Grace Makes No Distinction

Welcome to the Enduring Grace Sermons Podcast.

This is the home for the weekly teaching and ministry of Pastor Ben Hill.

Our mission is to share the timeless truth of God's Word with a world in need of hope.

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And now, here is this week's message.

Amen.

If you have your Bibles, I want to encourage you to go ahead and turn to Acts chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

And as you do there, do that.

I want to set up our sermon for today because we're going to be skipping just a little ahead and looking at specifically Peter's response to a problem that has arisen in the church.

Now, you might remember last week we talked about what it looks like to be ascending church, both personal as a Christian who is part of the church and also as a church as a whole.

This week we are fast-forwarding into Acts chapter 15 because after the mountaintop, there's been a problem that has arisen in Antioch.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

Now, this problem in Antioch has nothing to do with the church in Antioch themselves, but people who have come from Judea down to Antioch, and now they are telling the people that they must be circumcised according to the custom of Moses, and otherwise they cannot be saved.

They're adding a requirement to salvation.

Obviously, this troubles the church in Antioch because guess what?

They've made up of both Jew and Gentile.

And most Gentiles in this day and age were not circumcised.

And so they're having a problem.

It means that they're going to have to do something in addition.

And so a debate arises, and you know who's leading the debate against those who are claiming that they have to be circumcised?

Paul and Barnabas.

They have a problem with it because they're adding to the message of salvation, that it is not through just faith in Christ alone that they're saved.

But there are works required.

And there's a big problem with that that arises.

So they travel from Antioch, a group of them do, to Jerusalem.

And you might know this from your Bible studies, is that this is the Jerusalem Council meeting that is so famous in Scripture.

So they gather together with the apostles and the leaders of the early church in Jerusalem, and they begin to hear the problematic issue.

And so those who belong to the party of the Pharisees within the church bring forward their charge that they must be both they must follow the law of Moses, especially in circumcision.

And Peter, after hearing the debate, finally stands up and speaks.

And that's where we're going to pick up in the text this morning.

But before we do, I have a simple question that I want you to think about.

Are you guilty of trying to add to your salvation?

This morning, as a believer, are you guilty for trying to add to your salvation?

Or are you guilty of trying to be good enough before God for God to forgive you?

Because in today's world, it is a real temptation as it was then to try to add an expectation of perfection in order to be right before God.

But that is not what the scripture teaches.

It teaches that we are right before God through Christ and Christ alone.

And so this morning I want to challenge you to really examine your heart and to ask God to reveal any area in your life that you have not allowed him to fully take this morning.

It can look a few different ways.

In other words, am I getting better with my life?

Am I being more holy?

If I'm not becoming more holy, then am I really saved at all?

Or maybe it comes in the form of having the right politics or social understanding, cultural affiliation.

That we add that Jesus plus having a right standing in society.

It can also look like adding to or saying that I need Jesus plus, looking like, acting like, dressing like, and fitting in night nicely with the church I attend.

All those are ways that we can add to scripture, which is not in scripture.

We can add a requirement that we must have in order to be saved.

Now that is not to say that we are not to live rightly before the Lord or to strive to glorify God with our lives.

But as you will see this morning in this text, is that it does not save us, it is the overflow of our salvation that we live rightly before the Lord.

With that said, if you have found your place in Acts chapter 15, look at verse 6 with me and say, Word.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

It says, The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

So the problem arises, and guess what?

They gather together and they say, Hey, look, I need you to see this.

And they listen.

And it says, And after there had been much debate, verse 7, Peter stood up and said to them, So just imagine Peter right now in a gathered room with a bunch of people debating, and then all of a sudden the rock stands up and begins to speak.

You know the whole room has turned their attention to him because either he's going to put his foot in his mouth or he's going to speak truth.

They're eager to see which one.

This is what he says.

Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you.

He says, God chose.

And what did he choose?

That by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did us.

He says, Hey guys, I need you to see something.

God saved them the same way he saved us.

And he made no distinction.

So there's no difference between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

Now therefore, why are you putting God to the test?

By placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear.

He goes, hey guys, newsflash, you and I have failed to keep the law of Moses, so why in the world are you expecting them to keep it?

But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus just as they will.

Peter outlines three truths about salvation.

The first is that God confirms the same faith.

That God confirms the same faith.

We see this really unfold in verses 6 through 8 here.

And what he tells them is that, hey, listen, I need you to have just lean in, guys.

You already have heard the good news that Gentiles have been saved the same way we received salvation.

Now, this alludes back to when Peter was interacting with the Roman soldier, and that God had orchestrated that, moved in his heart.

We looked at that text together, and we saw that Peter had a vision, right?

That he had a vision that he was supposed to not call what was unclean, or what was clean by called by God, clean, unclean.

And as a result of that time of vision with the Lord, as he's moving, this man comes, or the soldier, his people, his servants come to call him to himself so that he can hear the good news and his family get saved along with him.

And he comes back, he gives a report, and it's celebrated that they received the same faith.

And in that midst, they see that the Holy Spirit moves the same way that it did at Pentecost.

Which, if you think back to Pentecost, guess how the Holy Spirit moved?

It proved that the Holy Spirit had come to them.

They spoke in the language of those who were native through the gifting of the Holy Spirit.

As they were speaking, it was coming, and people were hearing in their own native language.

So that is replicated with the Gentile.

So God proves that the same Savior saves people, both Jew and Gentile, the same way.

It's the same faith.

It is not any different.

Then he tells them that God made that choice, that God chose to do it that way.

And who are we to argue with God on how he saves?

And then he tells them that God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them.

Now that word, that phrase, who knows the heart, is one that I personally love in the Greek, because it is basically cardio, so cardia, which means heart.

Sounds familiar, right?

And then it's Gnostic.

So when you put those two words together, the one who knows the heart, or the heart knower, more literally.

That means that God sees the heart.

Oftentimes we in church put on our best set of clothes when we come to church.

We put on our best face when we come to church.

And if we're real honest, especially when we were had kids, sometimes it's a chore to get to church on Sunday morning.

You might be arguing the whole way to church because so-and-so forgot to do such and such because child so-and-so gotten to such and such.

And you're doing that all the way to church, but as soon as you step out of that car door, you know what you're doing?

Okay, everybody, smile.

We're at church.

We see what's on the physical on the outside.

It's really interesting because when I was in college, oftentimes I wouldn't tell people that I was a Christian.

I would just get to know them.

Because, and I still do this as a pastor, because I don't want them changing the way they act just because they know who I am.

Because you know what happens when they find out that I'm a pastor today and I'm talking to somebody?

They stop cussing as much very quickly.

You know why?

I'm a I'm before a pastor.

He's a man of the cloth.

That's oftentimes what they think.

That I don't need to be using that type of language in front of a pastor.

That's a problem.

You know what that tells me as a pastor?

None of you actually show your real face oftentimes, right?

Because we want to put on our best face for our fellow believers.

But what happens in the home is a little different.

Our spouses see our worst selves, our kids see, especially our worst selves.

But you know what's even more convicting?

Is that because God is the knower of hearts, he knows even what your spouse and kids don't see.

He knows what you're saying in your heart in that moment, not even what comes from your mouth.

And so we have to understand that because God knows our hearts, he understands whether we're just religious or if we genuinely desire to know him, to love him, and pursue him.

And what Paul or what Peter is telling the church here is that God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us.

The beauty of the gospel message is that it doesn't matter how dirty our heart is, God still saves regardless of how filthy we are.

If we will place our faith and trust in Christ in Christ alone.

Have you placed that kind of trust in Christ?

Have you asked him to purify your heart?

Because let me tell you, as your pastor, if I did not confess my sins daily, guess what?

My list would grow very quickly.

Because we still live on this side of eternity.

But there is a day that we won't have to worry about that.

And that is the reason why we celebrate, is because God has confirmed that same faith to all who repent and believe that we all can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit through saving faith in Christ.

That there is no distinction, there is no separation from that.

If you've ever watched movies where there's a scene where there's a VIP section, oftentimes you see that VIP velvet rope.

Or maybe you've watched news and you see those VIP lines, and they have the red carpet rolled out, and they have the velvet lines breaking up, separating the crowd from the invitees.

And you might remember in some movies where you might see a bodyguard standing at that doorway with that velvet VIP access, his arms crossed, and his sunglasses on his face, just waiting for someone to try to get in that doesn't belong.

Heaven in many ways is kind of like that.

God is standing as judge at the pearly gates of heaven, and you must have an invitation card to get in.

You know what that invitation card is?

Belief and faith in Christ, in Christ alone.

You can walk up to that throne and say, hey, I need inside that kingdom because my life was good.

I lived a good life.

I did more good than bad.

I wasn't as evil as the worst evil people out there, and so I need to get in.

And you know what God will say?

Be gone.

I never knew you.

You could say, hey, I grew up in the church.

I had a great parent that loved the Lord, and I even went to church until I was in college, and then I went away for a little while, and then I came back, and I went to church regularly.

But if you never placed your faith and trust in Christ, guess what?

God will say, Be gone, I never knew you.

You can say, Hey, you know, I gave a ton of money to the church.

I gave a ton of money to needs in the community.

I made sure people were well taken care of.

You know what God will say?

That was useless trash because you never knew me.

Be gone from me.

That's the reality of the truth of the gospel, is that it is an exclusive gospel.

We're saved one way, but it is also universal in the sense that anyone who repents and believes has access to God.

We must never lose sight that we're saved through grace and faith alone.

And that's what is going to lead Peter through the rest of his message here is that he says that God cleanses the same way.

Look at verse 9.

And he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

Our heart is cleansed not by our actions, but by faith.

I go with it through this with kids, especially when I'm talking about salvation, because it's one of the easier illustrations to talk about what faith is.

I tell them, hey, you sat down in my chair.

Did you think twice about sitting in that chair before you sat down?

And usually the answer is no, I just sat.

Good.

It means that you trusted the chair to hold you up, that you had faith that that chair would not let you down.

But if I brought out a one-legged, half-eaten, termite-eaten chair and said, I expect you to sit in this chair, are you going to sit in that chair?

Well, no, I'd have to balance it.

I might fall.

Faith is placing your trust in Christ because you understand that He is trustworthy because He did what you could not do, because your works is that filthy, one-legged, half-eaten, termite-ridden chair, versus a sturdy, everlasting chair in Christ.

And so when we're talking about what it means to have the same cleansing effect, it means that you've placed your faith and trust in Christ and that there is no distinction.

That means that there's no difference in the saving faith of Jew and Gentile.

Why would there be a difference?

Well, for the Jewish leaders who are bringing up that you need to be circumcised, they were saying that their culture allowed them to have a different way to get saved.

That they had already completed a portion of the requirement, and faith secured it.

And so now what they're telling the Gentile is that you've got only a portion of salvation because you've placed your faith in Jesus, but you need to secure it through works now.

Peter's saying, no, there's no distinction.

Both Jew and Gentile are saved the same way.

It's through faith only.

That there is no difference between the way we believe and they believe, that there is no difference between the lost Gentile or the lost Jew being saved as a not uh uh that there's no difference between those two people groups, that there is one God who saves the same way, that it's about the heart, that it's about the transformation inside of us.

Let me ask you a question.

How many of you know of a friend or family member or maybe yourself have had the experience of going to the cardiologist and getting the news that you have plaque buildup and there needs to be a procedure?

Just show of hands.

How many of you know someone or have had that experience?

We got we got many in this room.

So, as you know, when you go into that room and you find out you got plaque buildup in your arteries, guess what?

That means that there's a problem with your heart.

If you don't get it fixed, you will die.

Simple facts.

The doctor might say, hey, uh, if it's not bad enough, we'll try some medicine.

But when you talk about those 80-90% blockages, you're talking about a heart procedure.

That they're gonna have to go in and change some things.

Because if they don't, you're going to die.

Our hearts are not just filled with plaque, they have stopped spiritually.

They're completely dead.

No amount of good works can help you.

Just like if you have a 90% blockage, eating some more fruits and vegetables and not eating grease isn't going to help you.

You need a heart procedure.

Every single one of us is born with a dead spiritual heart that needs to be surgically removed and revived by God Himself.

Have you experienced a heart's heart transformation from God?

Have you placed your faith in him so that he has come in and cleansed your heart?

Or are you still trying to figure out how you can be good enough to come before God to just ask him for that?

No amount of works, no amount of good deeds will ever allow your heart to start beating.

It requires faith in Christ in Christ alone.

And it doesn't matter who we are or where we are or our past or even really our future.

Because it only matters what you do with Jesus.

Have you placed your faith and trust in Jesus in a way that you have experienced transformation?

But, Christian, it doesn't stop there.

When we recognize that we do nothing to save ourselves, we can let go of the burden of trying to be perfect.

Did you know that that is an unnecessary yoke that God puts or that Satan puts on people that God never has put on a person to live a perfect life?

Let me explain.

God knows that you cannot live a perfect life.

It's the reason why Jesus came and died on the cross and rose from the grave so that he could defeat your sin, your shame, your death.

But what Satan likes to do for the Christian after they've been saved is he likes to come and put the yoke of legalism around your neck that, hey, you didn't follow the letter of the law, so you are not good enough.

How can you worship this morning?

You have been a person who's been angry with your neighbor.

How can you worship God?

Who are you to worship God?

Because guess what?

You stumped your toe and you cursed last night.

Who are you to worship God?

Because guess what?

You gossiped about that person.

Who are you to worship God?

Because you don't follow everything that you think you should follow.

You know what God says?

God says, hey, child, you made a mistake.

Yeah, you sinned, but I've covered it.

Come to me, let me love you and embrace you.

Doesn't give us liberty to go on and sin, but what it does is it keeps us from having that burden of feeling like we are insufficient before God because we are insufficient.

But God made us whole in Him.

And one day we will not have to worry about any of that.

That day is not today.

But we should strive with Christ and understand that there are going to be moments where we do stumble and we fall.

That's what grace is about.

We cannot err on legalism to the point where we become completely and utterly unusable by God because we put burdens upon ourselves that God never required.

That is the number one danger in the church today, in conservative churches.

The reverse of that is liberalism where anything goes.

There are two ditches that we must remain out of.

But there is freedom for the believer who is striving to follow Jesus, who lives a repentant life, understanding that it is not our works that makes us right or worthy to stand before God, but it is the work of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone who has paid it all.

We sing that all the time.

Jesus paid it all.

Do you really believe that?

Because if you do, you will not allow the yoke and burden of legalism to weigh you down.

Because God covers the cost of all sin.

He covers the same cost.

Look at verses 10 and 11.

Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test?

By placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear.

Now, we don't really talk about yokes very often, but just visualize a tool, a piece of leather, oftentimes with some maybe metal to reinforce it, that was put around the neck of an ox, sometimes a donkey, and they would pull a plow through a field.

That yoke was a sign of work.

What Peter is saying to the church is why are you putting a yoke that is unbearable, undoable, around the necks of those in Antioch?

That's what legalism does.

It puts an unbearable yoke around your neck.

It doesn't allow you to serve God faithfully and enjoy because you're trying to make sure you don't make God angry over here because you're not sure what you need to be doing.

I need you to lean in on this.

God's yoke is easy because Jesus bore it for us.

When we say that God has saved us through faith by his grace, what we're saying is God did what we could never do.

Everything else that transpires in our life after that point of saving faith is the result of placing our total trust in Christ alone.

It's the overflow of our worship.

We're less concerned about legalistically following all the rules that aren't in Scripture and more focused on how can I worship the Lord with my life?

Are you worshiping the Lord with your life?

Are you resting in the easy yoke of God?

Or are you putting God to the test by saying in your heart that I can't serve God because I made mistakes in my past?

That I can't serve in the church because they don't know what I did before.

In order for the church to be a healthy, sending church, a hospital for the broken, we cannot put expectations on people to follow the laws of God without them knowing the God that they follow.

You can think about it from this perspective.

If you go to Matthew quickly, Matthew 28, we read it this morning.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Catch this.

Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

Notice where teaching comes into play.

It's after they've been saved.

You cannot expect a new Christian to walk in holiness in the same way a Christian has lived with God for three decades.

It's an unrealistic expectation.

We are to go out and share the gospel, and as people get saved, we teach them and all that God has commanded.

That's discipleship.

That is the easy yoke.

The access to the Lord is easy.

Salvation is easy.

It is surrender to the Savior who died on the cross and rose from the grave, defeating sin and death on our behalf for all who repent and believe and trust in Christ.

And that's when the teaching and the equipping and the faithfulness of pursuing Christ begins.

It is not that we don't hold up holiness in a high regard.

We do.

Because we want to worship the Lord from a pure heart.

But we should never allow traditions to go beyond what Scripture says and put an unnecessary roadblock between us and a person who is trying to learn what it means to follow Jesus.

Peter's remark in Acts here is to tell them that we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus just as they will.

That is where the gospel is.

The gospel does not discriminate because God is reigning and he has provided it through his son to all who repent and believe.

Religion says do while Jesus says done.

Do you really believe that God has completed the work that's required for your salvation?

This morning, some of you have never received that gift.

It was kind of like a man who woke up one morning and he looked at his bank account to find out that someone had gained access and ran up his debt beyond any payable amount.

He called and tried to negotiate, explained the situation, but no one listened.

He was required to pay the debt in full.

He was at his wits' end.

And then one morning he woke up with a knock on the door.

And he said, I need to sit down with you for just a moment.

Can you tell me what happened?

So he went through and explained that, you know, I woke up and I had this great debt.

And he said, Well, let me explain to you this one thing.

That debt is no more yours if you will simply sign this document right here that says that you allow me to pay your price on your behalf.

The man looked at him and said, You can't do that.

This is a great sum of money.

No man should pay this.

And he said, I have already done it.

All you have to do is say yes.

Will you say yes?

Jesus has already paid a sum that you can never pay back.

He's already paid it in full.

And the requirement is simply this will you say yes and trust him to do what he's already done?

To provide salvation to you for all who repent and believe.

And child of God, are you resting in that good news that there is no debt remaining on you, that you've been set free forever from the bondage of your sin?

God has paid it in full.

God does not discriminate.

He confirms the same faith for all.

He cleanses us all the same way through his son, and God covers the same cost, the cost for every sinner.

And that was through Jesus' death and resurrection he provided the payment in full.

This morning, will you finally stop trying to carry a heavy religious yoke and allow God to simply embrace you with his love?

Will you say yes to following Jesus with your life?

Will you trust him enough to help you grow as you walk with him this morning?

As we enter a time of invitation, some of you need to lay down your brokenness before the Lord and say, Lord, I know I'm a sinner.

I'm desperately in need of saving.

Will you save me, God?

For others this morning, you have stored secret guilt and sin in your heart, and you need to lay that at the feet of Jesus and say, Lord, I lay this before you.

I know you've already paid for it, but I need victory from my sin today.

Help me walk in victory.

For others, you have a painful, hidden past that you feel like eliminates you from ministry of any kind in the church, and you need to lay that before the Lord and say, Lord, don't let my past defy me, but let you define me, for you are a good and gracious God who have forgiven me.

And then there are others in this room that you have been trying to just do a performance for others while you have been suffering.

Will you allow us to pray for you?

Stop pretending and start living, living the life God has called you to.

A life of surrendering to Him and walking through life with others that follow Him.

With every head bowed and eye closed.