SERMON: DEFINING BELIEF (Acts 15:1-21 and Philippians 3:1-4a)

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Acts 15:1-5

 

Acts 15:1 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

 

5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

 

-- I am sure most people here are familiar with the name Vincent Van Gogh – he remains a world-renowned painter – and even if you are not a lover of art, you have heard of Van Gogh and may even be able to recognize some of his paintings – and, of course, he is famous for having cut part of his own ear off during a mental breakdown following an argument with his roommate, the painter Gauguin -- which was later immortalized in his painting, “Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear

-- but the one thing you may not know about Van Gogh was that he began his working career as a missionary in 1878, which was a requirement to enter the ministry and become a pastor

-- for six months, Van Gogh served as a missionary to the poor coal miners of Belgium – and after that time, he was to be evaluated by the church’s leadership to determine whether he would be ordained into full-time ministry and be allowed to serve as a pastor

-- “There was just one problem with Van Gogh’s desire to become a pastor—in the view of many respectable church leaders, he took the example of Jesus a bit too seriously.” – instead of maintaining the dignity that the leaders thought he should display, Van Gogh “chose not to put his confidence in his credentials, education, or the fact that he came from a celebrated family of ministers”

-- “Van Gogh gave away most of his clothing and possessions, and rather than ministering from the clean confines of the church building, he worked alongside the miners in the tunnels -- He also shunned the comfortable housing provided to him by his church and instead lived in a filthy hut like those he came to serve” – he literally became one with those he ministered with

-- and this did not sit well with the church leaders – “in nineteenth-century Holland, pastors were held in high regard -- They were the leaders not just of the church but of the whole community -- and they were among the most educated men in society -- Therefore, they carried themselves with a dignity appropriate for their exalted status”

            -- so, when Van Gogh’s six-month assignment in the mines was complete, these leaders rejected his application for ordination because they felt he did not portray the standards of the office – in conduct – in dress – and in his preaching

            -- in all honesty, the clergymen weren’t merely rejecting Van Gogh – they were protecting themselves and preserving their own reputations – to have someone look and act like Van Gogh would demean their profession and diminish them in the eyes of their congregants – “In the end, they weren’t thinking about what would honor God, advance his mission, or help the poor miners of Belgium. They were focused on themselves.”

            -- “in a way, the church authorities who rejected Van Gogh closely resembled the religious authorities who rejected Jesus for not meeting their cultural expectations of a rabbi and prophet.” – and they closely resembled the certain people that we read about in Acts 15, who condemned the Gentile believers for not looking like them – for not being circumcised or following the law handed down by Moses

            -- rather than focusing on the evidence of God’s spiritual blessings in the life of these Gentiles, these men believed the Gentiles must first become Jews in appearance and conduct before they could be saved through Jesus¹

            -- this issue was the first great controversy in the church of Christ – and Acts 15 describes the great council that was held to discuss this issue and come to a decision on what is required for someone to be saved

 

            -- this morning, as we are continuing on in Part 3 of our sermon series through the Book of Acts, we will be looking at the controversy about Gentile believers and the decision of the church leaders in regard to defining true belief in Jesus

 

II.  To Circumcise or Not (Acts 15:1-40; Philippians 3:1-11)

            -- look back with me now at Acts 15:1 and let’s start our study on this subject

 

Acts 15:1 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”

 

            -- verse 1 defines the crux of the issue – as Luke says here, “certain people” came down from Judea to Antioch and told the Gentile believers in the church that if they were not circumcised – and, by implication, if they did not follow all the laws and customs of Moses as handed down to the Jews – they could not be saved

            -- these men who pushed this viewpoint became known as Judaizers – for they believed that only Jews could be saved – and if the Gentiles were to receive salvation, they must first become Jews

            -- and just so you know, this issue was not limited to the church at Antioch – for we see Paul dealing with Judaizers and their teachings in several of his letters, most notably in Philippians, which we will look at later

 

            -- before we dive into the issue of what is required for Gentiles to be saved, let’s first discuss what the big deal is with circumcision and why these Judaizers held this practice in such high regard

            -- as Skye Jethani points out, “The symbol of circumcision begins in the Bible with Abraham. God promised he would be the father of innumerable descendants, but Abraham and Sarah were elderly and barren.

“When Sarah heard the Lord’s promise, she thought it was so ridiculous that she laughed. In response to her laughter, God said, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” -- Of course, Abraham and Sarah did have a child, but it was clear that the birth of Isaac wasn’t natural --The old, barren flesh of Abraham and Sarah alone could not have conceived him -- God had done something special -- something miraculous – [and] the sign of circumcision was given to Abraham and his descendants to remember this [miracle and the] supernatural fulfillment of God’s promise”²

-- as part of God’s covenant with Abraham, He directed that all male children be circumcised on the eighth day as a permanent reminder of the miracle of Isaac’s birth and the supernatural fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham – and thus, circumcision became the law for the nation of Israel as a sign of their covenant with God

-- later, God gave the nation of Israel additional laws and customs that were handed down through Moses as part of His continuing covenant with the Jewish people – some of these laws were given to offer temporary atonement for sin while pointing the people to the Messiah, who would come to atone for the sins of the world once and for all time – other laws and customs were given to help separate the people from the pagans around them, and to keep them faithful to their God and Savior

-- but the funny thing about laws and customs and symbols of faith is that sometimes, these symbols take on a life of their own – what becomes more important than remembering and following God in faith is adherence to the symbol – in essence, the symbol becomes an idol that takes the place of God – and that is exactly what was going on with the practice of circumcision with the Jews in the time of Christ and the early church

-- so, these Judaizers came to Antioch and found these Gentile believers in Christ – who were part of the church and were worshiping God alongside the Jews – and when they found out they were not circumcised, they lost their minds

-- they laid down the law to these new believers and pronounced, “If you are not circumcised, you cannot be saved” – if you don’t have this physical sign – this symbol of faith – on your body, you are not part of the church

“in other words, in order to be fully accepted by God, one had to first be fully Jewish. Only then could you be part of the community of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah.”²

 

-- verse 2-4

 

Acts 15:2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

 

 

-- Paul and Barnabas were not going to sit by and allow this heresy to come into the church and corrupt the new Gentile believers – they were steadfast in their teaching that salvation came by grace through faith – that nothing else was required – not circumcision – not following the Law – not becoming a Jew

– Jesus had done everything required for salvation – and our only part was to believe in Him and put our faith and trust in His atoning death on the cross

-- they had sharp disagreements with these Judaizers, and finally, the church decided to appeal to the Apostles in Jerusalem for a decision – they sent Paul and Barnabas, along with several other believers, to Jerusalem to consult with the Apostles – and, of course, the Judaizers tagged along

 

-- verse 5-6

 

Acts 15:5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.” 6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question.

 

-- what do we do when we have a theological concern in the church? – we do the same thing that the church in Antioch did – we take it to the leaders – and in our case, we review what the church has taught on the issue over the last 2000 years

-- our church derives from a Wesleyan heritage – and because of that, I want to introduce a concept to you that will help inform your thinking and research on matters of theology and church practice

-- there is this principle in the Wesleyan tradition that we call the Wesleyan Quadrilateral – despite the name, this is not a trick football play – rather, it is a guide on determining what authorities we turn to when theological questions come into consideration

-- Quad means four – and through Wesley’s writings and sermons, scholars have come up with the four means by which we are to evaluate theological questions – these four are given in order of priority

– first, we have Scripture, for it is to God’s word that we must rely on as our primary resource for determining the truth of a matter – the next is Tradition, and this does not mean the tradition of the local church – this is referring to the tradition of church history – of what has been taught and agreed upon by the church of Christ since its founding – third, Reason – taking the issue and reasoning an answer based on Scripture and Tradition and common-sense – and, fourth, Experience – what has been the experience of Christians throughout history in regards to this issue – Scripture – Tradition – Reason – Experience – these make up the Wesleyan Quadrilateral

-- and what we see here in Acts 15 is the church at Antioch relying on these guiding principles to come up with the answer to this issue of circumcision and conversion of Gentiles to Jews for salvation

 

            -- verse 7-12

 

Acts 15:7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

 

12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.

 

            -- after the leaders had discussed the issue for some time, Peter finally got up and began to speak – he told of his experiences with Cornelius the Centurion that we read about in Acts 10 – about how the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles after they had received Jesus and put their faith and trust in Him for salvation -- and then Paul and Barnabas stood up and offered similar stories

            -- their whole point was that God had affirmed the faith and salvation of these Gentiles without requiring anything else – they didn’t have to be circumcised first – they didn’t have to go through the process of converting to Judaism and start following the Jewish laws and traditions first – the Holy Spirit had come upon them in the same way He had come upon the first believers on the day of Pentecost – and that proved that there was nothing required for salvation except faith in Jesus – as Peter says in verse 11, “we believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved”

 

            -- that’s what this all comes down to – that’s what this whole discussion revolves around – what is required for salvation? – not only for the Gentiles, but for everyone

            -- the word of God – as received by Peter directly from the lips of Jesus and written in the Old Testament Scriptures – and the experiences of Peter, Paul, and Barnabas and the obvious acceptance of the Gentiles by God through the sending of the Holy Spirit – confirmed that salvation was by grace through faith only – not by works or anything else – to include circumcision

            -- requiring anything else – making someone take up a symbol or sign like circumcision – requiring them to follow a law or tradition or practice – was anathema – it went against the word of God and the clear teaching of Jesus and the experiences of the apostles with the Gentiles

            -- the point Peter, Paul, and Barnabas are making here is that, not only is circumcision not required for salvation – but circumcision cannot save – contrary to what the Judaizers were teaching

 

            -- hold your place here and flip over to Philippians 3:1-4a

 

Philippians 3:1 Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4a though I myself have reasons for such confidence.

 

            -- Paul makes the same passionate declaration here in Philippians as he confronts the Judaizer’s continuing efforts to make Gentiles convert to Judaism and be circumcised in order to be saved

            -- these are the people he is referring to in verse 2 – he calls them “dogs” – “evildoers” – “mutilators of the flesh” – now, you need to understand that Paul is not trying to just call them names here when he calls them a dog

            -- the term “dog” was used by the Jews to describe anyone who was not a Jew – a dog was a Gentile – a dog was a pagan – a dog was anyone who was not part of the covenant with God through Abraham -- it was a term of derision, but it named a specific group of people

            -- when Paul calls these Judaizers “dogs” here in verse 2, he is basically saying that these people were not true believers and were not part of the church of Christ, because they were mandating other practices and requiring adherence to the Law of Moses in order to be saved

            -- the Judaizers called themselves, “the circumcision” or “the circumcised,” to make it clear they were Jews who adhered to the Law – by using that term, they were saying that they – and only they – were saved

            -- but Paul says in verse 3 that these people are not truly circumcised, because their circumcision was physical only – it was done by hands of men – it was not the circumcision of the heart – and that the believers in Philippi and the other churches who believe in Jesus through faith and faith alone are the true circumcision because they have been circumcised internally through the Spirit

            -- in other words, the Judaizers were putting their faith in the symbol of circumcision – not in the atoning death of Jesus – as Skye Jethani wrote, “rather than trusting in God, the people began to put their trust in circumcision itself. They lost sight of what the symbol meant and began to believe circumcision by itself was powerful; a sort of magical mark that guaranteed God’s blessing and inclusion within his chosen people. In other words, circumcision ceased to be a symbol of trusting God’s Spirit, and it became yet another way people put their trust in their own flesh—literally.”

            -- but Peter, Paul, and Barnabas – referring to the clear word of God and their experiences with the Gentiles – made the case before the council in Acts 15 that the Judaizers were wrong – trusting in a symbol – trusting in circumcision – could not save – it was believing in Jesus in faith through grace that saved a person

           

 

            -- look back at Acts 15:13-21

 

Acts 15:13 When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14 Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

 

16 “‘After this I will return

    and rebuild David’s fallen tent.

Its ruins I will rebuild,

    and I will restore it,

17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,

    even all the Gentiles who bear my name,

says the Lord, who does these things’—

18     things known from long ago.

 

19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

 

            -- this James is the brother of Jesus – and it appears that he has assumed the leadership of the church in Jerusalem at this point

            -- after hearing the discussions and the arguments from both sides, James announces his decision, which was fully accepted by the council as the answer to the question of what is required for salvation by the Gentiles

            -- he affirms that the Gentiles are saved by grace through faith, just as the Jews had been – this was confirmed by the sending of the Holy Spirit upon them by the Father

            -- they were not required to be circumcised – they were not required to become Jews – they were not required to follow the Law of Moses

 

            -- but to unify this church that was comprised of believers from two different backgrounds – Jews and Gentiles – it was recommended that the Gentiles follow four rules

            -- these requirements were given -- not as a precondition for salvation -- but as a consideration to their Jewish friends

– first, they were to abstain from eating food polluted by idols – second, they were to abstain from sexual immorality – third, they were to abstain from the meat of strangled animals, which still had the blood within them – and fourth, they were to abstain from associating with blood, in general

            -- these four rules were derived from the Law of Moses and were related to faithfulness to God and to the sanctity of blood and its role in covering sin

            -- the laws that God gave Moses were intended to keep the nation of Israel separated from the world and faithful to Him – they were given to keep them from turning to idols and mishandling the sacredness of blood

            -- eating food dedicated to idols was a normal practice in the pagan world, but this would have been a stumbling block to the Jews – so, the council told the Gentiles to stop doing this – we see this issue come up again later in Paul’s epistles to the church at Corinth

            -- maintaining sexual purity and keeping the marriage bed holy was a sign of faithfulness – faithfulness to your spouse – and faithfulness to God – for marriage is a picture of our relationship with God

            -- this requirement to abstain from sexual immorality also included turning away from the common pagan practice of including sexual acts as part of religious services, which was linked to the idolatrous worship of other gods

            -- the concerns with blood have to do with the shedding of blood for atonement – for the covering and forgiveness of sins – according to the law of Moses, the blood was to be offered to God as part of a sacrifice and to atone for their sins – so, the handling of the blood was carefully restricted in the Old Testament

            -- it was common for Gentiles in this time to strangle animals and then drink the blood as part of religious ceremonies – so, this requirement is put in place to prevent the Gentiles from introducing this practice into the Christian church – additionally, it was forbidden for Jews to eat animals that had not been cleaned properly and had their blood drained before cooking, so if the Gentiles did this it would offend the Jews

 

            -- the goal with these requirements for the Gentiles is unity in the church – just as the church council in Jerusalem had ruled against forcing the Gentiles to take up religious practices that were not required and that would be a stumbling block in their faith – the council is asking the Gentiles to do the same for the Jews – to not participate in religious or cultural acts that would present a stumbling block for the Jews

            -- each side – Jew and Gentile – were asked to be aware of their cultural differences – and to abstain from acts that would be stumbling blocks for the others – all in the name of unity and in light of their common faith in Jesus Christ

 

III. CLOSING

            -- so, what can we learn from this discussion about circumcision and the requirements of salvation for Gentiles that we can apply today?

            -- I think one of the most important lessons to glean from this passage is to be careful to not elevate signs and symbols to the place of idolatry, which is what the Judaizers had done with the practice of circumcision

            -- they had forgotten the reason behind the act of circumcision – and had made an idol of the act – concluding that physically modifying your body in this way made you holy – when in fact this was only to be an outward sign of an inward grace

            -- what was important was not the physical act, but the spiritual change that it represented – the Judaizers had forgotten that

 

            -- it reminds me of the story of the newly married couple who were cooking their first big meal together – the wife was preparing a ham for baking, and before she put it in the oven, she cut off both ends

            -- her husband asked her why she did that, and she said, “I don’t really know.  But my mother always did it, so I do it, too

            -- she called her mother to ask why she cut the ends off the ham before she put it in the oven – her mother said, “My mother always did that, so I just started doing it too, and I passed it on to you” – she said, “Let me call your grandmother and find out why we do this – what the reason behind it is”

            -- so, the mother called the grandmother and asked, “Why did you always cut the ends off the ham before you put it in the oven?”

            -- the grandmother replied, “That’s simple – my baking pan wasn’t big enough for a whole ham, so I had to cut off the ends to make it fit”

 

            -- just because something has always been done this way or because it is a symbol that has religious value, doesn’t mean it should continue or be elevated to a level of importance above what it stands for -- “when that happens, they cease to be instruments that remind us to walk in the power of the Spirit and instead become idols that tempt us to walk in the power of our flesh”²

-- “The fact that Paul dismisses circumcision as a powerless mark when originally it had been a powerful sign of God’s Spirit is important. It shows us how easily we can put our trust in signs and symbols themselves, rather than in the God to whom they were intended to point us.”²

 

-- and this is not true only of signs and symbols – it can be actions that we are required to do or not do – for instance, in some Christian communities, we are told that we have to dress a certain way to be saved – we are told that we have to vote for a certain political party – or to keep our children out of public schools – or to not drink, smoke, or chew tobacco – or to avoid going to secular movies or listening to secular music

-- and it can involve religious practices – such as what type of baptism is required – whether worship can only be with hymns or whether it can be contemporary praise songs – whether musical instruments can be used in churches – and who can baptize or offer communion

-- in most of these cases, we are creating idols of cultural practices and elevating adherence to the rules above faith in Jesus – that is exactly what the Judaizers were doing – and that is what the council in Jerusalem agreed was wrong

            -- what is more important than circumcision of the body or following cultural rules or norms is circumcision of the heart – faith in Jesus and in His atoning death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins

            -- the physical doesn’t define our faith – it’s about what’s on the inside and the spiritual change that happens there – as Kenny Chesney sang in one of his songs, “Her mama wants to know am I washed in the blood or just in the water”

            -- it doesn’t matter how long you were held under the water when you were baptized, for being washed in the water doesn’t save you – what saves you is the blood of Christ and your belief in Him for salvation and eternal life – by grace, through faith

 

            -- so, don’t put your trust in circumcision or baptism or that cross around your neck or that little Jesus fish on your car – put your trust in Jesus and Jesus alone – for it is only through Him that we are saved – and no other way

            -- let us pray

 

 

 

 

1 Modified from Skye Jethani, 31 July 2026 Devotional, Impressive Ministry and Impressive Flesh

2 Skye Jethani, “With God Daily Devotionals”