In today's passage we find some of the Jewish Christians from Jerusalem informing the Gentile Christians at Antioch that they must observe particular points of the law including circumcision. It will take us more than one day to study Chapter 15, but a council will convened to debate the matter and, after speeches by the apostles on behalf of the Gentiles, it will be decided that it would be wrong to force laws on them that even the receivers of the law (the Jews) have been unable to keep perfectly. No human being, with the exception of Jesus Christ, has ever been perfect. Both Jews and Gentiles have failed to keep all the laws and commandments of God. This is why salvation is obtained by faith and not by works. Just as Abraham was credited with righteousness because of his faith in the Lord (Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:1-25) we too are saved not by our own righteousness but by our faith in the Lord's righteousness.
"Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: 'Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.'" (Acts 15:1) The believers of the Christian church at Jerusalem have accepted that God is willing to extend salvation to Gentiles. But now that the Gentiles have come to faith, the Jewish believers want them to keep the law. They want the Gentiles to become like them. But again we must use Abraham, the father of the Jews, to prove that salvation is by faith and not by circumcision or by the keeping of the law, "Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!" (Romans 4:9-10)
Abraham was saved by faith before he was circumcised and long before the law of Moses was ever given. The law was never intended to take the place of faith but was intended to accompany faith. The one who loved and believed in God would naturally try to keep the laws regarding his relationship to God and his relationship to his fellow man. But no one could perfectly keep the law and so sacrifices had to be made year after year. Finally, at the right time according to the will of God, Christ came and gave His life as a sacrifice so perfect and holy that it is able to cleanse us from our sins forever. Salvation by faith does not give us the right to be sinners and lawbreakers, but it extends grace and mercy to us when we repent and rely on the sacrifice of Christ to make us righteous in the sight of a holy God. The Gentiles, through their faith, have achieved the same righteousness that was accredited to Abraham by his faith. Now must they go backwards and attempt to gain righteousness by the law? No, for no man or woman can perfectly keep the law and obtain righteousness by it, and we will find the apostles strongly opposed to forcing the Gentiles into a system where they will soon be concentrating more on the keeping of rules rather than the building of a relationship with the Redeemer.
"This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question." (Acts 15:2) Imagine how upsetting this must have been to Paul and Barnabas who have so lovingly built and encouraged the church at Antioch. They have been preaching salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. The Gentiles have accepted Christ on faith and have become members of the family of God. Now these messengers from Jerusalem arrive and say something like, "You aren't really saved until you're circumcised. You aren't really saved unless you keep the law. What Christ did for you, and your faith in what Christ did for you, isn't enough."
As we continue tomorrow we will learn what the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter advise the Jerusalem council and we will find the Gentiles asked only to avoid several distasteful practices from their former mode of living. If pillars of the church such as Paul and Peter deny the need for the Gentiles to observe the law, who are we or anyone else to argue against them?
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