Acts 15-16
Devotion by Juliet Taylor (Tennessee)
Acts chapter 14 ended with teaching us that God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. In chapter 15, the disciples are met with a conundrum because some men from Judea were teaching that, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
I think it is good to remember that post Jesus’s accomplishments on the cross, most of the Jewish Christians were still behaving like Jews – they were still going to synagogues on the Sabbath, they were still preaching from the Old Testament (because that’s the scripture they had), and were still engaging in many of the activities that they learned from their culture that were good.
I don’t think that the Jewish Christians were ever told to stop “being Jewish.” But they were told to follow Christ, not Moses, when it came to doing God’s will. In the book of James, we read that they were instructed to follow the law of liberty, which I believe is in applying (doing) the New Covenant commandment to ‘love as Jesus loved’ to all aspects of our lives. He taught us how using several Old Covenant commandments in light of the New Covenant command of love. He learned how to do this from Jesus. Jesus taught in this way in his Sermon on the Mount (e.g., instead of murdering your brother, don’t even get angry with him).
I don’t think this means that we are to keep the Old Covenant commandments, nor even to do the things Jesus said to do (hear me out), AS LAW, that we must keep in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Rather, we are to seek God’s wisdom about a matter (such as with being angry with a brother), with the motivation that Jesus had to love the brother, in order to do what God wants us to do in the situation (God’s will) to save him.
Jesus’s words are wisdom for us, not law.
For example, there will be times when we are angry with our brother, and it will be righteous anger. We need to seek God’s wisdom to know when that is the case and what to do about it to save the brother (or the enemy). There’s much wisdom throughout the Bible on this topic. But there’s no specific law outlined for us to do under the New Covenant. We have the freedom/liberty to seek God’s wisdom in the matter to know what to do to help, and then are commanded to do it. For the most part, it will be what Jesus said to do.
Jesus says that, “if you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15) – but we must understand what they mean and how they will apply to the situations we get in in order to do them according to God’s will. We do this by reading scripture (OT) and the word (the gospel; NT) for God’s wisdom, and then by doing what he says by way of the urging of the Holy Spirit. You’ll see this in action throughout the book of Acts.
Read the rest of John 14 and remember from John 6 that the Spirit gives life. “If anyone loves me (Jesus), he will keep my word; and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). “But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:26).
There’s no law in the New Covenant about what commandments we must keep from the Old Covenant, as we’re not under it, but there is much wisdom we can learn about why God wants us to obey many of them (look at Jesus’s words to understand what he wants us to know and do). They (the commandments God wants us to know and do) are the things we should know about Yahweh God, his son Jesus, and how to love like Jesus in order to compel others to want what we want – God’s will to be done for our own good, because it will save us. It’s the Gospel.
The new knowledge the early Jewish Christians were learning (that they were no longer to separate themselves from Gentiles) was unfolding in many of the books of the New Testament for us to gain wisdom about. We get to see how they worked out this new revelation. We also get to refer to scripture from the Old Testament that prophesied about this.
*The wisdom of God will be found in the Bible, but the understanding of it, wisdom, we must seek by asking, by way of the Holy Spirit, so that we can do God’s will and not our own, for the good of all to save them.
Paul and Barnabas had a heated argument and debate with the teachers of the “circumcision to be saved” message (meaning it is okay, and good for us to debate to get to the truth). It was determined that they should go to Jerusalem to consult with the apostles and elders concerning this issue. On their way, they witnessed Gentile Christians who were doing well and bringing great joy to all of the brethren.
However, when they arrived in Jerusalem, some of the apostles and elders who were Pharisees but believed in Jesus, also said that the new Gentile converts must follow the Law of Moses and be circumcised to be saved. All the apostles and elders then came together to discuss the matter. After much debate, Peter gave a speech that I think reiterates what is needed to be a Christ follower. He said that God wanted the Gentiles to hear the word of the gospel and believe.
Whoever does God’s will according to the gospel will get a heart cleanse and receive the Holy Spirit (a connection with God through Christ, urging us to do God’s will (life) instead of following the urges of our flesh’s desire to do our own will (sin)). The receiving of the Holy Spirit was a great witness to the Jewish Christians of the truth in this matter.
Peter told those who would teach the Gentiles that salvation came by way of the Law of Moses that they were testing God. Don’t do this! We saw how it ended in Massah and Meribah when they tested God. Teaching the Gentiles to follow Moses via the Law of Moses was placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither their fathers, nor they were able to bear. Instead, believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus – all of us who enter the New Covenant through him.
Everyone listened silently as Barnabas and Paul relayed all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.
James, the brother of Jesus, and now head of the council in Jerusalem, confirmed what Peter said, drawing on Peter’s revelation from what God had foretold his people in scripture long ago (Acts 15:16-18; Amos 9:11-12). Therefore, it is his judgement that they should not trouble the Gentiles to keep the Law of Moses, but to abstain from things contaminated by idols, from acts of sexual immorality, from what has been strangled, and from blood. For Moses has been preached since ancient times in every city every Sabbath.
What does that mean? I think it means that James’s judgement is not to force the Gentile converts to keep the Law of Moses. But they should give the Gentiles some ordinances to help them live well among their new Jewish brethren in peace and in love.
These seemingly strange to us ordinances he gave were about the Gentile eating habits that could cause tension with Jews who would find it hard to eat with someone who ate meat they historically thought dishonored God. Gentiles were in the habit of eating meat sacrificed to idols, in horrific ways (involving sexual immorality and inhumane animal killing). Jews who heard the Law of Moses prohibiting such practices preached every Sabbath would find it hard to accept eating with a person engaging in that eating habit, though they are no longer yoked to separating themselves from Gentiles.
The church council is not creating laws that the Gentiles must follow in order to be saved. They are creating guidelines for them to follow to love their Jewish brethren, who may find it hard to stop segregating because of the Gentile eating habits.
After becoming of one mind on the matter, Paul and Barnabus were sent to the Antioch church with a letter to tell them about their judgement, along with select men who had risked their lives for the name of the Lord to reiterate these things by word of mouth. They were taking great care to help the new converts and Jewish brethren to understand why they came up with this judgement, which is also said to have come about by way of the Holy Spirit’s urging (Acts 15:28). It’s about loving God and loving people, helping them to live well with this change of lifestyle to stop segregation between Jew and Gentile under the New Covenant. The people in Antioch rejoiced because of the letter’s encouragement.
Chapter 16
In chapter 16, we find Paul’s missionary journey continuing. He and his companions were letting their journey to spread the gospel be led by the Holy Spirit. He did something seemingly contradictory to Timothy, but I think it was done with the same intention that the council had when providing Gentiles with ordinances to keep the peace in love at mealtime without segregation.
Paul circumcised Timothy so that the Jews would initially accept him as the word of the Lord was preached, particularly the part of the good news that the council came up with to be sure the Jews wouldn’t put a heavy yoke on the Gentiles, while also helping the Gentiles to be loving with their eating practices to help the Jews stop segregation. It was likely a wise, loving thing to do to aid in the spreading of the gospel, urged by the spirit. As they did this, the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were growing daily.
They continued to let the Holy Spirit lead them on their journey. It prohibited them from speaking the word in Asia and a few other places. It led them through a night vision to Macedonia. As a result of doing this, they met a worshipper of God who opened her heart to respond to the things taught. Her response was to pay for their journey to continue spreading the gospel.
They ran into some hiccups along the way, like being beaten and thrown into prison in chains, but this unjust trial was a blessing in disguise. While in prison, they prayed and sang hymns of praise to God while all of the other prisoners listened. An earthquake threatened the life of a jailer, as it unchained all of the prisoners. He was about to commit suicide, assuming he had failed his job by allowing prisoners to escape, but none tried (likely urged to stay put by way of the Holy Spirit). Instead of committing suicide, he asked them how to be saved (I’m sure all of the other prisoners were saved that day too!).
This is what our lives should be about; Saving lives, no matter our circumstance, by following the urging of the Holy Spirit to do God’s will instead of our own, because we desire for them to enter the Kingdom of God.
Paul told the jailer that to be saved, he must believe in the Lord Jesus. He spoke the word of God to him and all who were in his house, and they were baptized. The jailer’s response was to take care of his new Christian brethren, inviting them into his home, washing their wounds, giving them food, and rejoicing because he and his whole household were now believers in God by way of Jesus. What a response!
When day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers to release Paul and his companions secretly. But Paul told them no because they were unlawfully beaten in public without due process, and they were Roman citizens, which frightened the magistrates (because they would have consequences for doing that to Roman citizens). They agreed to being led out of jail and followed their urging to leave the city. They went to Lydia’s home, where they were encouraged (likely with money for their journey), and then went on their way. I think all of this was orchestrated by the leading of the Holy Spirit to do God’s will. What do you think?
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Are Jesus’s words wisdom or law? What are Jesus’s commandments that we must keep?
2. When the church was planted in Antioch, the disciples went to great lengths to help them succeed. How can we be as proactive with the churches we plant?
3. How do you think the Holy Spirit led Paul and his companions? We know it was through a night vision to find Lydia. How else do you think the Holy Spirit led them?
Seek Grow Love 