Lesson 5: Jesus fulfilled the Law; The Jerusalem Council

Last week we talked about the first gentile to be introduced into the church.  But, it’s important to recognize there were gentiles who were Jewish converts called “proselytes” that had already entered the church long before Cornelius. 

“Proselyte”

A “proselyte” (προσήλυτος prosēlytos) is a gentile (“non-Jew”) that fully converted to Judaism.

A notable example of this was Nicolas, a proselyte of Antioch, who was one of the men the church chose to set over the daily-ministration, and conflicts that came with it, in Acts 6 because he was “of honest report” and “full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom” (Acts 6:3). So this incident of Cornelius receiving the Holy Ghost, was not surprising for the church because Cornelius was a gentile, but specifically it was surprising because Cornelius did not keep the works of the Jewish law such as circumcision, keeping the Sabbath day, abstaining from pork, etc.  

This was not an easy thing for the Jewish Christians to grapple with. They had been raised believing that their relationship and right standing with God depended on them doing these Jewish works and now this is being challenged because Peter and the 6 men who were with him heard Cornelius and his whole house speak in tongues signifying that they had received the gift of the Holy Ghost without first performing these Jewish works.

For the first time, these Jewish Christians were seeing that works such as circumcision, keeping the Sabbath day, and abstaining from certain types of food had no part to play in a persons salvation. In other words, a person could not earn salvation by getting circumcised, keeping all the religious holidays, eating or not eating certain foods, etc. Instead we see that Cornelius was simply an upright man, who feared God with all his house, prayed always, and through these things he found grace in the eyes of God to be sent a preacher who would tell him how he could be saved, be filled with the Holy Ghost while he was still speaking, and be commanded to be baptized in the name of the Lord.

But not all Jewish Christians were immediately convinced.

While Paul was in Antioch in Acts 15, some Jews came from Judea teaching all of the gentiles “except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1). So here are the two major arguments:

Peter saw Gentiles receive the gift of the Holy Ghost speaking with other tongues while not keeping the works of the law and concluded that keeping the Jewish works of the law was not necessary for salvation. This is the stance the rest of the apostles and Paul and Barnabas took.
These Jews coming in recognized that Gentiles received the gift of the Holy Ghost speaking with other tongues while not doing the works of the Jewish law yet still believed that it was necessary for these Gentiles to begin to do the works of the Jewish law in order for them to be saved.

Paul, Barnabas, and these believing Jews get into a major disputation and cannot find a place of agreement so they conclude to take this matter to the apostles in Jerusalem who were recognized as the ordained authority of the church (Acts 15:2). 

When they came to Jerusalem in Acts 15:6, “the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe [Speaking of Cornelius]. And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”

Peter says here that God bear the Gentiles witness by giving them the Holy Ghost, which we know came by the gentiles speaking with other tongues just like what happened to the Jewish Christians in Acts 2. And he says that this purified their hearts by faith. And he goes on to say that these Jews were now tempting God and putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples by telling them that they needed to be circumcised and do the works of the law of Moses to be saved. He concludes that he and the apostles believed that it was through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that the Jews would be saved as well as the gentiles.

So Peter believed when he heard the Gentiles speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance, it was the witness of God that gentiles could be saved without keeping the Jewish works of the law. We know from acts 10, after Peter heard Cornelius  speak with other tongues, he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord showing there was something Cornelius needed to do in order to be saved. But Peter concludes here that it is through that grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that gentiles would be saved.

Based on Peter's words, how do you see God's grace working in the story of Cornelius found in Acts 10?

We see that Peter is not declaring that no works are necessary for salvation, seeing that Cornelius and his house had to hear the word of the Lord, be filled with the Holy Ghost, and be baptized in the name of the Lord, but specifically the works of the law of Moses were not necessary for salvation. So we can conclude that Peter believed hearing the word of the Lord, being filled with the Holy Ghost, and being baptized in the name of the Lord were all apart of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ since this was how Cornelius was saved.

After hearing this, is says all the multitude kept silence and gave audience to Paul and Barnabas who declared all the miracles and wonders that God had wrought among the gentiles by them. And after this, James stands and speaks:

Acts 15:13-21 “And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon [Or Simon; Referring to Simon Peter who just spake] hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.”

James concludes that the Gentiles should not be troubled to keep the works of the Law of Moses but that they should be written to “that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood” and this pleased the whole church so they wrote letters after this manner.

Acts 15:23-29 - “The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.”

Why do you think James told the Gentiles to follow those four specific rules if they didn't have to keep the whole Law of Moses to be saved?
Read Ephesians 2:8-10 and think about how this verse would have applied to Cornelius if it were written specifically to him. How was salvation a gift of God to Cornelius and not a result of works?
If the works of the Law do not justify a person, why do the New Testament writers continue to emphasize obedience and good works?

We see that this issue caused a great stir among the church, not because Cornelius was born a gentile but specifically because what it meant regarding whether keeping the Law of Moses was a requirement for salvation. Though it appeared that this issue was settled in Acts 15, it continued to be an issue that the apostles found themselves fighting against in their epistles. This eventually gave raise to the question, “Is a person saved by works?”. This is what we will dive into next time!