Study #49: The church leadership debated whether Gentile Christians should be forced to follow the Law of Moses (15:1

Study #49: The church leadership debated whether Gentile Christians should be forced to follow the Law of Moses (15:1 - 12)

Acts, Chapter 2.1: The Jews of Asia Minor violently opposed the church-planting efforts of Paul and Barnabas among them (12:25 - 15:35)

§Complement Introduction: The Holy Spirit called Barnabas and Saul to plant churches among the Gentiles, and they began on Cyprus (12:25 - 13:12)

¶Opposite The Holy Spirit called Barnabas and Saul to work in the mission field (12:25 - 13:5)

¶Opposite Paul destroyed the spiritual influence of a false prophet on the leader of Cyprus (13:6 - 12)

§Complement Body: The hostility of the Jews in Asia Minor moved the missionary efforts of Paul and Barnabas toward the Gentiles (13:13 - 14:28)

¶Opposite Paul and Barnabas traveled to Antioch in Pisidia of Asia Minor to preach the Gospel in the synagogue of the Jews (13:13 - 25)

¶Opposite Paul boldly proclaimed Jesus Christ as the Risen Messiah of Israel to them (13:26 - 43)

¶Complement The hostility of the Jews in Antioch of Pisidia encouraged Paul and Barnabas to reach out to the Gentiles with the Gospel instead (13:44 - 52)

¶Complement The hostility of the Jews in Iconium eventually forced Paul and Barnabas to flee for their lives to Lystra and Derbe (14:1 - 7)

¶Unique After spending time with the new churches they had planted, Paul and Barnabas returned home to the church in Antioch (14:8 - 28)

§Unique Conclusion: The Apostles and elders held a council at Jerusalem to determine whether Gentile Christians should be circumcised (15:1 - 35)

¶Complement The church leadership debated whether Gentile Christians should be forced to follow the Law of Moses (15:1 - 12)

¶Complement The church at Antioch rejoiced to hear that Gentile Christians would not be forced to follow the Law of Moses (15:13 - 35)

All Bible quotations and the arrangement are found exclusively in the Kingdom Study Bible version, published by Jehovah Has Spoken Publishing Ministries.

It is published for free online at https://https://www.phibible.org/

We continue our study of Acts Chapter 2.1 with the first paragraph of the Conclusion Section.

The Bible text arranged according to the Golden Ratio design of two Opposites, two Complements, and one Unique (OO-CCU):

§Unique Conclusion: The Apostles and elders held a council at Jerusalem (15:1 - 35)

¶Complement The church leadership debated whether Gentile Christians should be forced to follow the Law of Moses (15:1 - 12)

Opposite And certain men who came down from Judea taught the brethren, saying, “Unless you are circumcised after the manner of Moses, you are not able to be truly saved.” Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain others of them, should go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and elders about this question.

Opposite And being brought on their way by the Assembly, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. And when they came to Jerusalem, they were received by the Assembly and the Apostles and elders; and they declared all things that God had done with them.

Complement But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying that it was necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.

Complement And the Apostles and elders came together to consider of this matter. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said to them, “Men, brethren: you know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the Word of the Gospel, and believe. And God, who knows the hearts, bore them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did unto us. And he put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why do you test God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we believe to be saved, even as they did.”

Unique Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had done among the Gentiles by them.

The Golden Ratio design explained: two Opposites, two Complements, and one Unique

Opposite The false teaching of some Christian Jews prompted the church at Antioch to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to determine the true doctrine

Opposite Paul and Barnabas traveled to Jerusalem, spreading the good news about their work among the Gentiles

Complement Certain Christians who were originally Pharisee Jews contended that the Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses

Complement Peter disagreed with them, saying that by faith through grace, we believe in order to be saved, excluding the Law of Moses

Unique Barnabas and Paul declared the miracles and wonders that God had done among the Gentiles by them

Comments: This part of the Bible (the Conclusion Section) is one of the most important in all of the Bible, because a proper understanding of it will correct many false teachings.

The question that started this council meeting was a false teaching by some of the Pharisees who had become Christians:

“Unless you are circumcised after the manner of Moses, you are not able to be truly saved.”

In other words, they were preaching a message similar to “Free Will Baptists”, “Pentecostals”, Charismatics, and some other groups: Yes, you must accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, but then YOU MUST ADD SOMETHING TO JESUS CHRIST in order to STAY SAVED; if you do not, then you will go to Hell, even though you have trusted in Christ.

Now this false teaching attacks the heart of the Gospel message that was taught by all of the Apostles, especially Paul. If you believe that you must do some kind of work in order to be saved, then you have cancelled the Finished Work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary! Now your salvation depends on YOU, and not on Jesus Christ.

It doesn’t matter what kind of work that it might be: baptism, church membership, be a good neighbor, don’t rob banks, help an old lady across the street, give your life for some great cause, IT DOES NOT MATTER. No work of any kind can wash away your sins, except the Finished Work of Jesus Christ on the cross!

The only thing that we can do to be saved, is to believe on Christ, who has finished the Work of Salvation on the cross, and has paid the ransom for our sins on Calvary about 2,000 years ago!

Look at these important Bible texts about the doctrine of Salvation:

Romans 3:21 - 26: “But now the righteousness of God apart from the Law is revealed (being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets): even the righteousness of God which is through faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference, because all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God; BEING JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE THROUGH THE REDEMPTION THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS; whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the passing over of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, so that God might be just, and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus.”

Romans 3:27 - 28: “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what Law? Of works? No, but by the Law of faith; therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law.”

Romans 4:1 - 3: “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to glory in. But not before God: for what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD; AND IT WAS COUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

“For by grace you have been permanently saved through faith; and that faith is not out of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of our own works, lest any man should boast” Ephesians 2:8-9

If you add ANYTHING (a religious ceremony, or a good work of any kind) to that Finished Work of Christ, then you are saying that JESUS IS NOT ENOUGH: I MUST DO SOMETHING TO MAKE SURE THAT I AM SAVED. That is a denial of the Gospel message, my friend!

It is not Jesus plus my works or plus my church that saves me; it is Jesus plus NOTHING! Our only responsibility is to BELIEVE, which includes to repent from sin, and to receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior (Romans 10:9-13).

Jesus paid it all! All to Him I owe! Sin had left a crimson stain, and He washed it white as snow! Amen!

Peter rebuked the false teaching of these Pharisee Christians: “But through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, WE BELIEVE TO BE SAVED.” Peter did not say, “We are baptized in order to be saved”, or “We join the church to be saved”, or “We do good works to be saved”; NO, BELIEVE ONLY IN CHRIST PLUS NOTHING.

It is true that once a person has been born again through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, God begins to transform that person into the image of Jesus in many ways; and that transformation will begin to manifest itself through good works. But the good works are the FRUIT of repentance and faith in Jesus, not the CAUSE, according to the Bible, which is very important. We will study this doctrine in more detail in the Letter to the Romans.

Now there are many groups that call themselves “Christian” that preach the Gospel, but they add some kind of condition to the salvation of Jesus: baptism, church membership, good works, speaking in tongues, and so on.

The Roman Catholic religion also adds conditions to the Gospel message: baptism, church membership, good works, extreme unction, etc. And even if you do all of these things, the pope cannot guarantee that you will enter Heaven when you die! Instead, the popes say that you will go to “Purgatory” to have your sins paid for with your own suffering. But this is a denial of the Gospel, because the suffering of Jesus on the cross has already paid for our sins! The Finished Work of Jesus on the cross is sufficient to cover every single sin!

Even worse, there is no such place as “Purgatory”! It is a lie that was invented by the Popes a way to raise money. Example: a Catholic dies; the Roman Catholic priest says to the family, “Your relative is in purgatory; but if you pay money for masses to be said, I can get him out of there.” They give money to the priest. Later, the priest comes back, and says, “Your relative is part of the way out of Purgatory; but if you give more money for me to say masses for him, I can get him out.”

Do you understand? It is a Satanic scam to cheat Roman Catholics out of their money and their souls! The Roman Catholic church is preaching a false Gospel that cannot save anyone, not even the popes!

When Pope John Paul II died, there were many Roman Catholic churches around the world that were saying masses to get him out of Purgatory; but since there is no such place as Purgatory, that means that Pope John Paul II is in Hell, because he did not go to Heaven! Otherwise, why try to get him out of Purgatory, if he is already in Heaven?

Other groups that preach a similar message to these Pharisee Christians include: “Free Will Baptists”, “Pentecostal”, “Charismatic”, and so on. I urge you to avoid these churches!

If you have joined one of these, I urge you to find an Independent, Fundamental Baptist church in your area, or start your own if you cannot find one. Contact me if you need assistance in this matter, please.

Also, there are many false religions that deny the Finished Work of Jesus 100%: Islam, Hindus, Buddhists, Shintos, Bahai, etc. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man comes to the Father, but by me” John 14:6. Any religion that denies that Jesus is the Son of God, and that the cross of Christ cannot save you will lead you into Hell, because there is no other Way to be saved, except through Christ and his Finished Work on the cross.

Now once the Council meeting started, the point of circumcision grew into a larger theological issue: “But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying that it was necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.” The issue wasn’t only about circumcision, but about whether Gentiles should follow the Law of Moses or not.

There are many cults and fringe sects, such as the “Worldwide Church of God”, the “Seventh Day Adventists”, and others, who insist that we must keep the Law of Moses in order to be saved. They worship on Saturday (the Sabbath) instead of Sunday, they celebrate the Passover and other Jewish holidays; and some even dress like Jews with a robe and a yarmulke on their head. Do these things make you a better Christian or a slave to false teachings? I believe that the answer is the latter.

We will address this question in more detail in the next Bible study.

“For by grace you have been permanently saved through faith; and that faith is not out of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of our own works, lest any man should boast” Ephesians 2:8-9

The only way to be saved is to repent and trust in Jesus Christ to save you! Acknowledge to God that you are a sinner, and have done many wicked things, because we all have.

The Bible says, “For all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23

Next, you must believe in Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God; and that He died on the cross to pay for your sins, and that He rose again from the dead on the third day.

Next, you must call upon the Name of Jesus Christ to save you. This is best done in private, with just you and God. Alternatively, a Christian friend can pray with you to assist you; but your prayer to God must be your prayer, and yours alone. No one can save you except Jesus!

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: No man comes to the Father, but by me”! John 14:6

You can be saved right now, and be saved eternally, if you know that you are a sinner; and that you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He died on the cross for YOUR SINS, and that God raised Him from the dead on the third day. Use this prayer as a model for your own:

“Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned against YOU. I am no good, and you are righteous! I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, you were buried, and you rose again from the dead on the third day. I want you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Please come into my heart right now. Forgive me for all my sins, and save my soul. In the mighty Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!”

If you have turned from your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and only Savior from sin, please message me through Facebook and let me know that you have done that, so that I can pray for you and rejoice with you in what God has done in your life. Amen.