Acts 15:1-35 Is Doctrine That Important? Tradition or Evangelism
When we first attended a local Anglican church, a Bible Study was started that quickly attracted 60 people. I well remember the vicar giving a sermon soon after, when he said:
“Doctrine is divisive”.
He felt there were other more important priorities for the church.
In Acts chapters 13-14, large numbers of Gentiles had become Christians. The church was on a roll. However, one problem was becoming very troublesome. How can Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians live in harmony together? Paul and Barnabas realised that this was a foundational issue for the church that had to be addressed. Was Christianity to be a splinter group on the fringes of Judaism or was it to be an international movement for people of all nations and backgrounds?
1. A man-centred disagreement
“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.”This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them.” Acts 15:1-2
These Judaisers were emphasising the teaching of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, and contains the 613 commandments (mitzvot) that govern Orthodox Jewish life. This teaching was a serious problem. It was becoming a salvation issue. They were saying:
v.1 “Unless you are circumcised . . . you cannot be saved”.
v.5. “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
The Judaising Christians recognised that pagan religion was drifting into idolatry and immorality, and they wanted to protect God’s people from this by building walls of rules. This view contrasted with what Paul and Barnabas had to report. God was working and saving Gentiles:
“… they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad.When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.” Acts 15:3-4
When Paul had written what is thought to be his first letter, that to the Galatian churches, in 48-49 AD, he spends much time addressing this problem. Now, a year later, he feels it right to take time away from his mission work to sort out this vital doctrinal issue. The first Council of the church, chaired by James, the brother of Jesus, met in 49-50 AD. Some felt that Paul was being difficult and was teaching that the laws in Jewish Scriptures could be overlooked, a doctrine that angered so many Orthodox Jews. How can such a deep-seated conflict be resolved? Compromise will satisfy no one. What is the way forward?
The question is essentially simple.
“Who can be admitted into the Kingdom of God?”
There is some simple gospel arithmetic: Jesus plus really means Jesus minus. If the way to be right with God has been opened by what Jesus has done for us on the cross and the response he constantly demands is that we simply believe him, which means to follow him, then what right has anyone to try and add requirements to this? Adding to Jesus’ work really means detracting from who he is and what he has done. At root, the question was:
“Is my salvation based on who Jesus is and what he has done for us?” or
“Is my salvation dependent on my actions, my religious adherence, and my obedience?”
How can this be resolved?
2. A God-centred answer
When this council meets in Jerusalem, there are three key-note speeches.
a. Peter
This is the last time we hear from Peter in this book, yet what he had to say was so important. He reminds the Council of how he had been sent by God to visit the Gentile centurion Cornelius up in Caesarea (Acts 10) and how they had put their trust in Jesus and had been given the Holy Spirit. The news about Jesus meant so much to them that it overflowed to others. The Holy Spirit has been given to every Christian to help us become like Jesus, to be a holy people who long to share the gospel with others.
“Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.” Acts 15:7-9
Peter had spent three years being taught by Jesus, and he had no doubt that the gospel came from God. It was the fulfilment, the completion, of Judaism, so the church must not return to a rules-based religion. Sin is still the central problem, but it has been solved not by the sacrifice of animals and the keeping of rules but completely by the final sacrifice that Jesus made for us. God chooses who will be saved, and God has accepted Gentiles, proved by the fact that God has given them his Holy Spirit. Under the Law, Gentiles were ‘unclean’, but under the gospel, they can also be made ‘clean’ and be justified, made pure, in God’s eyes.
Look back at verse 8 and notice that the gospel then was the same as it is today. People hear the message about Jesus, and they believe, they turn to the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Those who turn to Christ are then given the gift of the Holy Spirit, so we can glory in Christ openly, just as they did two thousand years ago. Gentiles are unclean just as religious Jews are, but anyone can be saved if they submit to the Lord Jesus.
Peter was very clear, saying:
“Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” Acts 15:10-11
b. Paul and Barnabas
They were the next to give their evidence. They relate how God had been at work through them amongst the Gentiles. They had explained the gospel to all who would listen and some had realised the message was true and resonated with their consciences and they had put their faith in the Lord Jesus. They had been given the Holy Spirit and the news had overflowed from them. His is always how we know we have the Holy Spirit, we want to be holy in our private lives and we find ways to share the news about Jesus in our public, interpersonal lives.
What were these signs and wonders God did amongst them? In the past God had used ‘signs and wonders’ to authenticate his people at specific times. Thus Moses, some prophets, Jesus and his apostles were given this gift. Undoubtedly here this primarily referred to the miracles the apostles had performed. It is important to stress that it was a feature of the apostles that they could perform miracles, it was not a gift given to others. In the New Testament, miracles primarily served to validate the authority of the Apostles as messengers of the gospel, often referred to as ‘signs and wonders’. It is worth stressing today that this gift was given to specific people in the early church.
“Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.” Acts 2:43
“The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people.” Acts 5:12
“I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles." 2 Corinthians 12:12
By the time the letter to the Hebrews was written, probably before 70 AD, miracles seem to be a thing of the past. Note the past tense in this verse:
“God also testified to it by signs, wonders, and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” Hebrews 2:4
Whilst in the earliest days, some non-apostles like Philip performed miracles (Acts 8:6), the power to impart these gifts was restricted to the apostles (Acts 8:14-17), establishing a unique, foundational role for them.
Another miraculous aspect of the Spirit’s work was seen then and still occurs today. Turning to Christ is a miraculous work of God. Filling us with God’s Spirit so we overflow with genuine praise of God is also a miraculous change. Non-Christians cannot do this without god’s help.
c. James
James, the brother of Jesus, then concludes the discussion by showing that the acceptance of Gentiles as equal members of the Kingdom of God had always been the Lord’s plan. He reminds them of what Amos 9:11-12 teaches. Amos lived in the early 8th century BC, before the upper kingdom of Israel had been destroyed by the Assyrians. James said:
“The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: ‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things.’ Acts 15:16-17
This is a great reminder that all church ministers, elders, and leaders must be people who know the Scriptures well and have a passion to share what it teaches with others.
Although it was James who summed up the conclusion the Council came to, note that their decision was controlled by what God had shown all of them, both through Scripture and through the apostles’ experiences of what God had done. This was not a human decision; it was God’s.
3. A gospel-centred conclusion
This was momentous. It was the death knell to those who wanted the church to be Jewish and rules-based. It is a reminder that outreach must trump tradition. James announced
“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead, we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” Acts 15:19-21
The point is clear. We are accepted by God freely; the price was paid by Jesus. However, Christians limit our freedom because we now belong to Christ. The church leaders wanted everyone to know that God welcomes all people.
There was a church that put up a large notice board outside saying:
“You are welcome here.”
Someone wrote in spray paint below this:
“If . . .”
Too often this is true. You’re welcome if you don’t smoke, don’t swear, and you are a successful, pleasant person. No, all are welcome in Christ’s church; it is the work of God’s Spirit to change us to be like Jesus.
A recent survey showed that over 50 per cent of 18-30-year-olds have never been to an ordinary church service. Christ’s message is ‘come as you are and accept both the forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit’. Are my standards of acceptance of people higher than God’s? If a drug addict, thief, or murderer came to the church, would we welcome them? Of course, there should be safeguards, but do we want to win all people for Christ’s sake? Paul had learned to be flexible about non-essentials to win people for Christ, so we should be also.
John Newton, the anti-slavery church minister in London, was a member of the Eclectic Society, a London-based discussion group founded in 1783 for evangelical Anglicans. The society, which met fortnightly, played a crucial role in establishing the Church Missionary Society in 1799. Newton explained to them about Paul:
“He was a reed (i.e. bendy) in non-essentials and an iron pillar in essentials.”
a. The four prohibitions
The question is raised, ‘Why are these four prohibitions chosen?’ The answer is given in verse 21.
“For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” Acts 15:21
Jews were everywhere and so the Christians were told not to put up unnecessary barriers both to church unity and to the effective spread of the gospel. The four restrictions were to abstain from:
Food polluted by idols: Eating meat that had been sacrificed to pagan gods.
Sexual immorality: Often interpreted as avoiding the promiscuity and ritual prostitution common in pagan temple worship.
Meat of strangled animals: Refers to animals not killed according to Jewish "kosher" practices where the blood is properly drained.
Blood: Consuming blood in any form, which was strictly forbidden in the Mosaic Law.
These were particularly relevant to that current situation; they are not laws for all time but guides for a particular situation.
Jews valued marriage highly, so anything that undermines marriage, such as sexual immorality, would be detrimental to church unity. How we need to keep repeating this today when a few church leaders have caused immense harm to the gospel by the immoral ways they have behaved. If they were to win Jews, they will have to eat with them, so don’t put meat with blood in it as that will put them off. There is nothing sinful about meat with blood or black pudding with your fried breakfast, but think of who you are trying to win.
In the cities the first missionaries went to, the vast majority of the population followed the general thinking of the time. Women and children counted for little. The temples had cult prostitutes that made temple worship very attractive to many men; sexual promiscuity was the norm. The council was urging Christians to think of their witness to these groups. These were key issues to try and unite the fragile unity in the early churches and to keep evangelism at the top of the priorities.
What lay behind this momentous decision?
b. Evangelism is a priority for all Christians
The underlying thinking of the early Christians was that the message of the gospel must be spread. Paul wrote,
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:14-15
Have we all understood why we have been called by Christ? Churches are here to spread the faith about Jesus. That is the responsibility of all of us, so we need to be very careful how we behave to keep the unity and help outsiders to be attracted to Christ. Surely we must be more concerned to make the outsider feel welcome rather than cling to the kind of traditions we appreciate, whether it’s solemn liturgy with organ music or long sessions of lively music with many repetitions. We must ask ourselves, would what we are doing attract unbelievers, even though we might love it?
Any rules are subservient to this need. Paul had been outspoken against the need for circumcision of Gentiles, but in Acts 16:3 Paul circumcised the Gentile Timothy. He did this to keep doors open when sharing the gospel with Jews. When it was a salvation issue, Paul would not budge in his doctrine, but he was flexible in practice when it came to mission.
“I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
There is a time for us to abandon tradition in order to save the lost. Martin Luther once said:
“If it means you can preach the gospel, you should go around in a procession carrying a silver or gold cross or wearing a cowl or surplus of linen, and if one of them isn’t enough, put on three!”
We need to learn to be reeds in non-essentials but strong pillars in the essentials.
c) Sexual practices matter
The first Council in Jerusalem considered that marriage was a foundational truth and anything that undermined this was contrary to what God wants. This is why so many Christians across many denominations have made such a stance against condoning homosexual practices. The Bible is clear that any sexual activity outside marriage is contrary to what wants. For this reason, Christians must do all we can to behave in a way that honours the Lord Jesus.
May it never be that anyone in our church succumbs to the lies of Satan as it not only dishonours our Lord but also would bring immense dishonour on Christ’s church.
What a joy it is to know, however, that the Lord welcomes thieves, adulterers, and murderers into his kingdom if they repent and change direction, so we also should accept those who have failed the Lord, but still keep our eyes open, as when a person has fallen, once the tendency to roam again still remains.
d) Salvation is open to all
Salvation is a free gift that is given to all who turn to Christ. We are saved by grace alone.
The question we must ask ourselves and of those around us is:
“Have we really turned to Christ? Is his honour the priority of my life?”
A Baptist church in Bournemouth had a mission, rather like ‘Passion for Life’ we hold. One night the pastor, Dr Francis Dixon, asked a man to share his testimony. He said:
“This is how I was saved. I was in the Royal Navy. I was walking down George Street in Sydney, Australia, and out of nowhere stepped a gentleman and he said to me,
‘Excuse me, sir, but could I ask you a question? I hope that it won’t offend you, but if you were to die today, where would you spend eternity? The Bible says that it will either be in heaven or in hell. Would you think about that, please? Thank you. God bless you!”
Then the man left. I had never been confronted with that question – I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I got back to England and met someone who took me to a mission and that’s where I became a Christian”.
Some while later that same church had a youth meeting and Noel, one of the visiting team, shared his testimony.
“This is how I came to know Jesus Christ. I was in the Royal Navy and my ship was stationed in Sydney. One evening I was walking down George Street when out of nowhere stepped a man. He said to me,
“Young man, I have a question to ask you. If you should die tonight, where would you go? Would it be heaven or hell? Now don’t try to evade the question, it must be one or the other.”
What he said bothered me for many months. I sought out a Christian, he helped me, and I gave my life to Christ.”
Frank Jenner, who asked that question, was a short ex-naval man. He did not know that he had been used by God to help many throughout the world to become Christians, many entering full-time Christian work. Frank’s own journey to faith is every bit as remarkable as the lives of those he touched.
“Before I knew Jesus,” he said, “I lived the wild life of a sailor to the full and had become addicted to gambling. Then, in 1937, I met my Saviour for the first time, and my life was transformed – the addiction to gambling gone forever.”
In gratitude for his second chance at life, he pledged to serve God to the best of his ability. He said:
“Each day, my aim was to speak to ten people about Jesus, and I did so for twenty-eight years until Parkinson’s disease took its toll. In wartime and in peace, good times and bad, I continued with the work that I had promised to do.”
He did this by walking up and down George Street in Sydney, talking winsomely to any he could. It has been estimated that over the years, Frank talked to more than one hundred thousand people. Actually, more than most pastors would address in their lifetime.
Can we see that the Lord Jesus, Peter, Paul, Barnabas, James, and the Council were concerned that nothing should prevent this news about the possibility of salvation being made available to all people? Nothing has changed. This is what each one of us who is following Christ is committed to do. Our individual ways of sharing Jesus will differ, but our goal must be the same: to win people, young and old, for the Lord by the way we live and by the message we share with them.
Are we all in full agreement with our Lord’s wishes?
BVP
2 Corinthians 2:12 - 3:18. ‘Do be do be do’
When Frank Sinatra sang his hit song ‘Strangers in the Night’ in the sixties he finished the song with what were thought to be the meaningless melodic sounds ‘Do be do be do.’ However these two words, ‘Do’ and ‘Be’ are very profound and together sum up what God wants to see in all his people. He wants us both to ‘be’ and to ‘do.’
New Testament
When Paul wrote his second letter to the troubled church at Corinth, he explained how his own coming to faith in Christ resulted in new priorities in what he was to ‘do.’
“I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ” 2 Corinthians 2:12
“. . . and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.” 2 Corinthians 2:14
“ . . . we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.” 2 Corinthians 2:17
“He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant.” 2 Corinthians 3:6
Paul contrasts the glorious message of the forgiveness of sin and the power to live Christ-like lives with the harsh ethics of teaching the Jewish law which can only bring guilt and condemnation.
“Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, . . . will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!” 2 Corinthians 3:7-9
How all Christians need to wake up and recognise that we have all been called to this ministry of sharing Christ.
However living for Christ is not only achieved by what we say and do - it will also be seen in what we are.
“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
This idea that Christians should be both ‘do-ers’ and ‘be-ers’ was going round in my mind when I started to read 2 Corinthians chapters 4 and 5 and realised that this is just what Paul keeps repeating here.
Do
Paul starts by reminding the Corinthian church that all Christians should be involved in sharing the gospel.
“Therefore, since through God’s mercy, we have this ministry,” 2 Corinthians 4:1
Be
Paul then brings the ‘doing’ and ‘being’ together. He admits spreading the message about Jesus, is at times hard and disappointing, he will not use underhand methods to achieve good results. Integrity does matter as what we are is the essence of being spiritual.
“Therefore, since through God’s mercy, we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyman’s conscience in the sight of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:1-2
Do
Paul now returns to the need for Christians to evangelise.
“For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.” 2 Corinthians 4:5
God has called all of his people to be a holy people and this will include the longing to share the gospel with those around us.
Urgent Priorities - 2 Corinthians 5
Jack is a builder who became a Christian a few years ago and is in our Bible Study Group. He has just been diagnosed as having disseminated cancer and has been told that he doesn’t have long to live. The doctors have no effective treatment to offer him. This week he has been planning his funeral and sorting his affairs out. It is very hard to say your farewells to people. Inwardly he groans at what he is suffering and is shortly to leave behind. But facing such a situation has helped him realise what really matters in life.
I went to visit him in his home and we read together from the beginning of 2 Corinthians chapter 5, the chapter in the Bible that I would like us to look at.
1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5
This describes Jack’s experience. He has bone pain and is on high does opiates. He is literally groaning and knows his earthly tent is about to be destroyed. He met up with his family this week and told them straight,
“I’m not afraid of dying because I have a Saviour and know where I’m going, but I am afraid for you because you aren’t right with God and as things are at present you won’t be joining me in heaven!”
Eternal Reality
Paul goes on to remind us that the eternal is what matters, Christians can be confident about our future because the Lord Jesus has saved us by entering this world and dying for us on that cross. This should make all Christians ‘other worldly,’ if we are making issues of this world our prime concern we are very foolish indeed.
“6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:6-10
Did you notice the carrot and stick approach here, first Paul says “we would prefer to be at home with the Lord,” but then comes a salutary reminder - “for we must all appear before the judgment seat of God.” No wonder all true Christians ‘make it our aim to please him,’ for we both love the Lord Jesus and we know that what we really are will then be publicly made known by revealing the decisions we have made.
Priorities of the Church
Some years ago I was taking a church mission down in Ramsgate and one afternoon I went for a stroll along the beach. There I saw a whole crowd of ‘Sisters of Mercy’ wearing their characteristic nun’s uniform of the order founded by Mother Theresa. I wandered up and started chatting with a group of them. After a while I asked,
“Could you please tell me what the Christian gospel is?”
One of the nun’s replied,
“Isn’t it to feed the hungry, to give the thirsty something to drink and to clothe people?”
We then had a wonderful conversation with all those nun’s gathering round. We discussed what the Bible teaches and how there the real problem God has with mankind is our sin and that this is the biggest problem in the world. We talked about how the gospel is not what we do for God and his world but what Christ has done for us by enabling us to become right with God. We looked at 2 Corinthians 5:16, which is in our chapter, and is a beautiful summary of the Christian gospel,
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:16
At this point the senior nun of the group spoke up and correctly reminded her colleagues that the gospel was not their work for others but what Jesus had done for all of us when he bore our sins on the cross. She went on to emphasise that their main job as nun’s is to point people to Jesus and to focus the eternal salvation he offers.
Early Christians knew what the good news was and were willing to stake their lives on it. Look at our chapter again, verse 19 reads,
“That God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting men’s sins against them.” 2 Corinthians 5:19
Verse 21 reads,
“God made him who has no sin to be sin for us . . .” 2 Corinthians 5:21
Churches should respond to the social needs of people around them. They should set up Drug Rehab units, Food banks, Christians against Poverty, Relief Organisations and the like but the great danger is that people forget what the gospel is, that sin separates us from God, and that sin is the eternal problem that we all are blighted with.
Without God’s intervention we have no hope as we are all inherently selfish and do things that God hates. There are several ways to explain ‘sin’ to people. It is spelt ’S I N’ where I is in the centre, ‘I’ in the centre instead of God is the essence of sin. We teach our Sunday School groups that the letters of ‘SIN’ stand for,
‘Shove off God. I’m in charge. No to what you want.’
It is because God is not in charge that we say spiteful things, get angry with our loved ones at home, watch pornography which is really ‘virtual prostitution’, tell lies and live lives that are hypocritical and so on. But we mustn’t forget that God sees all we are and do and however hard we try no one has a hope of ever being acceptable to God by themselves.
The illustration of the two hands is very helpful. The open left hand represents me and a book is placed on this to show that my sin has separated me from God. Some try to minimise their sin by good works or becoming religious and to demonstrate this the left hand actively moves under the book - but the sin remains. My good activities, however good they are cannot put me right with God. Then Jesus enters the scene and the open right hand is brought up. He has no sin and enjoys a close relationship with his heavenly father. The reason he entered this world was for you and me and for everyone who recognises who he is. He came to die on that cross to take the responsibility for our sin. This is why, when he died he cried out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ It was because he was experiencing the consequences of my sin, separating him from God in my place. He took our sin to the grave and then rose from the dead. This was to confirm that God had accepted his sacrifice but also so that we could experience the risen life by being given God’s Holy Spirit.
How do you know that you have the Holy Spirit? It is a vital question as if you don’t have the Holy Spirit you are not yet saved. So much twaddle is taught in some churches on this. The evidence for the Holy Spirit’s presence is seen in how you think.
“Those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. . . You however are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” Romans 8:5-9
This is so important, however important you are in the world’s eyes; if you are not winning the battle with temptations and becoming more like Christ, beware. This message about sin and the victory Christ gives is the message of Christ’s church. We must warn people of the eternal consequences of leaving God out of the picture - that means leaving Christ out of the picture.
During World War 1 a severely injured soldier knew he was dying he lay in a muddy trench talking to his close friend,
“Listen Dominic, I’m dying. You’ve lived a very bad life. Everywhere people are looking for you, you are wanted by the police. But there are no convictions against me. My name is clear, so, take my wallet, take my papers, take my good name, my life, and quickly hand me your papers, that I may carry all your crimes away with me in death.”
That is a picture of the good news that God offers to every person in the world. We can start again. In God’s eyes we can take on the identity of the Lord Jesus and he takes away our sin. That is what baptism indications - it models my involvement with Christ who has taken away my sin and who rose to give me the power of his Spirit help me become like Jesus.
What a disaster it is for Christians not to emphasise this. Did you notice that the previous Archbishop of Canterbury virtually never talked about the Lord Jesus in his media interviews. I never heard him explain that the Lord died for our sin and that without him there is no salvation. What a disaster because Jesus is the churches message. Jesus himself said,
“I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Jesus’ apostles were equally clear. When Peter and John were arraigned before the Sanhedrin, that just a few weeks before had had Jesus executed, they boldly pronounced that they could not stop talking about Jesus as he was God’s Messiah who, in spite of being rejected by many had actually come to save us,
“Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven, given to men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
No other religion teaches this. Religions largely say, join our group and then do your best to follow the groups rules and hopefully God with then be pleased with you. The eighteenth of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England addresses this false belief.
Obtaining salvation only through Christ
Those who presume to say that every person shall be saved by the rule of life, religion or sect that he professes, provided he makes diligent efforts to live by that rule and the light of nature, must be regarded by God as accursed. Scripture declares to us that it is only in the name of Jesus Christ that men must be saved.”
The message of Jesus and his apostles was that Christ alone can reconcile us, put us right with God, as he alone can pay the price for our sin. Look at our passage again, verse 18,
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ . . .” 2 Corinthians 5:18
That is the churches message, and in case any reader failed to notice this Paul repeats it in the next verse,
“God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.” 2 Corinthians 5:19
How our world needs to hear this message of reconciliation. Nearly one in 5 marriages in the United Kingdom are in trouble with regular arguments and thoughts of breaking up. There is so much loneliness around. On the international scene political frictions are serious. Look at Ukraine, North Korea, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, ISIS and now Britain and the EEC. How much reconciliation is needed in these places. In heaven there won’t be these frictions because there everyone wants to please the one true God. When people reject God everyone does what seems right in their own eyes and this results in alienations.
A Christian is someone who has a close daily walk with the Lord Jesus Christ and nothing less. pleasing Jesus is their priority. There is a lovely verse I found this week that summarises this,
“Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.” Psalm 89:15
So the church must warn people of the consequences of leaving God out of their personal lives - and that means leaving Christ out. And we must warn each other not to let pride in any good works we do or any secret sin come between us and our walk with the Lord Jesus.
Listen to how Paul summarises this priority of the church in our chapter,
“Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. . . . For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” 2 Corinthians 5:11-15
Your Priority
The Lifeway Research Institute undertook a study amongst protestant church goers in the United States and found that over a six month period only 20% had even just once shared their faith with an unbeliever. They hadn’t even invited friends or family to come and hear the gospel. This is a disaster and demonstrates how little the Lord Jesus means to many professing Christians. Remember Psalm 89:15?
“Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.” Psalm 89:15
The Bible’s message is not just for the holy few who attend churches, it is meant for the world. Our passagedescribes what God’s concern is,
“God was reconciling the world to himself . . .” 2 Corinthians 5:19
This is similar to verse 15,
“He died for all . . .”
What a disaster it is when churches are so concerned to keep their traditions going that they have lost sight of the mission Christ has given to each of their members. Do we no longer believe the Bible when it talks about the fate of those who reject Jesus:
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” John 3:36
This is why Samaritan’s Purse stands out amongst many Aid organisations. You still recognise that the greatest need of everyone you try to help is that they hear and respond to the gospel about Jesus Christ. As you know many Aid organisations started out as Christian organisations but because of the pressures from financial supporters and governments many have succumbed to becoming very reticent about about mentioning the gospel of Christ. Some years ago Christian Aid trustees appointed a atheist to run their organisation. Oxfam started as a Christian organisation but sorrowfully they also are now leaving Christ’s message out. We must all be able to say with Paul,
“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew then to the Gentile.” Romans 1:16
So Christians view others from an eternal perspective. I used to work as a cancer surgeon and loved the work but 100% of my patients have died or will die. My work was only able to gain them a few more years of ease. In contrast God wants his church to help people find eternal life through commitment to Jesus Christ. The apostle’s conclusion is that all people throughout the world need to be renewed through finding Christ.
“16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
This is a remarkable passage. We so often grade people into shades of grey. The really good people are very light grey and the really bad are a very dark grey. It is interesting to see where we put ourselves on that scale. Wherever it is, the people you work with are probably placed just below you! However God sees people not as shades of grey but as either black or white. Those who are not covered by Christ’s righteousness are black and those who are protected because they belong to Christ are seen as white. That is the Bibles teaching, thus,
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” Ephesians 5:8
So if we belong to Christ we are Christ’s ambassadors. All we do should point people to Christ, the Saviour of the world. Your message to those you meet must be that we are all guilty before God but God entered this world as Christ to take responsibility for our sin. If we belong to him we will be forgiven our sin and given the gift of the Holy Spirit to enable us to act like Christ. The reason God has chosen you and me, if we belong to Christ, is to take on his godly character, both in our private lives that no-one else sees and in our relationships as well as sharing the gospel with others. It doesn’t matter what job you have, whether a Christian doctor in the health service, a worker with Samaritan’s Purse or a housewife looking after the children at home. We have all been called to be Christ’s ambassadors.
To be effective in this we must train ourselves as we all have to for any walk in life. Have we all been trained to lead people to Christ? I have a friend who is being trained as a future ambassador for this country. His constant training is meticulous. He learns how to talk with people in a winsome way, how to steer conversations gently round to what he wants them to hear. What a tragedy it is that today there is so little training of us Christians to be Christ’s ambassadors. We need to teach people how to steer conversations onto spiritual matters by mentioning church or some religious topic, such as your work with Samaritan’s Purse. A key step is then to ask them if they have a faith or aren’t sure about these things - always give them an escape. I would often ask my patients when taking a history, ‘Do you have a faith that helps you at a time like this, or aren’t you sure about these things?’ So often people will say, ‘I used to have’ or ‘I wish I had’ and the very least you can then do is share your testimony, or invite them to a suitable meeting at your church, lend them some literature or just invite them for a meal to continue the conversation. I fear it is true in the United Kingdom, as in the United States that the large majority of Christians are not acting as Christ’s ambassadors. I wrote the book ‘Cure for Life’ because I didn’t have the time to follow up many patients but I could say to those who seemed interested whether they would like to read my book which goes over what I teach in a home group for those who are seeking answers.
An Example
I was on a teaching ward round with my unit when we came to a very pleasant lady in her 50’s who had been admitted for terminal care. She had liver secondaries and was feeling very weak. She asked if she could have a private talk with me later. When I returned she said,
“I am finding this business of dying very difficult. Could you speed it up for me?
She clearly wanted ‘euthanasia’. I replied, “We don’t do that,” but we went on to have a discussion about what she was finding difficult and the things we could do to help her. I wondered if there was some spiritual problem underlying all this so I continued,
“I wonder if there is a reason that God is keeping you going like this. Do you think you have got everything ready?”
“I think so,” she replied, “I have cleared all my cupboards at home.”
“Yes, but on a deeper level, are you sure you are ready to meet God or aren’t you sure about these things?”
“Oh! I think I’m ready, I’ve never done anyone any harm.”
Here was this lady about to meet her maker and she wasn’t ready. Fortunately our hospital has Gideon Bibles in the bedside lockers so I asked if I could show her a few things.
“I would like that,” she replied.
The first thing she needed to be clear about was that when we die we will face judgement. I wondered about using the passage in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10 but decided that the wording was too aggressive for this lady so we looked up Hebrews 9:27.
“. . . man is destined to die once and after that to face judgement.”
The great attraction of using this verse is that the adjoining verses both talk about Jesus died to “take away the sins of many people.”
I illustrated this by placing a book on my open hand, and explained that this represented my sin, which acts as a barrier between God and myself. My religion, which was illustrated by my fingers actively moving under the book cannot help get rid of the barrier. She seemed to understand this so we went on to talk about sin and to show that no-one is naturally good enough for God. Her claim about ‘not doing anybody any harm’ was both untrue and certainly inadequate. So we looked up Romans 3:11.
“There is no-one righteous, not even one; there is no-one who understands, no-one who seeks God.”
She then agreed that being right with God was something she had never bothered about at all. We also looked up Isaiah 59:2,
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden your face from you, so that he will not hear.”
As we talked she began to understand her problem.
“How can I get right with God?” she asked.
Sitting on her bed we talked about the Lord Jesus. We talked about his death on that cross and how he died to take away the consequences of our sin and to enable us to be right with God. We then turned to 1 Peter 2:24.
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”
As we talked it all seemed so clear to her, the Holy Spirit was convicting her of sin and righteousness and judgement in a non-aggressive way. She then said,
“I need to be forgiven by Jesus. Will you pray for me now?”
At this point the nurses sitting at the adjacent nurses station jumped up and pulled the screens round even though they give hardly any privacy. They must have been listening. I prayed thanking God for what he had done for us on the cross, and asking that, just as he had promised, he would put her name in the ‘Book of Life’, forgive her sin and give her his Spirit. She was very grateful. I left her with a list of the verses we had looked up as well as two more on assurance,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has passed over from death to life.” John 5:24
The Lord gave her great joy that continued. Her husband phoned me up the next morning.
“Are you the doctor who spoke to my wife yesterday?”
“Yes,” I replied rather hesitantly as I didn’t know what was coming.
“We are not a religious family in any way, but I would like to thank you for spending the time with her. She has such peace. Would you mind explaining to me what you said to her?”
He phoned me at home a few days later at the weekend and came for tea. I was interested to see that somehow he had obtained a large unused Gideon Bible, Authorised Version, which had the words, ‘Headmistress’ printed in bold type on the outside. We went over the gospel in a very similar way. He wasn’t ready to commit himself but I gave him a copy of ‘Cure for Life’ and said he could phone at any time.
His wife moved to the local hospice where I visited her on one occasion. She was holding firmly onto her Saviour even though she was sleepier from the drugs. We looked at Romans 8:1 which is another great verse on assurance.
“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because . . . ”
To make this simpler to understand, I wrote her name on a piece of paper and placed it inside the Bible.
“Let this Bible represent the Lord Jesus and this piece of paper represent you. Because you are now ‘in Christ’ when you meet God he will not see your sins at all, he will see that you are in Christ and have ‘his righteousness’. Furthermore Jesus is now in heaven and because you are in Christ he will take you to be with him there.”
The nurses told me that she later asked them to read her the whole chapter of Romans 8. About two weeks later I had a phone call from her husband to say that she had just died. Apparently one of the last things she said to her husband was to ask him to become a Christian and made him promise to “go to the doctor’s church” and get things sorted out. He did faithfully come and he later attended a Christian Basics course when he also committed himself to Christ.
What better way can we finish by reading again by reading together verses 2 Corinthians 5:20 and 21:
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
BVP Sept 2017