SERMON: Acts 15:1-12

Reading:

And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.   When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.   And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.   And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.   But 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.  And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.   And 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.   And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;   And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.   Now 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?   But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.   Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. 

Legalism and the Gospel

Beloved of the Lord..... There are two primary errors concerning God's law, which we fall into as Christians redeemed by the blood of Christ: lawlessness and legalism.  To be lawless is to break God's commandments, God's law, and do whatever we please without repentance and faith.  A truly lawless person then will do whatever their flesh wants to do, and they will never get down on their knees and pray, "God be merciful to me a sinner, for Jesus' sake."  While it is true Jesus has kept and fulfilled God's commandments for us and faith alone in Him is necessary for salvation, the danger for us Christians is to make God's grace a license to sin.  Lawless Christians who do not repent of their lawlessness will be damned.  They are not true Christians at all, for there is no sorrow in their heart over sin, nor is there sincere trust that God has forgiven all through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Today's sermon however is not about lawlessness, but legalism.  For most of us (if not all) Legalism is more dangerous for us, in that it is more subtle.  Legalism is to seek justification by the law, in different ways, shapes and forms.  The legalist makes laws and commandments God has not made, and then he feels secure by keeping them in an outward fashion.  When we are stuck in legalism, we continually focus on the law and external things, without seeing Christ and His fulfillment of the law through the eyes of the Spirit.  "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."  Faith knows it is not necessary for salvation to keep even one of God's laws, yet out of thankfulness and praise for all Jesus has done, faith happily does all things to God's glory and for the benefit of our neighbor.  Faith then in action is love and good works toward God and neighbor.  That is why Jesus said to those stuck in legalism, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."

I.  What is legalism?  Paul and Barnabas had come to the end of their missionary journey in Antioch of Syria.  During this time certain Jews came down from Jerusalem, and they began to teach the Gentile Christians of Antioch, "Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved."  This is similar to verse 5 which says, "But 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."  These were Christians then, but in weakness they had fallen into legalism, making a certain work of man conditional for salvation.  This is like saying, "Oh yes, I know we are saved by Christ, by grace through faith, but you cannot be saved without baptism."  While it is indeed true all sinners should desire baptism, in that it is a Means of Grace, Baptism saves us only in the sense that Christ and His forgiveness are given to us THROUGH Baptism.  Baptism then is God's work and it is pure Gospel and not law in any way, shape or form.  Once men make baptism into a work of man, the benefits of baptism are lost by unbelief.  Many thus in our world today do this very thing.  They see passages in the Bible which speak to the necessity of baptism, but they miss the Spirit.  When they make baptism into a work they must do to enter heaven, they fall into legalism.  We then must tell them, "No, baptism won't save you" even though the Bible says, "Baptism doth also now save us."

        If you understand this point, even though on the surface is sounds contradictory to the Bible, that is a good sign which indicates faith.  If we don't understand it, we have room to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord.  What then is legalism?  In a nutshell, legalism is seeking to be righteous by the law.  The legalist then seeks to justify themselves before God and man, by one work or many works.  This is quite different from rejoicing Jesus alone has done all, not with gold or silver but with His holy precious blood.  Though we as Christians know this point well and rejoice, there is a legalist inside each and every one of us.  Our sinful human nature is always a legalist.  Our hearts gravitate toward the law, and not the Gospel by nature.  As Jesus said, "the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak."

        Looking now at some definitions of legalism, in Matthew 15 Jesus said, "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.  In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrine's the commandments of men."  Note again the spirit here.  Outwardly these legalistic Pharisees appeared to be doing much good, but inwardly they had no faith and love for Christ.  Their worship of God was external and not internal, for in their hearts they did not believe nor love Jesus at all.  Instead they made and kept their own "commandments of men", and they looked down their nose at others who did not keep their laws. 

         Years ago Pastor Miller gave a good definition of legalism, when he wrote a short essay on Church and Ministry and legalism.  He said, "Legalism is a slippery subject because Christians want to please God with their behavior, and they look to God's commandments to see what they should do; so it is easy to slip into legalism.  Legalism can be defined as subjection to the laws of men instead of God's, or as an undue emphasis on the Law, or as the inclination to want to be justified by the works of the Law.  What is fitting and proper can be turned into a law, a matter of conscience, when it is actually a free matter.  With regard to the church and ministry, inferences are drawn from the doctrine that are not implied in the doctrine, and those inferences are turned into rules.  It is easy to multiply rules and regulations and so enslave consciences."  Note those last words…. "multiplying rules and regulations" and "enslaving consciences".  This reminds me of a Lutheran fellowship which teaches that a congregation cannot call a minister, unless they are able to provide a full salary.  They use First Timothy 5:18, "the laborer is worthy of his reward" for congregations should support their pastors financially.  But it does not say how much, nor does the Scripture say "and if you can't fully support him, neither can you call him."

        In like manner legalism occurs when some churches prohibit the drinking of alcohol, or smoking, or they command the tithe.  Others try to legislate the length of a woman's dress for the sake of modesty, or they say women must wear hats to church.  But these are all external things which do not touch upon the faith of the heart.  Consider how the Pharisees accused Jesus of sin when He healed a lame man on the Sabbath.  They called His good evil, because they only saw the law in an external fashion.  Note carefully how Jesus answered their charge.  "If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at Me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?"  Isn't the one who performs the circumcision on the Sabbath working?  Isn't this work a good work?  Consider also a husband who takes his wife to a doctor, well knowing this doctor will see her nakedness.  Is the husband doing good or evil?  Again the spirit behind the law, and the Spirit who moves us to obey the law are more important  than the external law itself for "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, for love is the fulfilling of the law."  When men thus trust in good works for salvation, you will find them outlawing every good work.  That is why Jesus said to those who trusted in their works, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."

II.  How do we combat legalism?  Only the Holy Spirit then can teach us that God gave His Ten Commandments, not to make us good by keeping them, but to reveal sin.  Likewise only the Holy Spirit can move us to do good.  Christ must enter in.  We need the Gospel.  If then we want to be righteous or holy in God's sight, we do not look to the law, but our eyes of faith must rest upon Christ, beholding "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!"  Thus we see the controversy in Antioch and Jerusalem, we see Peter preaching Christ.  Likewise today the proper way to keep ourselves from legalism is to emphasize the Gospel above the law. 

        Peter begins by calling them "Men and brethren".  They are Christians and hopefully it is a sin of weakness.  God has "put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith."  No one could argue and say the Gentiles did not have the Holy Spirit, for their faith in Jesus and their love for Jesus was more than evident.  Why put a yoke upon them?  This is like saying, "Christ has redeemed and freed you from sin, now do a bunch of good works so you can be saved!"  In like manner while we must continue to teach that good works are necessary, for God desires them, they are in no way necessary regarding our justification in God's sight for Christ has done all.  "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."  Fighting against legalism, faith then…. and faith alone in Christ must be emphasized over and against works, "for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is a gift of god not of works lest any man should boast."  "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."  And "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."  Hence Peter said, "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they." 

        Finally, beloved of the Lord, only the Holy Spirit can teach us that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.  Only the Holy Spirit can teach us "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."  Only the Holy Spirit can teach us the words of Jesus, "He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life."  When this is taught and believed, faith happily and joyfully does all things out of love for God and neighbor.  Christian Liberty then first teaches us we are through the blood of Christ free from all laws and commandments for our salvation, and then knowing such Christian Liberty happily and joyfully does all things for neighbor by love and faith.  Therefore "by love serve one another" the Bible says and "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor" and "Love is the fulfilling of the law."  While we recognize that we still need the law for our old man, this sinful flesh, our new man the spirit needs no law at all, for we have the Gospel, and Christ is everything to us.  We need nothing else than Him.

        Therefore as Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."  Knowing all this we do indeed look at the law in a different way.  We see the law through the eyes of faith.  Through Christ, by His grace, the old law becomes a new law, the law of Christian love. 
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another"….and to this faith says "Amen".