Acts 15:1–35: "The Liability of Jesus + Legalism."

Take your Bibles and turn with me to Acts 15. When we last saw Paul and Barnabas, they were in Galatia getting terrorized by the people. It was an odd turn of events. First the Lystrans wanted to worship them. But then the people were persuaded into throwing rocks at Paul in an effort to kill him. And so far in our study of Acts, we have seen the lives of Paul and Barnabas (and others) threatened. But today, it’s not the lives of the apostles that are threatened… it’s the truth of the gospel message that is threatened. 

And what we’ll find today in the text is that Paul and Barnabas are willing to let their bodies be destroyed for Christ. They are willing to be beaten, bruised, bloodied, scarred, and marred for the gospel without fighting back. But they aren’t willing to let the gospel be beaten, bloodied or bruised. They aren’t willing to let the gospel be marred. They aren’t willing to let the gospel be polluted, or perverted. They won’t fight for their own self-preservation, but they will fight for gospel-preservation. 

And the attack on the gospel comes from a surprising place in Acts 15. It doesn’t come from superstitious pagan Gentiles in Galatia. It comes instead from “old school” Judaizers. 

 Now just by way of personal transparency, I’ll let you in on something. If you didn’t know this before, I’m declaring it now publicly… your pastor is not very technologically savvy! I’m old school. In fact the truth is I’m a little technologically challenged. Now I’ve gotten better over the years. But I still struggle. And it’s sad because my dad was a software engineer. My brother is CIO for a small company. They are both incredibly savvy with computer software, hardware, and technology. But that “computer-savvy” gene must’ve skipped me. I’m old-school.

 And not just with computers and technology. If I weren’t married to Sanja, I’d still be wearing the baggy jeans and baggy clothes of the 1990s. I still have some of my clothes from that era just in case baggy clothes come back in style again. I can’t wait for that to happen. 

Some of you are like, “1990s? I’m still waiting for the 1970s to come back, Pastor Tony. I’ve still got my polyester suit in storage. Can’t wait for that to come back in style. That’s old-school.”

Now here’s the thing. There’s nothing wrong with “old-school” most of the time. There might even be some benefits to being old-school with some of the stuff I’m talking about. If you’re old-school with technology and your flip phone… no problem. If you want to wear your polyester suit to church here at Messiah Bible Church… no problem. But there is a place in Scripture where ‘old-school’ becomes a problem. In our passage today, Acts 15, “old-school” isn’t just a problem, it’s heresy. 

When custom takes the place of confidence in Christ alone, then we’ve got a problem. When legalism starts infringing on liberty, we’ve got a problem. When ritual takes the place of imputed righteousness, that’s when “old-school” becomes problematic. 

And this isn’t just a problem for the first century church. Legalism is something we’ve got to deal with all the time in order to protect the purity of the gospel.    

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So here’s the situation. The last few weeks we’ve looked at Paul and Barnabas’s journey through the Gentile world. People are getting saved. Churches are getting planted. Elders are put in place to rule over the churches. Here’s a map of Paul and Barnabas’s first missionary journey.

[Paul’s First Missionary Journey Map]

There are churches in Cyprus. There are churches in Pisidian Antioch and Pamphylia. There are churches in Galatia (Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe). Setting up those churches was no easy task for Paul and Barnabas. Nevertheless they’re about to face one of their toughest challenges in Acts 15 back in Jerusalem. 

Now if you remember from last time, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch where they had been sent out from. And at the end of chapter 14, they declared all that God had done with them on their missionary journey. And verse 28 says they remained no little time with the disciples in Antioch. Things were going great in Antioch as Paul and Barnabas recounted all that God had done on their missionary journey. The church was joyously celebrating.

But as they were doing that, look at chapter 15, verse 1:

1 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, 

Here it is, right here. Here’s the “old-school” legalism that threatens to corrupt the purity of the gospel.

“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 

So, let me summarize here. The church in Antioch is like, “Hallelujah. Gentiles are getting saved. They’re getting saved here in Antioch. They’re getting saved in Galatia. Christ’s mission is being accomplished.”

But these Judaizers come in and say, “I’m sorry, that’s not true. Faith in Christ is not enough. They need to get circumcised. You need to get circumcised!” 

And the church at Antioch is like, “Really? Circumcised? That’s sounds…. Inconvenient! Is that really necessary?”

Now let me say two things about this before we move on. (1) From this point on, I’m going to use the term “Judaizers” for this sect of the faith that wants to circumcise. A Judaizer is someone who tries to combine OT law with NT faith. It’s someone who tries to syncretize Old Covenant Judaism with New Covenant Christianity. They try to impose “old-school” on the New Covenant that Christ has established for us. And in doing that [listen to me, this is so important] they try to syncretize salvation by faith and salvation by works. That’s a perversion of the gospel! That insults Christ and what he’s done for us on the cross! Paul said it this way, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Gal 2:21). So you know that Paul’s not going to stand for this in Antioch. We’ll get to Paul’s response in a moment. 

But let me say this as well. (2) These Judaizers who came from Judea (verse 1)… they didn’t have the backing of the church in Jerusalem. James makes that clear in Acts 15:24. They weren’t authorized by the church leaders in Jerusalem. They were rogue. 

It wasn’t like Paul and Barnabas who were sent out with the blessing of the church in Antioch. That church laid hands on them. They prayed for them and sent them out by the power of the Holy Spirit. These Judaizers were operating on their own authority. They weren’t sent out by the Holy Spirit. And they were not functioning under the auspices of church authority. They were rogue! If you remember, I said a few weeks ago that I don’t trust people who operate as rogue agents outside the auspices of church authority. Watch out for those guys! Here’s a case in point right here with these Judaizers.   

 So, look at verse 2.

2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, 

I love the way that Luke puts this: “[they] had no small dissension and debate with them.” In other words, they debated a lot with these Judaizers. They fought against this perversion of the gospel. And when they apparently reached an impasse, they decide to consult with the church in Jerusalem. 

Let’s stop here and state a first principle from this text. Write this down as #1 in your notes. 

1) Jesus plus legalism perverts the gospel (15:1–5)

Jesus plus nothing equals everything. Solus Christus. Jesus plus legalism perverts the gospel.

Look what it says next in verse 2.

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.

So, Paul and Barnabas travel some three hundred miles from Antioch southward towards Jerusalem. I know the text says they “went up” to Jerusalem. That’s confusing for us because we think north is up and south is down. But that’s a geographical orientation not a topographical orientation. Antioch is about 250 feet above sea level. Jerusalem is about 2,500 feet above sea level. So they don’t go down to Jerusalem topographically; they go up. 

But before they arrived in Jerusalem, look at verse 3.

 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. 

So not everyone is negative about uncircumcised Gentiles getting saved. The Samaritans rejoice. The Jews and Gentiles in the Phoenician churches rejoice. They don’t assume that the law of Moses is binding on these new believers.

Look at verse 4.

4 When [Paul and Barnabas and their entourage] 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. 

 So Paul and Barnabas tell their story again. They told it in Antioch. They told it in Phoenicia and Samaria. These stories never get old. “Hey Paul, tell that story about when you got left for dead in Lystra.  And then you went back into the city! That was awesome. Tell that story about when you struck that sorcerer blind in Cyprus and then Sergius Paulus got saved.” I bet Paul and Barnabas never got tired of telling those stories.

 But look at verse 5. Not everyone is celebrating what Paul and Barnabas are saying.

5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees [i.e., “Judaizers”] rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” 

So let me set this up for you. Paul and Barnabas are telling incredible stories about God saving Gentiles. Everyone is rejoicing and celebrating what God has done. But these young believers, these pharisaical pencil-pushers are like, “O yeah, well, you need to tell those Gentile heathens to get circumcised and keep the Law of Moses.” Seriously? You just heard all these incredible stories about people getting saved and all you can thing about is circumcision and the Law of Moses! I’m not sure whether to be angry at these guys or pity them for their pettiness. 

Now two things about these guys: (1) Luke calls them believers. Did you see that in verse 5? So we’re not dealing with unbelievers here, just a misguided group of probably baby Christians. And these baby Christians are still dealing with an underdeveloped theology of salvation. Does that happen sometimes when people come to Christ? That their theology is underdeveloped? All the time. Discipleship is a process, and nobody is born again and then immediately starts theologizing like John Calvin. It’s a process. 

And we should rejoice in the fact that these Pharisees got saved! Right? Some of them may have even argued with Jesus before his death. But these Pharisee converts are still dealing with reminiscences of their Judaism that hasn’t been exercised yet from their system. And probably they are still struggling with bigotry towards Gentiles. 

But secondly, I will say this. (2) These guys are called believers by Luke, whereas the Judaizers in verse 1 aren’t called believers. Luke just says, “some men came down from Judea.”  Hear me on this – some Judaizing in the NT is the result of ignorance by misguided believers. Those believers need to be corrected, just like other misguided believers in other areas. But some Judaizing is the result of unbelievers promoting a false religion. The Bible calls that second category “wolves.” 

Some of this “old-school” is ignorance. Some of it is “deception.” Some doctrinal error is the result of ignorance by misguided believers. Those believers need to be teachable, and they need to be corrected. But some doctrinal error is the result of wolves who are preying on sheep. That’s the result of unbelievers promoting a false religion. Those wolves need to be confronted and escorted out of the church.   

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So what happens next? Here’s a great idea. Let’s let the leaders of the church look into this matter. Look at verse 6.

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, 

Alright, this is going to be good. I love Peter. And unfortunately this is Peter’s swan song in the book of Acts. This is the last time we hear from him. And his statement here is so precious. Listen to this:

“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. 

Peter’s talking here about his interaction with the Gentile Cornelius, who was a Roman soldier. Remember that whole incident in Acts 10? That was about ten years before this. And it was during that time that God said to Peter, “Don’t you call unclean, what I’ve made clean, Peter.” “Don’t you do that.” Peter remembered.

Look at verse 8.

8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 

The Holy Spirit descended on Cornelius and his family just like he did on Peter and his Jewish friends at Pentecost. It was a sort of “Gentile Pentecost” at Cornelius’s house. It was God’s way of saying, “They are with you, Peter. And you are with them. What’s in you (the Holy Spirit), is in them!” No more partiality. No more ethnocentricity. No more racial or ethnic divisiveness. This is the body of Christ made of Jews and Gentiles both.

9 and [God] made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts [by law?... No…] by faith. 10 Now, therefore, [this is great rebuke right here listen to this] 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? 

Wow, that’s a great statement. Peter’s saying, “Jesus saves! Jesus is sufficient. The law pointed us to Christ. Now we have Christ! Why would we want to go back to the law? Are you crazy? Even we can’t fulfill the law! Why would we make them do that?”

Peter’s on a roll. Preach it, Peter! Look at verse 11.

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. 

Write this down as #2 in your notes. 1) Jesus plus legalism perverts the gospel, but also…

2) Jesus plus legalism burdens new converts (15:6–12)

The famous DTS professor, Dr. Howard Hendricks, said once, “I repudiated legalism intellectually and theologically years ago. But I still struggle with it emotionally.” That’s probably true for a lot of us. 

You can’t add anything to the Jesus for salvation. I don’t care if it’s circumcision or OT laws or Christian customs or political persuasion or dress or other standards of conduct. Jesus plus nothing equals everything. 

This is not a minor theological point. This is not theological wrangling over a secondary or tertiary issue. The stakes are absolutely huge with this. And there’s no disagreement between Peter and Paul on this matter. 

And if we mess this up… If we pervert the gospel by adding “works” to “grace” … than we risk perverting the gospel and leading people to hell. We’ve got to get this right. 

And just FYI, I believe that Paul authored the book of Galatians just before he left for Jerusalem to settle this issue with the other apostles and leaders. (There’s some debate about that, but I think that’s the best way to put the historical chronology of these two books together). So the issues in Galatians are very much the same as what we’re dealing with here in Acts. You’ll see the connections if you go read that book, or if you go listen to that series at Messiahbible.org. 

So this is a doctrinal issue of the utmost importance. But besides the theological reasons why Jesus plus legalism doesn’t work, there are practical reasons why Jesus plus legalism doesn’t work too. And one of them is that it unreasonably burdens new converts. 

This was Peter’s point in verse 10. 

… why are you putting God to the test 

By the way, “putting God to the test” was a big no-no in the Jewish world. You don’t do that! So Peter’s accusation has teeth here.

… 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?

“We couldn’t bear this burden as Jews. Why do they have to? It’s cruel what you’re doing!” By the way, it wasn’t like they could just go get circumcised and be done with it. Paul says in Galatians, that whoever accepts circumcision as necessary for salvation is obligated to keep the whole law (5:3). That’s a lifelong, burdensome yoke! 

But Jesus said instead, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly of heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt 11:28–30). The law isn’t gentle and lowly of heart. The law isn’t easy and light. The law is a taskmaster. It’s meant to reveal our utter sinfulness, so that we might turn to Christ. 

Here’s the application point. Make sure that you don’t overwhelm new believers with law when they get saved—biblical law or otherwise. Make sure you don’t overwhelm them with a bunch of “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots” when they first get saved. Give them an opportunity to change by grace. Let the Holy Spirit do his work. 

Full disclosure, I’ve got to fight that temptation all the time. “O yeah, you got saved, did you? Terrific! First you need to do this, this, this, and this. Then you need to do this, this, this, and this.” And we pile things on them. I’ve been guilty of that.

Let’s not do that. Just ease off the gas a little bit. God’s got a hold of them. Let them change by the grace that God gives. God took care of you when you were a new Christian. God’s got them.

Even with some of the premarital counseling that Sanja and I do, I’ve got to fight that temptation to get in there and fix everything. And point out every flaw. And point out every potential issue that they’ll struggle with. And in my better moments, I’ll stop and remember—did I have it all figured out when I got married? No! Did God take care of us? Yes. We had to grow in grace.

When you got saved, did you have it all together? No. I didn’t either. Give new converts a chance to grow by grace.

Now if someone’s been a Christian for fifteen years, and they don’t go to church, and they never crack open their Bibles, then that’s another matter.  

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So, Jesus plus legalism perverts the gospel. Jesus plus legalism burdens new converts. What happens next in verse 13 and following? 

Well we’ve heard from Peter. We’ve heard from Paul and Barnabas. We presumably have heard from the Judaizers, and they just got an apostolic smack-down from Peter. So now what? Well now we hear from James, Jesus’s half-brother, who has become one of the most prominent figures in the Jerusalem church. And that’s really quite shocking when you consider that James used to think his big brother Jesus was crazy (see Mark 3:21; John 7:5). James was not a big fan of his big brother’s messiahship until after Jesus’s death. 

But after Jesus’s death, and after he saw the resurrected Christ, James was transformed (see Acts 1:14; 1 Cor 15:7). And he became one of the strongest leaders in the early church.  

And it’s amazing here that he speaks after Peter. He gets the last word in all this. And maybe the Judaizers were like, “O yeah, now we’re going to get exonerated by James. This guy is a real Hebrew!” But what does James say? 

Look at verse 13. 

13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon 

I love that. James doesn’t call Peter “Peter” or “Simon” or “Cephas.” He uses the most Jewish form of his name that he possibly could. He calls him “Simeon” because he was named after Jacob’s son Simeon. Simeon was the second son born to Jacob, born to him by Leah.

Sanja and I will refer to Alastair as Alastair Benjamin Caffey. But when we want to emphasize his Croatian-ness, we call him Alastair Benjamin [pronounced Ben-ya-men]. That’s what James is doing here. He’s emphasizing Peter’s Hebrew-ness.  

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.’ 

James quotes here from Amos 9:11–12. He wanted to link the recent developments with the Gentiles with biblical revelation. In other words, he sought the Scriptures to discern what was happening. And in the Scriptures it says, “all the Gentiles who are called by my name” will seek the Lord. They’ll be a part of the kingdom that is restored when Christ returns. 

Sounds good. Everyone agrees at this point. But what about circumcision and the law?  

19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble [i.e., annoy] those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” 

Now here’s what James does. I want to be clear about this. James affirms everything that Peter and Paul have said. He agrees that Jesus plus legalism perverts the gospel. He agrees that Jesus plus legalism burdens new converts. He says as much in verse 19, 

… my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God,

But James is also concerned about the unity of the church. The legalism of the Jewish Christians will alienate the new Gentile believers. But if the Gentile believers fly off into license and assume that they can do whatever they want irrespective of their Jewish brothers and sisters, that’s going to alienate the Jewish segment of the church. Do you see the issue here? Do you see what James is trying to do? 

And so here’s what James does. He proposes a compromise. He suggests a solution that will protect the unity of the church. And it’s a good compromise between Jews and Gentiles. 

Here’s how the compromise works. James says essentially, “You Pharisaic Jews, quit hassling the Gentile converts about circumcision. You’re alienating them with your Jewish customs. You’re making Jewish customs necessary for salvation. That’s not necessary for salvation! Salvation is by grace alone, by faith alone, by Christ alone. So stop unfairly burdening them with your Jewish customs!” 

But he’s also saying this: “And as for you Gentile converts, don’t alienate your Jewish brothers by practicing certain Gentile customs… some which are blatantly sinful (e.g., sexual immorality). Here’s a list of things that we want you to abide in order to not alienate your Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ.” 

So let me summarize what James is doing with one simple statement—James is protecting the unity of the church. He’s telling both Jews and Gentiles, “Don’t let legalism or license sow discord and divisiveness in the church.”

Write this down as #3 in your notes. 1) Jesus plus legalism perverts the gospel. 2) Jesus plus legalism burdens new converts. Thirdly…

3) Jesus plus legalism or license hinders church unity (15:13–35)

Jesus plus legalism… or Jesus plus license [licentiousness if you will]… hinders church unity.  

Look at verse 22. Let’s finish this passage up. 

22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. 

In other words, “Forget those Judaizers that went to Antioch last time. Those guys weren’t from us. We’ll send some of our own people this time. People they can trust. Men that can speak for us.” 

They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 

By the way they didn’t send two idle men who were just sitting on the shelf. “Hey, let’s put these guys to work; they’ve got nothing to do.” That’s not what happened. And neither were they rogue agents operating outside the auspices of the church. They sent leaders. They sent disciplers. They sent capable, trustworthy men.

And they sent the following letter with them. Look at verse 23. Luke, as a good historian, records the actual document that was sent to Antioch. 

23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” 30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 

So just to be clear here, they are telling the church in Antioch, “You don’t have to be circumcised. Don’t worry what those previous guys have told you. They’re not with us. They’re rogue. They weren’t sent by church leaders.” 

“But we do want you to do the following… not for your salvation, but in order to maintain unity in the body of Christ: 1) abstain from food sacrificed to idols, 2) abstain from eating blood, 3) abstain from eating food that has been strangled, and 4) abstain from sexual immorality.” Abstain from these things not because your salvation depends on it, but because we want you to be free from those things that could jeopardize the unity of your church (e.g., the sin of sexual immorality and other stumbling blocks that are not necessarily sinful like food sacrificed to idols, strangled food, and blood).” 

Here’s the letter in a nutshell: “Jews stop hassling your Gentile brothers, and Gentiles don’t stumble your Jewish brothers.” “Don’t alienate one another with your customs! Protect the unity of the church!”  

Look at verse 31.

31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced 

I bet they rejoiced. You’d rejoiced too if you were a grown man who was worried about getting circumcised. The Gentiles in Antioch were sweating bullets until this letter arrived. No knives. No cutting. No pain and discomfort. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus.  

But they rejoiced not just because they weren’t getting circumcised. Look at verse 31 again.

31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 

Listen, when leaders lead… when leaders mediate and make tough decision… when leaders pray and deliberate and seek God for wisdom through a conflict and then finally adjudicate a matter… That’s something to rejoice in. That’s something to celebrate.

Can I just say something about this? We need leaders who have the guts to do things like this, even if it involves some conflict. Even if it involves some argumentation and some hurt feelings. Certainly there will be some who scoff when church leaders make tough decisions. Maybe there were some Judaizers here who never accepted this verdict from their leaders. 

In fact we know that the Judaizing continued. Paul fought against this his entire ministry, as well as other doctrinal errors. Paul also had to fight against people who thought they had a license to sin because of their faith in Christ. “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid” (Rom 6:1–2, KJV). 

When leaders lead and make tough decisions, it’s not always what people want to hear. But here, in Acts 15:31, the church in Antioch was encouraged. See that? There was clarity. There was doctrinal conviction. And there was also a compromise presented to protect the unity of the church. That’s good leadership. Bad leaders do nothing. Good leaders act and make tough decisions. And that’s good for the church. This church rejoiced when their leaders came to a decision.

Look at verse 32.

32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33 And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.

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So, last thoughts. Watch out for “old-school.” Watch out for legalism. Watch out for custom and ritual and traditionalism and “we’ve never done it that way before.” Watch out for people who try to add things to the gospel, and watch out for people who use their freedom in Christ as a license for sin or a license to stumble their brothers and hinder church unity.

1) Jesus plus legalism perverts the gospel (15:1–5)

2) Jesus plus legalism burdens new converts (15:6–12)

3) Jesus plus legalism or license hinders church unity (15:13–35)

 I’ll close with this. Here’s a great story told by Winston Churchill. A British family went out for a picnic by a lake. In the course of the afternoon their five year old son fell in the water. And none of the adults could swim. So as the child was bobbing up and down about to drown, and everyone on the shore was in an absolute panic. 

But just then, a person came by and saw the situation. And at significant risk to himself he dove in fully clothed and managed to rescue the child. And he presented him safe and sound to his mother. But instead of thanking the stranger for his heroic efforts, the mother snapped peevishly at the rescuer, “where’s Johnny’s cap?” Now she was probably in shock. But in all the commotion of this kid nearly drowning, the boy’s cap had gotten lost. And “instead of rejoicing in her son’s deliverance, the woman found something about which to be critical.”  

R. Kent Hughes says this about that story: “It is so easy for us to be like that woman – especially as we relate to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Somehow others are never quite right. There is always something more that is needed before they measure up. Such an attitude is not only bad for us – it is deadly for the church.” 

“O wow, Mrs. so-and-so got saved! But how can that be when she dresses like that?” “O wow, that guy got saved! But he needs to get his act together!” “How can those guys be saved when their children behave like that?” “How can that be when they vote for that party?” “How can that be when they spend their money on that… when they listen to that music… when they go to that church?”

Listen, listen. Legalism is so sneaky. It’s so subtle. And it can very easily take hold of our souls and leave vestiges of exclusivism and discrimination. And then we can miss opportunities to celebrate the greatest truth in the history of the world. God gives free, undeserved grace to a dying world. We don’t earn his grace. We’re all sinners saved by grace. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith…. it is the gift of God… not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:8–9). That’s the good news. That’s what we’ve got to protect. Don’t let “by grace alone, by faith alone, and by Christ alone” mutate into “Jesus plus legalism.”