Council at Jerusalem - Acts 15

15 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.” ² 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.

This is the first church theological dispute.  Up until now, there had been no disputes as the church was in the Spirit.  Notice the absence of this language which has been so prevalent in this book of Acts until now.  Paul and Barnabas are in Antioch, which could be considered the center of the Christian church at this time having replaced the first one in Jerusalem after the persecution and fleeing of the disciples to Judea and Samaria. 

What is the disagreement?  The disagreement is that those who become believers must be circumcised and live according to the law of Moses.  Otherwise, they can’t be saved.  Many of the church in Jerusalem are Pharisees and they do not intend to give up living according to the Mosaic law.  But they error in believing that it is necessary for salvation.  This is a return to a society of salvation by works which they all knew and had lived within their whole lives.  The issue is law versus grace.  Paul will write clearly about this in his letters, but he hasn’t written those letters yet.  But the Antioch church sends Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to teach them what they’ve seen, which is gentiles believing and receiving the Holy Spirit.  Neither of which had anything to do with being circumcised or living according to the law of Moses.

Paul and Barnabas were brought into “sharp dispute and debate” over this.  In other words, Paul and Barnabas were very against this living per the law.  Paul, as Saul, knew that system perfectly and had lived by the law perfectly and had not been saved, but had been saved only through confrontation with Jesus.  Both had witnessed Gentiles being saved only through Jesus.  So, they were strongly opposed to this position of salvation through works and living by the law.

In fact, Paul will write to the Galatians concerning this very matter with strong language.  He begins chapter 3 this way, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.  I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?  Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” (v 1-3).  As we can tell from this, Paul and Barnabas were probably very spirited in their opposition in this debate in the church.

It’s important to note that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a debate.  This is a known fact.  Today, many people would start there and debate that Jesus didn’t live or was just a man.  Certainly, He didn’t die for our sins they would contest, if you could get someone to understand their own sin since our society tells everyone that everything is okay.  Too many people had witnessed the life, death, and resurrected Jesus.  Paul writes that over 500 people had seen Him as resurrected! 

This debate is over what the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus meant.  What did it do for you?  Was it adequate or did you need to go through some kind of ritual or something else to be saved?  Must you go through the law?

Again, Paul writes about this extensively in the letter to the Galatians.  In Galatians 2:15-16 he says, “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles ¹⁶ know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.”  He says our only justification is our faith in Jesus Christ.  It is found nowhere else and in nothing else. 

Is your faith only in Jesus?  Or are you counting on your being a good and nice person and the "good" things you do to give you some credit in heaven?  If you aren't solely depending upon the work of Jesus through His life, resurrection, and ascension then you have a misplaced faith.  It is Jesus or nothing.