The Great Debate February 19th, 2023
God of Word and Wisdom, your Spirit inspired the authors of Scripture with faithfulness in their day. Send us your Holy Spirit as we listen to the Scriptures in our time. Give us fresh understanding and a vision of how to live out your wisdom in the example of Christ, your living Word. Amen
Last Sunday, in the book of Acts, we heard about the first internal conflict of the Christian church. Certainly, there had been many attacks on the Church since its founding on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, but these came from forces outside the faith, those who didn’t believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and the promised Messiah for all of mankind. But now the fighting was going to take on a much more serious note, disruption amongst the members of the church, which had the potential to tear it apart.
What had taken place was that the Apostle Paul and his fellow missionary, Barnabas, had travelled north of Israel into the area of modern day Turkey, and were spreading the Gospel there. The majority of the people hearing the message and coming to accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour were not of the Jewish faith. This was part of God’s plan for the salvation of all of mankind. In fact, shortly after he had come to faith, Jesus had appeared to Paul in a dream and had given him the command, “Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.” (Acts 22:21)
But some of the church leaders in Jerusalem didn’t agree with what Paul and Barnabas were doing. And while they weren’t opposed to Gentiles becoming followers of Jesus, they felt that in order for them to become true Christians they had to follow the traditions of the Jewish faith. In a sense what they were saying was that you didn’t receive salvation solely through the grace of God but that you were also required to follow a certain set of rules and regulations. They couldn’t accept the fact that a person is saved by grace, through faith, alone.
And so, these leaders in Jerusalem sent a delegation of men to meet with Paul and Barnabas to discuss the issue with them. This is what the Apostle Luke tells us took place, “And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.” (Acts 15:2) Each side had their point of view, and neither would budge, so Paul and Barnabas, and a few others, were sent to have a discussion with those church leaders in Jerusalem. The Church was about to face its first internal crisis, the outcome of which had the potential to tear it apart in its infancy.
In this morning’s lesson from the book of Acts we heard the debate which took place amongst those church leaders in Jerusalem. In the Church today, this meeting is known as the Jerusalem Council and is considered to be the first major turning point for the Christian Church.
Our reading began with these words, “The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.” Not a lot of detail there but no doubt it was a lengthy and heated debate, each side trying to convince the other that their position was the correct one. Finally, Peter, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, stood up and addressed the men.
Earlier, in the Book of Acts, we were told that Peter had left Jerusalem and had gone into the neighbouring country of Samaria and was evangelizing the Gentiles there. He had also been invited by a Roman Centurion by the name of Cornelius to come to his home and bring the Gospel message to him and his family. Because of these events Peter had firsthand knowledge that the free offer of salvation was a gift of God and so he truly believed that by, and only by, the grace of God and by faith in Jesus could people be saved.
Peter then continued on to prove his point, telling the Council, “And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.” With these words he reminded those assembled that several years earlier God had chosen him as the person from whom Gentiles should hear the gospel. When he did that God gave Gentiles the Holy Spirit as soon as they believed in Jesus Christ. They didn’t have to do anything but believe and they received the Holy Spirit, that was the sign of their acceptance by God.
God did not make the slightest difference between Jews and Gentiles in the giving of the Holy Spirit. That was Peter’s point. The undeniable sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit was given to the Gentiles as fully and as freely as it had been given to the Jews. The Holy Spirit had thus baptized the Gentiles into the body of Christ in the same way he had baptized Jews. God didn’t distinguish between Gentiles and Jews, because in both cases their hearts were cleansed by faith, and not by works. What Peter was saying to the Church leaders was that, if then we are all saved by faith, and not by works, why are we insisting that Gentiles be burdened with law keeping when it did not save us, nor any of our ancestors? Salvation is a gift of God.
At this point Luke says, “And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.” Having their full attention, Paul and Barnabas proceeded to tell the men of the work they did amongst the Gentiles and how through the gift of the Holy Spirit many of them were brought to faith in Christ. The signs and miracles which Paul and Barnabas were able to perform were witness to the fact that God accepted the Gentiles without them having to become Jewish first.
Our scripture reading today concluded with the leader of the church in Jerusalem, James, addressing the council. This James was not the Apostle James, the brother of John and one of the original twelve disciples, we read about his death earlier in Acts when the Roman ruler of Israel, Herod, had him executed. This James was the half-brother of Jesus, who, despite growing up in the same household as him, did not accept Jesus as being the Son of God until after his crucifixion and resurrection.
James begins by quoting these words of the Old Testament prophet Amos, “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’” This is the promise of God that there will come a day when he will restore the nation of Israel to its former glory. And not only that, the Gentiles who believe in him will also be part of God’s family.
James then concludes his argument by saying, “Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God.” In those words, the Christian church was pulled back from the brink of destruction and the Gentiles were free to become followers of Christ without first becoming Jewish. The Holy Spirit had worked his will. Man had fought and prayed and struggled and differed, and the Holy Spirit had overruled it all to bring about his own sovereign, perfect will. Jews and Gentiles were one in Christ. The way of salvation was the same for all— through faith in Christ.
Unfortunately, the disagreements were not to end there, they have continued on down through the ages up to the present day. Sometimes it seems like those of us within the Christian church are our own worst enemies, we spend more time worrying about trivial things than we do trying to correct all the evil that there is in the world. Certainly, there’s always going to be disagreements and differences of opinion, that’s just part of our human nature, but we really need to move beyond that and focus on the goal we all have in common, the Good News of God’s gift of salvation and eternal life which is freely offered to all of mankind. Much more important than manmade practices and opinions is that the Christian churches of the world work together following Jesus for the salvation of all God’s people.
Let us Pray:
Heavenly Father, Lord of all,
In Jesus, you have made us all sisters and brothers in Christ. There is no separation that can remove any from fellowship in Christ’s community. Help us see beyond our differences so that in unity we may proclaim your truth to all. For the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom there is harmony, peace and hope, help us do your will. Amen.