“Saved by Grace through Faith for Works (Acts 15:1-35)” | 6/12/22
Acts 15:1-35 | 6/12/22 | Will DuVal
Polly and I almost didn’t get married. While we were engaged, I got invited up to her family’s summer home on Lake Michigan. It was an unseasonably warm July, and being less than an hour from the U.P., no one has air conditioning. So when we attended a dinner and dance event at their country club one evening after a particularly sweltering day, temperatures were easily in the high 80s inside the clubhouse. Now, I had dated Polly long enough by this point to know the dress code for such a soiree: coat and tie. But I am as stubborn as I am pragmatic: I HATE being told what to do, especially when the rules don’t make any SENSE. So naturally, when I sat down at the dinner table, I took my coat OFF, and loosened my tie. Well, I was kindly but immediately informed by Polly’s family that men had to keep their jackets on in the clubhouse. So, reluctantly and resentfully, I obliged. Finally the dinner finished, and I was relieved to see a few guys taking their jackets off to head to the dance floor, so I quickly followed suit. But not long into our dancing, Polly returned from a water break with word from her family that they would really prefer it if I kept my jacket on.
Well, that was it for me. I LEFT the God-forsaken jacket - “If they love it so much, they can KEEP it!” - and I STORMED out. Polly chased after me and apologized. I informed her in no uncertain terms that if THIS was the kind of lifestyle she wanted, we could call off the wedding. She assured me it WASN’T, that she didn’t CARE about putting on airs or keeping up with the Joneses, but that they WERE still her family, and she felt caught in the middle. To which I replied, “Well, if you’re still in the middle, I’ll make it EASY on you: Go back inside to your family!” and I stormed off AGAIN.
But this time, my MOM caught up to me. She was on the trip too and she’d watched the whole thing go down, and she said: “Will, I know this isn’t your scene. It sounds like it isn’t Polly’s scene either. And once you’re married, you can decide together if you never want to attend another country club event ever again. But like it or not, this IS her family’s scene. And they’re important to Polly. So if she’s important to YOU, then they should be too.”
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I think that story serves as a pretty good METAPHOR for the one we find in Acts ch15 this morning. The coat and tie were of course symptomatic of a much bigger, deeper question facing me 14 years ago: “What does it mean for me to join Polly’s family?” Similarly, the driving question before us in Acts ch15 today is this: “What does it mean for the GENTILES to join God’s family?” See, for 2,000 years, Yahweh had a family, Israel. And just like ANY family, belonging to God’s family meant living by a certain set of rules and expectations. But then JESUS came along and changed everything… or DID he? Certainly Jesus opened up the family’s doors to the Gentiles, to non-Jews; that much has become clear now from Acts 10-14. But now the question is: Do these Gentiles who have now been included in God’s new covenant promises - included in Christ’s salvation! - do they still have to abide by the OLD (Jewish) family rules?
And 3 different answers to that question emerge here in Acts 15:
1) First, the Judaizers are gonna say, “YES! Gentiles must wear the coat and tie (i.e., be circumcised and follow the OT Law) in order to be included in God’s family.”
2) Second, Peter, Paul and Barnabas are gonna say, “NO! We belong to a NEW family now; circumcision and the Law count for NOTHING any longer. All that matters is FAITH; BURN the old coat and tie!”
3) But then thirdly, JAMES is gonna speak up and say, “Well… Yes AND No. Gentiles don’t HAVE to wear the coat and tie, but if they’ve TRULY been included in the family, they will WANT to dress up, out of respect and concern for the other members of the family.”
You get the metaphor? Polly’s grandparents are the Judaizers. I’m Peter. And my mom is the voice of reason in the middle, James.
But what’s at STAKE here isn’t just proper party attire, or the fate of one’s foreskin; it is the GOSPEL! The very nature of the GOSPEL, and the question of how sinners can - how we MUST! - be saved, is at stake this morning, in Acts ch15.
So let’s read the passage together and examine each of the 3 arguments more carefully; I invite you to stand with me… Acts 15:1-35
“But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
12 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
16 “‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.’
19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but 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. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24 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, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 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 yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33 And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.” This is the word of the Lord…
V1 opens with, “Some men came down from Judea”. And two questions emerge right off the bat: WHO are they, and WHERE are they?
On the latter question… ch14 concluded last week with Paul and Barnabas back in Antioch, Syria, having returned from their first missionary journey, and having successfully converted all these Gentiles who are now at the center of all this controversy. But the confusion comes when Luke writes that some men “came DOWN from Judea”, despite Antioch’s being located 300 miles NORTH of Jerusalem. Similarly, in v2, Paul and Barnabas are “appointed to go UP to Jerusalem”, despite its location to the South. The reason is that Jerusalem is located about a half a mile above SEA LEVEL. So no matter WHICH direction you’re coming from, you’ve always got to travel UP to get there.
But moving on to the first question - Who ARE these men, from Judea, who are teaching the Antiochian brothers that “Unless you’re circumcised… you can’t be saved”: Luke informs us in v5 that they were “believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees”. They’re the SAME group that have already butted heads with Peter back in ch11, after he baptized the very first Gentile convert, Cornelius, and we heard “the circumcision party criticized him”.
See, apparently the early church had a “two party system” of sorts - there were the conservatives on the right - the “circumcision party”, or “Judaizers” - who didn’t want Christianity to stray too far from its Jewish roots and traditions. After all, Jesus himself was a JEW. Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus prayed to the Jewish God, observed the Jewish Law, celebrated Jewish holidays, He WAS the Jewish Messiah, He called Jewish disciples, and He claimed to come only for the “lost sheep of the house of ISRAEL” (Matt 15:24). BUT… at the SAME time, Jesus ALSO said He fulfilled the Law (Matt 5:16), He claimed to have “OTHER sheep that are not of this fold” (Jn 10:16), and AS the Messiah, the prophets had foretold that Jesus would “be a light for the Gentiles” as well (Isa 42:6). So a second, more progressive party developed within the Church who advocated for a CHANGE of the old ways - we’ll call them the “grace party”.
And in v2, Luke tells us that “no small dissension” arose between the two parties. Elsewhere in the NT, that term staseōs refers to a riot or revolt (Bock, 495); that gives us a sense for just how HEATED this debate had gotten. But the Church KNEW that Christ calls us to UNITY, so they decided to convene a council back in Jerusalem to settle the matter once and for all, the “Jerusalem Council” (so original!).
Well, v2 is the “primary” election, and Paul and Barnabas win the nomination to represent the “grace” party from Antioch, so they are sent out. And along the way in v3, they campaign throughout “Phoenicia and Samaria”, until they reach Jerusalem in v4, where “they were welcomed by the church”, but v5, “some believers… rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise [these Gentile converts to the faith] and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”
Now, before I even summarize and critique their argument for you, I want to pause here and quickly highlight two important takeaways from the simple fact that the Church even gathered together to hash this out:
First, this is proof that some issues really ARE worth ARGUING about. Polly and I tell the couples we do premarital counseling with: 98% of the arguments you COULD have in your marriage aren’t worth having. And the same holds true in the CHURCH as well. That’s why Titus 3:9 warns us to “avoid foolish controversies… dissensions, and quarrels… for they are unprofitable and worthless.”
But there’s still that 2%. The controversies that AREN’T foolish and useless. The disagreements within the Church that are in fact NECESSARY for us to resolve for the very SAKE of our gospel unity. Cuz if the gospel is the glue that holds the church together, it has GOT to be a hill we’re willing to die on, as believers. According to Romans 1:16 - no gospel, no salvation. So we’ve GOT to have clarity and unity on the gospel; it’s one of the few things worth arguing, even worth dividing over, as a Church.
But Second, we should also find encouragement in the fact that the early Church survived this family feud. In our historical narcissism today, we’ll say things like, “The Church is more divided than it’s EVER been!”, and I just want to reassure you this morning that that’s NOT true. The Church was WAY more divided in AD48, at the Jerusalem Council, than it is today. And during the Great Schism of 1054. And the Protestant Reformation of the 16th c. And the Civil War of the 1860s. For 2,000 years now, the Church has survived far worse divisions than whatever we may be facing today. And besides, Jesus already promised to build His Church, and that the gates of Hell won’t prevail against it, so please don’t lose any more sleep over that one; you can rest assured: the Church - the TRUE Church - ain’t going anywhere.
But returning to the circumcision party of vv1-5, we might outline their
argument this way:
“Grace + WORKS → Salvation (Judaizers; vv1-5)”
Jesus PLUS circumcision & the OT Law leads to Salvation.
Now before we rush to criticize them, let’s at least try and understand where they were coming from.
For starters, we should note that these Judaizers ALSO believed in the necessity of God’s GRACE. While they were indeed “Pharisees”, they were no longer JEWISH Pharisees, who believed they could be saved on their OWN merit alone. They were now CHRISTIAN Pharisees, who had come to acknowledge their SIN and thus their need for a SAVIOR, Jesus. Notice: Luke calls them “believers” in v5; they believed in Jesus. They just happened to believe that He expected his followers to continue to observe the OT Law as well, that doing so was NECESSARY for salvation. Grace PLUS works… Jesus PLUS Law = Salvation.
After all, the OT Law itself seemed to call for our perpetual obedience:
*Regarding circumcision, in Genesis 17, God declared: “This is my covenant, which you shall keep… you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised…. my covenant shall be… an everlasting covenant” (vv10-14).
*Regarding the Law, in Deuteronomy 5, God said: “Oh that [my people would] always fear me and keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!” (vv29-32)
And in the Judaizers’ defense, their understanding of salvation simply took a page out of the book of EVERY OTHER RELIGION that has ever existed in human history! Every other religion out there says, “Here are the hoops you gotta jump through to win God’s approval; here’s the coat and tie you gotta put on.” Now, just putting on the coat and tie might not be enough. Perhaps God has still gotta be GRACIOUS, and fill in some gaps… forgive some sins along the way. But you at least gotta meet Him halfway... Or 10% of the way… you gotta do SOMETHING - there’s no such thing as a free lunch - surely we must contribute SOMETHING to our own salvation!
Grace PLUS works…
Jesus PLUS circumcision…
Jesus PLUS the 613 OT laws…
Jesus PLUS baptism…
Jesus PLUS church attendance…
Jesus PLUS sobriety…
Jesus PLUS 3 “Hail Mary’s” and 5 “Our Father’s”...
The PROBLEM with the Judaizers’ argument is: It’s not TRUE. This idea that Grace + Works → Salvation isn’t biblical. It is NOT the gospel, the good news of Christianity. It is FAKE news, a false gospel. And as Paul will counter-argue, a false gospel is really no gospel at ALL. Jesus affirms the same: if your standing before a holy God rests on your OWN righteousness, that is NOT good news for you, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees”; unless you’re PERFECT, then you don’t deserve God and you don’t deserve Heaven (Matt 5:20).
But THEN Jesus went ON to say that He WAS in fact perfect, because He was God in the flesh, but that He laid DOWN his life willingly on the cross to GIVE us His righteousness and to TAKE our sin and punishment instead, so that we might be sanctified, declared holy, and reconciled to God. That’s the GOSPEL, the good news of Jesus. And that ALL we have to do - all we CAN POSSIBLY do - to get God’s absolution and approval is simply BELIEVE. “Whosoever BELIEVES in God’s Son, Jesus, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Not whosoever believes and is BAPTIZED…
Not whosoever believes and tries their hardest to live by the Book…
It’s SIMPLY whosoever BELIEVES!
Ephesians 2:8-9 “It is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Galatians 2:16-21 “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ… because by works of the law no one will be justified… if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” Consider that: what would it say about GOD the Father, if there were ANY OTHER WAY for you and me to be saved - “just try to be a good person”, “leave the world a little better than you found it” - if that could have SAVED us… if WE could have saved OURSELVES… then how horrifying was it of God to send JESUS to the cross! It was unnecessary, if there was ANY other way to purchase our salvation.
Or put it this way: What part of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross - His grace, His undeserved favor poured out on you - where was it so DEFICIENT, so INADEQUATE, so LACKING, that He needed YOUR help to fill in the gap? Cuz that’s essentially what we’re saying, when we posit that “Jesus’ Grace PLUS our OWN Works equals Salvation. Christ alone isn’t enough; I’ve got to ADD something to the equation here.
NO! Paul says. And Barnabas, and Peter. Their Argument, argument #2 here, in vv6-11 is that
“Grace + FAITH → Salvation (Peter, Paul & Barnabas; vv6-12)”
“It’s by grace you’ve been saved through FAITH”. Or as Peter puts it here in v7: “God made a choice… that the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and [WHAT?? OBEY it? Is the gospel a RULE to be followed? No, it’s a message to be received; Hear the gospel and…] believe.”
V9: “and [God] made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts… [HOW?? By WORKS? No!] by faith.”
So, Peter concludes his argument against the Judaizers: “why are you… placing a yoke on the neck of the [Gentiles] that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” Paul portrays the Law similarly in Galatians 3: “all who rely on works of the law are under a curse… [but now] Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law… so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles… through faith.” (vv10, 13-14)
So Paul goes on to argue in Galatians 5 that “if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. [He says, “You gotta PICK: are you trusting in JESUS, or are you trusting in your circumcision? Make up your mind!] 3 every man who accepts circumcision is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace… But in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” (vv2-6)
Or to sum it up, even simpler: Romans 11:6 “if [salvation comes] by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.”
See, Grace is a free gift you don’t deserve.
Work is something you do to earn a paycheck.
So it can’t be BOTH; they are mutually exclusive. You either earned your salvation, or you don’t deserve it. The minute you PAY for a gift, it’s no longer a gift. It’s a purchase.
God’s word says: Quit trying to pay your own way - you don’t have a dime to your name, spiritually speaking; even the BEST of your “good deeds” are filthy rags compared to the holiness God deserves and demands of us - No, our salvation cost nothing less than the righteousness of God HIMSELF, and praise God, that’s exactly the price Jesus died to PAY on our behalf! So that he might GIVE us salvation as an undeserved GIFT; simply RECEIVE it… receive JESUS!... and you will be saved!
Now, those of us who are well-acquainted with the gospel, who LOVE the gospel, may be surprised to discover that the passage doesn’t END there, in v11. Peter boldly declares: “We believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus [alone], just as [the Gentiles] will”, he drops the mic, actually, he hands it over to Paul and Barnabas in v12, who back Peter’s gospel up with a bunch of stories from the road, all the “signs and wonders” God had worked through them amongst the Gentiles, to bring them salvation by grace alone through faith alone. And as good Protestants, we might expect the story to end there. But it doesn’t. As a matter of fact, we’re only about ⅓ of the way through the story! But I’m gonna cover the last 23 verses here pretty quickly, not because they aren’t important, but because I think they can be summed up pretty succinctly.
The “circumcision party” - the Judaizers - have made their case. The “grace party” - Peter, Paul and Barnabas - have made their case. Now in v13, “After they finished speaking,” JAMES stands up. He is the half-brother of Jesus; he grew UP with the guy. He knows Jesus better than ANYONE! And for that reason, James has ALSO become by this point the leader of the church in Jerusalem. So when he speaks, it carries weight; people listen. And here is his judgment, in a nutshell, on the matter:
Peter, Paul and Barnabas are RIGHT, but their argument is incomplete.
James essentially sides with the “grace party” - it IS by Christ’s grace alone that we have been saved through faith alone; so he says in v19, “my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God”; Peter is right: don’t burden them with the yoke of the LAW; Paul is right: Christ has FREED us from that burden - but then James ADDS in v20: “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.”
Now don’t miss this: James doesn’t add “...OR ELSE!” He doesn’t give them a binding ultimatum; he doesn’t command the Gentiles to avoid idolatry and immorality and strangled, bloody food as a PREREQUISITE for salvation, as in, “if you DON’T follow these rules, you can’t be saved; you are outside the community of faith.” He doesn’t SAY that.
What James affirms is that while it is faith alone that saves us, saving faith is never alone. I’ll say that again, because it may sound like splitting hairs, but the nuance here is crucial, and it is imperative that we get this straight:
“Faith alone saves us, but true, saving faith is never alone.”
James says: the “grace party” is right - we’re saved by grace through faith. But the “circumcision party” is right about one thing at least: they are RIGHT to be concerned with our WORKS. Our actions, how we live our lives; that still MATTERS in the Christian faith. Just not in the same way it USED to, when you were a Pharisee enslaved to the Law. James says “NOW your works are no longer something you strive to do to earn God’s approval; they are the natural by-product of HAVING ALREADY won His approval.” It is BECAUSE you’ve been saved by grace through faith, that you now in RESPONSE to Christ’s glorious work FOR you, ought to live to serve Him. And now you CAN live for Him; that’s the thing: Hebrews 11:6, “without faith, it is impossible to please God”. But WITH faith, the FRUIT of faith, is not ONLY salvation (faith is the gift that just keeps giving!), we now have the HOLY SPIRIT as well! God’s very own Spirit, living inside us, who empowers us to live for Him. To do the works God has called us to do and created us to do, but which we were UNABLE to do without God himself at work within us.
So here’s what it looks like:
“Grace + WORKS → Salvation? [**BUZZER SOUND!**]
“Grace + FAITH → Salvation? Yes, BUT incomplete…
According to James - and according to GOD, His WORD:
Grace + FAITH → Salvation and WORKS (James & Council; vv13-35)
This should come as no surprise to those of us familiar with the book of the Bible bearing his NAME, that James was inspired by God to WRITE, where he asks, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” For James, the answer is clear: “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (2:14, 17) But it makes all the difference in the world which side of the equation the “Works” are on; it’s NOT grace + faith + works → salvation; in that case, you nullify the grace of Christ. Rather, our faith in Christ’s grace will necessarily result in our salvation AND our good works.
And lest you think they are in disagreement, I’ll just point out that Paul agrees with James, by the way: what does he say right AFTER that famous declaration of our having been saved by grace through faith, in Ephesians 2 verse 10? “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Paul concurs with James: We are saved to serve.
There’s so much more we could say about this, and about vv13-35 here. I could point out James’ skill in diplomacy, his tact in unifying the circumcision and grace parties by appealing to both. He addresses them ALL as brothers in v13, a nod to the grace party (we’re all one in Christ). But then he calls Peter “Simeon” in v14, which seems bizarre until you realize that’s just an easy way to placate the Judaizers, by using Peter’s Hebrew name. James further validates their Jewish roots by referencing “the words of the prophets” in v15, but then the specific prophecy he quotes from Amos 9 foretells NOT ONLY the “rebuilding (of) the tent of David”, the nation of Israel, but also of “all the Gentiles who are called by my name” as well. How they strategically chose one Jew and one Greek - Judas and Silas - to deliver the Council’s decision to the church in Antioch.
But in closing, I just want to draw our attention to TWO final points, from which we can glean two practical applications as we go:
First, we should note that the 4 laws these Gentiles ARE exhorted to observe here as a RESPONSE to their new faith in Christ, are in deference to their Jewish brothers and sisters in the Church for whom idolatry, immorality, bloodied meat from animals that were strangled - those things would have ALL presented STUMBLING BLOCKS for a Jewish believer. So even Paul, the champion of the “grace party”, will say in Romans 14: I know that meat sacrificed to idols isn’t a big deal, because idols are FAKE! But if it’s gonna cause my brother or sister with a “weaker conscience” to stumble, I’ll gladly abstain from eating that meat. It’s the same rationale James gives here in v21 for the restrictions he proposes: “Moses is read every Sabbath in the synagogues in every city” - even in Gentile-majority towns and churches, there are still gonna be some Jews who might get hung up on these violations of the OLD Law. So both for the sake of your fellowship with Jewish believers, as well as for the sake of your WITNESS to Jewish non-believers, just don’t go there. The same principle holds true for us still today: Do we go above and beyond, like Paul, who said, “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews… To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel.” (1 Cor 9:20-23)
May that be true of us today, Church.
And lastly, note the response of the church in Antioch, in v31, upon hearing the Council’s decision: “when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.” They rejoiced in the opportunity, not the obligation, but the opportunity to be obedient to Christ. To demonstrate their salvation, through their works.
God still calls us today, to “be holy as I am holy”. Will we JOYFULLY pursue godliness, in humble obedience, trusting that God’s ways are best?
And when we inevitably fall short, will we rest in Christ alone - His grace alone, by faith alone, which alone can save us.