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B - The Apostolic Council at Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-35)
ACTS 15:6-12
6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to see about this matter. 7 When there had been much discussion, Peter rose up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that a good while ago God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the nations should hear the word of the Good News, and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, testified about them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just like he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.” 12 All the multitude kept silence, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul reporting what signs and wonders God had done among the nations through them.
After the general meeting, which was held in the presence of all the members, the elders of the church met once again in a closed session. Their purpose was to find, through prayer and deep penetration into the Law and the Prophets, a clarification of the issue of law and gospel. This session was long and heated due to the great difference between the demands of the Old Testament and the gifts of grace in the New Testament. He who does not understand the truth of this difference reads the Bible superficially. At the end of the discussion, however, Peter, intrepid in his declaration of the foundations of our salvation under the direction of the Holy Spirit, stood up. He emphasized that God had not asked Paul to go to the Gentiles. Instead, He had directly charged him to communicate the gospel to the Gentiles, thus carrying out His will. As a result many had believed. Their faith had been verified not only through theoretical acceptance. It had shown itself through their giving up their hearts completely to Jesus, and receiving the salvation He purchased on the cross.
God is the Omniscient One, who searches the hearts and confirms faith in Jesus by the testimony of His Spirit´s sealing. Every true believer in Christ receives a clear testimony from God, written not on perishable paper, but sealed with the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the hearts of those who love Jesus. Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “Having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”
There is not one Holy Spirit for the Jews and another for the Gentiles. The Jew who embraces the living Jesus lives with the same power as the Gentile believer. There is no difference between the believers with respect to race, sex, age, culture, and possession. All are one in Christ, just as we are all sinful in nature. Every believer is justified and purified by the blood of Christ. The Holy Spirit does not dwell in any man without complete purification, for the Spirit of God and sin cannot meet together in the heart. Which of the two dwells in you, Christ, or the evil one?
Peter continued his testimony about the free work of God. He proclaimed all the lawyers to be interrogaters of God who were contradicting His design. If it was the Holy One´s intention to redeem the Gentiles without the law can any creature prevent him from carrying out His will? The love of God is greater than our minds, and goes beyond our understanding.
With this defense Peter called the law “a heavy yoke”, from which Jesus had delivered us, saying: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He who intends to fulfill the Law of Moses through his own power is crushed by the impossibility of God’s command: “Be holy, for I am holy.” No one can be holy as God is, for the law completely overwhelms the one who seeks holiness on his own merit. Christ delivered us entirely from the yoke of the Old Testament, and put on our neck his own, easy yoke (Mt. 11:30). Christ himself bears it with us. We cannot live without a divine yoke, for this yoke symbolizes our communion with God and Christ. We are united with him in the New Testament, which is the easy yoke. We go where He goes, and stop where He stops. In communion with us He changes us through His humility and meekness.
Peter made clear to the lawyers in Jerusalem that neither they nor he nor their godly fathers could practically keep the law, for all are weak, wicked, and unworthy of communion with God. By saying so he testified about himself that he, too, was wicked and far from good. Whoever does not recognize this principle has not yet recognized Christ. He is still standing with one foot in the Old Testament, while with the other foot trying to enter the New Testament.
After this confession Peter spoke the epitome of all New Testament statements. In the clarity of the Spirit he gave testimony to the banner of the Christian church. Salvation is not through works, prayers, right behavior, almsgiving, pilgrimage, circumcision or rites, but by the mere grace of the blood of Jesus Christ. Through His blood and faithful intercession we are justified before God. We receive the power that prompts us to practice what is impossible - to love our enemies and become sanctified for the service of God. Moreover, we do not believe that we shall be judged in the Last Day according to our works, else we be destroyed. We set our hope completely on His grace. Our past, present, and future are only related to the grace of forgiveness, the grace of strengthening, and the grace of perfection. Thus we testify joyfully, saying: “And of his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” (John 1:16)
After this testimony of Peter, which was led by the Holy Spirit, none of the pharisaical brothers dared speak a word. None of them wanted to test God, and none of them dared abandon grace in favor of law as the foundation of salvation to come.
Barnabas, followed by Paul, testified once again to the details of Christ’s triumphal procession in Asia Minor, and how He confirmed His redemptive will with wonderful signs and wonders. Paul was reserved at this meeting, giving way for the respected Barnabas to tell about their missionary journey. With his testimony Barnabas rendered a final service of love toward Paul and the church. He joined the two groups together, that there might not be separate churches – one of Jewish Christians, and the other of Gentiles.
The risen Christ guided the apostles by His Spirit to boldly press on. The minds of all those present, being unable to fathom the full understanding of law, had been plunged into disagreement. Christ, therefore, brought the two disagreeing parties together, by making their consciences and experiences in the Holy Spirit the basis for their decision, and not the measure of their understanding. The apostles did not harden their hearts to the voice of the Holy Spirit. They obeyed the wooing of the New Covenant, and placed their hope solely upon grace.
PRAYER: O Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You that You guided the hearts of the apostles in this critical council, establishing the banner of the gospel as the lampstand for Your church. Help us not to retreat into Jewish law and not to justify ourselves by ourselves, but to proceed to the throne of grace on the Day of Judgment through our trust in Your blood. Thank You that Your Spirit gives testimony to our spirit that we are the children of God.
QUESTION:
- What was Peter’s statement, which became the subject of his sermon? Why did the Christian church regard it as the foundation of salvation?
NOTE: It is to be observed that this statement of the Apostle Peter is one of the pinnacles in the development of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. It is, in fact, its spiritual center. Moreover, it is in the middle of this important book, with the total number of words before and after it being the same. This verse is, at the same time, the last declaration of Peter in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. It marks the summary and crown of his sermon. From now on Luke mentions nothing more about the life of Peter. He had completed his office as a church minister, having expounded the gospel of grace conclusively as the foundation of true salvation.