the body.
Verse 23, “This is the letter they took with them: “This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in Jerusalem. It is written to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings!” The Jewish brethren to the Gentile brethren. It is hard to imagine the tremendous impact of just that greeting. It doesn’t talk about Cyprus and Galatia, where they founded the churches.
Because they were extensions of Antioch. They are included in the Antioch Church. So, they’re writing all of the Gentile churches, all of them were getting in on the information. Verse 24, “We understand that some men from here have troubled you and upset you with their false teaching, but we did not send them!” You do not have to be circumcised and follow the Law of Moses.
False doctrine is real trouble. Legalism is deep trouble. Because when you start tampering with the doctrine of salvation, you destroy grace, and you have destroyed salvation, and you damned people. Obedience is doing something for the glory of God. Legalism is doing something for the glory of self. God has always had laws. The perfect royal law is the law of love.
Verse 25, “So we decided, having come to complete agreement, to send you official representatives, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul.” They came to complete agreement, because the Holy Spirit superintended each individual, they collectively had the mind of the Spirit. Notice the one word, “beloved,” it gives an indication of how they felt about Barnabas and Paul.
Verse 26, “Men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Remember that Paul was stoned in Acts 14:19 and left for dead. Paul knew that God is in charge of our lives and so when you are not afraid to die, you become real courageous all the time. Let us look at the character traits of Paul and Barnabas, so that becomes a motivation for all believers.
First of all, the motive for being fearless that we see in the New Testament is the benefit of others. Paul says, “If I be offered on the sacrifice of your joy, I rejoice.” Secondly, they were fearless because they wanted the knowledge of Christ. I just want to bear in my body the marks of Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:24 says, “That I may experience all that there is of what He took.”
Thirdly, I think they suffered because of the continuity of life. Romans 14:7-9, “None of us lives to himself, and no man dies to himself, for whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord.” Whether we live, therefore or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ both died, rose, and revived, that He might be the Lord of the dead and the living.
Then fourth, they suffered a lot because of a desire for heaven. They just figured it would be better to do that anyway. Fifthly, because of obedience. They obeyed the principles that Christ had left them. You know what Peter said? “Hereunto were you called to suffer for Him. After you have suffered a while, God will establish you and settle you.” And lastly, “For the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Verse 27, “We are sending Judas and Silas to confirm what we have decided concerning your question.” These were the two Jewish fellows from the Jerusalem church, to confirm the testimony. “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us.” There’s a meeting that comes together and we and the Holy Spirit agree. And that was the beauty of this unity because they were all in the Holy Spirit.
Verse 28-29, “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements: 29 You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.” In other words, if you don’t do these things, it’ll be to your benefit.
So let’s close with the development. What happened when they delivered the letter? Verse 30-31, “The messengers went at once to Antioch, where they called a general meeting of the believers and delivered the letter. 31 And there was great joy throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging message.” So there was consolation and celebration, they had some kind of party.
Verse 32, “Then Judas and Silas, both being prophets, spoke at length to the believers, encouraging and strengthening their faith.” Only grace builds you up. Verses 33-35, “They stayed for a while, and then the believers sent them back to the church in Jerusalem with a blessing of peace. 35 Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch. They and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord there.”
Verse 34 isn’t in the manuscripts. Apparently, a scribe put it there, it says “it pleased Silas to abide there.” Well, and they went about doing two things, evangelism and edification. The message came back and the church established the doctrine of salvation, picked up where it left off, and took off. There’s no other salvation, except having faith in the name of Jesus Christ, and that alone. Let’s pray.