“Is Circumcision Necessary?”
[Acts 15:1-35]
June 27, 2010 Second Reformed Church
What place do the laws of the Old Testament have in the life of the Christian? Are we still to keep the laws of the Old Testament? Are we free to ignore the laws of the Old Testament? What does Jesus’ Salvation mean for us with regards to the Old Testament Law?
Paul and Barnabas had returned to Antioch after their first missionary journey, and word came to them that there were people in Judea who were teaching the Gentile believers that they must be circumcised, or they cannot be saved. That is, there is no salvation in Jesus apart from circumcision.
We might wonder where this came from – why this was a question: does not Jesus save us apart from any and all works that we may or may not do? Why would Jewish believers come to the conviction that circumcision is necessary for salvation?
Let us revisit the institution of circumcision for the answer:
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and multiply you greatly.’ Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, ‘Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojourning, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.’
“And God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you shall keep my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male through out your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant’” (Genesis 17:1-14, ESV).
Abraham is the father of the people of God – the people with whom God has made His Covenant. What is a covenant? A covenant is a treaty, a testament, an agreement – between parties. So God made an agreement with Abraham. Which was? God promised to make Abraham the father of a great people – many nations – the people of God. God promised to bless all nations through Abraham. God promised to give His people the land of Canaan as an inheritance. Abraham was to keep God’s Law and to symbolically mark every male member of the Covenant through circumcision. Every male who was not circumcised was cut off from his people and, thus, from God (cf. Genesis 15).
So, the Jewish Christians understood that – since Jesus said that none of the Law will be abolished until heaven and earth pass away (Matthew 5:17-18) – in order to receive salvation from Jesus, circumcision must occur. And let us understand that circumcision was representative of the entire Law of God. As we heard in our text, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the Law of Moses.”
Notice we are told that the apostles and the elders took time to consider whether or not these Jewish Christians were correct. They took time to check the Scriptures and to see if they were right that our keeping of the Law is part of the basis of our salvation. After taking the time to consider what God had said, they came to the conclusion that, no, it was not necessary for the Gentile Christians to be circumcised. They concluded that keeping the Law is not part of the basis of our salvation. Why not?
Peter offered the first argument, based on what he had experienced in his missionary work: if God Who knows the heart chose some Gentiles to believe savingly in Jesus, and God gave them the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, just as had happened with the Jewish believers, there could be no further requirement for Salvation. “We believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” Not based in any part or degree on the keeping of God’s Law.
Paul and Barnabas then recounted their missionary journey and all that they had seen among the Gentiles. Including all those who had come to faith in Jesus Alone for their salvation.
Finally, James presented the witness of prophecy, quoting at least from the book of Amos: “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, 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 known from of old.”
James argued that God promised to rebuild His people by including the Gentiles, and God nowhere states that the Gentiles have to keep the Law of God to become His people though salvation in the Promised Savior. The Gentiles are included and have done nothing to merit inclusion. Becoming part of the people of God is purely an act of grace on God’s part.
However, the apostles and elders concluded that the Gentiles were to keep four laws: they were not to eat meat that had been offered to idols, they were not to commit sexual immorality, they were not to eat an animal that had been strangled to death, and they were not to eat blood. Why?
Paul addressed the issue of meat offered to idols in his first letter to the Corinthians: “‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but seek the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For ‘the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.’ If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, ‘This has been offered in sacrifice,’ then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who has informed you, and for the sake of conscience – I do not mean your conscience, but for his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?” (I Corinthians 10:23-30, ESV).
We will remember that when certain sacrifices were offered to God, the people were invited to eat some of the meat. The same was true of meat that was sacrificed to idols. Only the meat sacrificed to idols was supposed to have magical properties because it had been sacrificed to idols. Paul tells the Corinthians that we know that is ridiculous – there is One God Who gives us all the food we have to enjoy. So, don’t question where the meat comes from, just eat it and give thanks to God.
However, if someone makes a point of telling you that the meat has been offered to an idol – thereby implying that it is special or has magic properties – as a witness against idolatry, you should not eat it.
OK? So, we can see that the meat itself is not really the issue here – it’s what the meat supposedly represents or can do. What does this tell us about the Gentile Christians?
It is true that God forbid eating food offered to idols, sexual immorality, and eating animals that had been strangled to death, and eating blood. But to understand our text, we need to know that part of the Gentile, pagan, worship, as Paul indicates in writing to the Corinthians, was eating the meat offered to idols, because it was believed to be magic. The also engaged in “worship” with the temple prostitutes, and in eating strangled animals and blood – to gain health and stamina, and so forth. The four things that the apostles and elders told the Gentiles that they must not do are things that commonly occurred in pagan worship.
The apostles and elders were not saying that they must abstain from these things in order to receive salvation from Jesus – as though Jesus saves us part way and we save ourselves the rest of the way by keeping certain laws. No, the apostles and elders were instructing the Gentile Christians to stay away from these things because it would have been very tempting and very easy for them to slide back into their old, sinful ways. (And because it could look like they were giving credence or approval to the ideas and practices of pagan worship if they did engage in those things.)
The apostles and elders were showing care and concern for their Gentile brothers and sisters – trying to put a hedge around those things that would be the most tempting for them and might cause them to sin. It would be like our telling a recovering alcoholic not to become a bartender. It would be like our telling a repentant prostitute not to become a sex therapist. The apostles and elders were setting these rules in love to attempt to keep the Gentile Christians from falling back into their old, sinful habits. They were saying, “Don’t allow yourself to be put in a situation that you know will be extremely tempting for you to sin in.”
If someone easily sins by lusting, he ought to be careful about the movies he watches, being alone with women, and so forth. Whatever sins we find the most appealing, we do well to put up a hedge to keep us – as much as possible – from opportunities to pursue that sin. That’s what the apostles and elders were doing. They were not saying that the Gentiles contributed to their salvation by keeping those four laws.
And the whole Church agreed with their decision. So they sent Judas called Barsabbas and Silas with a letter explaining their decision, and they went throughout the world that they would know that salvation is through Jesus Christ Alone, and, out of love and concern for them, they are not to go anywhere near those things they formally engaged in in their pagan worship.
And the Gentile Christians rejoiced that circumcision and the keeping of the Law are not necessary for salvation. And Judas and Silas preached throughout the world, while Paul and Barnabas went back to Antioch, where they continued to preach the Gospel. Let us understand, as we have seen before in our look at the book of Acts, the Gospel is for all types of people. No matter what our background, heritage, upbringing, etc., the Gospel is the same for all peoples: God came to earth in the form of a human being – Jesus, He lived a perfect life under His Law, died, rose, and ascended back to His Throne, having secured salvation for all those who will believe and having glorified His Father.
Let us also understand that our good works have no bearing on our salvation – we contribute nothing to our salvation. The Work is entirely Jesus’. He Alone saves us by Himself. However, let us also understand that we are called to be holy. Peter writes, “but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (I Peter 1:15-16, ESV). That means, we are to keep God’s Law.
“Wait a minute, didn’t you just say that we don’t have to keep God’s Law as part of our salvation?”
Yes. We do not and cannot add to our salvation. Christ is all in all. However, as a response to what Christ has done – completely of His Own Work – we respond in love and thanksgiving by keeping God’s Law, with the help of the Holy Spirit.
“But didn’t you just say that the apostles and elders said that the Gentile Christians didn’t have to keep God’s Law – they didn’t have to be circumcised?”
Yes. We do not have to be circumcised today.
What we need to understand is that there are three types of law: Ceremonial, Judicial, and Moral. Ceremonial Law includes laws like being circumcised, not wearing clothes of more than one fabric, not eating meat and cheese in the same meal, not eating pork, priests needing to wear underwear, and so forth. Judicial Law including stoning witches to death, stoning persons involved in adultery to death, stoning children to death who talk back to their parents, how to mark off boundary lines, and so on. Moral Law includes such things as worshiping the One God Alone, keeping the Sabbath, not committing adultery, not stealing, loving our neighbors, etc.
Now, the Ceremonial Law and the Judicial Law were given to Ancient Israel for Ancient Israel, while they lived in the land as Ancient Israel. They broke the covenant with God, so the promises and laws that related only to them no longer apply. We are not obligated to keep the Ceremonial and Judicial Law of God.
The Moral Law is for all people for all time. That Law we must keep, not for Salvation, but in response to God’s Salvation, to evidence our thankfulness for God saving us and working sanctification in us – for making us holy.
So, how ought we respond to this text?
Let us preach the Gospel of Salvation in Jesus Christ Alone to all peoples. We may not say, “I don’t want that type of person in our church.” All people are welcome to come and hear and respond to Jesus and His Gospel.
Let us remove all impediments. As Peter said, “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?” We may not require anything of a person for salvation that God does not require, and we see in the Scripture that salvation is by Christ Alone, by grace alone, by faith alone, to the Glory of God Alone.
And let us do all we can to lead each other away from those things that lead us into sin and, instead, encourage each other to live lives of holiness, following God’s Moral Law out of love and thanksgiving for all He has done for us, and especially, for salvation through Jesus Alone.
The Only Hope of the Jews, the Gentiles – for any person – is salvation through Jesus Alone. Believe in Him, repent of your sin, follow after Him in joy.
Let us pray:
Almighty and Holy God, we thank You that You do not require anything of us to be saved, otherwise, no one would be saved. We thank You for saving us and calling us to a life of being witnesses to Your Salvation. Help us to live lives worthy of You – lives of joy and thanksgiving and obedience. Help us to lead others away from sin and into paths of righteousness for Your Name’s Sake. May we be known as Your people, for by Your Grace we are. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment