(Read Acts 15:1-3)
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing to learn more about the amazing life of the Apostle Paul. With their first missionary journey behind them, Paul and Barnabas reintegrated themselves back into the church in Antioch of Syria. The work the Lord had done in Antioch, through these two Apostles, was amazing. One of my mentors recently sent me some information about Antioch that I did not know, and I will share it with you, within the context of this message.
When Antioch was founded by Seleucus I, the city was laid out in two primary sections – one for the Syrians and one for the Greeks. These sections were walled off from one another. During days of Roman rule Antioch was divided into 18 different ethnic groups. As a result of this ethnic diversity, social integration was very difficult. But through the power of God, it was in Antioch that Jesus’ followers were first called Christians (Acts 11:19-26). For it was there that the Lord transformed a multi-ethnic church comprised of Jews and non-Jews (Africans, Arabs, Greeks, Romans, Syrians, Asians, etc.) into one body. And it was the multi-ethnic, local church in Antioch that took the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world, not the homogenous church in Jerusalem (Acts 13:1-3).
As Paul and Barnabas were getting settled in Antioch after a missionary journey that saw Gentiles come to Jesus by the droves, a group of men arrived from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers there that, “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.” This was in clear conflict with what Paul and Barnabas were teaching, which was salvation by God’s Grace and Grace alone. Paul and Barnabas vehemently argued with the men who were causing discord in the church. After much arguing, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the Apostles and elders there about this question. The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers there. The church in Phoenicia and Samaria were thrilled to hear that Gentiles were being accepted in Christ and they they were coming in large numbers. We will stop here for today.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. The Blood of Jesus can unify us. With all the racial rhetoric flooding the news lately, it is refreshing to remind ourselves that the Blood of Jesus can unify us all into ONE BODY in Christ Jesus. Antioch was an melting pot where ethnic groups were divided by physical walls in the city, but the walls could not stop the Gospel of Grace and the Blood of Jesus brought Jews, Africans, Arabs, Greeks, Romans, Syrians, Asians, and etc., together as ONE. Don’t forget that when you are watching the news.
2. The traditions of men can be hard to overcome. Paul and Barnabas were running up against Jews who were more focused on tradition than the Gospel of Grace. Jesus ran into the same problem. In Mark 7 Jesus lectured the Pharisees and Scribes about this. He said, “You hypocrites, Isaiah described you beautifully when he wrote – ‘This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’. You are so busy holding on to the traditions of men that you let go the commandment of God!… It is wonderful to see how you can set aside the commandment of God to preserve your own tradition!… you have made the word of God invalid for the sake of the tradition which you hold” (7:6-13).
3. The Law cannot save you. Once again, let me remind you that Paul taught, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor 3:6). The letter was the Law of Moses and the Holy Spirit is freely given by Grace. Paul taught, “The Law gives sin its strength” (1 Cor 15:56). Without the Law you would not sin, because you would not have any rules to break. In two places Paul made it clear that we are not under the law but under grace (Rom 6:15 & Gal 3:25). Paul even called the 10 commandments, which was God’s Law etched in stone, “the ministry of death” (2 Cor 3:7). Why? Because the Law was designed to show us that we needed a Savior. The Law was designed to get us (mankind) to the end of ourselves. We could never fulfill the Law. The Law condemns us, but Jesus came to give us access to eternal life and freedom IN HIM by Grace!
4. Mixing Grace with the Law nullifies Grace. Jewish believers, who were circumcised when they were 8 days old (well before they were Born-Again and they were still under the Law of Moses), wanted Gentile believers (who were never under the Law of Moses) to get circumcised as grown men. Not only was it a physically daunting proposition — for grown men to get circumcised without anesthesia — but it was also a slap in the face to the message of Grace. James made it clear that if you take on the Law you have to fulfill the entire Law. If you break one aspect of the Law, you have violated the entire thing (James 2:10). Furthermore, Paul made it clear that if a Born-Again believer attempted to take on some of the requirements of the Law, then he/she must take them all on and by doing so they have fallen from Grace (Gal 5:4). So the message is this: either you are going to live by the Law of Moses or you are going to live under God’s Grace offered to you through Jesus. There is no mixing of the two. Once you introduce Law into Grace it is no longer Grace.
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for the liberating message I receive from Your Word. In Your Word we are all one. Whether we are Black, White, Brown, Yellow, or Red, we all become one once we are washed with the Blood of Jesus Your Son. The Blood of Jesus unifies us like nothing else can. I keep my focus on You and on the Grace You have provided me through Jesus Your Son. I refuse to allow tradition to keep me from Your liberating power. I will not allow myself to be entangled with the yoke of bondage that comes from both the Law of Moses and the traditions of men. I accept Grace and Grace alone. I will not mix Grace with anything. I will take Grace for what it is… undeserved, unmerited, unearned, and unyielding. I embrace Your Amazing Grace and I allow the fact that I am forgiven to change me from the inside out. I don’t attempt to earn it, because I never could. I simply accept it and seek to be a conduit of Your Grace everywhere I go. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
