The Acts of the Apostles 62

Subtitle: Faith Working through Love

Acts 16:1-10.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 5, 2023.

Paul and Silas have started on Paul’s Second Missionary Journey, due to a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas about John Mark.

Today, we are going to look at this question.  What is the motivation behind what you do?  Two people (or more) can do the same action, but for very different reasons.  We could boil them all down to good motivations versus bad ones.  Of course, when we come to faith in Christ, we find out that Jesus isn’t content with only changing our outward actions.

Yes, he wants us to stop sinning (“Go and sin no more.”) because our sin causes pain and suffering to us and to the people in our lives.  God loves us and them too much to be content with us continuing to sin with impunity. 

Yet, if you only change the activity without changing the heart behind it, it will not be good enough.  It won’t work for very long.  Eventually, such people grow weary of “doing” good, and fall away from actions of righteousness.  So, Christ is not content to affect our activity.  He wants to change us from the inside out.

Let’s look at our passage.

Paul’s second missionary journey reaches Asia Minor again (v. 1-10)

Luke’s narrative jumps to the area of Derbe and Lystra in the middle of Asia Minor (Turkey today).  In short, they are going to travel between 750 to 800 miles in these 10 verses.

It is at Lystra that Paul recognizes a young man named Timothy, and he desires Timothy to join them.  Of course, Timothy is not just “joining” a missionary group.  He  really is entering into a lifetime of ministering for Jesus.  He becomes a son in the faith to Paul a father figure.  The dynamics here are significant.  Silas is a peer of Paul’s.  He is like a brother in the Lord, similar to Barnabas.  However, young Timothy is more like a son.  He will be mentored by Paul and Silas (really by the Holy Spirit through them).  In fact, there are two books of the New Testament written by Paul as a fatherly figure to Timothy (1 and 2 Timothy).  In fact, 2 Timothy has the feel of a father telling his son to stay strong as he is about to exit this life.

From these two letters (1 and 2 Timothy), we know that Timothy’s mother and grandmother have been strong believers (2 Timothy 1:5).    His mother, Eunice, had married a Greek man who clearly was not a convert to Judaism as we will soon see.  His grandmother Lois and her daughter Eunice most likely believed in Jesus during Paul’s first missionary journey through Lystra.

By the way, we should guard against the idea that Judaism and Christianity were two separate religions.  Jesus did not come to start a new religion.  He was the Messiah, the fulfillment of all that the Law of Moses was pointing to.  The people of Israel had waited for Messiah to come for centuries.  Thus, we would not say that Lois and Eunice were saved, but that their saving faith in Yahweh to send Messiah, had now made the proper transition to faith in Yeshua, whom the Father had sent.  The early Jewish believers were simply obeying the Holy Spirit by getting up and following Jesus.

This brings up an issue.  We can be guilty of giving lip service to God’s promise of sending Jesus back again.  This was on display in Israel in the first century.  Many of them would give lip service to the idea that Messiah would come and set all things right some day.  However, most had given up faith that he would actually show up.  They had the correct doctrine, but their faith was gone in their hearts.

Yet, one day Jesus did come.  He caught most of them by surprise, or better, he caught them spiritually sleeping, spiritually intoxicated, and spiritually dead. 

They were so used to being the ones who  had the truth, that they had lost their ability to repent and follow God.  How do you exercise your ability to repent and follow the Holy Spirit, rather than resisting and rebelling against Him?

In short, you spend time seeking God in the word and in prayer.  You give him your whole heart in truth.  You seek what He is saying to you through the Holy Spirit and what He saying to you, where He is leading you.  Such a relationship will teach you to exercise faith as the Holy Spirit puts His finger on areas of your life that need to change.  If you will give yourself to this, you will find all sorts of ways that you need to repent, and every day.  You will find just how much we need His help, and, praise God, that He is giving it to us all the time, if we will receive it.

It is probably at this time that the elders of the church and Paul gather around Timothy and pray for him as is mentioned twice in Paul’s letters.  We are told that gifts of the Holy Spirit were given to him on that day, and that at least one prophecy was given regarding him.

Now, this is an important point.  They do not take for granted that they are doing God’s work and that He will just show up.  They take this moment seriously and pray over Timothy.  We should never take God’s promised help for granted.  We need to seek it, and pray for it.  What a powerful moment as they pray over this young man.  “Lord, fill him with your Spirit, and enable him to minister with Paul and Silas.  Give him courage and faith.  Give him perseverance, Lord!”  Whether Timothy was already filled with the Spirit at that time, or the Spirit came upon him for the first time, Timothy was readied to go with Paul and Silas.

On the flip side, just because God has enabled you, placed gifts within your life, and filled you with His presence, doesn’t mean that we should take His continued empowerment for granted.  In 1 Tim. 4:14, Paul tells Timothy not to “neglect” the gift that was within him, and in 2 Tim. 1:6 , he tells him to “stir up” the gift that was within him.  The gifts of God are not automatic.  I am not saying that God will withhold from us, but that we can grow stagnant in our spiritual walk.  If we are negligent and lose our passion, then stagnation creeps into our hearts and quenches the gifts of God in our life.  In fact, the greatest gift within any of us, is the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We can grieve the Holy Spirit and squelch His work in our life if we are not purposeful and intentional in prayer. 

How do we stir them up?  We do so through prayer, and prayerful study of the Word.  Also, we do so by seeking the Holy Spirit, and as He leads, exercising our faith through obedience.

We may be taken by surprise that Paul would have Timothy circumcised at this point.  He is carrying a letter from the Apostles in Jerusalem laying out the fact that circumcision is not necessary for salvation.  This may come across to some as a contradiction, but it really is not, if you look closely.

Notice that the issue in Acts 15 was about what was necessary for Gentile salvation.  The council made a clear pronouncement on this issue, but there was still some lack of specificity regarding Jews themselves. Of course, Peter made it clear that none of the Jews were saved by their law keeping, only by faith in Jesus.  Jews and Gentiles were being saved in the same way.

There is some dispute about whether Timothy is considered a Jew or not.  When a person’s parents were both Jewish, there was no question.  They were a Jews.  But, when one of the parents were not Jewish, a question could arise.  Today, Jews teach that Jewishness, or obligation to the Law, follows the mother.  If your mother is Jewish, then so are you.  However, if only your father is Jewish, you are not considered Jewish.  It is not clear evidence that the first century followed a “matrilineal” descent as opposed to a patrilineal descent (from the father).  I don’t think that it makes a difference either way.

I only bring up this issue because it begs the question.  Did the early Church expect, or teach that Jews should circumcise their children and follow the law of Moses?  Did they teach Jewish believers in Yeshua to continue to circumcise new babies?  There would most likely be some ethnic momentum in how Jewish Christians lived.  I doubt that they all started eating pork after Peter’s vision in Joppa.  It just wasn’t part of their culture.  Therefore, we are unable to determine exactly how Timothy was viewed by early Jewish Christians, but we would know how he was viewed by non-Christian Jews.

So we come back to the issue of whether or not Paul is contradicting himself.    Why would he say one thing about Gentiles and another about Timothy?  What is going on here?  As I said at the beginning, motivation is the key.  What is Paul’s motivation?  What is his concern?

Verse three tells us why Paul does this, “because of the Jews who were in that region, for they knew that his father was a Greek.”  Paul clearly wanted to minister to Jews in the region, but also knew that they would know that Timothy was not circumcised.  Most likely, Paul believes that Timothy’s status would become a distraction and get in the way of preaching the Gospel.  The Jews would be so upset by Paul having an uncircumcised Jewish person with him, that they would never get to sharing the Gospel.  Timothy would be a distraction.

I think that Galatians 5 is the best passage for settling this.  There, Paul makes clear the principle that he was following in telling some people not to be circumcised, and yet in this case, circumcising Timothy.

Galatians 5:1-6 has Paul speaking to Gentiles in Galatia (basically the area they are in here in Acts 16).  They were being persuaded by some to circumcise themselves.  In verse 2, Paul tells them that “Christ will profit you nothing [if you circumcise yourself].”  In verse 3, he tells them that if they obey this one point of the Law of Moses then they are “a debtor to keep the whole law.”  In verse 4, Paul says that they are severing themselves from Christ and falling from grace, if they do this.  These are strong words that imply that they could not be saved, if they were circumcising themselves as a necessary act.  Your faith is either in Jesus or in the works of your flesh.  You cannot have both.

You might think of Jesus as Noah’s ark.  You are either in the boat (in Jesus) trusting him for your salvation, or you are outside the boat trusting in your own ability.  However, you can’t be in the boat and not in the boat at the same time.  Faith in Jesus is the ark of the New Testament.

Yet, in verse 6, Paul gives his underlying principle, which allows him to say to one group that they cannot be saved if they circumcise themselves, and yet have Timothy be circumcised.  His principle is not, if you are Jewish, you should be circumcised.  Rather, circumcision or the lack thereof has no power to accomplish anything.  It is quite clear that he is speaking about spiritual matters here.  If you want salvation and spiritual power with God, then your circumcised status is powerless to help you.  Don’t look to that to help you.  Now, you can see why he speaks so strongly to the Galatians.  They were circumcising themselves out of the belief that it would help them with God, but it can’t.

What does have power with God?  Faith [in Jesus] expressing itself through actions of love.  This is exactly what Paul is asking Timothy to do.  Paul is not telling Timothy that he is almost saved, but only lacks being circumcised (an argument that was being made to the Gentiles by the Judaizers).  Rather, he is asking him to be circumcised out of love for the Jews that they will preach to.  It will remove an obstacle that would be hard for them to overlook.  Now, it will not be an issue, and they can focus on the Gospel.  Timothy’s motivation would be love for the Jews that they will preach to.  The Galatians improper motivation was to fulfill an act that they thought was necessary for salvation.

I should say that this is quite a big “ask” of Paul to Timothy.  Yet, love will make great sacrifices for those it loves.  May God help us to remove obstacles in our lives without sinning in order to help others hear the Gospel.  May God help us to make sacrifices of things that are not necessary for salvation, but might be necessary in order for others to be saved.

We are then told that they go through the cities delivering the decrees of the Jerusalem Council, strengthening the churches, and sharing the Gospel.  Note that it says they “increased in number daily.”

They are called to Macedonia (v. 6-10)

As they move from Lystra eastward, they pass through the provinces of Galatia and Phrygia.  At this point (unless they go south), they are at the end of the churches that Paul and Barnabas had started earlier, and towns that they had preached in.  As they reach these borders, it appears that they intend to go southwest into the province of Asia.  This is the area of Ephesus and the 7 churches of Revelation. 

We are simply told that the Holy Spirit forbid them to preach the Gospel in Asia.  The Holy Spirit can lead us by forbidding or blocking things.  We are not told exactly how they knew the Holy Spirit was forbidding them.  Such a strong term would indicate that there was some kind of prophecy, word of wisdom, or dream, etc.  Some powerful way that the Holy Spirit made His direction clear to them.

This may cause us to wonder at the idea that the Holy Spirit would forbid any one to preach the Gospel to another.  Yet, we can know by what the Bible says that it has nothing to do with God not wanting them to hear it.  We are not told the reasons, so I want to be careful here.  It is possible that God knows this area will be reached by churches later, or that Paul and company can only do so much.  Limited resources require strategy and timing.  It will be come clear that Paul and Silas were intent on traveling throughout all of Asia Minor, but God wanted them to jump the Gospel over to Greece.  Others would “backfill” ministry into the areas that Paul skipped over.

In such a case, we should recognize that it is not our place to question God.  He has His reasons and they are always righteous and for the good.  In fact, if we refuse to go where God is calling us to go, and persist in going where He has not told us to go, we will be much like Jonah.  Things will go better for you and the people you speak to when you are obeying the Spirit of God.

Paul is obedient and turns to go north into Bithynia and Pontus, but again, the Holy Spirit forbids them to go north.  Thus, they end up on the coast of Asia Minor in the city of Troas.  No doubt, they minister there, but also the question is pondered.  Where do we go now?

Let me insert at this point, that God is not stuck on any one way of leading and directing us.  He spoke to Moses like one speaks face to face with another man.  That is extremely rare.  Sometimes, He speaks to people through angels.  He can speak to us through visions and dreams, through a word of knowledge, or simply by a quiet voice in our heart.  It doesn’t matter how God leads us.  What matters is that He is the One leading.  Don’t  be fixated on needing to have God use any of these.  Simply respond to how He leads in your life.  In fact, notice that Timothy is being led by the Holy Spirit through the man Paul.

It is at this point that Paul has a vision.  In the vision, he sees a Macedonian man pleading, “Come over here and help us!”  Of course, there probably was not an actual man in Macedonia who was doing this.  But, God hears the hearts of a people.  The Holy Spirit was giving Paul a sense of what God saw in this region, a people crying out for help.

Of course, our hearts can cry out for help, but often we don’t even know what that help should look like, especially in spiritual matters.  Macedonia is northern Greece, where Alexander the Great came from.  Just as God used a vision to instruct Peter to share the Gospel with Cornelius in Caesarea, so God uses a vision to stir Paul’s heart for Greece.  This is not because God loves them more.  No, He wants all people to hear the Gospel and come to faith in Jesus.  However, Paul is mortal and cannot evangelize everyone.  The Holy Spirit is strategically leading him to spread the Gospel in a way that is more effective.

I wonder how many people and places are pleading for someone to come and help them, but no one share the Gospel with them.  You will never see it because it is a spiritual things.  And, they won’t even know that you are the answer of the cry of their heart when you first start speaking to them.  However, God sees them, and hears them.  We really need to learn to listen to God and be led by him as we share the Gospel with people.

Notice that Paul didn’t need a vision for everyone he ever shared the Gospel with.  In general, he knew that the Gospel needed to go everywhere.  He was doing God’s will in general until God needed him to do something specific.  This is where we need to trust the Lord.  If He needs to direct us, He knows how to do it.  I should not be paralyzed while waiting for a vision, when I could be doing what I know the Lord wants me to do in general.

I do think that we should develop the practice of talking with God in prayer about our evangelism plans, who we want to talk to, and when.  We should pray for the Spirit to go before us and prepare their hearts, and we should fast and pray for their response to the Gospel.  In short, it should be our faith in Jesus (and his purpose for us) working itself out through actions of love for the lost (sharing the Gospel).

Perhaps, this week, we can spend some time asking God what we can sacrifice, so that others may hear the Gospel.  May the Lord enable us by His Holy Spirit!

Faith through Love audio

The Acts of the Apostles 60

Subtitle: The Jerusalem Council III

Acts 15:22-29.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 22, 2023.

We will finish up our look at the Jerusalem Council, which took place between A.D. 48 to 50.  The decision of this original group should settle the issue of what is required for Gentile salvation because it has the apostles trained by Jesus, as well as the elders and people who witnessed the life, ministry and resurrection of Jesus.  Yet, it is amazing how many ways through the years individuals and theologians of the Church have come up with to go wrong on this issue of salvation.

Down through the ages to our time, Church councils haven’t always done us a favor.  The further you move forward in time from the resurrection of Jesus, the more we see such councils supplanting Scripture with human reasoning.  It may even lead some to see such councils as a mistake, and against the will of God.  Yet, here we have a council set in the Word of God, and it is clear that it is a good thing for the Church.

The problem is not in convening a council to determine what the truth is in a matter, and what should be taught.   When you look through the history of these councils, you will always find an individual, or group, who are pushing a teaching that is new, or novel.  This creates turmoil among the churches as people deal with the confusion that new teaching brings.  They want to know what the truth actually is.  In Acts 15, that problem, or teaching, is the idea that Gentiles have to be circumcised and follow the Law of Moses in order to be saved.  Believing in Christ and following him by faith was not enough for them, and it began to cause trouble.

Leaders can cause trouble, but sometimes trouble percolates up through the group and leaders have to step in for the sake of group cohesion.  This is normal and good, if it is done correctly and in the right spirit.  These leaders job is not to determine what is best for the group, but rather to determine what the Lord Jesus is saying through the Holy Spirit.  Thus, we should have some mercy on the generations that convened councils, and stick to criticizing only the decisions, and reasoning behind them.

Thus, you will notice that this first council becomes a good template for how councils should operate.  The people should gather, look to what the Spirit is doing, and what the Scriptures say.  Even then, if we are not actually seeking God like we should, if we are not living in communion with Jesus through the Spirit, our fleshly approach to truth will not follow the Spirit of God, no matter how much we protest that we followed the template.  It is not a scientific formula.  It is a relationship with Jesus.

At the base of errors in doctrine are at least two persuasions.  We can over emphasize the role of human reasoning in coming to truth, even elevating a group or man as the ones, one, who have a sanctified mind for the group.  The more human reasoning is the foundation of our beliefs the more we will be off-track.  The other persuasion is that we can ignore reasoning, and the reasoning of God’s proven Word in Scripture.  This persuasion over-emphasizes the spiritual ability to know truth of the leader, or leaders.  It shuts down all debate because “I have the mind of the Lord and don’t have to answer your critiques.”

Let us recognize that God is the One who gave us our minds.  He does intend us to use them.  However, our minds are not capable of assessing truth in these spiritual matters without God’s help.  At the best, our minds can only help us discern what God is showing us is the truth.  Even then, our reasoning is fraught with pitfalls, and humility is the order of the day.  The Lord has given us a foundation of His thinking in the Old Testament and the New Testament.  We need to take seriously their importance as well as the importance of what the Holy Spirit is doing now.  This will help to guard us from going into error.

Let’s look at our passage.

A letter is sent to the church in Antioch (v. 22-29)

We noted last week that it was James who had brought up the idea of sending a letter addressed to Antioch and the Gentile churches beyond them concerning this debated issue (v. 20).  This is exactly what they do.

Thus, we end up with a decision from a group of people at a particular point in time, and we also end up with a written record.  Paul and Barnabas will be able to tell what happened in Jerusalem, but there will also be an address from the church in Jerusalem describing things from their perspective.

We do not know if they had a vote, or people simply quit arguing against the truths that are recorded here.  Yet, they did come to an agreement, and create a letter, which Luke inserted in his Acts of the Apostles.  It is a good thing too because this is how we end up with the actual wording of the letter established for all time.  The church at Antioch was over-run in the 600’s by Muslims, and the original document is lost to us.

Three times in this passage (v. 22, 25, and 28), we have a word that is variously translated as “it pleased…,” or “it seemed good to…”  It is a word that has a range of certainty connected to it, from judging that something is certainly true, all the way to believing that something has a good probability of being true.  I think this passage the council was pretty certain that they had determined the mind of God on this matter.  They were not just giving their best guess, or sheer human reasoning on the matter.

In verse 22, we have listed that the apostles, elders, and the whole church were in on the decision.  The decision and plan to send a letter seemed good to all of them.

The judges in the Old Testament were not supposed to imagine the best solution for a case.  Rather, they were supposed to render the decision of the LORD.  Of course, they would look to what the Law said on a matter, but they would also seek wisdom from God’s Spirit- that is if they had a heart for God.  The Scriptures and the Holy Spirit help God’s people to understand truth when they are truthfully seeking it. 

You may also recognize that there is no sense in the story that an approach is being ramrodded through by leaders.  Even Paul and Barnabas are quite subdued in Luke’s account, only giving testimony to what the Spirit was doing among Gentiles.  I believe that they exercised wisdom to let the Jerusalem church come to a decision without undue pressure from them.  It was important that God showed them the truth.

We can be guilty today of practicing the leadership style of the world.  We can learn how to manipulate the stupid sheep to do what we know they need to do.  It is stylish to build forums and means for the little people to feel like they had a say and participated in the process, but in the end, the group will end up at a pre-decided decision that was made by the ultra-smart leaders.  Such manipulative activity is not of the Spirit of God and is not a proper, godly way to come to decisions.  Of course, this about sums up our politics, and many of our churches in the land.

Praise God that this is not what happened back in Acts 15 at the Jerusalem Council.

In verse 25 it mentions in the letter that “It seemed good to us, being assembled in one accord.”  There is that word again.  They were in one accord.  They had a singular passion for determining what God would have them believe and teach.  They wanted to rightly represent the Lord Jesus, since they were subjected to persecution by people who assumed that they had the corner of the market on representing God.

Many have a singular passion alright, a singular passion for their own way.  If we gather in a group and everyone is fighting passionately for their own way, then we will never have a true spiritual unity.  However, even if we are manipulated into a decision that everyone agrees to, it is not a unity of the spirit, but a unity of the flesh that is guaranteed to breakdown along the way.

We lastly recognize that verse 28 mentions that “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit…”  Of course, God is absolutely sure what the right thing is.  There is no range of certainty when it comes to Him.  The seeming is all on the human side of this equation.  They had come to the conclusion that this is what the Spirit of God was teaching them.  Yet, they are being humble enough to recognize the fact that their reasoning was involved in this process.  Unity must always center upon God’s decisions, and leaders, churches, ought to be very humble in any such process.

They determine that it would be best to send some men along with the letter.  This would give the Jerusalem Church some official representation along with the letter, not that they would doubt the veracity of how Paul and Barnabas portrayed the council to the church of Antioch.  Yet, the original issue had to do with men who had come from Judea, but did not officially represent the church.  The bad experience they had with the earlier Judaizers could be overcome with the good experience of the true, official representatives sent with the letter.

The first of the two men listed is Judas, also called Barsabas.  This is the only time that this individual is mentioned in the New Testament.  The second name helps us to differentiate him from other men with the name Judas (Judah in Hebrew) like Judas Iscariot, or Judas, also called Thaddeus, or Judas (Jude) the brother of our Lord.

The second man listed is Silas.  He is going to become one of the men who helped Paul in his missionary journeys to come.  He will faithfully minister with Paul to the Gentiles.  He is always referred to as Silas in the book of Acts.  However, in his letters, the apostle Paul calls him Silvanus.  Silus is just a shortened form of Silvanus.

What were the qualifications of these men?  They were leading men from among the Jerusalem church.  They had risked their lives for the Gospel (v. 26), which means that they had a vested interest in promoting the true Gospel.  Also, in verse 32, we will later see that they are both prophets, and able to spiritually minister to the group in Antioch.

Luke gives us a word for word copy of the letter starting at verse 23.  It starts out by clarifying that the men, who had “troubled” them about following the Law of Moses, were not sent by Jerusalem.  I am sure that the intent is not only to state the truth for the record, but also to restore goodwill between Antioch and them.  The Jerusalem church had never been behind the attempt to trouble them on this matter.  Yet, they are helping to make things right because of the presence of the apostles of Jesus in their city, as well as many elders who had close connection to the ministry of Jesus.  They have a responsibility to the rest of the Church.

Some point to the words of Paul in Galatians 2:12.  They interpret them to believe that James was at least a stickler for Jews continuing to obey the Law of Moses, which would include separation from Gentiles.  To whatever degree James believed this, something was behind Peter’s change of attitude about eating with Gentiles when “men from James” arrived in Antioch.  We do not know exactly when the Galatians 2 incident happened.  Was it before or after this council?  From the words said and the decision made, you would think that it would have to be before..  However, we do not know for sure.

It is believed that some confusion on what Jews needed to do, may have lead to some over-zealous teaching on what Gentiles needed to do.  Regardless, the decision in the letter is quite clear.  Gentiles do not need to follow the Law of Moses.  Although the Church had never officially taught that Gentiles needed to obey the Law of Moses in order to be saved, it did take about 18 years for the Church to denounce the idea officially.

In fact, close attention to Peter’s testimony will even clarify salvation for Jews.  He questions in verse 10, “Why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?”  Also, he said in verse 11 that “we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”  Earlier he had described that manner as “by faith.”  This council didn’t just hammer out the means of salvation for Gentiles, but for Jews as well.  Even Jews do not need to follow the Law of Moses in order to be saved by Jesus.

The letter next declares that two men named Judas and Silas are accompanying the letter.  This is a first-century security mechanism for validation.

Finally, the letter stipulates the three issues that were being prohibited to the Gentiles (and Jews).  They were to abstain from things offered to idols, abstain from eating or drinking blood (things strangled still have blood in the meet), and they were to abstain from sexual immorality.  They are referred to as necessary, and yet, it simply says that if they will restrain themselves from doing these things that they will “do well.”  It is a burden being placed upon the Gentiles, but no heavy burden as Peter called the Law of Moses.

This is not only wisdom, but also obvious.  If you are following Jesus, then all hint of following idols and the things associated with idolatry needs to drop off.  You cannot have loyal faith in Jesus and still remain attached to idols and idolatry.  This loyalty issue has trust and faith at its core.

The blood issue was addressed last week, but would help Jews and Gentiles within the Church to be able to get along with one another.  Plus, it would retain a clear line around the subject of how we obtain life and power.  The pagans ate and drank animal blood for ritualistic reasons connected to their idols.  Jesus is our source of life, and our sacrifice now.

Lastly, we are told in the New Testament in many places to flee sexual immorality.  The moral components of the Law of Moses are reiterated by the apostles throughout the New Testament and Christians need to obey them, not because we are following the Law of Moses, but rather, because we are following Jesus Christ and His apostles who laid down these necessary things to avoid and necessary things to do.

Let me close by revisiting this issue of dead works versus works of faith.  We can fall into two extremes if we are not careful.  On one hand, we can be so against “dead works” and working for salvation that we promote doing nothing, even sinning.  However, on the other hand, we can be so intent against sin that we make a long list of things people have to do in order to be truly saved.

We need to go back to the Word of God.  What does it say is necessary for salvation?  It is to believe in Jesus, to put our trust in Him.  We then follow Jesus, who gave us the apostles and the Holy Spirit, and they gave us the New Testament.

This calls for humility in any issue.  I can be wrong and should not stir up trouble within a church.  Yet, whole churches and denominations can be wrong because they have inherited a system that has error riddled within it.  Only Jesus can save us, and it calls for faithful, courageous trust in Jesus, both to save us and to help us come to the knowledge of the truth.

None of us can do enough to save ourselves.  We can only put our faith upon Jesus.  However, once Jesus has accepted my faith and put me in a safe place, I can do good works that are clean before God.  What makes them clean?  They are clean because they are not done out of the selfish reason to make ourselves look good to God.  Rather, they are done out of thanks to Jesus for salvation and the belief, the faith, that He is helping us to become like God through the works He leads us to do by His Word and by His Spirit.

So, when you help people, or go to church on any particular day, and you do it because you love Christ and want to honor him, it can be a clean work acceptable unto God and makes you more like Jesus.  However, if I do these things because I believe I have to do these things to achieve my way into heaven, then they become dead works.  They are not really done in Christ by the Spirit, but in the flesh.

May God help us to come alive to Jesus by the Help of the Holy Spirit in order to do the works that He has created us to do.  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”  (Ephesians 2:10).

Jerusalem Counsel III Audio

The Acts of the Apostles 53

Subtitle: Far from Home

Acts 13:13-32.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 27, 2023.

Today, we are looking at Paul's first missionary journey into Gentile lands.  Of course, there were others with him, but he is the common thread throughout them all.

The very act of leaving the safe place of home and going to unfamiliar places to share Jesus is an act of faith, boldness, and courage.  The disciple Peter before the baptism of the Holy Spirit was a courageous talker.  Yet, he failed when it really mattered.  His spirit was willing, but his flesh was weak. 

How do you deal with that?  In truth, this is a picture of every single one of us.  We deal with it by seeing our weakness, accepting it, and then turning to Jesus in faith.  He then fills us with His Holy Spirit, and we partner with the Holy Spirit by being a person of prayer (something Peter failed to do the night of the betrayal of Jesus), being a person of the word, and letting the Spirit show us how to walk out the righteousness of Christ in our life.

After the baptism of the Holy Spirit, it wasn't impossible for Peter to make a mistake, but he was a different man.  He had become a man of faith, courage, and boldness in the Lord.

We may not do all of the things that we see written in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, but may we be filled with the faith, boldness, and courage that comes from the Spirit of God.

We should always be thankful for the blessing of home, especially if you had a home that honored Jesus.  When I was a kid, I remember being homesick.  My mother was having a baby, and I stayed at my cousin Terry's house.  We always played together and had a blast, so it was perfect.  Yet, after a certain number of days, I began to be homesick.  The silly thing is that my house was 1 block away at the time.  I am thankful for the home I grew up in.  Christians should be home makers.  No matter what you are starting with, the Lord Jesus will help you to create a safe place for your children, teach them the truth of Jesus, and to do so in love, with loving discipline.  Let your home become a place where there is a sense of belonging, being cared for, and helped in every way.

All of that said, there is a sense in which we are not at home in this world (it is not Jesus enough), and yet we are always at home, no matter where we are, because Jesus is always with us by His Holy Spirit.  Christ is with us, and we will always find brothers and sisters of like precious faith when we reach out.

There is a certain class of great truths in which two seemingly polar opposite realities must be embraced at the same time.  It appears paradoxical to say that we should remember that this world is not our home, and yet, we are always home, no matter where we are in this world.  Another example of this is called the Stockdale Paradox. [Note: in the audio, I was unsure of the name of the paradox, and I surmised it might be called Stockwell.]  Stockdale was a POW during the Vietnam war, and spent years being tortured and held captive.  After he was returned following a treaty, he pointed to this paradox that helped him to survive.  He had to be brutally honest about his true circumstances, but also, never lose hope that he would prevail in the end.  Further, he emphasized that we could confuse these two things, and needed to keep them separate, yet held firmly.

So, we are not home yet, and we know it.  However, when I leave this world and my spirit goes to the Lord, it will not be a complete surprise because I have been at home with him for years now.  It will be more of a sense that says, "Wow!  It is even better than I imagined!"

Let's look at our passage.

The Gospel goes to Anatolia (v. 13-15)

Here's a good map for understanding the places that are talked about in this passage:  map.

Paul and Barnabas had gone from the coast of Syria to the island of Cyprus.  There they shared the Gospel and ended up on the western end of the island in Paphos, the seat of government for the island.

From there, they will sail northwest to what we call Turkey today.  It is sometimes referred to as Asia Minor, but the book of Acts also refers to a region called Asia, which is only a small part of this isthmus.  So these terms can be confused.  Another term used for this area is a name the Greeks gave to the place, Anatolia (Gk. for "east").

The coastal city called Perga is in the area called Pamphylia.  As you go north you quickly hit mountains.  At their divide, you enter a lesser region called Psidia.  At this time, Psidia is administered for Rome under the Galatian region.  Thus, Luke's story jumps pretty quickly to a city of Psidia called Antioch.

Yes, this is another city called Antioch (long story).  This city is either called Antioch of Pisidia, or Pisidian Antioch to distinguish it from other places with the same name.  By the way, Paul and Barnabas started this journey from Antioch of Syria, or Syrian Antioch.  This should help us get a feel for where these things are happening.

When they first land at Perga, there is no mention of preaching there.  They quickly head into the interior of Anatolia.  Some have speculated that Paul may have picked up a sickness like malaria (the area has mosquitos) because of Paul's statement in Galatians 4:13.  He says that he first preached the gospel to the Galatians due to sickness.  The city Pisidian Antioch is in the region of Galatia, and so are the towns that will mentioned later on in this missionary journey.  I take time to mention this particularly because of what happens next.

We are told that John Mark departed from them and went back to Jerusalem.  This wasn't on the agenda.  Mark was brought along to help them on the journey.  We are not told why.  However, we can be fairly certain that it wasn't for a good reason because, in Acts 15, Paul and Barnabas will argue about taking Mark with them on a second missionary journey.  We can talk about their discussions then.

For now, I will focus on John Mark.  He may have left simply out of homesickness.  Even adults can grow weary of being on the road and dealing with the stresses of new territories.  Of course, there could also be a sense of fear.  They had encountered spiritual opposition on the island of Cyprus through Elymas Barjesus, Paul was now sick, and they were headed into the interior of this Gentile place.  Mark may have just hit the end of what he was able to face.  Regardless, Mark finds himself far from home, and chooses to go back to Jerusalem where his mother and family were.  However, he is also quitting on the work that God had given to Paul and Barnabas.  This is important because, even today (more so then), it is important to have a strong group of guys when you travel foreign lands.  He is leaving them in a weaker position, at least, in the natural.

I will say that there is no sense that John Mark is departing from the Lord, and apostatizing.  However, he is quitting on the work that God had made him a part of.  He may be thinking that it was really Barnabas and Paul's calling and not his.  This may not be a salvation issue, but it is serious.  We are volunteers and not hirelings, but the Spirit of God is working in us to fit us for the work that He desires for us to do.

Am I fit for the work that God has for me?  In some ways, natural ways, I am not.  However, trust and faith in God helps us to be fit, and to become even more fit. 

All work sounds good in theory, but it entails a lot of sweat and sore muscles, which aren't so fun.  Imagine someone coming up with this amazing idea.  "I'm tired of foraging every day, but I noticed that grain will grow up out of the ground from places where we drop it.  Why don't we clear about 10 acres of land here and plant it all with grain.  Then, we can harvest it all right here close to home, and we won't have to forage!"  This is a brilliant idea, but it also involves long hours of blood, sweat, and tears, removing stumps, plowing virgin ground, protecting the young plants and then harvest.  It is a lot of work.  Perhaps, you could give up on such a daunting task and simply forage a couple of hours every day.

Work is a good thing even though it is difficult.  There is a joy in the reward that comes from the work.  However, over time as we mature, we begin to gain an appreciation for the work itself.  Like an old, trusted friend, we begin to enjoy the expenditure of strength that is good for us in and of itself.

In life, you will always run into things that are too big, and too hard for you.  You would rather be home, or in an easier place, an easier time.  Perhaps, you can even now smell the cookies that mom used to make for you in the kitchen, and taste the tantalizing swirl of hot cookie and cold milk.  Being fit for service is not a one time deal.  It is not a one and done chance.  In God's economy, if we fall short, the Spirit still works to bring us back around.  Yes, it's bigger than you, and he that is in the world is also bigger than you.  Yet, He that is in you is greater than them both!

After John Mark leaves them, Paul and Barnabas head into the interior on the edge of Galatia to a town called Pisidian Antioch.  There is a synagogue in this town, so they attend on the Sabbath (Saturday).

Synagogues focused on reading the Law and Prophets, with commentary, exhortations, and worship.  It is not mentioned in the Old Testament because this activity did not develop until they came back from Babylon.  They had been there 70 years, and precious few really knew how they were supposed to serve Yahweh.  Synagogues developed as teaching centers. Yet, they also became invaluable in far away Gentile lands where they would have little interaction with Jerusalem and its ceremonies.  The early church meetings were somewhat patterned after these teaching centers.

At some point they ask Paul and Barnabas as visitors to address the group if they wished.  This may be a courtesy knowing that Paul has studied in Jerusalem, but it may simply be a rural area hoping to hear news of things in Jerusalem, etc.  Regardless, Paul will take advantage of this opportunity to speak.

Paul preaches in the synagogue (v. 16-33)

We have an extended sermon from Paul here.  We will look at part of it today and the rest on a subsequent Sunday.  In some ways, Luke is giving us highlights of how the Gospel spread from Jerusalem into Gentile lands, even to Rome, the seat of the empire.  However, at times, Luke does what he does here.  He moves in with a microscope and gives us the notes version of sermons preached by the apostle Peter and the apostle Paul, as well as others (deacon Stephen being one in particular). 

In any address, you are aware of your audience and speak accordingly.  This would be mainly Jewish people, as well as some Gentile God-fearers.  They would be aware of Jewish history, the theology of God, etc.  Thus, Paul quickly runs through things that he would not be able to do if he was speaking to Greek philosophers on Mar's Hill in Athens.

He starts with a basic reminder of Israel's history.  Yet, he emphasizes some important things.  They became a nation when God chose them and exalted them out of a low position in Egypt.  He brought them out of Egypt with an uplifted arm.  The arm of the Lord, as well as the hand of the Lord, is an Old Testament picture that represents God powerfully stepping in and helping you in a time of need.  It connotes acts of power, miracles, and signs and wonders, as well as the closeness of God.  Of course, the New Testament reveals that Jesus is, and has always been, the Hand of God and the Arm of the Lord.

They then spent 40 years in the wilderness.  Paul deftly says that God "put up with their ways."  This is a reminder that, even at their beginning, God extended mercy to them over the top of their resistance, and even rebellion.

God was faithful to bring them to Canaan and give them victory over the seven nation that were there.  They were then given an inheritance in the land.  It is always good in the midst of blessing to remind ourselves that the mercy of God has brought you into it all along the way.  I do not deserve even one of His blessings.  I have come to it by His grace all along the way.

In verses 20 through 23, Paul reminds them of how their governance changed after this.  For the first 450 years, they essentially had a tribal-clan structure.  However, they kept turning to idolatry, and God's judgment would be to let their enemies dominate them, enslave them to a degree.  They would invariably start crying out to God for help.  This brought about the idea of the judges.  The word for judge emphasized that they would give the decision of Lord.  However, as you read the book of Judges, you see that the primary requirement to being a Judge over Israel was to first have been empowered by God's Spirit to help deliver, or save, Israel from their enemies.  The victory over their overlords was proof that God was with a person, and then they would serve as a Spirit-empowered judge over Israel.  This was not a monarchy, and so when the Judge died, the people would without fail end back up in bondage, cry out, and receive another Deliverer who would then judge them for a season.  This went on for 450 years.

At this point, they wanted a king and so God gave them Saul son of Kish.  Their desire for a king was not for noble reason.  They wanted a king because the nations around them had kings.  This was clearly not the reason they continued to be enslaved.  Notice that there is a sense of the rebellion of Israel in both of these governing styles.  Judges 17:6 says, "In those days, there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."  In 1 Samuel 8, God tells Samuel that their desire of a king was a rejection of Him. He was not pleased, but gave them their request because He could use it for His purposes.

Saul was a monarch that satisfied their flesh (head and shoulders above the rest).  He was great in the flesh, but weak and small in the spirit.  Paul nicely states that God "removed" Saul and raised up David because David would do His will.  The Messianic promise is given to David who is the perfect man after God's heart who does His perfect will (even better than David).  This Messiah would first deliver, save, Israel and then He would proven the right to Judge Israel.  In fact, Jesus is the Savior and Judge of all the earth and the heavens.  He is the ultimate King.

In verses 24 to25, Paul reminds them of the ministry of John the Baptist.  He emphasizes the testimony of John that Messiah would follow Him.  He preached repentance in preparation of the coming of Messiah.  Thus, Israel should expect Messiah to have shown up by now.

In verses 26 to 29, Paul emphasizes that God has sent them with the Word of Salvation for the people of this synagogue.  He is declaring that the promised Savior has come and that word of this salvation has come to them through Barnabas and him.

Of course, this good news begins with bad news.  The people and rulers of Israel did not recognize the Savior, nor did they understand the message of the prophets that they read every Sabbath.  Because they did not know God and His Word like they should have, they executed the Savior even though they could nothing wrong with him.

We should note that Paul is not pointing the finger at the Jewish people.  He was one of them!  He had rebelled resisted and had believers in Jesus put to death.  This is what we all are without God's help.

Yet, even this execution of Messiah was a fulfillment of all that the prophets foretold concerning Messiah.
It is very important for us to be a people of the Word of God, but it is even more important to know the word along with the Spirit of God.  If we let Church be a matter of the flesh, and not relationship, then we will only follow the same path.  We have to guard our hearts and watch ourselves through prayer.

Even when God is undeniably working through a man, as He did with Jesus, we are able to deny the undeniable.  They did this in the wilderness when they resisted Moses who had clearly proven that God was with Him.  Yes, and, many are doing the same today.

Some may go the other direction.  They may discount the word of God as the moldy word of God, and continually seek a new word from God.  The written word of God keeps us anchored in the true Spirit of God, but it cannot take His place.  If we study the word in exclusion to relationship with the Spirit of God, then we only create an idol.  However, if we neglect the word, then we easily fall prey to the many deceiving spirits out there.

How can I know that I am hearing the Holy Spirit?  You focus on being a person of the Bible, but also a person of prayer seeking God's help to understand. 

Finally, in verses 30 to 33, Paul speaks about the resurrection.  "But God raised Him from the dead!"  Hallelujah.  I praise God that He often overrules the choices and decisions of people to fight His purpose.  He will not control your choice, but neither can you control His choices.  Hallelujah!  If Israel had their way, they would have never entered the promise land.  Yet, God in His mercy took them back out into the desert for 40 years, until a whole generation of unbelievers died.  Then, He led their kids back to the promise land.  "Do you want to go in this time?  Yes, sir!  I'm tired of living out in this desert!" 

May God help us to grow weary of living in the wilderness.  The sooner we die to things of the flesh, and turn to God's Holy Spirit for help, the sooner we will be able to move beyond desert times in our lives (not that they are all bad).

Paul emphasizes the many witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus, and Paul and Barnabas are in Pisidian Antioch as witnesses of these things.  God had fulfilled His promise to the fathers of Israel, and thus, to them.

We will pause here on Paul's sermon.

We mentioned how John Mark turned back at a point far from home.  Yet, Paul is a man who is far from home as well.  Yet, he stands faithfully with the Lord Jesus Christ.  When we go in the name of Jesus, he is always with us.  And, if he is with us, then we are never far from home.  It is a matter of your mind.  Far from home is relative.  To some, going to another State is no big deal.  Whereas, to others, going across the street may be very intimidating.

God has a work for us that, in some ways, takes us away from our homes.  Going out from the place of comfort, a place blessed by God, is uncomfortable, but His blessing goes with us wherever we minister.  May God help us to hold on to that sense, "Jesus is with me!"  You don't have to fear, or at least, you don't have to fear for very long.  Who knows what we are going to run into.  Maybe, we will run into a sorcerer who is foaming at the mouth in jealousy.  Whatever it is, God is with us, and we don't have to be afraid.  We can be courageous, bold, and filled with faith because we are filled with His Holy Spirit.

Far from Home audio

Such Love—Part VI

Subtitle: Let's Be A People of the Righteousness of Jesus

Philippians 3:2-9; 12-14.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, May 7, 2023.

This will be our last message on the love of God through Jesus.  We talked about the Incarnation, and how God loved us enough to become one of us.  We then talked about how he laid that life down in order to Redeem us.  Third, we saw the gift of sending the Holy Spirit in order to live within us.  Fourth, we looked at the gift of a sure, confirmed, faithful record of His dealings with humanity in the Word.  Last week, we looked at the gift of prayer that allows us to communicate with God.  And, today, we will look at the gift of the righteousness of Jesus that God shares with us. 

Of course, these do not exhaust the ways in which God has lavished His love upon us.  However, they go to the heart of what God desires for you and for me.  None of us deserve to have our sins covered by another, and yet God loves us enough to make it possible for our sins to be covered by Jesus.  More than that, He also makes it possible for us to become the righteousness of Christ and to live it out.

It is sad that there are people in the Church who are still confused over just what God desires of those who come to Christ.  The apostles of the first century dealt with these issues, and yet they are still with us today.  It is the tension between legalism and hedonism /antinomianism. 

The legalist focuses on an outward conformity to certain rules and glories in their accomplishment of them.  They generally shame others who do not conform to their list of rules, and very often, they shame themselves internally because they know they fall short.

The word antinomian basically means a person who is against law, or rules.  In this context, it refers to a person who believes that they do not need to restrain themselves with sin because the death of Jesus "covers it all."

Both the legalist and the antinomian miss the heart of God in salvation.  The answer is not in finding the right balance between the two.  We should not advocate having some rules, but not getting to carried away with them.  The answer given by the apostles lies not in satisfying a list or rules, and not in having no restraint (i.e., self-discipline).  Rather, it lies in a transformation of the inner and outer man that is led and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Let's look at our first passage.

Our confidence should be in Jesus alone (v. 2-8)

Paul continually had to deal with false teachers coming in behind him and bringing confusion into the churches that he had started.  A common false teaching was in this area of teaching Gentiles that it wasn't enough for them only to believe in Jesus.  They also needed to take on the works of the Law.  In this case, Paul deals with the pressure for Gentile Christians to be circumcised.

In verse 2, Paul refers to such teachers in three different ways.  He first uses an Old Testament metaphor for a person who does evil things, i.e., a dog.  Thus, the second way of referring to them, "evil doer," essentially defines the imagery of a dog.  The third reference is "the mutilation."  This is a play on the way that Jews would refer to themselves as "the circumcision."  This was a title of honoring the fact that they had the Law and were obedient to God, as opposed to the Gentiles who were ignorant of the Law and were not part of the circumcision.  However, Paul clearly picks a word that turns this on its head.  They are not the circumcision, they are the mutilation.  Obviously, Paul does not see them in a good light.

Paul tells them to beware, or to watch out for such teachers.  They are not going to help them to please God.

For us today, I don't think there are many groups that are promoting circumcision, but we should recognize that the heart of the issue is not so much circumcision as it is requiring something else to be added to our belief in Jesus.  Why do people tend to think that faith in Jesus cannot be enough to save us?

I think it generally has to do with a confusion about the work of God within believers, both its goal and its power.  Thus, Paul ends verse 2 with the recognition that a believer in Jesus will put no confidence in the flesh.

On what do I place my confidence when it comes to salvation?  What makes me know that I am acceptable, or right, with God?  I'm not perfect, but if I were to die today, would I be allowed into the presence of the Lord?  When it comes to salvation, my confidence should always rest upon Jesus, and him alone.

Thus, Paul emphasizes that Christians are to worship God "in the Spirit."  We are not relying on things of the flesh to draw near to God, but instead, we rely upon the Spirit of God to help us worship the Father.

The false teachers would take aspects of the Old Covenant worship, that were legitimate, and teach that they are necessary for believers under the new covenant.  Again, it is to say that faith in Jesus is not enough. 

The heart of worshiping God is to declare that He is worthy of our faith and obedience, of our trust.  Instead of being led by the Spirit of God who was establishing the faith through these apostles, they are being led by men to resist the Spirit and to establish a different wisdom as their guide moving forward.  It is interesting that Israel resisted the leading of the Holy Spirit in the wilderness when the Old Covenant (which was new then) was being established.  They resisted and retreated into the calf worship that they had picked up in Egypt.  Similarly, there is a resistance again as the Spirit leads them out from under the tutorship of the Law into the life of the Spirit of God.

Paul sees this in an enabling to worship.  We are enabled to worship God and please Him, be acceptable, by the help of the Holy Spirit, not by human wisdom, or skill.

Paul is telling Gentiles that "we are the circumcision" who worship God by the help of the Spirit, rather than by the help of the flesh.  They are the circumcision because they have had their hearts circumcised by God Himself.  By the way, this was spoken of even in the giving of the Law.  In Deuteronomy 30:6, Moses describes God's grace in helping them repent through a spiritual circumcision of the heart.  Thus, even under the Law of Moses, it is made clear that the physical circumcision, which they were commanded to do, was symbolic of an inner work that had to be done by God.  No man, or child, circumcises themselves.  They need another human to do it for them.  Who can help me circumcise my heart?  Only God can through faith in Jesus.

Now that Jesus had paid the price and the Holy Spirit was leading the remnant to believe in Him, the symbols of the Old Covenant were no longer needed.

Again, a true believer in Christ should have no confidence in the flesh.  I wish that this was true of most Christians today.  We are dazzled by the flesh today more than we even understand.  It is wonderful to hear someone sing or play music who is extremely good and proficient.  It is wonderful to see beautiful buildings.  However, it is a different thing if this is what dazzles me and gives me confidence in God.

The word confidence in English emphasizes faith.  However, the Greek word has a sense of persuasion.  They are similar, but there is a subtle difference.  Those who are persuaded by what they see and do in the flesh will miss the work that the Holy Spirit is doing.  Paul mentions this in 1 Corinthians 2:1.  Paul did not come to them with great speech, as the Greeks loved to hear.  He was among them in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.  However, the Spirit of God showed up in powerful ways.  Salvation had come to them through the work of the Spirit, not the flesh of Paul.  Why would they now retreat back to following the flesh?

It was those who put their confidence in the flesh that had rejected Jesus and put him to death, both Jews and Romans (the Jews in a religious way, the Romans in a secular way).  Even the disciples followed Jesus partially because of the Spirit and partially because of the flesh.  Jesus did great miracles and they were convinced he could save Israel.  Their flesh was already to sit beside Jesus when he took control of Israel.  But then, Jesus went to the cross and nailed the flesh, that they had pinned so many hopes upon, to a cross.  I picture God being so fed up with our hunger for a superman, who is head and shoulders above the rest, to save us.  He sends us our superman and then nails him to a cross so that we can finally get the message.  Quit looking to the flesh to save you!

At the cross, we are shown that confidence in the flesh, be it me, another, or even the mortal Jesus, whether religious or secular, will always sacrifice the work of God's Spirit.  When Jesus was crucified on the cross, the hopes they had put on him in the flesh, on a work of the flesh, were crucified as well. 

It is easy to see this as somehow the message of someone who struggled with obeying God, a loser at obeying God's law.  However, Paul cuts this argument off in verses 3 through 6.  He had been one of the "Olympians" of fleshly religion in Israel so he lists his fleshly accomplishments.  It was outside of Damascus that Saul of Tarsus discovered just how much his confidence in his fleshly accomplishments impressed God.  God struck him blind and rebuked him.  "Why are you persecuting me?"

That is what God thought about the "best" that 1st century Judaism could produce.  I wonder what He thinks about the "best" that 21st century Christianity has produced.

Paul had to choose that day when Jesus confronted him.  To follow Jesus and the Holy Spirit, he would have to let go of everything that he had accomplished, and was trying to accomplish.  Those "gains" were keeping him from following God.  He could not have Messiah and hold on to his confidence in a system that focused on the outward.

In a way, the dynamics in Israel did him a favor.  Those in charge in Jerusalem would not be happy if he chose to follow Jesus.  Persecution would come to him.  He knew up front that to choose Jesus was to leave that system behind.  However, the gentiles in Philippi and other places could probably try to keep the Law of Moses and call themselves believers in Jesus.  Yet, Paul is showing them here why that can never be.  To follow Jesus, to follow the Spirit of God, is to  let go of anything else being the source of my confidence.

We might ask at this point why a person would want to hold onto a system of fleshly confidence.  At the heart of the answer, we should see the desires of our own flesh.  The Law of Moses did not set up a system that was focused on the flesh.  It was the leaders of Israel who had taken the Law and turned it into a flesh-based confidence system.  They did this over the top of the witness of that same Law telling them that they fell short and needed the help of God, the circumcision of the heart that only God could do.

Saul let go of those gains in order to have Jesus, to have "the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus" for whom he went on to suffer (v. 8).  He wanted to know this amazing Jesus even if it cost him everything.

Am I a person of the Spirit who is persuaded by the Spirit of God and who places their confidence on The One in whom the Spirit was without measure?

We have a better righteousness (v. 8-9)

As Paul makes his argument, it was easy for people to portray him as advocating the life of the antinomian we mentioned earlier.  Even today, people will speak about a tension between Pauline theology and that of the apostle James.  However, if you read Paul's letters, you will find that he emphasizes doing righteous things, as much as he emphasizes resting in the righteousness of Christ alone for salvation.

Paul is emphasizing that through Jesus, and the Spirit of Christ, we are given a righteousness that is far better than anything we could accomplish under any flesh-oriented confidence system (be it Jewish or Christian).  Jesus himself stated in Matthew 5:20 that unless their righteousness exceeded that of the Pharisees none of them would enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  He knew that this would shock his hearers because they thought of the Pharisees as the "Olympians" of righteousness.  However, in God's eyes, their external, flesh-based righteousness was as filthy rags.  It fell woefully short.  In truth, Jesus is not setting a high bar here.  He is merely speaking the truth.

So, we must start there as Paul points out at the end of verse 8.  My righteous works in and of themselves are rubbish, garbage.  Let me reiterate that point.  It doesn't just say that they fall short.  It is worse than that.  If I invited you over for dinner and overcooked the meal a little bit, it would fall short of being a good meal.  However, if I put garbage on your plate and attempted to serve it to you, it would be gross and insulting.  It isn't just falling short.  It is on the negative of the scale.

This is not to say that it was wrong to obey the Law of Moses.  It is to say that the human heart tends to turn religion into an external performance without internal change.  Saul's problem was not in trying to obey the Law.  It was in refusing to hear what the Spirit of God was trying to say to him through it.  There were plenty of Jews in his day who heard this message from the Spirit and were waiting for the Messiah to come and clean up the mess that the religious leaders of Israel had created. 

In the book of Romans, Paul saw that the Law of Moses served to slow down their fall away from God while at the same time showing them their true spiritual need.

It wasn't rubbish to try and obey God, but it was rubbish to think that his righteousness was enough to please God.  Our righteousness always falls short of true inner transformation that is led by the Spirit of God when its source is about demonstrating that we are good.

Paul contrasts a righteousness that is from the Law (my performance) versus the righteousness that is from God through faith in Jesus.  He is not against the Law.  It had served its purpose.  However, he is against developing a righteousness that merely adds Jesus to what the Pharisees were doing.  Our performance of the Law cannot be the source of our righteousness.

I picture this as an income tax form religion. We can focus on the letter of God's word, and come up with our list of do's and don'ts.  In a sense, instead of letting the Spirit of God audit our hearts, we make ourselves legalists who audit ourselves.  We create a system of understanding that creates people who are really good at doing their "spiritual taxes," but also others who are terrible at it.  O, well, they should be more like Saul of Tarsus. 

We should be hearing what the Word says to our heart about dead works, but our tendency (in the flesh) is to build a religion that pats certain fleshly people on the back.  They are promoted as "those who can get it done."  Then, the people look up to them as amazingly unsurpassable, religious icons. 

Paul found a different righteousness that day outside of Damascus.  When he quit resisting the Spirit of God and embraced Jesus, he was suddenly right with God, pleasing to Him.  Imagine all of the people that Saul had injured, and in a moment his sins are covered!  "That's not fair!"  No, it isn't because none of us will be saved if God gives us what is fair.  The grace of God was available to a man who had been leading saints off to their death.  Simultaneously, the grace of God was given to countless uncircumcised Gentiles who hadn't been keeping the Law of Moses, and now Paul is telling them that they shouldn't keep the Law of Moses.  They were saved when they obeyed the Spirit and put their faith in Jesus alone.  Paul emphasizes this in verse 9: "through faith in Christ..." 

Yes, I am still doing something, righteousness, but the motivation is different.  I went from trying to show God how good I am so that He will save me, to believing in the salvation of Jesus and following Him by the Spirit.  One has a confidence in us, and the other has a confidence in Jesus.

The confusion between salvation and discipleship (v. 12-14)

There continues to be a great confusion in the minds of many between salvation and discipleship.  This can only be because our pulpits are confused on this issue.  We can muddy the lines between being saved and being discipled.  Yet, ultimately, Paul sees the problem's source as evil workers (v. 2) who infiltrate and promote the confusion.

If you are saved, have salvation, you know that you would be with Jesus in heaven if you were to die today.  Discipleship on the other hand has to do with how much you look like Jesus.  We can too easily make a certain nebulous level of discipleship necessary for salvation, and this is a mistake.  In fact, it is not the Gospel.

How many times did the disciples fail, and were rebuked by Jesus?  I didn't count them, but it was many.  Peter himself was rebuked by the Lord with the harsh words, "Get behind me, satan!"  Yet, were they "kicked off the team?"  Did they lose their place in community of believers?  No.  They didn't work their way into the family of God and they couldn't fail their way out.  There is a caveat to that last sentence, but more on that later.  Salvation is based upon my faith in the righteousness of Jesus alone.  I am saved as long as I am trusting in the righteousness of Jesus to be my salvation.  Discipleship also takes faith in Jesus.  Our weakness in being made more like Jesus does not cancel our place in the body of Christ.

It is clear that Paul in verses 8-9 is talking about salvation.  The righteousness of Christ alone can save me.  However, once we are saved, we are to move on to discipleship.  Verses 12-14 are not speaking of salvation.  Paul is not saying that he hasn't "attained" salvation yet.  It is not the "perfected" who "attain" salvation.  He is talking about discipleship.  He doesn't fully look like Jesus yet!  He is still on the path of discipleship, which ends when we enter the presence of Jesus and are resurrected (see v. 10-11).  Paul sees himself in this process of discipleship, being perfected.  Of course, discipleship is a component of salvation, but the point is that salvation is being a child of God, and discipleship is taking on the family likeness.  We do not lose our salvation because our discipleship isn't going so well at the moment.  God is faithful to treat us as sons and "discipline" us (Hebrews 12:5-6).

The Spirit of God is given to us to enable us to become like Christ.  We need to cooperate with the Holy Spirit by turning away from things in our past and turning towards Jesus.  Union with Jesus is what lies ahead.  The Spirit is leading us "upward" out of sin, and into full communion with Jesus as glorified sons of God.

The ultimate prize is Jesus Himself.  Yet, the righteousness of Jesus is not only about a legal exchange of his righteousness to cover my sins.  Just as resurrection will change our mortal bodies so the believer is in a spiritual transformation process in which we are made to be the righteousness of Jesus.  He is teaching us to live out the righteousness of Jesus.  This is discipleship.  The disciples did not disciple themselves.  They were taught by Jesus and the Spirit of God.  So too, we must be led by the Spirit to become more like Jesus.

If you go back to Philippians 2:12-13, Paul emphasizes that we should "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."  Many people don't know what to do with that verse because it sounds like the legalists are right.  However, Paul is not promoting a new legalism under a different law.

The key is in the phrase "work out."  This corresponds to the phrase in verse 13 "works in you."  Because you are saved, the Spirit of God has taken up residence within you.  He proceeds to work into you the things of God, and you should work that out into your life.  This is the New Testament picture of a believer in Christ.  We are daily working out what the Spirit of God is working in us.  Why should we fear and tremble?  It is not because God is capricious and may jerk the rug of salvation out from under us.  Rather, it is because I don't trust my flesh and its ability to resist and neutralize the work of the Spirit within us.  I take seriously that God is working in me and seek first to understand it, and then to cooperate with it.  Saul was not taking it seriously.  He was fortunate that the Lord in His mercy rebuked him so severely.

God is not in heaven saying, "Why can't you do it!"  Rather, He is inside of us saying, "Take my hand, and I will help you do it!"  How can I say no to such love?

Quickly, let me just remind us of similar verses from Paul in the book of Galatians.

In Galatians 6:7-8, Paul warns believers that even we who have been saved should be careful because God cannot be mocked.  This is what an antinomian does.  They not only believe that the righteousness of Jesus covers their sin, but that it also covers them continuing to sin without even trying to live differently.  This is to make a mockery of why Christ died.  He did not die to leave us stuck in our sins throughout the rest of our lives.  No true Christian will pretend that they can continue to give themselves to sin, and yet, be covered by their "Jesus insurance."  Jude calls this a "license for immorality" in Jude 1:4.  He then says that such an idea is a "denial" of Jesus.  You cannot put your faith in Jesus and deny him at the same time.  To embrace Jesus is to embrace his righteousness, both for salvation and as the work that the Spirit is doing in you.

In Galatians 6, Paul warns that our life is a sowing.  Your choices and actions are sowing seeds to the flesh or to the Spirit of God.  The seeds to the flesh will only reap corruption and destruction.

So, is it possible for our discipleship to become so bad that we "lose" our salvation?  Paul doesn't use that terminology here, but he does warn that if we continually give ourselves over to the flesh, then we will reap destruction.  He had warned them of this back in Galatians 5:16-21.  He counsels them to follow the Spirit and not the flesh.  He then states that the works of the flesh are obvious while listing some.  Notice that it ends with the warning that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.  Whether they were actually saved before or not, we should recognize that there is a whole class of people in Scripture who knew the truth, were part of the being saved community, and yet perished due to lack of faith.  The children of Israel in the desert, Lot's wife, Judas, and many others, perished and reaped destruction because of unbelief.  Thus, salvation is based upon faith in Jesus, but so is our discipleship.  They did not fall short because their discipleship wasn't perfect.  Rather, they fell short because their sowing to their flesh overwhelmed any faith they may have had in God.

Let me close with reminding us of Galatians 2:20.  Paul died on the day that he met Jesus.  From then on, he quit trying to do what he wanted and lived his life to do what Jesus wanted.  He wasn't perfect in performing that, but it was how he lived.  We are to daily crucify our flesh and its desires.  We are not to live out our desires and purposes, but to live out the desires and purposes of God in our life.

So, how is it that our works that are done by faith in Jesus and listening to the Spirit can be clean and acceptable to God?  They are purified by faith in Jesus and washed by the presence of the Holy Spirit as we cooperate with Him. 

This is a daily battle, but do not lose hope.  The Spirit of God will help you in this battle against your own flesh.  Keep your faith in Jesus, that he has redeemed you (saved you), and work on following the leading of the Holy Spirit to become like Jesus (discipling).  Ultimately, we all lay our heads down in death short of perfectly looking like Jesus, but through death and resurrection, He will finish the work in each one of us!  Amen!

Righteousness of Jesus audio