First Presbyterian Church of Inglewood
Telephone numbers: (310) 677-5133 Fax (310) 330-8342
Electronic mail: PRESBYTS@SBCGLOBAL.NET
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Rev. Dr. Harold E Kidd
Acts 15: 1 - 15
STANDING
FIRM
“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 obey the law of Moses.’ The apostles and elders met
to consider this question. After much discussion Peter got up and addressed
them”
Acts
15: 5-6
This morning we want to consider the theme of growth
through theological disagreement. The text says, “Some men came down from Judea
to
The Jewish Christians believed based upon their understanding
of the Old Testament, the Laws of Moses, that one must be circumcised according
to the Laws of Moses as a sign of the covenant of being saved in obedience to
the Law. Salvation through obedience to the Law. Legalism if you will. Much
like many Christian legalists today, these Jewish Christians believed they
would weaken moral standards if they did not follow the Laws of Moses.
Paul, Barnabas, Peter, and James, the early leaders of
the church on the other hand, believed that while the Old Testament Law was
very important, it was not a perquisite for salvation. Their argument was that
the Law cannot save, only Jesus saves, only by grace through faith in Jesus
Christ can one be saved.
As this text points out, we who make up the body of
Christ don’t always agree on the interpretation of scripture. Two people can
read the same text and come away with totally different meanings. When this
happens it raises many questions. It fosters debate. It can create controversy
within the life of the church.
So we have a sharp dispute in the early days of the
church over their understanding of salvation. A dispute which could have
theologically split the church during its infant years. One group, Jewish
Christians also known as Judaizers, insisting
salvation is by obedience to the Laws of Moses, including the rite of
circumcision. Another group made up of Paul, Barnabas, Peter and James -- that
salvation comes through belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and that obedience to
the Laws of Moses and circumcision are
not essential to salvation.
Controversy with regards to the interpretation of
scripture is nothing new. Historically controversies that have swirled around
the meaning and interpretation of scripture, far from damaging the church, have
contributed to its vitality. When we examine history, the 4th, 5th
and 6th centuries -- they were
marked by prolonged controversies concerning the interpretation of scripture
related to the divinity of Christ, how Christ the Son of God was both God and
man, and the doctrine of the Trinity.
In Acts 15 the record says that the
To name one, in 325 the council of
It was a controversy that threatened to split the
church. Much like other issues the church has debated and been divided on; Slavery,
the ordination of Women, and currently the heated debate over the ordination of
Gays and Lesbians Homosexuality, too name a few. At
And so one of the creeds which we have today, hammered
out in the flames of theological debate and disagreement is the Nicene Creed.
“I believe in one God the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible;
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-
begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds; God of God;
Light of Light; Very God of Very God; Begotten, not made; Being of one
substance with the Father, by whom all things are made; Who for us men, and for
our salvation, came down from heaven; And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of
the Virgin Mary, and was made man; And was crucified also for us under Pontius
Pilate. He suffered and was buried; And the third day He rose again according
to the Scriptures; And ascended into heaven; And sitteth on the right hand of
the Father. And He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the
dead; Whose kingdom shave have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost; The
Lord and Giver of Life; Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; Who with
the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spake by the
prophets. And I believe one Holy Catholic and
Like a refiner’s fire, God is able to use our
disagreements on how we interpret scripture to clarify our faith, our common
vision, and to invigorate the life of His church. Controversy, and theological
disagreement, need not destroy the church but in fact can make it more the
The Spirit gave the church wisdom at the council of
If we are sincerely seeking the wisdom and will of the
Lord, the Spirit as Jesus proclaimed will guide the church unto all truth.
You see, many times we use scripture to back our own
position rather than to accept the
meaning of the text for what it is. Amen. Peter says to us out of his
letter 2 Peter 1: 20, “Above all you must understand that no prophecy of
Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never
had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit.”
Paul declares in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is
God-breathed…”
Meaning the bible is not a man-made document. The
bible does not declare man’s truth, but it declares God’s truth. Even though it
was written by human beings they were just serving as instruments writing under
the influence of the Holy Spirit. Tell me, what other author other than God
could write a document using many different writers, writing over a span of hundreds
of years, and their writings all point to Christ, their writings all fit
together like a tailored made suit or dress, their writings be just as
impacting on our lives today as they were more than 2000 years ago?
Notice if you will concerning this text, that at the
time this incident happened, the New testament had not yet been written, there
was no document the church had which they could reference on the subject of salvation
by faith. They had to remember the life and redemptive work of Jesus. And God spoke a fresh word to the Church
on salvation by grace, through the personal experiences of its early leaders
such Paul and Peter, all of whom had encountered the risen Savior, and it was their
writings in witness to Jesus that became the New Testament.
If Peter, Paul and the other church leaders, if their hearts
and minds had not been open to truth revealed through the Holy Spirit, beyond
what was already recorded in the Old Testament, they could not have been used
by the Holy Spirit to write these new articles of faith which became known in
time as the New Testament.
Salvation by grace was no where to be found in the writings
of the Old Testament, it was not to be found in the Laws of Moses, it was not
to be found in the writings of David; it was not to be found in the writings of
any of the Old testament prophets.
What the early church was teaching and proclaiming was
new truth revealed under the inspiration of the Spirit but not yet canonized as
a part of Holy Scripture -- God revealing new truth that would not be written down
until the later half of the first century. In fact, these documents would not
receive universal acceptance by the church as the Word of God, Holy Scripture,
until canonization.
Have you ever considered the fact that God uses our
differences in theological thought to strengthen the witness of the church?
Because our differing viewpoints cause us to re-examine the word, they cause us
to dig deeper, they cause us to pray to the Lord to breathe on us His truth.
Our differing viewpoints help us grow deeper in understanding the whole counsel
of God, and not just one favorite text. But let me close with three thoughts.
If we desire to work through our seasons of theological difference.
Firstly, we must trust the integrity of the Holy
Spirit. In other words the Spirit knows what the Spirit is doing. In speaking
of the ministry of the Holy Spirit Jesus said in John 16: “But when He the
Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on
his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to
come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known
to you.” In other words the Spirit will
make known to us who Jesus truly is. The Spirit gives us clear interpretation
to understand the meaning of a text. The Spirit reveals the deep truths of God
contained within God’s word. Trust the integrity of the Spirit to reveal God’s
truth to you. We must have an open heart and open mind to receive the truth the
Spirit is seeking to communicate.
Secondly, we must “Study to show ourselves approved,
rightly dividing, handling the word of Truth.” To interpret scripture in its
fullness, one must understand is cultural-historical context, social context,
economic context and the religious context. In other words what were the
prevailing conditions culturally, socially, economically, and religiously when
the text was written, All of these factors have a bearing on the meaning of a
text. Which means you may have to consult other documents along with the bible,
depending upon the subject matter being studied.
To properly understand the meaning of a text one must
not only study the text under examination, but the chapter in which the text is
found, the preceding chapter and the chapter following. All of this might have important
bearing on the meaning of the text under study.
Thirdly, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace…..It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to
be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to
prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be
built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son
of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of
Christ.” Ephesians 4
While we might have differing theological viewpoints,
we must always be reminded we are saved by the same Savior, we have been washed
in the same precious blood, and we are filled by the same indwelling Holy
Spirit. We are called to strive to keep the unity of the faith in the bonds of
peace!
Free to agree to disagree, but committed to
maintaining our unity.