WWUTT 2651 Peter's Speech at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:6-12)

The message that we are saved by faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ, this is not some theology that was developed in the Protestant Reformation. We get it right from the Bible. It is the apostolic teaching, when we understand the text.

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The Jerusalem Council and the Gospel for Gentiles

Once again, it's Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Acts, we come back to chapter 15, as we've been studying the Jerusalem Council. The problem was set up for us last time, after many Gentiles had come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Judaizers came to them and said, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. This problem has been brought to the apostles at Jerusalem, and we are reading here the speeches of Peter and James to start off.

Verses 6 -21, hear the word of the Lord. Both the apostles and the elders came together to look into 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 would hear the word of the gospel and believe.

And God, who knows the heart, testified to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us. And He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are. And all the multitude kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

James’s Appeal to the Prophets

Now after they had stopped speaking, James answered, saying, Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, After these things I will return, and I will rebuild the fallen booth of David, and I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, so that the rest 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 long ago.

Therefore I judge that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what is strangled, and from blood.

For from ancient generations Moses has those who preach him in every city, since he has read in the synagogues every Sabbath. Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them.

Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, leading men among the brothers, to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas a letter. And we will get to that later. So how we're going to break up our study this week, we'll look at the speech of Peter today, the speech of James tomorrow, and then after that the agreed upon letter that is going to go out to the Gentiles.

Maybe get into a little bit of that letter tomorrow, in fact. So let's come back up to the speech of Peter. Now, just to refresh your memory once again as to the problem as it has been presented to these apostles.

The Ethiopian Eunuch and the Spread of the Gospel

The Gentiles have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We've been reading about that since chapter 10, maybe even a little earlier than that. Because, of course, Philip was on the road with the Ethiopian eunuch who heard the gospel and believed.

And that is the first specific account of Gentile, of a Gentile, coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And returning to his land with the message of the gospel that was shown to him through the scroll of Isaiah that he was reading.

So he's even got scripture that he can take back to him, to his people. Many others who are going to hear the message of the gospel and come to faith as well. So the gospel is spreading among Gentiles.

Peter goes to the house of Cornelius in chapter 10. And this is why Peter says in his speech, he says, Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.

This isn't Peter saying, I'm the first one to go and preach to the Gentiles. Because, of course, Philip spoke to the Ethiopian eunuch before that. But it was still by Peter that God had decided even the Gentiles are going to hear and believe.

And so Peter goes to Gentiles. We have this apostle who was the first to deliver the gospel to the Jews in Acts chapter 2. And then it's also through this apostle that God would make the gospel of Christ known even to Gentiles in Acts chapter 10.

This is even before Paul and Barnabas get together in Antioch. And then Paul goes on his first missionary journey. We saw many other Gentiles come to faith in the different places that they went. And after we read the speech of Stephen here, it ends with Paul and Barnabas talking about what they witnessed when they went out and shared the gospel with the Gentiles.

The Judaizing Demand for Circumcision and Law-Keeping

So the apostles and elders—I want to skip verse 6 here—the apostles and elders have come together to look into this matter. This matter concerning this false teaching that has been said to the Gentiles.

So many Gentiles are coming to faith. But the Jews, the Judaizers, are saying to them, hey, you also have to be circumcised. If you're not circumcised, then you cannot be saved. And this didn't just come from Judaizers who were opposing Christianity.

It was even being said by those Jews who had been converted to faith in Christ. We're also saying that you need to be circumcised to be saved. Consider verse 5 where it said some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed.

So these are Pharisees that did believe Jesus Christ died and rose again and only by faith in him can we be saved. But they still have this adherence to the law. We still have to keep the law of Moses.

And the law of Moses said you need to be circumcised. And so they are also declaring it is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. So this matter concerning believers.

These are believers who know that it is by faith alone and believers who are making the argument. No, no, no, no, no. It's faith and works. You do have to believe in Jesus, but you still have to keep the law of Moses.

So this debate is now made its way down to Jerusalem to come before the apostles that a decision can be made here. Who's right and who's wrong? And what will be said to the Gentiles about this? Now, really, when it comes to the apostles, the apostles already know who's right.

There's no question among the apostles. This is not a debate among them. It is. It is rather a debate that is being held in the presence of an assembly that is there with them as they are discussing this.

Both the apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter. And it's not just them, because remember back up in verse four, when they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders.

And they reported all that God had done with them. So there is an assembly that is present witnessing this conversation that is being had over this teaching that is going out to the Gentiles. This great weight that is being placed upon them and saying, you have to be circumcised if you are going to be saved.

Salvation by Grace Through Faith

So for the apostles, there is no debate. It is by grace through faith. And Peter's even he's witnessed this and he speaks about this in his speech. He was there in the house of Cornelius. They were not circumcised.

Nothing had ever been done in keeping with the law of Moses. They simply believe the words that Peter preached and the Holy Spirit fell upon them. And Peter saw it and witnessed. He knew they were saved.

And his next statement after that, if you'll remember this back to Acts chapter 10, his next thing to say was not, well, we better circumcise these people. What was it that he said? Can anyone keep water from these people?

They should be baptized. And so they were. But the baptism happens after the Holy Spirit had come upon them, showing that they were saved. They already belong to God. They had been justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And in keeping with obedience to the command to be baptized, Peter says that should be the next order of business for these new believers. They should be baptized, showing that they have been buried with Christ and risen again to walk in newness of life.

So Peter is a witness to the fact that salvation is by faith alone. And he stands up among them. He stands up among the brothers there who have been debating these things after there had been much debate.

Peter stood up and said to them, brothers, you know that in the early days, talking about the earliest days of this message of the gospel that Jesus had commissioned us to go forth and preach. You know that in the early days, God made a choice among you.

That by my mouth, the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. That's a significant and. It's not just that God wanted the Gentiles to hear the word of the gospel. God made a choice that they would also believe it.

God’s Sovereign Choice in Gospel Faith

The gospel doesn't go out with God sitting by going, I hope somebody believes this thing. The gospel is not merely an offer. It is good news. And it is news that God means to accomplish the work that he has for it to do.

When God sent his son to die on the cross and rise again from the dead, he was not wondering who's going to end up believing this gospel. It was not just going to be some open pen and anyone who wants to come into the pen may.

But whoever doesn't want to go into the pen, well, then, you know, I can't make them. God had ordained that the gospel would be preached and people would believe it. Even that was ordained by God. So God made a choice among you that by my mouth, the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel.

And God made a choice that they would believe it. And so verse eight and God, who knows the heart, testified to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he also did to us. So just as the Jews had received the Holy Spirit, the Gentiles received the same Holy Spirit, showing that they were united as one people with one spirit, Jew and Gentile together in the family of God.

The people of God as one nation, just as God had intended it. He confirmed his will. That the Gentiles would believe along with the Jews. By giving his Holy Spirit upon the Gentiles. So God confirms to them and to everyone that the Gentiles would be included in this kingdom that he is building.

Because the Holy Spirit came upon them and it was evidenced in their midst that the Holy Spirit was with them. And verse nine, he made no distinction between us and them cleansing their hearts by faith.

It is the only way that a person comes to salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is by faith. We are justified by faith. We are further sanctified by faith. We will be glorified because we had faith. We are saved by faith alone and not by our works.

Paul’s Teaching on Justification in Acts 13

Consider back in chapter 13, verse 39. It was preached that in Jesus, everyone who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified from through the law of Moses. We are justified by faith and not through the law.

Later on in chapter 13, where it was said about the Gentiles that as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. God foreordains, he has predestined those who are going to be saved. But those who will be saved will believe by faith.

This is the mechanism that God has chosen to transmit all of the measures of his grace to those that he has foreordained for glory. He has chosen that it would be through faith in the gospel that they would receive this eternal life.

It is by faith. That is the message. That is the apostolic preaching that we've been reading about as we've been going through the book of Acts. It has always been by faith. This isn't even a doctrine that we invented later on or that it came about through the Protestant Reformation.

We believe it because it's in the Bible. We are saved by grace through faith. The cleansing of their hearts by faith. Verse 10, now therefore Peter says to the gathered assembly, Why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

The Yoke of the Law and the Sufficiency of Christ

Now notice that Peter says here, he doesn't say, why do you put them to the test? He says, why do you put God to the test? Why is it putting God to the test? Because it's as if to say to God, your plan that you have here of preaching the gospel so that people would be saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We don't really like that plan so much. Why don't we go back to the law? Why don't we start imposing upon people that they have to keep your law in order to be saved? So the gospel is not good enough or the gospel is not enough.

That's the expression that would be made by those who are saying that you have to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses in order to be saved. You put God to the test by resisting his plan, his will.

And instead we should impose all of these rights upon the Gentiles that they have to keep in order to be saved. Salvation by grace through faith. No, no, no, no, no. They have to do something. And this, therefore, would lead to condemnation for the person who preaches such a thing.

That's why Peter says, why do you put God to the test? This isn't merely a difference of opinion here. It's not that they're having this debate and deciding, okay, which way do we want to go with this?

Do we want to keep with the law of Moses or do we want to tell them that we're saved by faith? And then the saved by faithers are the ones that won out. No, this is God's decision. God made a choice. This is God's will that those who would come to salvation would come to salvation by the grace of God through faith in Christ.

Verse 11, but we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like we weren't even able to bear the burden of the law either. And we've come to faith. We've come to salvation, not by our keeping of the law.

Our keeping of the law couldn't save us. Referring again back to Paul's message in Acts chapter 13. We could not have been saved by the law of Moses. We are saved only by faith. Works will not get us there.

It is the work of Christ completed on the cross, his resurrection from the dead, and by faith in him, we have imputed to us the righteousness of God. And this is all by his grace. We as Jews, we weren't saved by the law of Moses.

We've been saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And what we're seeing happen with the Gentiles right now, this is also by God's grace in the same way as they also are. Now, at the conclusion of Peter's message, Paul and Barnabas talk about what they had seen and witnessed among the Gentiles that they preached to.

The Apostles, Elders, and the Witness of Gentile Conversion

And that's what we have in verse 12. All the multitude kept silent. So again, there's a whole multitude that is there that is listening to this. Not just the elders and the apostles. I didn't make a comment about that, by the way.

The apostles are very obviously the 12. Well, plus Paul. But of course we have the 12 there. And then the elders. These are men who are pastors. These are overseers in the church. So you have the offices of apostle and elder who are present there.

Now, we won't ever have a council to this day where there will be apostles and elders present. Unless, of course, you're referring to the New Testament as the written account of the apostles. In which case, yeah, certainly the apostolic ministry would be present in any of our councils today.

But only here do you have the apostles and the elders of respective churches that are together to hear about this and make a decision as to what should be said to the Gentiles about this troublesome teaching.

And after Peter had preached, the multitude that is there, that is witnessing all of this, they listened to Barnabas and Paul. As these two men related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

So this becomes a testament to the multitude that is there that God showed Gentiles have been brought into this thing as well. And we can confirm through all the miracles that we've done that God is indeed with them.

By faith in the gospel, they've become just like us. Members, citizens of the kingdom of God. And that's where we will stop today. We will continue with this tomorrow with the speech of James at the Jerusalem council.

The Gospel Is Not Grounded in Human Works

But I reiterate once again, what makes the gospel such good news is that we are saved by faith and not by our doing. The doing was never good news because we could never do enough in order to be saved.

There was no confidence in our works. Even if you talk about works today like baptism or the Lord's table or something like that, not even those things justify us before God. If it was by the Lord's table or by baptism that were justified before God, then we would still be questioning whether we did it right.

Did I have the right kind of bread? Did I have the right kind of cup? Did we bless it in the right way? Did I have the water the right temperature before I was baptized? Did I go all the way under? Was part of me not immersed all the way?

Was the attitude of my heart right? Maybe I didn't believe the same way. Did my pastor who baptized me believe? Or was he some kind of heretic? And now I have to go get baptized all over again. We would constantly be second-guessing our works if our works had anything to do with our salvation.

It is not by works. It is by Christ's work. What he accomplished on the cross and having finished it said it is finished. And as we also read in Romans 4 25, he was raised for our justification. We are justified before God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not by our works.

Resting in Justification by Faith

And brethren, you can rest comfortably in that. May that be part of the gospel that we share with others as well. You can be forgiven your sins. You can be reconciled to God. You can have eternal life by faith in Jesus.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for these reminders. We could work until we are blue in the face. It is still not going to make us right before you. It has only been by faith in Jesus and what he did for us that we have been made right with God.

And what a wonderful gift. And Lord, I pray that we continue to rejoice you. We continue to praise you. We rejoice in you every day because of this wonderful gift that you've given to us in Christ. And help us to have courage and love to share it with others that they too may be saved.

It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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