The Jerusalem Council - Works Salvation Came into the Church - Part 3

Please take your Bible and turn back to Acts chapter 15. We are still in these verses that we have been in for a couple of weeks, verses 19 to 35. We'll finish those up. But for two weeks, we have been here in chapter 15 in this portion of scripture. And what I believe is the most important chapter in the book of Acts, truly the turning point in the book of Acts. Chapter 15 is the most important chapter because here at what is commonly called the Jerusalem Council, the church settled once and for all the most important question of all questions. What must a man do to be made right with God?

And chapter 15 is also this watershed chapter because the decisions made at the Jerusalem Council solidified completely if the church should make an adherence to any part of the law of Moses and Jewish tradition and ritual as necessary for salvation. The church and its leaders determined once and for all if they were going to preach the gospel of grace or if they were going to preach a gospel of works. And as we will see the decisions here, the determinations that were made here in the council became the standard for church leadership from this point on. And of course the false teachers, they became known as the Judaizers and others.

They brought this false teaching into the church and they hounded the church, they hounded the apostle Paul, they hounded sound teaching really from this point all the way through the New Testament. But before the Jerusalem Council, Paul and Barnabas had just completed their first missionary journey. Of course they were sent out by their home church, the church in Antioch.

They preached the gospel across the island of Cyprus and into the mainland, into the region of Galatia where many believed in spite of strong persecution from the Jews and along the way they established churches and they strengthened the believers and they even appointed elders in those churches. And when they returned to Antioch, they reported how God had opened up the door of faith to the Gentiles, which I believe caused a great celebration. And we know that this fueled their great commission zeal. However, this great commission zeal, and I use the word momentum 'cause they had momentum, their great commission momentum was threatened.

In Acts 15, Satan attacked the church, not through persecution though, but by targeting the heart and the power of the gospel itself by trying to add works to salvation. And this led to a great dispute that halted further great commission efforts and this led to the Jerusalem Council where the early church and its leaders were forced to answer the life and death question. What must a man, what must a person, what must a woman do to be made right with God? And think about it, their answer would preserve the true gospel and shape the future of the church.

And we have seen how this dispute was fueled by the deep spiritual and cultural tensions that were very, very real. Because of Paul's, Barnumus' gospel success, there were many Gentiles that came into the church. This disturbed many Jews because they believed Gentiles should first become Jewish proselytes since they saw Christianity as the completion of Judaism. And these Jews struggled to accept that pagans could believe in Jesus and become equal with them without becoming Jewish. Having served God for generations, this seemed unfair and even insulting to them.

And they even feared that the Gentile influence would corrupt and destroy their culture and their traditions and their Jewish values. So notice, Satan took advantage of this dispute. He took advantage of this circumstance and he energized certain Jews to bring the law of Moses into the church, teaching that adherence to Jewish laws, certain Jewish rituals and traditions were necessary for salvation. Simply put, Satan moved this group, they became known as the Judaizers, to add works to salvation. This led to this first church council where the church was forced to clearly answer what a person must do to be made right with God.

Now, notice what we have here in the verses. This is a little bigger breakdown than we have been working with. Here in verses one to 21, we have what is commonly called the Jerusalem Council. It's probably a heading in your Bible that says something like that, the Jerusalem Council. Then from verses 22 to 35, we have the results of what took place, the result of the council. But remember how we've been dividing the verses. This is the outline we've been working with and we will finish up with tonight. First, we see the dispute. This was in verses one to five.

Second, the debates and the defense of the positions that came to the surface, verses six to 18. We covered those in the last two sermons and messages. Then third, the decisions are the determinations that were made by the leaders. And notice it was the apostles, the elders, and then ultimately the church. Verses 19 to 29. Fourth, we have the dissemination of those decisions out of the council and the church. And this went to the churches ultimately in verse 30 to 35. But let me quickly touch on the dispute at hand and the debates and the defenses offered 'cause this all flows together and this will allow us to flow into the new material.

Number one, the dispute, verses one to five. Simply a dispute arose in the church at Antioch when men from Judea came teaching the brothers that it was not enough to repent and believe the gospel to be saved. But that they must also be circumcised and put themselves under certain parts of the law of Moses. This was a corruption and a corrupting doctrine brought into the church as they were adding law keeping to grace and works to grace. Paul and Barnabas strongly opposed this by confronting and debating them fiercely.

For the truth and the spiritual well-being of the church, knowing that this teaching could divide the church between Jew and Gentile, knowing that this could potentially destroy the gospel and the work of the church. Because the division was so great, the church in Antioch, Saint Paul, Barnabas and others, to Jerusalem, to the mother church, to bring this matter before the apostles and the elders there in Jerusalem. There the issue was discussed publicly, revealing different groups within the debate. First, those who believed in a workspace gospel, this was no gospel at all, never is.

Second, those who believed the true gospel, they were born again, but they were still bound in their conscience to certain aspects of the law. And then third, those who were Christian, but they were fully free from it all. I love what William McDonald says here, highlighting the dangers the church faced. And I'm quoting, "This, of course, was a frontal attack on the gospel of the grace of God. The true gospel of grace teaches that Christ finished the work necessary for salvation on the cross. The moment human merit or works are introduced, then it is no longer of grace. Under grace all depends on God and not men.

If conditions are attached, then it is no longer a gift but a debt, and salvation is a gift. It is not earned or merited, we could say, or worked for. Then the defense, verses six to 18, this dispute was first handled by the apostles and the elders, and then it was brought before the whole church. After much debate, the apostle Peter stood up and reminded them that God had already shown in the past that Gentiles were saved by grace through faith as they heard the gospel, they believed the gospel, and they received the Holy Spirit. As a result, they were cleansed from their sin apart from keeping the law.

And Peter warned them not to test God by placing a burden on the Gentiles that even the Jews had never been able to bear, declaring that all are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Barnabas, Paul and Barnabas, they reported what God had done in them and through them, through their ministry, we know as the first missionary journey, showing that Gentiles were saved by grace through faith and that God confirmed this through all the signs and wonders.

And then finally James, finally James stepped forward, James agreed with this position and he showed that it was in agreement with the Old Testament, pointing to the prophets to show that God would call a people from the Gentiles. And together, notice, their defense made clear that salvation was and is by grace through faith alone and that this truth must be guarded for the church to continue its great commission mission.

So at this point, we have seen the attack on the heart and the power of the gospel and the dispute, the fight, the division that came about, and we have seen the defense of the true gospel of grace and opposition to a gospel of works, which is never any gospel at all. Now, we see the next step in the proceedings of the council. Number three, the decision, the decision, verses 19 to 29. Let's read those verses. James is speaking here, verse 19.

Therefore, my judgment, the King James says statement, is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but we 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. For from ancient generations, Moses has been in every city, those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues. Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders with the whole church to choose men from among them and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.

They sent Judas called Bar-Sabbas and Silas leading men among the brothers with the following letter. Notice this in quotations, it's a letter. The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 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, it has seemed good for us having come to one accord to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourself from these things, you will do well, fair well, which is the conclusion of the letter. Now think back to what got us right here to this decision.

First, the apostle Peter made his position known and he gave his defense simply that through his ministry, the Gentiles had come to saving faith apart from any law keeping. Next, Paul and Barnabas did the same thing. They explained that through their missionary travels, the Gentiles had come to saving faith apart from any law keeping. Then James made his position known and he gave his defense, but James did not go to personal experience. He went to the Old Testament, specifically the prophet Amos. And here in verse 19, we see that James gave his judgment.

The King James says sentence, but this does not mean that he imposed his decision and position upon the entire council. We see that after he gave his position, the apostles, that would be the other apostles, the elders, any church leader, and the whole church agreed. Look at verse 22. Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders with the whole church to choose men from among them to send them to Antioch and the other churches with their position, you see? So notice the corporate nature of this decision. The apostle Peter gave his position, Paul and Barnabas did as well, then James, who was the leader of the church at Jerusalem.

You may not realize it, but chapter 12 verse 17 alludes to that. James, who was the leader of the church at Jerusalem, gave his position. Then we see all the other apostles, all the other elders who were there, maybe some from Antioch, some from Jerusalem, and the entire church was in agreement with this position. Now notice the lessons that are here. What a great lesson on unity here. They didn't make any of these decisions with some group disagreeing. No, they were totally unified. And these were very, very serious decisions. And notice this is a lesson on unity when the leaders are leading out on certain major subjects and issues.

The leaders met privately. The leaders dealt with these things before they brought them to the congregation. So there's a lesson here with the congregation trusting the leaders to do the work on the front end. Then notice this lesson on trust between the congregation and the leaders, the leaders and the congregation. There's quite a lot we can learn there. But here it is in verse 19. The decision based on all the testimonies, James, who was the head pastor of the church there, he says we should not trouble the Gentiles turning to God for saving faith with law keeping. Listen to the Amplified.

"Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble "and make it difficult for those who were turning to God "among the Gentiles by putting obstacles in their way." James McDonald says here, and I'm quoting, "James cautioned against troubling the Gentiles "by putting them under the law of Moses. "As far as salvation is concerned, "all that was needed was faith." But notice, James didn't stop there in his leadership. After this so theological debate and divide was settled, James then moved to giving them some very practical and serious instructions to go along with this position. He gave them what I see as two commands and two convictions.

This can be confusing for some, but it's really rather simple. So let's look at the commands and the convictions. Let's go back to what he said in verse 19 and 20. "Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble "those of the Gentiles who turn to God, "but should write to them to abstain from things "polluted by idols and from sexual immorality." Let me back up. "But we should write to them to abstain "from things polluted by idols and from sexual immorality "and from what has been strangled and from blood.

"For from ancient generations, "Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, "for he has read every Sabbath in the synagogues." Now, let's look at the commands and the convictions. First the commands. Notice the command to abstain from idolatry. Now this speaks of anything that is connected with the worship of idols and especially foods that were offered up to the pagan gods and then sold through those pagan temples to be eaten among the people. And idolatry was very prevalent among the Gentiles, but idolatry was seriously offensive and blasphemous to the Jews.

As a matter of fact, the Old Testament was and is full of commandments against and warnings about idolatry. Now look at their Jewish past. This was a problem that haunted their past. These were some grievous skeletons in their closet. Their forefathers had fallen into idolatry which led to their judgment and the destruction of the nation. First Corinthians, excuse me, second King, 17, seven to 18, second Chronicles, 36, 14 to 16, speak of their past idolatry. But then look at the church's future. This was a problem that would haunt and dog the church in the future.

The early church was plagued by idolatry because so many in these churches were surrounded by such an idolatrous culture and people. And when Gentile idol worshipers were saved, they had a tendency to bring those temptations, those spiritual strongholds, those tendencies towards idolatry into the church. That's what Paul is addressing in First Corinthians chapter eight and chapter 10. So what is the point? James called them to adhere to a command here. He called them to abstain from any and all things related to idolatry, especially foods. Second command, to abstain from immorality.

Now this is obvious, sexual immorality as it reads in our modern translations. The King James uses the word fornication. Now this refers to sexual sin of any kind outside of marriage. It's simple. Sexual immorality refers to any kind of sexual sin outside of the bounds of marriage. But James was more specific. He was, especially speaking of sexual sins associated with idol worship. Simply the worship of pagan idols that was so prevalent among the Gentiles also consisted of all sorts of sexual sins, all kinds of sexual perversions. As a matter of fact, if you do some study, you're gonna run across scholars that point to these sexual orgies.

As MacArthur puts it, and I'm quoting, "Elicid sex was an integral part "of the pagan Gentile worship. "Temple priestesses were often little more than prostitutes." So what's the point? James called them to adhere to a command here. He called them to abstain from any and all sexual immorality. But now the convictions. Second, the convictions. The first conviction. The conviction to abstain from what has been strangled. Now this would have been strange to the Gentiles but oh so familiar to the Jews. Here James was referring to the Jewish dietary laws as seen in the Old Testament. But a question.

Was James freeing the Gentiles from one law, circumcision, only to bind them to another law? Was James exchanging one form of legalism for another? Think about that. The next conviction. The conviction to abstain from blood. Again, this would have been strange to the Gentiles but oh so familiar to the Jews. Again here James is referring to the Jewish dietary laws seen all throughout the Old Testament. You can go study those on your own. But again, a question. The same questions. Was James freeing the Gentiles from one form of the law only to bind them to another form of the law? Was James exchanging one form of legalism for another?

We could kind of think that's the case. But James was not imposing Jewish law keeping on the Gentiles. But he was calling them to live by certain convictions that would promote godliness and holiness within their lives and it would promote unity and oneness within the churches. Let me repeat that and I will explain. James was not imposing Jewish law keeping on the Gentiles and the churches. But he was calling them to live by certain convictions that would promote godliness and holiness within their lives and this would promote unity and oneness among them in the churches.

Now let's take a step back from the verses and I want us to see what James is doing here and I think this will fill in any blanks for you. You see the doctrinal debate brought into the church by the Judaizers was settled. They determined that adherence to the law, that adherence to Jewish rituals and traditions, those things were not necessary for salvation. Man was saved by grace alone. This literal life and death threat to their soteriology was settled. No works were to be added to salvation. Men were saved by grace through faith and nothing else. Peter, Paul and Barnabas, James proposed this position.

They defended their position and the entire Jerusalem Council and the church agreed. They were unified. But here James was giving them these commands and convictions which pertained to living out this faith practically in the life of the local church. The Gentiles were coming into the church right beside the Jews and James was calling them all Jew and Gentile, Gentile and Jew to live by certain commands and convictions which would not violate their own consciences or the consciences of others, therefore hindering and dividing the fellowship, therefore hindering the unity and the oneness of the church.

These commands and convictions were meant to help them live out the doctrinal decisions and positions they had established. And notice how the entire church and all the leaders accepted this position, these commands, these convictions. Verse 22 says the whole church accepted it. They all accepted it. Simply the entire church, all the leaders were unified in all of these things. Now I know this will take some time but I think it is good that we look a bit deeper at how these commands and convictions were flashed out. Again, this will fill in some blanks for you. Remember that these New Testament churches were very, very small in number.

And the only meeting places that were really available to them would have been their homes. Of course the exception to that would have been the Jerusalem church. We know they met in homes but we do know they congregated at the temple in large groups in the large setting as mentioned that they assembled in Solomon's Portico. But these churches were small churches that assembled in homes and sharing meals together were very common and living their lives in their faith in very close proximity. That was very, very common. And remember, these were Jews and Gentiles coming in together.

Well if the Gentile believers brought or served food that was considered unclean to the Jews, that would have caused difficulties in the matters of their conscience and potentially caused a division. Paul deals with this kind of thing extensively in Romans 12, excuse me, Romans 14 and 15. And if we think about it, we could say that this position called for the Gentiles to make most of the concessions but that was not the case. On the flip side, the Jewish believers were not to press the Gentiles into any of their Jewish convictions either.

If the Jews brought any of those Sabbath day regulations, food restrictions, or any other Jewish rituals and traditions into the church, that would have caused difficulties in the matters of conscience for the Gentiles and potentially caused division the other way. Again, Paul dealt with all of this extensively in Romans 14 and 15. I love what Warren Wiersby says here and I'm quoting him. He says, "It is beautiful to see that this letter expressed "the loving unity of people who had once been debating "with each other and defending opposing views.

"The legalistic Jews willingly gave up insisting "that Gentiles had to be circumcised to be saved "and the Gentiles willingly accepted a change "in their eating habits. "It was a loving compromise that did not in any way "affect the truth of the gospel." So we've seen the decision it was made in verse 19. Then these differences were addressed in verse 20 and 21, with the commands, with the convictions that were set forth. And this was a lot deeper than you realize probably. But last we see the determination made the game plan that was set down. So third, the determination, verse 22 to 29. I will not read all of it.

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders with the whole church. This is at Jerusalem now. To choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, they sent Judas, called Bursabas and Silas, leading men among the brothers with the following letter. And notice the letter was to go to Antioch and to other churches. It was to be assimilated among these other Gentile churches. Now I will not take very long here 'cause this is real simple. The theological debate in the division was settled. The commands were given, the convictions were given, those things were accepted.

The next step was for the Jerusalem Council to send these decisions and determinations to the church at Antioch and then ultimately to the other churches. So the apostles, the elders, the whole church, they chose these men, they sent them back to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, and notice the content of the letter that was sent. And this is simple. This letter explained the council's decision. The soteriological divide was laid to rest. Salvation was of grace and grace alone, and they called them to adhere to two commands and all the churches, two convictions and all the churches for the overall health, holiness, and unity of the church.

So here in verses 19 to 29, we really have quite a lot, maybe more than you realize, the doctrinal debate was decided, the theological position was settled, the Judaizers were kicked out. The differences among the Jews and the Gentiles that had the potential to cause problems, those were addressed, so the determination was made and word, a letter was sent out. Now in making some application and teaching for us, I wanna refer to three things Warren Wiersby says that came out of this work. I'm really borrowing what he said, I put it all in my words.

First, the decisions made by the apostles, the elders and the church, strengthened the unity of the church, and it kept the church from splitting into two extreme groups, the law group and the grace group. Let me repeat that. The decisions made by the apostles, elders and the church, the council, strengthened the unity, the oneness in the church, and it kept the church from splitting into two churches, two extreme groups, the law group and the grace group. You do realize that could have happened. There's a lesson here. We will always have some who wanna bring law keeping into the church, always.

And we'll always have some who wanna bring grace up into the church. And some in both camps can be born again, true believers now, and they can mean well with their positions. I'll give you an example. I say this from time to time because it is a potential problem. There are some who are home schoolers and there are some who are not. I say this regularly, I am for home schooling, private schooling, public schooling, whatever the Lord leads you to do, we could be in a country or a culture or a place where you really only had one option. I'll never forget, I heard a Q and A.

I think it was at the Shepherds Conference and they were debating the necessities of home schooling. In Sinclair Ferguson, who is Scottish from Scotland, he quietly, humbly, but with great power, kinda raised his hand and said, this is a ridiculous debate in my country. Legally, we have to send our children to the state school. We have no choice, we send them to the state school. When they come home, we have to disciple them through that. But here's my point. We are for public school, private school, home school, whatever the Lord leads you. But there are some who wanna make home schooling the only way they become law keepers there.

Sometimes that becomes the test of fellowship. Sometimes for some, that becomes the test of even if someone is born again. Well, if that kind of thinking comes into the church on this side and then over here, we've got those who believe you can do whatever God leads. They're the grace group. You just do whatever the Lord leads. Well, then there can be a fight. There can be a division. One group can criticize the other. One group can look down at the other. One group can argue with the other. I have seen that. Now don't leave here and say, well, the pastor's only for one group. No, I'm not.

Years ago, I had a man in our church call me and said, pastor, I'm praying. I don't know what to do. I said, go visit all the schools, talk to people who are home school, look at every option. He went and visited some public schools that he had an opportunity to send his children to. He went and visited a private school. He had an opportunity to send his kids to. He talked to some home schoolers. He called me up and he said, I've come to a decision. This is what I'm gonna do. And I literally said, more power to you. Praise the Lord. Do what the Lord leads. It's not for me to tell him.

Second, the decisions made it possible for the churches to present a true and united witness to the lost, especially the lost Jews around them. Let me restate that. The decisions that were made at the council now made it possible for the churches to present a true and united witness to the lost Jews and the lost Gentiles around them. There is a lesson here. When the church fails, her responsibility to be unified and prove herself unified, it always hurts her witness. Jesus said in John 1335, by this all people will know that you are my disciples if you all have the same doctrine.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you all have the same views on the second coming. That's not what it says. If you love one another. The lesson is the lost world is watching us. The lost world is watching us. They really know we're Christians by the way we love one another. You say, well, pastor, what do you do when people are divisive? You deal with them biblically. Divisions must come. We've learned that. Divisions must come. It shows who is approved and who is not. It's a sad reality we deal with. Third, the decisions that were made brought blessings to the different Gentile churches.

When they heard that circumcision and adhering to Judaism was not necessary, they rejoiced and they were encouraged. Do you see that? Now there's a lesson here. The gospel that saves and builds his church here in our town and our culture and our people is the same that saves the lost and builds the church around the world. Go back to their environment. The gospel that saved in Jerusalem saved an Iconium in the Gentile world, you see? Now think about this now. Think about a Jewish law keeping church. Where would they have been? Oh, they would have been in Jerusalem next to the temple.

See, the Jewish law keeping church, they would have adhered to circumcision and all of the Jewish law, all those traditions, all of those rituals. You see, that Jewish law keeping church right there in Jerusalem, oh, they would have had a hard time planting in Corinth. Why? Because Corinth was full of nothing but Gentiles. See, if they would have had a Jewish law keeping church, their gospel wouldn't have worked in Corinth. But think about the extreme grace church. Say the church at Corinth.

You see, if you had a church at Corinth and they were extreme grace, you see, they would have been all around those temples and they would let anything and everything come into the church. Well, think about them trying to plant a church in Jerusalem. That wouldn't have worked either. You do know that kind of stuff goes on today. There are people that have positions and convictions that they believe are of God and they won't translate into other parts in the world. But I need to move on because of time. So, first we have the dispute. We have the debates and the positions. We have the decisions and then the dissemination to those decisions.

Number four, the dissemination of those dot decisions into the churches. Let me read the verses and then I'll quickly deal with what we see here. Verse 30 to 35. So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. And when they read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers. That would be brothers and sisters with many words. And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.

But Paul and Barnabas remain in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord with many others also. Here we see the delegates who were chosen by the council. They were sent with authority from the Jerusalem church to Antioch. They gathered the church, they delivered the decisions. And we see the entire church had been waiting. So they assembled to hear the news. And when the letter was read to the church, two things happened. They rejoiced and they were encouraged. MacArthur puts it this way and I'm quoting. The confirmation that salvation was indeed by grace alone lifted a tremendous burden of worry from their shoulders.

I like one bit of insight, MacArthur office here. This encouragement was great and much needed. They no longer feared that something was missing from their salvation. Let that sink in. They feared that something was wrong and missing. So they rejoiced and they were encouraged. That is because legalism, law keeping, always produces fear, guilt and worry. It never produces peace, forgiveness and freedom. There's a lesson here. Legalism, beliefs outside the scripture that we hold onto and make them binding. That's the key. Those things never bring peace, forgiveness and freedom.

And look church, I don't have time but I have known legalist after legalist after legalist in my years of walking with the Lord. They never have peace. They never enjoy forgiveness. They never have any freedom. They're bound up, frustrated, angry. So the lesson, legalism, beliefs outside the scripture that we hold onto and make them binding now, they never bring peace, forgiveness and freedom. But convictions born out of the scriptures and scriptural teaching and a work of the spirit, those things do bring peace, forgiveness and freedom. Let me restate that.

Convictions that are born out of the scripture, out of a work of the spirit in our lives, those things do bring peace, forgiveness and freedom. Give you an example. I was counseling with a brother about tithing and giving in the church. He was struggling with that teaching. He had been listening to his pastor, reading and listening, listening to my messages. And he said, "I agree with you." The tithe is not bound, binding in the New Testament. We see the church giving, grace giving. But then he came to a point and he said, "With my upbringing and the way I see it, "I feel that I am bound to tithe. "Start with the tithe.

"And if I don't start with the tithe, I'm in sin." What was he saying? That is his conviction. And with that conviction, he has great peace, forgiveness and freedom. That's his conviction born of a work of the spirit in his life, you see? So they rejoiced and they were spiritually encouraged. Then it says, "Judas and Silas stayed, "encouraging and strengthening them in the teaching. "Barnabas and Paul stayed, "teaching and preaching the word." There's a lesson right here now. I'm touching on Judas, Silas, Paul and Barnabas staying and encouraging and teaching. The true gospel, free from legalism, truly saves and it encourages the saved.

And the true gospel paves the way for the work of the church. You see that? Y'all know what the next step is in the work of the church at Antioch? The second missionary journey. And if we leave, alter, take from, add to the gospel, we ruin it all. That is why Satan worked so hard to alter the gospel through the Judaizers. Now, I wanna quickly close by offering three quick lessons from what we have here from this theological debate. These are lessons, these are calls, these are standards to live up to. First, we guard, we treasure, we preach the unadulterated, unaltered gospel.

First, we guard, we treasure, we preach the unaltered, unadulterated gospel. You know, there are people who add to it. You know that's what our church of Christ friends do. They add baptism to grace. If you look at their doctrine, they add baptism. They believe that someone professes Christ and they must be baptized to be saved. That's a work. That's adding to the gospel. That's no gospel at all. You might say, "Pastor, I don't really have a tendency to get into church of Christ." You know, it's amazing how popular Bill Robertson became in Baptist churches. It doesn't take much looking around to realize what he believed.

He believed true church of Christ doctrine, which was false. Maybe he got saved, maybe he never got out of that. I don't know. I'm just trying to show you that kind of stuff is around more than you know. But what about our Southern Baptist friends? They don't add to the gospel. Sadly, many take away from it. You see, in many Southern Baptist worlds, all you have to do to be saved is pray this prayer. Well, where's repentance and faith? Where's repentance from sin? It's just pray this prayer, pray this prayer. That is deluding the gospel. So we guard, treasure, and preach an unaltered gospel.

Second, we always adhere to the commandments of God, period. And the commandments of God are found in the scripture. Commandments are for all men of all time, no matter what. Was it a sin to murder someone in 1825? Yes. Is it a sin to murder someone today? Yes. Was it a sin for a woman to be a pastor in 1825? Yes. Is it a sin for a woman to be a pastor now? Yes. What does the Bible say? What is it? When it comes to a commandment, you just say, what does the Bible say? What does the Bible say? And I know some are difficult, but commandments are given by God, men are bound to, all men of all time are bound to.

Third, we make sure our personal and corporate convictions do not undermine the gospel. We make sure our personal and corporate convictions do not undermine the gospel, but they actually pave the way for the gospel to go out. And we make sure our personal and corporate convictions promote love, fellowship, unity, and oneness in the church. Convictions are not for all men of all time, no matter what. Different Christians have different convictions on alcohol. Different Christians have different convictions on education. Different Christians have different convictions on entertainments. We can look at TVs and music and movies.

Different Christians approach those things in different ways. You see, convictions, you may not realize it, are very real, but we make sure our personal and corporate convictions don't undermine the gospel, but they pave the way for the gospel. We make sure our personal and corporate convictions promote love, fellowship, unity, and oneness in the church. Now I know it's been a lot. The Jerusalem Council, Work Salvation came into the church.

And you know, to be honest with you, it would probably do us all some good to go back and read this and study this, look at your notes, look at your study materials, because there's a whole lot more here that's relevant for us in our day than you may realize. So, the Jerusalem Council, Work Salvation came into the church. Let me pray.