Sermon Idea: Gospel clarity and gospel unity are vital for the sake of gospel mission.
Introduction: How important is church unity in Scripture? What are the powerful effects of unity in the body of Christ? There are two passages that answer these questions and shed light on the importance of Acts 15 for the early church and its mission.
The first passage is John 17, where Jesus prays for his disciples and also for those who would later believe in his name. He prays that the disciples would be one, or unified, and he does so for a particular reason.
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (Jn 17:20–21)
In case you’ve never thought about it, this is a clear Scriptural example of Jesus praying for you. How encouraging is that?! What I want you to see here is that Jesus prays for unity, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. A unified church is a testimony to the world that the gospel is true, real, and good. A lack of unity then would hurt the church’s gospel testimony.
The second passage is from Ephesians 3:10-11, where Paul says that God created one people in Jesus Christ out of Jews and Gentiles, in accordance with God’s eternal plan to demonstrate God’s wisdom.
10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord (Eph 3:10–11)
What is Paul saying here? The unity of the church is a living demonstration of the wisdom of God, putting the evil rulers and authorities in the heavenly places on notice that their way of division and hostility will not win the day.
Unity seems to be a very important concept in the Scriptures, and I share those passages because they help us understand what is at stake in Acts 15.
As we have seen since chapter 10, the gospel has been spreading to the ends of the earth, and Gentiles are being saved. They believe that Jesus is the Christ, receive the Holy Spirit, are baptized, and gathered into churches. The more Gentiles get saved, the more some begin to ask questions: must the Gentiles be circumcised, keep the food laws, etc? What does it mean for the Gentiles to be “saved,” and how are they saved?
If the tension that arises in Acts 15 is not resolved, the gospel will be confused, the church’s testimony will be tainted, and the church’s mission will be compromised.
In his excellent commentary on Acts, Patrick Schreiner writes, “The Jerusalem Council is not only about the church deciding theological disputes but about the mission of the triune God. A divided church is a missionless church.”
What I want us to see in Acts 15 is that gospel clarity and gospel unity are vital for the sake of gospel mission. To do that, we’ll see four themes in Acts 15: gospel confusion, gospel clarity, gospel unity, and gospel mission.
I.) Gospel Confusion (Acts 15:1-7)
The gospel confusion stems from some men from Judea who, as we learn in 24, are acting on their own and were not sent by the church in Jerusalem. Look at verse 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.” (Acts 15:1)
This is no small disagreement. To make the Gentiles get circumcised according to the law is to subject them to the entirety of the law as a means of salvation. It is to say that salvation comes not through Jesus, but through one’s obedience to the law.
Paul and Barnabas strongly object to this. Notice the language that is used in verse two.
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. (Ac 15:2)
Not every topic is worthy of drawing us into debate. Not every point of disagreement should cause us to break fellowship, but there are some essential truths that must never be compromised. The gospel of Jesus Christ is one of those essential truths. In fact, it is the essential truth of Scripture that has no rival in terms of importance.
When Paul speaks of the gospel in 1 Corinthians, he calls it a matter of first importance.
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved…3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Co 15:1–4)
What is the danger of being confused about the gospel? Perhaps we could save many things, but most fundamentally, we can say that the gospel confusion distorts how sinners can be made right with God and with one another.
The particular confusion here risks minimizing the finished work of Jesus on the cross, so that Jesus simply is not enough to save. As Paul teaches us in Galatians 2:21, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Ga 2:21)
It is good and right that Paul and Barnabas would not allow these men to teach a false gospel. It is good and right for pastors and churches to be clear about the truth of the gospel and to refute any attempt to confuse the gospel.
The need to preserve the gospel is more urgent than you may realize. It doesn’t take long for it to be lost. D.A. Carson has often been quoted as saying that it only takes three generations to lose the gospel. The first generation believes the gospel, the second generation assumes the gospel, and the third loses the gospel.
The gospel, becasue it is of first importance, must never be assumed. It must always be believed, cherished, passed down, and preserved. One way we can do that as members of Waldo is to teach and be united in our confession of faith. Did you know there is an article in our confession dedicated to the way of salvation?
We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace; through the Mediatorial offices of the Son of God; who by the appointment of the Father freely took upon him our nature, yet without sin; honored the divine law by his personal obedience, and by his death made a full atonement for our sins; that having risen from the dead, he is now enthroned in heaven; and uniting in his wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfections, he is every way qualified to be a suitable, a compassionate, and an all- sufficient Saviour. – New Hampshire Baptist Confession, Article IV: Of the Way of Salvation
Although Paul and Barnabas debated with these false teachers, the church in Antioch wanted the church in Jerusalem to speak into the controversy, so they sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem.
When they arrive in Jerusalem, they learn that this gospel confusion was believed by more than the small, select few who had visited Antioch. As they told the church in Jerusalem all that God had done, a group of believing Pharisees claimed the Gentiles had to obey the law of Moses.
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.” (Ac 15:4–5)
II.) Gospel Clarity (Acts 15:6-21)
The debate continues until Peter steps forward, hoping to persuade the undecided with a recounting of his own experience. Do you remember when God gave Peter a vision in Acts 10, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat,” and then Peter traveled to the house of a Gentile named Cornelius and preached the gospel? That’s what Peter references in verses 7-9. Look with me there.
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 (Ac 15:7–9)
The strength of Peter’s point is that God is the subject of every point:
God made a choice
God bore witness to them
God gave them (Gentiles) the Holy Spirit
God made no distinction between Jew and Gentile
God cleaned their hearts by faith.
These points are given to support the powerful gospel clarity that Peter provides in verses 10-11.
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.” (Ac 15:10–11)
Gospel clarity comes when Peter says that both Jews and Gentiles are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus. This is the good news of the gospel—God saves us, not becasue of our works, but becasue of the works of another: Jesus Christ.
Grace is God’s unmerited favor poured out on all who believe in Jesus through faith. To say that it is unmerited is to say that it is not earned or deserved. As sinners, we deserved judgment, but becasue Jesus took our judgment on the cross, what we receive is grace—the unmerited favor of God based solely on the finished work of Jesus Christ. This is the message repeated throughout the New Testament.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. (Ro 3:23–25)
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. (Ga 2:16)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8–9)
And when, before the throne,
I stand in Him complete,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
My lips shall still repeat
Peter first argues from his experience. That experience is true, but the best argument presented comes from the Scriptures. James steps forward and, with an open Bible, proves that Peter’s experience is consistent with God’s Word. He reads from the prophets, primarily from Amos 9:11-12.
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.’ (Ac 15:14–18)
I don’t want to get lost in the weeds, as I am known to do, so I just want to briefly summarize how James is reading the prophets.
The resurrection of Jesus and the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost are how God is restoring the tent of David. Israel is being restored in the sending of the Spirit and the spread of the gospel throughout Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. According to Amos, God will do this so that the Gentiles will be called by God’s name.
James reads Amos 9 to prove that Gentiles being included in the people of God was God’s plan all along.
What solves this tension and silences those who have confused the gospel is God’s work to keep his promises as found in Holy Scripture. It is the Bible that confirms what they’re experiencing. The Bible is the authority over the experiences.
Peter and James make a good case for why Gentiles can be part of the people of God. They are saved by grace through faith and do not need to submit to the law of Moses.
What is important to see is that while the Gentiles do not have to become Jews, they can no longer be pagan idolaters.
19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble 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.” (Ac 15:19–21)
- Abstain from things polluted by idols
- Sexual immorality
- Things strangled from blood.
The gospel is of grace, but that grace is the grace to change. It is right for the church to require repentance from the Gentiles. Pagan idolatry does not honor God and will hurt their fellowship with Jewish followers of Jesus.
It is right for us to call people who want to follow Jesus to repentance. The idolatry of hearts and our comfort with the sinful culture in which we live must be laid at the foot of Jesus, for we serve a new master— the one true and living God.
9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Th 1:8–10)
Now that the decision has been clarified, they send Paul and Barnabas back to Antioch to report the decision.
III.) Gospel Unity (Acts 15:22-29)
The first mark of unity we see is that it is not a select few in Jerusalem, but the whole church, that agrees that Gentiles are saved by faith.
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. (Ac 15:22)
This unity is reaffirmed by the letter, especially in verses 24-25.
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 name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ac 15:24–26)
In verses 28-29, the requirements are listed again.
What makes this decision and its relation to Acts so important is that it establishes unity in the gospel: they are saved by grace alone. Yet, it also implores the Gentiles to love the Jewish believers by abstaining from pagan practices that would be offensive to them and would harm their fellowship together.
The Jews are going to practice the faith differently from the Gentiles, but they are to love and understand each other. They are united in the gospel of Christ, and so they can differ in the nonessentials.
This unity doesn’t happen overnight. The New Testament letters bear witness to that, but in them all there is a call to gospel unity as the people of God.
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph 4:1–3)
5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. (Ro 15:5–7)
The result of the letter produces joy in the church and the continual spread of the gospel.
IV.) Gospel Mission (Acts 15:30-35)
30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 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. (Ac 15:30–35)
Gospel clarity and gospel unity are vital for the sake of gospel mission. Let’s imagine for a moment that this tension is not resolved. What happens? We don’t get the fruitfulness of the rest of Acts. This gospel clarity and unity fuel the evangelism, disciple-making, and church planting we see throughout the rest of the book.
(Share the gospel clearly and give an invitation)
Nathaniel R. Martin 