A Church Problem

Thesis: Through Christ God brings different races together to form a single people, “God’s people,” for Christian fellowship.

The Problem, vv. 1-5

A. Exegesis

1. Should not Gentiles be required to become Jews in order to share in the Christian community?
   • The first Christians were all Jews.
   • Jesus was a Jew and the Jewish Messiah.
   • God had only one covenant people–the Jews.
2. How could law-abiding Jewish Christians who seriously observed all the ritual laws have any interactions with Gentiles Christians who did not observe the law?
3. The moral law of God is not in question here. Paul, for example, constantly reminded his churches of God’s moral standards in his letters. This was a serious question of fellowship between Christians of different races. These people belonged to a time in the life of the church when there was close contact between Jewish and Gentile Christians, when table fellowship was especially common.

B. Illustration–White and African-American Christians having fellowship.

C. Application–Christian fellowship should not be withdrawn on the basis of cultural or racial differences.

The Debate, vv. 6-19

A. Exegesis

1. Apostle Peter–the witness of experience, vv. 6-11
   • God is no respecter of persons; He looks at the heart.
   • God convicted Cornelius, looked to the inner circumcision of his heart, and accepted him on that basis (Jeremiah 4:4; 9:26).
   • God only  grants His Spirit to those He accepts.
     • For the Jew, circumcision was a mark of sanctity and purity, of belonging to God’s people and being acceptable to Him.
     • In Cornelius, God has shown Peter that true purity comes not by an external mark or skin color, but by faith.
   • God is Sovereign; God is free to save whomever He is pleased to grant His grace.
2. Elder James, the brother of Jesus–the witness of Scripture, quoting Amos 9:11-12, a new restored people of God, Jew and Gentile in Christ, the true Israel.

B. Illustration

The difference between education and experience: Education is what you get from reading the small print. Experience is what you get from not reading it.

C. Application

1. Human experience, while important, is not to be trusted as a final word. This is too subjective.
2. Experience must always be tested objectively by the Word of God.

The Solution, vv. 20-21

A. Exegesis

1. An Issue Settled–Gentiles are not required to be circumcised to be admitted as members of the Body of Christ.
2. An Issue Raised–How could Jewish Christians who maintained strict Torah observance be able to fellowship with Gentile Christians without running the risk of defiling themselves ritually?
3. The Fellowship Issue Resolved–When Jewish and Gentile Christians have table fellowship, they are required to observe 4 rituals out of respect for their Jewish brothers:
   • abstain from meat offered to idols;
   • abstain from strangled meat;
   • abstain from eating blood; and
   • abstain from sexual immorality.

B. Illustration–Berton Braley said: “Snobbery is the pride of those who are not sure of their position.”

C. Application

1. Whenever we are guests in another culture, we are required to observe their social mores or customs out of respect.
2. If we know that our social practices are repulsive or offensive, we should abstain.

<<Back<<