Presented by Steve Boone
The Controversy over Circumcision
July 16, 2022
Acts 15:1-21
Where we are going today: We want to spend time to understand this controversy in Acts 15 and how it affects us today. We’ll look at what exactly the Bible say these men of the circumcision group were teaching. And, we will look at how their decision impacted the spread of the Gospel.
Next time: This took place just before the writing of Galatians when Paul addresses an issue in the churches of Galatia and so we are going to dig into Galatians and the controversy that Paul is addressing there.
Last time I spoke, we looked at the early history of the church and at the spread of the Gospel. Just like it says in Acts 1:8, the Gospel spread, by the power of the Holy Spirit, from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. We know that the Gospel spread to the Gentiles first through Peter receiving a vision to go visit Cornelius. Paul was then chosen by Jesus to take the Gospel to the Gentiles, and he did that. Over and over again in the New Testament, we see God making no distinction between Jewish and Gentile believers. We can think of verses describing that in Romans and Hebrews. He broke down the middle wall of partition (Ephesians 2:14). This was an important time for the early church and we need to correctly understand the decisions that were made regarding the Gentile believers.
Last time, we talked about those early believers described in Acts and the epistles (Titus 1:10,11; Acts 10:45; 11:2; Galatians 2:12, Colossians 4:11) who were “of the circumcision party” or also called the “Judaizers.” These are a subset of the Jewish Christians and were a thorn in Peter’s and Paul’s side. In Acts 10:45 and Colossians 4:11, they are said to be “of the circumcision.”
As we ended last time, we were looking at the controversy in the church in Acts 15. The controversy was over what the Gentile believers were to be taught and over the meaning of the Gospel. In verse 1, we see that some men had come from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers there that the new Gentile converts needed to be circumcised in order to be saved. Paul and Barnabas sharply disagreed with this. It caused contention in the Antioch church so Paul, Barnabas and others were appointed to go to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders to get their thoughts about the question. It made sense that they would go to the church at Jerusalem since those causing the trouble were from Judea. You can speculate that these men were saying that this was what the church at Jerusalem was teaching. James, the Lord’s brother, seems to have had some of those tendencies, or at least he had buddies that did. You notice that when you read Galatians 2:12, “12For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.” And, this message would have been a popular one with the Jewish Christians at Antioch. They followed circumcision and likely continued to do so after they became Christians.
Paul and Barnabas would have none of this. They believed strongly that Christ came to free us from the yoke of the ceremonial law, including circumcision. Their instructions were only to go to the Gentiles and baptize them and they would be saved.
So, they traveled to Jerusalem with others to talk with the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this question. Along the way, they stopped and talked to the churches in Phoenicia and Samaria about the conversion of the Gentiles. And the news about the conversion of the Gentiles brought great joy to these churches.
They come to Jerusalem and are received well by the elders and apostles. They talk about all the things that God has done through them in the cities. And then there was much debate. It says that members of the church who had been Pharisees before their conversion rose up to argue for circumcision of Gentile believers and “to command them to keep the law of Moses.” And it says that the apostles and elders came together to discuss the matter.
Now, I want us to pause there and examine the arguments by the Jewish believers for circumcision of Gentile Christians. Can you think of some arguments on behalf of those Christians from Judea that argued for circumcision? Circumcision came through Abraham. We read about it in Genesis 17. God promised that he would give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants for an “everlasting possession” and that “I will be their God.” In return, Abraham was to circumcise all males as a sign of that covenant between the children of Abraham and God. This was an everlasting covenant. Whoever was not circumcised would be cut off from his people; he has broken the covenant. Circumcision was tied to possession of the promised land.
There may have been a sense among some of these early Jewish Christians that the Lord Jesus was going to return soon to set up an earthly kingdom in Israel to rescue the Jews and their nation from the pagan Romans. Yes, they believed in Jesus and in his soon return to set up his kingdom! Their Christian faith was more a permutation of Judaism than a completely new faith. So here the Judaizers may have been saying that you are not of Christ AND HIS KINGDOM unless you receive circumcision. It is okay for Gentiles to convert and become Christians, but we want you to look like a Jew after you convert, and when you do, you will be part of the earthly kingdom that Jesus is going to return and set up.
Keep in mind here that Paul is demanding from the Jews a huge paradigm shift. As Jews, they were God’s chosen people. The Old Testament describes again and again where God names the Jews as His holy nation. They are set apart. They are a kingdom of priests. They understood themselves to be the best. And now Paul comes preaching the Gospel of Jesus, which to many who accept Christ, this is all well and good. But Paul is now removing the title of “best” from the Jews and placing it on this new category of people who Peter refers to as “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation…” in 1 Peter 2. The Pharisees that follow the Gospel of Jesus are in a sense saying to Paul, “We can accept this Jesus as the Messiah and His sacrifice, resurrection, and righteousness, but don’t tell us that we are now equal with everyone else.” Pride is at the heart of this. This is something that all of us must wrestle with if we are going to make Christ number one in our lives.
With that perspective, let’s go back to Acts starting in Acts15:5,6, “5But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses. 6And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.”
In verse 7, we see that there is much disputing and argument over the issue. And Peter stands up and speaks. Listen to what Peter says, “7And 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. 8And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10Now 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? 11But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.
Listen to what Peter is saying. He is reminding them how he was guided to go to Cornelius at Caesarea (Acts 10:20) and preach the Gospel to the Gentiles and how the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and the Gentiles there just as he fell on the Jews in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. And, Peter makes an important point here; he says the Holy Ghost, “put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.”
What does it mean that their hearts were purified by faith? Psalm 51:10 says “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. David, in faith, prays to God for forgiveness and prays that God will renew his spirit and give him a clean heart. And God, knowing the heart of David, renews him and gives him a clean heart. And that is what God did for the Gentiles. He who knows the hearts of men, acts to cause his Holy Spirit to rest on the Gentiles, just as he did on the Jews. These Gentile Christians have bowed before the Almighty God and repented of their sins just like David and just like the Jews did at Pentecost. And God has purified their hearts by their faith.
But it is not only that these Gentiles had faith in Jesus for their salvation. It was that God accepted them and demonstrated His acceptance of them by sending the Holy Spirit. To challenge God’s actions was an affront to God. These Christian Pharisees are calling into question God’s decisions. Think about it. The gift of the Holy Spirit fell on these Gentile Christians, just as the Holy Spirit fell on the Jews at Pentecost. God worked that and did it for His great purposes. In effect they are saying, “Does God know what he was doing by sending the Holy Ghost to fall on these uncircumcised men?” By saying this they are tempting God. And, this is a lesson for us. We can tempt God by saying that someone is not saved unless they behave in such and such a way after their conversion.
And, then he talks about a yoke being put on the necks of the Gentiles. A yoke that the Jews were not able to bear. That yoke is the commandment of circumcision, but it is also the huge number of commandments listed in the law of Moses, as it stated in verse 5. We can read about these laws in Exodus and Leviticus. They include the laws regarding sacrifices. The laws that said what garments could be worn. They required cleansing of blankets after an issue of blood. It was the laws that a person was unclean for seven days after touching a dead person, and on and on.
I want to be very clear here. Peter is clearly NOT talking about the 10 commandment laws. For example, Jesus magnified the 10 commandments through his teachings. The 10 commandments are separate from the laws of Moses. There is still the commandment to remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy. But there were laws about Sabbath observance in the Law of Moses that are not in effect today. Laws about not lighting a fire on the Sabbath Day. Laws about only traveling a certain distance on the Sabbath day. We are not subject to those laws of Moses. We could go to Hebrews, Colossians and Ephesians and read about these laws not being in effect today (Ephesians 2:14,15. Colossians 2:13,14, 20-23).
Back to Acts 15:11, “11But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” There is no difference between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. We are all saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then it says that all the multitude kept silence and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they described the miracles that God had worked through them among the Gentiles.
Then James gets the final word here. James the brother of Jesus who is considered the leader of the early church at Jerusalem. This is the James that wrote the book of James and the James that Paul went and visited in Jerusalem (Galatians 1:19).
Acts 15:13-21, “13And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: (James here calls ALL of them brethren. He recognizes that all are concerned that nothing be done that will dishonor God or his son Jesus) 14Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. (James acknowledges here that it was God that visited the Gentiles) 15And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,(this is a quote taken from Amos 9:11,12)
16After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David (JESUS), which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up (This is the church of God that is being built):
17That 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.(God not only visited and redeemed his people but redeemed and visited those who were not a people. This was to the glory of God.)
18Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. (Who makes these things known from of old. ESV)19Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. 21For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.”
Here was the judgement or opinion of James. He is saying that we do not require the Gentile believers to follow the Laws of Moses. Look at what he says they must do. Why? They are to abstain from meats offered to idols. Why? so that they might obey the commandment to not worship false idols. By doing this they will show their hatred of idolatry. Also, that they are to abstain from fornication. Fornication and adultery was a huge issue among the Romans. It often was tied to pagan temple rituals. They were told to abstain from things strangled, and from eating blood. These were both rules forbidden under the law of Moses. What is the reason these were chosen out of all the rules forbidden in the laws of Moses? Look at verse 21 “For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him…” Think about the Jewish believers. The temple was still standing and blood sacrifices were still being offered. By making this commandment, the Gentile believers would be respecting their fellow Jewish believers.
In summary, the Gentile believers are warned to avoid all appearances of the evils that they practiced in their former lifestyle, or are likely to be tempted to. And, they are to avoid offending their fellow believers.
That is good guidance for us today. We are to avoid those areas of our lives where we are tempted the most. And, like it says in Romans 14, we are to be considerate of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to avoid anything that might offend our brothers and sisters, even if it were lawful.
Read Acts 15:22-32, “ 22Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: 23And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: 24Forasmuch 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: 25It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. 28For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29That 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.
30So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle: 31Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation. 32And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them. 33And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles. 34Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still. 35Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
I want to leave us with a couple questions for us to think about from today’s message. First, what areas of your life are you liable to be tempted? Stay away from those things. Avoid them. For the Gentiles, it was fornication and idolatry.
Second, there is a tendency for us to make our own opinion and practices a rule or law for others and to conclude that because it is good for us, that it should be also good for others. I’m challenging you to evaluate your motives towards others. Be certain that the influence you have on others is in areas that edify. We do not want to be like the Judaizers that visited Antioch. (As a result of this decision, the Gentiles and Jews were able to fellowship together as one church. This decision had a huge impact on the spread of the Gospel!)
This event took place just before the writing of Galatians when Paul addresses a similar issue in the churches of Galatia. We are going to look at the controversy that Paul addresses in Galatians to understand this more. We’ve covered the background with what we have looked at today in Acts 15.