“Jerusalem Council”
Acts 15:1-19
Jesus + Something = Nothing
Jesus + Nothing = Everything
Everything – Jesus = Nothing
Anytime we add to the equation
Two very different versions of Christianity clash
1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 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. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, "It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses."
Galatians 2:4-5 Yet because of 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— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
The early church embraced the religion of faith and free grace
6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 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. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.
10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will." 12 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. 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, "Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
16 "'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, 17 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 18 known from of old.'
“The gospel is not about something we do but about what has been done for us, and yet the gospel result in a whole new way of life.”
“But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
Galatians 2:16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
The free grace of God is spiritually, socially and psychologically freeing
“With our mouths we say, ‘Christ alone is what makes me acceptable,’ but in our hearts we add Christ and financial freedom, Christ and approval of my parents, Christ and the respect of or the happiness of my children, Christ and the acceptance of a peer group, Christ or something. But anything you add to Jesus Christ as a requirement for being happy will become a slave master that will strangle you, will drive you into the ground, and will hang you by the neck until dead.”-Sue Lutz
Have we received the free grace of God?
Acts 15:19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God