Acts

INTRODUCTION

We live in world full of petty divisions and many foolish alliances. Maturity means growing up into a deep commitment to the truth as well as being able to tell the difference between gnats and camels. Unity at all costs will always lead to compromise, and certain wooden ideologies create brittle men and communities. We are seeking to build an anti-fragile like-mindedness, full of resilient, joyful saints, loyal to Christ and their people.  

The Text: “And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they do…” Acts 15:36-41

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

After some time in Antioch following the decision of the Jerusalem Council, Paul proposed to Barnabas that they revisit the churches from their previous missionary journey (Acts 15:36). Barnabas insisted on taking John Mark with them, but Paul disagreed since John Mark had left them on their last journey (Acts 15:37-38, cf. 13:13). Remember that Barnabas was known as the “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36) who had initially brought Paul to the apostles after his conversion (Acts 9:27). Barnabas was sent by the apostles in Jerusalem to encourage Paul’s ministry, and the two of them had led the first major missionary journey (Acts 11:22-30, 13:2) and stood together against the Judaizers who said Gentiles had to be circumcised to be saved (Acts 15:2). In other words, Paul and Barnabas had been very close, but the disagreement over John Mark was so sharp that Paul and Barnabas separated, with Paul taking Silas and Barnabas taking John Mark (Acts 15:39-41).  

WHO WAS JOHN MARK?

John Mark was related to Barnabas and probably his nephew (Col. 4:10). This likely explains at least some of Barnabas’s strong feelings about the matter. After some time serving with Barnabas, Mark later became an apprentice under the Apostle Peter (1 Pet. 5:13), under whose authority, Mark wrote his gospel. It seems likely that Mark was the rich young ruler that Jesus instructed to sell everything, since he adds, “Jesus beholding him loved him” (Mk. 10:21), and he may be the young man who ran away naked from the Garden when Jesus was arrested, since Mark is the only gospel to mention it (Mk. 14:51-52). Mark fits the rich young ruler description when Peter shows up at his mother’s house after breaking out of jail – a large enough house to gather in, with servants (and suggests great piety since this was during a fierce persecution, Acts 12:12). At the end of Paul’s life, imprisoned in Rome, he asked for Mark, “for he is profitable to me for the ministry” (2 Tim. 4:11).

MISSION MATURITY

So what do we make of this sharp disagreement? Well, Paul certainly had a point: John Mark did apparently flake on the first missionary journey (Acts 13:13). We are not given any information about why he left. Maybe he had very good reasons; maybe he couldn’t take the heat. Paul felt so strongly about this, he believed it was worth dividing over. Given the rest of his ministry and the fact that the church commended Paul and Silas, I am inclined to side with Paul (Acts 15:40). 

Nevertheless, Paul’s conviction was not personal animosity but a matter of ministry focus (Col. 4:10, 2 Tim. 4:11). Many Christians allow compassion and sympathy to trump duty and truth. Given the threats they faced, Paul was not crazy to want a strong missionary team. Churches, businesses, and nations sometimes need to make similar decisions, which need not be a permanent appraisal of character or gifts. This is what we may call “mission maturity.” What do we need right now to be faithful? Not knowing Barnabas’s arguments, he may have been too soft, or he may have believed that he had certain familial duties that trumped Paul’s convictions. No doubt this was a hard moment, but all the indications are that both men remained faithful to God, refused to be bitter or resentful, and the mission carried on. It is possible to disagree, go separate ways, and remain in fellowship, even if we might note that it appears Paul chose the path of greater blessing.

APPLICATIONS

The word for the “sharp disagreement” is the word “paroxusmos,” which is where we get the English word “paroxysm” meaning “convulsion” or “outburst.” The only other use of the word in the New Testament is Heb. 10:24: “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” Our fierce pursuit of Christ and the missions He has assigned to us (family, church, business, community), ought to be calculated to apply godly pressure on those around us to love and obey Christ more. 

In this case, the division actually did result in more love and good works: Barnabas continued discipling Mark, which apparently ultimately resulted in Mark serving Peter and writing a gospel and becoming very useful to the Kingdom. Paul ended up taking Silas with him and they had an incredibly fruitful ministry together. And this doesn’t always mean that “everybody was right in their own way;” it just means that not every disagreement, division, or mistake is fatal. Good men sharpen one another (Prov. 27:17). 

Sometimes the kindest thing you can do is fire a fellow believer, so they can find the right job, so that you can provide that job to the right person. Sometimes you give an honest, mixed review/reference for an employee or business. Sometimes, faithful correction or rebuke is not received well at first. Sometimes church discipline is true love, handing a hardened sinner over to Satan so they may be saved and protecting the sheep (1 Cor. 5:5). 

Christians are commanded to preserve the unity we have in Christ (Eph. 4:3-6), but there is another kind of unity we are required to pursue (Eph. 4:13-16). This means that as far as it depends upon us, we want to be in fellowship with all who have the Spirit, who are part of the body, who confess the Triune God. But fellowship is not the same thing as agreeing about everything or being able to work closely together. As we grow up into the fullness of Christ, we must work at holding these things together. Different missions require different kinds of unity. And the grace of God in Christ holds us all together.

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INTRODUCTION

The decision of the Jerusalem Council illustrates a principle that Christians have always struggled with: grace has a backbone. True grace really is radically free, and because it is so free, it is potent and transformative. Grace welcomes and instructs. Grace rests and works. 

The Text: “And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles…” (Acts 15:13-35)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

After Peter, Barnabas, and Paul had given their testimonies, James speaks as the leader of the council and affirms Peter’s account (Acts 15:13-14). James says that this agrees with the prophecy of Amos that the tabernacle of David will be rebuilt so that the Gentiles may worship the Lord with the Jews – which was God’s plan from the beginning (Acts 15:15-18). 

So James proposes that a letter be written to the Gentiles in Antioch not to be troubled with obligation to the whole Mosaic law but only be asked to abstain from idols, fornication, and from strangled meat and blood (Acts 15:19-21). This decision was pleasing to the whole council, two men were chosen to accompany Paul and Barnabas and the letter back to Antioch, and the letter clarified that the Jerusalem church had not sent the men who had stirred up the trouble (Acts 15:22-29). They returned to Antioch, read the letter, and everything was explained, and it was all very encouraging to everyone (Acts 15:30-35).  

THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID

James appeals to the “prophets” (plural) but cites Amos who foretold the restoration of David’s tabernacle (Amos 9:11-12). Remember, this was the temporary tent that David erected where the ark was kept on Mount Zion (1 Chron. 15:1, cf. 11:5). Later, Solomon moved the ark from that tent to the temple (2 Chron. 5:2). So why does David’s tabernacle become the symbol of the salvation of the Gentiles? 

First, David’s tent was particularly marked by an explosion of musical instruments and choirs, and they were described like sacrifices and priestly service (1 Chron. 16:5-6, 23:5ff, 25:1ff). In the New Covenant, bloody sacrifice that in part pointed to the division of Jews and Gentiles, was replaced by sacrifices of praise for all the nations. 

Second, David’s tent had an unusual number of Gentiles associated with it: the ark had resided for about a hundred years in Abinadab’s house (who was most likely a Gentile) and then in Obed-Edom’s house (another Gentile) who was likely adopted into the Levites to minister before the Lord in David’s tent (cf. 1 Chron. 13:7-14, 15:15-24, 16:5). 

Finally, there may be some allusion to the Feast of Tabernacles, an annual Israelite feast in tents commemorating how God brought them out of Egypt through the wilderness in tents (Lev. 23:34-43). And that fear specifically included widows, orphans, and strangers, so that they would remember God’s grace (Dt. 16:12-15). Tents reminded Israel of hospitality. 

THE DECREE ITSELF

It might seem strange for Peter and James to emphasize the fact that Gentiles need not keep the Jewish laws to be saved but then to issue some instructions. This is admittedly a heavily debated passage, but it seems best to see these instructions as helpful training wheels for learning to walk in the liberty of Christ. The eternal law of God is not burdensome at all; it is the perfect expression of His love (1 Jn. 5:3). For those who are led by the Spirit, it is as though there is no law – not because they are lawless, but because the Spirit makes righteousness a perfectly natural joy (Gal. 5:22-23). Remember the preamble of the Ten Commandments is all grace: “I am the Lord your God who bought you out of Egypt…” (Ex. 20:2). 

The basic injunctions are to keep away from all idolatry, sexual immorality, and food offered to idols, and remember, in the ancient world these things tended to be all tangled together (cf. 1 Cor. 6, 8). As Paul says elsewhere, idols are not real and the food offered to them is not inherently unclean, but people who fear them are weak and should be protected (1 Cor. 8) and those still enslaved to them should not be encouraged in idolatry (1 Cor. 10:27-28). In that fear, it’s possible to have fellowship with demons (1 Cor. 10:20). Putting all of this together, the idolatry and sexual immorality are permanent instructions aimed at the particular temptations of Gentiles, while the food instructions are particular applications aimed at the practical challenges of practicing hospitality in mixed (Jew/Gentile) churches. 

APPLICATIONS

The gospel is an open invitation to all men to come and worship the Lord Jesus. He is the Son of David, and He was crucified for our sins and rose from the dead and ascended the heavenly Mt. Zion, where His grace is available to all who believe. As the nations come, we want to hold both of these things together: all is grace and grace loves holiness. But it loves holiness with grace and not with a snarl.

One way we can illustrate this is the distinction we sometimes make between refugees from the world and evangelists for the world. The former are most welcome, the latter are not. Unbelievers are most welcome to come hungry for grace, complete with pink hair and tattoos and Biden bumper stickers. But we don’t want them coming as evangelists for their paganism. And the same thing goes for the folks who think Trump is Jesus.  

Grace wants to walk in the light. Grace is not apathetic. Grace wants to obey. Grace wants to help others grow in grace. And grace is wise. Grace starts in the heart but doesn’t stop there. This is what grace looks like.

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INTRODUCTION

Christian warfare always consists of multiple fronts: external, domestic, and internal. The fact that we see this in the first century should give us hope and reassurance that we are not facing something profoundly new or different. This dynamic is also part of the ‘continuing adventures of Jesus.’ Our task is to walk by faith before God, the ‘Knower of Hearts, in obedience, trusting His grace. 

The Text: “And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said, except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved…” (Acts 15:1-12)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Certain men came to Antioch from Judea teaching the necessity of circumcision for salvation (Acts 15:1). It is likely that some of their clout was related to being from the region near Jerusalem. And this led to a significant dispute, the opposition being led by Paul and Barnabas, and so the church sent them to Jerusalem to have the matter settled by the apostles and elders (Acts 15:2-4). 

It was Christian Pharisees who were arguing that Gentiles needed to be circumcised and aim to keep the whole Jewish law, and a council was called to hear the matter (Acts 15:5-6). In the midst of the dispute, Peter testified about his experience with Cornelius and how God the “heart-knower” gave them the Holy Spirit, making no difference between Jews and Gentiles, making all clean by faith (Acts 15:7-9). Peter says that Jews of all people know the heavy yoke of the law, but they are saved by grace, just like the Gentiles (Acts 15:10-11). While this quieted down the assembly, Barnabas and Paul continued giving testimony of God’s work among the Gentiles (Acts 15:12). 

CHURCH COUNCILS & CONTROVERSY

This controversy occasioned what has come to be called the Jerusalem Council which likely occurred around A.D. 48-50. Galatians 2 addresses very similar themes and is often assumed to be describing the same event, although I lean towards thinking Galatians 2 happened before the Jerusalem Council, since Peter seems to understand everything clearly by this point. This moment is helpful for illustrating that while Christians and Christian leaders in particular must not be belligerent, there are some matters worth fighting for (cf. 2 Tim. 2:24-26, 2 Corinthians). Christian unity is in the truth, not lowest common denominator compromise (Eph. 4:3-15). At the same time, wisdom understands that there are weightier matters of the law (Mt. 23:23, Rom. 14).

This is also an example of early church government at work, where we see elders and pastors seeking wisdom and accountability beyond the local church. Because “in the multitude of counselors is safety” (Prov. 11:14, 15:22, 24:6). At the same time, the Word of God remains supreme. We do not decide truth by democratic vote. Church councils can and have erred, but that doesn’t negate the usefulness of striving for truth and unity. 

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE

At the center of this controversy is the doctrine of justification by faith alone. The question was whether Gentiles needed to do anything more than believe in Jesus to make themselves acceptable to God. Peter flatly denied this: God saves by giving His Holy Spirit and the gift of faith that purifies our hearts (Acts 15:8-9). Salvation is by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 15:10). God does it all (cf. Acts 15:4, 7, 8, 12). Justification is the judicial act by which God freely pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous solely because of the righteousness of Christ reckoned to us, and all received by faith alone. 

The reason this is so crucial is because any works smuggled into the equation only smuggle in with them fear and anxiety because if even 1% of your salvation (God accepting you) depends on you, how can you know if it’s enough? The answer is that you can’t know and it never is. So this is the only way to have complete peace with God: resting in the grace of God from beginning to end. He chose you in His grace before the foundation of the world, sent His Son in His grace to die and rise again, sent His Spirit into your heart to hear and believe, and He is the One who will finish that work that He has begun (Eph. 1, Rom. 5).

APPLICATIONS

We are not only justified by faith, we are also purified by faith (Acts 15:9). Cleansing is more visceral. The feelings of shame and uncleanness often haunt people. But this is often because some part of you still thinks that God accepts you on the basis of what you’ve done or not done. But this is precisely what you must repent of: “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14). 

God knows your heart. And there are only two possible things He sees there. He either sees sin or righteousness. It’s pure and clean or else it isn’t. But the only purity that God accepts is perfect purity, His own purity, the Holiness of the Holy God. And that is why it must be the Holy Spirit that offers Christ for you without spot to the Father. And the first thing God pardons and purges are all the things you thought would help. And He purges those things first so that you can actually begin to serve the living God. 

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INTRODUCTION

Acts is about the continuing work of Jesus through His Spirit bringing the gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Not only is Jesus doing this, but what we find is that He has also prepared the world for this: synagogues functioned as open doors for the gospel, but the Gentiles were also being prepared for faith. And Jesus continues to work this way, going ahead of His people, preparing the way, turning everything, even trouble and tribulation, into a door that leads to the Kingdom. 

The Text: “And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked…” (Acts 14:8-28)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul heals a man in Lystra, lame in his feet from birth, and the city erupts acclaiming Barnabas as Jupiter and Paul as Mercury (Acts 14:8-12). As the priest of Jupiter was preparing a sacrifice in their honor, the apostles tore their clothes and interrupted the proceeding, urging the people to turn to the living God who made heaven and earth, and thus barely restrained them (Acts 14:13-18). Sometime after, the Jews from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium showed up in Lystra and stirred up a mob that stoned Paul and left him for dead outside the city (Acts 14:19). However, as the disciples gathered around him, Paul rose up and the next day he was able to go to Derbe before retracing their steps back through the very same cities he was previously chased out of: Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch, encouraging the saints and ordaining elders in every church (Acts 14:20-23). Returning to the region of Pamphylia by the sea, they sailed back to Antioch where they had begun their journey, and told the saints all that God had done, particularly for the Gentiles, and remained there for some time (Acts 14:24-28). 

GODS IN HUMAN FORM?

It might seem strange or surprising that the people of Lystra see the healed man and immediately assumed that Paul and Barnabas are Jupiter and Mercury. But it is likely that they knew the legend of Baucis and Philemon told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses, the story of the time Jupiter and Mercury came down in the form of two ordinary men and were refused hospitality until a poor, kindly couple took them in and fed them. The gods sent a flood to punish the Phrygian valley (not far from Lycaonia), and only the poor couple escaped to a mountain. The couple’s hut was spared and transformed into a glorious temple to Jupiter. The couple were made priests of the temple, and by their wish, later died at the same time, and turned into an oak and linden tree, where it became customary to lay garlands in their honor. 

Whether driven by true fear/piety or a mercenary opportunism, the priest of Jupiter and the people at least had a story to point to when they came with their oxen and garlands to offer sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14:13). Of course the apostles object to being worshipped, but notice that they don’t contradict the cosmology. They don’t argue that no other supernatural beings exist or that they certainly could not appear as men. They do call that worship “vain/worthless” (Acts 14:15) and clearly call them to turn and worship the living God, the Creator of heaven and earth and Giver of all good gifts (Acts 14:15-17). It’s striking that we have our own “true myth” of the time two angels came to a city and were mistreated before receiving hospitality by the only faithful house, and only that family escaped to a mountain before judgment came upon that valley (Gen. 19). Furthermore, Daniel describes Michael and other angelic beings fighting with the angelic “princes” of Persia and Greece (Dan. 10:13, 20). Perhaps Jupiter and Mercury were real, fallen angelic “gods” that occasionally had shown up as men, and perhaps some good angels had prepared those cultures for the coming of the gospel.  

SEVERAL OPEN DOORS

God tells His story in our lives and in history in order to prepare the way for His purposes. We see this in the healing of the lame man which is very similar to the beginning of Acts: “a certain man lame from his mother’s womb, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple” (Acts 3:2). Both of these healings erupt in significant responses for the spread of the gospel. While sin sometimes is the cause of poor health, often, as in the story of the man born blind, God assigns tribulation in order “that the works of God should be made manifest” (Jn. 9:3). What no doubt looked and felt like a brick wall for these men, was God’s door. Check for sin, but look for God.

Both men “leap up” when they are healed, and here in Acts 14, they seem to be near the gate of the temple of Jupiter (Acts 14:13). The parallels seem to confirm Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles (as akin to Peter’s ministry), but it also suggests that the pagan temples (despite all the paganism) had their own role to play in preparing for the gospel, as God gave them good gifts, rain, fruitful seasons, and food and gladness (Acts 14:17). They wrongly attributed these gifts to false gods, but the gifts were preparing them to meet the Giver: another open door. 

When the Jews from Iconium and Antioch show up and stone Paul, this echoes the earlier murder of Stephen, which Paul had overseen (Acts 7:58). Surely, this was not lost on Paul. Not only is it miraculous that Paul survived, but then he rose up, went into the city, and was able to depart the next day for Derbe (Acts 14:20). What is also astonishing is the fact that he then turned around and retraced his steps through those same cities (Acts 14:21). It seems likely that Paul still had marks on his body as he encouraged the saints to continue in the faith, insisting that they must enter the kingdom through many tribulations (Acts 14:22). What was meant for evil, Paul immediately saw God working for good. Paul saw an open door. 

APPLICATIONS

Almost everyone has some sense that nothing happens by accident. Even unbelievers will say things like that. But we really need to learn to turn it around: everything happens on purpose and this means that everything is sovereignly administered by the Triune God for our good (Eph. 1:11, Rom. 8:28). We need to learn to say about everything, “this is so I can go to heaven.” 

The exhaustive sovereignty of God means that absolutely everything (every detail) has been prepared for us, and all of it is to prepare us for what is next and ultimately for the Kingdom itself, through many tribulations. Faith sees absolutely everything as an open door because Jesus is risen from the dead.

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