WHEN THE GOSPEL IS ON THE LINE - Acts 15:1-11

All right, if you have a Bible or an

app, let's open it up. We're going to be

back in the book of Acts today and over

the course of the next couple of months

until we hit summer, we're going to be

working uh through our journey of Luke's

writing about the history of the New

Testament church. And so, we'll find

ourselves in Acts chapter 15 this

Acts 15 · chapter mention

morning. We'll be reading verses 1

through 11. Now, if you have not been

with us since we started the book of

Acts, we are actually in part 47. So,

this will be the 47th sermon that we are

preaching and diving into as we continue

to unpack the journey of the early

believers after Jesus was resurrected

from the grave, after he ascended into

heaven and left his followers with a

mission.

And so over the course of 14 chapters,

we've seen the gospel that began in

Jerusalem with a small following of

individuals

explode exponentially

to fill not just hundreds but thousands

of people with the spirit of God as they

go about to fulfill the calling to

proclaim the truth of the gospel to a

world that is in need. And up until this

point, we've seen the church face

opposition and persecution from the

outside.

People who have this agenda to silence

the scriptures to put to death the

people of God have brought every tool,

every charge, and every weapon against

the church. And we've discovered over

the last 14 chapters that no matter how

hard the enemy and the people that are

set against the gospel message will push

against the gospel, it always serves as

a catalyst for the gospel to continue to

go forward in power. And that tells us

so much. Primarily, it tells us that

nothing will ever stop the proclamation

of the gospel.

Because in the big picture of scripture,

remember God raises up you, he raises up

me, he raises up the people of God, his

sons and his daughters. As we are filled

with the spirit, as we understand the

mission at hand, as we are equipped for

what lays ahead of us, God uses the

church, and I'm not talking about this

local church, but God is that mine?

Thank you. God uses the big church, big

C universal church to fulfill the

mission. And if we don't do it, if we

don't cry out and praise, you know what

the scripture says? Then the rocks will

do it on our behalf. And you know the

old saying, or I hope you do. It goes

like this. I won't let a rock out praise

me. I will continue to press in. I will

continue to move forward. And so every

time the gospel, there has been this

attempt by outside opposition to silence

the gospel, the gospel has continued to

go forward in power. Well, now we

approach Acts chapter 15

Acts 15 · chapter mention

and opposition and persecution against

the gospel rises up, but this time it's

not from outside the church. This time

it's from within the church. Anybody

ever experienced church conflict before?

Anybody ever experienced opposition from

a trusted brother or sister in Christ?

Of course, we all have. Why? because

we're not perfect, because we have our

preferences, because we're selfish

people, and just like we'll discover in

Acts chapter 15, we often will get in

Acts 15 · chapter mention

the way of the very thing God desires to

do in us and through us. So, Acts

Acts 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15, let's read verses 1- 11, and

let's see how this begins to pan out.

Beginning in verse one,

some men came down from Judea and began

to teach the brothers.

Well, what did they begin to teach?

Unless you are circumcised according to

the custom prescribed by Moses, you

cannot be saved. Let me hit the pause

button for just a moment so that we can

wrap our minds around the depth of what

is happening here. You have men from

Judea. The the these are believing

individuals, people from within the

church who have now gotten word that

Paul and Barnabas and Peter and the

disciples of Jesus are starting these

churches. People are being saved. And if

you remember, we ended Acts chapter 14

Acts 14 · chapter mention

with a greater understanding that not

only are the Jews being saved, but

Gentiles as well. Let me kind of give us

a brief history lesson on what that

means. If you were a Jew, that meant

that you could trace your ancestry, your

heritage, your bloodline all the way

back to Father Abraham, who God made a

covenant with and called to be the

father of nations. Now, that's key

because it's not just a father of a

nation. It's a father of nations, which

even back in the covenant call of

Abraham in the book of Genesis reveals

to us that God's plan has always been

for the salvation of all people, not

just specific people.

This is the issue that is taking place

here.

These men have now come down to where

Paul and Barnabas and Peter are and are

saying exactly that God only saves

specific people and only the people who

do these things.

Now, they're not talking about the

gospel message that says God saves those

who put faith in Jesus.

Did you notice the problem that's

arising here? What are they saying?

Unless you are circumcised according to

the custom prescribed by Moses, you

cannot be what? You cannot be saved. So

it's not unless you put faith in Jesus

Christ, can you be saved? It's unless

you put faith in Jesus Christ and do

this, you cannot be saved.

Now so many centuries removed from what

was taking place here in the book of

Acts, we may feel this is unrelatable.

But the principle even though the false

principle that's being presented here is

still relatable to us in this sense. We

may not say unless you are circumcised

you cannot be saved. But we may say

things like this. Unless you go to this

church you can't be saved. Unless you do

it this way you can't be saved. Unless

you play this type of music you can't be

saved. Unless you read from this type of

translation you can't be saved unless

you vote this way. You can't be saved.

And if all we ever do is deduce the

gospel to something that needs to be

added, then it no longer becomes the

gospel it was meant to be. It becomes

man-made. It becomes made up. This is

huge

because what these men are effective

effectively doing is saying, "God's not

the one who determines who is his

children. I determine who is his

children." And church, this is how cults

are created. This is how false

ideologies and false religions are

created. And maybe some of us here this

morning, this is an opportunity for us

to challenge some longheld beliefs that

maybe we've been raised in, maybe we've

learned to grab on to over the course of

our Christian life. And this morning,

what we want to do as we unpack the rest

of our passage is we want to look at

what does the Bible say about salvation.

Remember, this is our authority.

Why is it our authority? We did an

entire sermon series at the beginning of

the year. You can go check it out at

reachtogrow.com/sermons.

and why it's important that we think

biblically about God's word, why we can

trust it, why it's not just some random

writings that one day people chose to

believe. But this has been tested,

evidence has proven it over the course

of history and scientific discovery. Why

we can trust the Bible? And so this

morning, we want to look at what is the

gospel,

what is it, and what is it not? Let's

continue in verse two.

After Paul and Barnabas had engaged them

in serious argument and debate, Paul and

Barnabas and some others were appointed

to go up to the apostles and elders in

Jerusalem about this issue.

Now, if you are into church history,

you've undoubtedly have heard the phrase

the Jerusalem Council.

This is where we discover what took

place in the Jerusalem Council. The

Jerusalem Council, one of their primary

purposes of meeting together was to

determine what these individuals were

saying was false, but not in a new

sense.

in the sense that what had already been

believed and lived out and proclaimed

throughout the scripture is exactly what

the church was already doing. Preaching

that faith in Jesus Christ is all that

is necessary for the salvation of your

soul. Now, I know the rebuttal to that

because I at one point in my life had it

as well. And if you've been at the Grove

for a while, you know, we undoubtedly

always come back to this argument. Well,

if all it takes is faith and nothing

else, then I can just place faith in

Jesus Christ and live life the way I

want. Hold that thought. We're going to

address that ideology here in just a

moment. But I want us to notice

something here in verse two.

It says, "Paul and Barnabas had engaged

them in serious argument and debate."

It's important to recognize that Luke

includes that word serious.

Why? Because this is a serious matter.

Paul will be so passionate about the

purity of the gospel that he'll later

write a letter to the church in Galatia

and he'll say this. If any one man or

angel comes to you preaching another

gospel,

a gospel that doesn't focus on Jesus, a

gospel that doesn't focus on his grace,

but any other gospel that says you need

to do this in order for you to be saved

and puts the power of salvation in your

hands and your actions, Paul says, "Let

him be anathema."

Now, that word really doesn't mean a

whole lot to us, but back in biblical

times, that was huge.

Paul was saying, "May you be cursed and

condemned." Why? Because your false

gospel, your false instruction, the

false security you are laying before

people are affecting their very souls.

And the reason that that we will forever

and continue to be a church that is

centered, rooted, and planted on the

truth of God's word is because this is

the power of life change.

I'm not talking about the paper, the

ink, or the leather that this is made

of. I'm talking about the message and

the savior who it points to. This is

what brings life change and

transformation. Which is why in parts of

the world, people may not have access to

written copies of this, but that doesn't

mean the gospel is absent from their

life. Because the gospel exists here. It

exists here. It exists here. That's

where the power of God is demonstrated

through his mercy, through his grace,

through the indwelling power of the

spirit. It's not by the things that we

do or don't do. Mind you, those things

are absolutely important. But it is by

Christ and Christ alone.

Let's go to verse three.

When they had been sent out on their way

by the church, they passed through both

Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in

detail the conversion of the Gentiles.

That's important. That's not a random

phrase because what these men are

essentially doing is saying you can't be

a believer in Jesus unless you convert

to Judaism.

and Paul and Barnabas have open debate.

They have serious discussion. They say,

"We're going to go to Jerusalem. We're

going to meet with the elders, the

apostles. We're going to settle this

once and for all." So, there's no

confusion. And what's interesting on the

way over there, they experienced gospel

proclamation. They experienced salvation

the way it's meant to be experienced.

And it brought great joy to all the

brothers and sisters. Verse four. When

they arrived at Jerusalem, they were

welcomed by the church, the apostles and

the elders, and they reported all that

God had done with them. But some of the

believers who belonged to the party of

the Pharisees stood up and said, "It is

necessary to circumcise them and to

command them to keep the law of Moses."

Are you tracking?

It is necessary that you vote this way.

It is necessary that you sing only these

songs. It is necessary that you do only

these things. It is necessary then you

will be saved. Every time we add to the

gospel, it is no longer the gospel.

The apostles and the elders, verse six,

gathered to consider this matter. After

there had been much debate, Peter stood

up and said to them, I love this,

"Brothers,

you are aware that in the early days God

made a choice among you, that by my

mouth the Gentiles would hear the gospel

message and believe." Peter is

reflecting, if you remember earlier in

the book of Acts, a moment in which he

was called by God. Remember, he had this

dream. He was called by God to go and

meet with a gentile by the name of

Cornelius. Cornelius and his family were

filled with the spirit. And it was a

clear sign to the church then. It's a

clear sign to the church today that God

is inviting all people, all nations,

every tribe, tongue, and nation to be

part of his family. Not through anything

that we do, but through everything

Christ has accomplished on Calvar's

cross, through the resurrection of the

grave, through his ascension into

heaven. And we wait and we hope. And we

have just sung about it. His glorious

and majestic return. Peter is bearing

testimony. He's giving witness about

this. Verse eight. And God who knows the

heart. Did you know God knows your

heart?

He knows my heart. He knows your heart.

If you're anything like me, that's a

scary thought.

But this is what makes the gospel so

beautiful.

This is what makes the grace, the mercy,

and the love of Jesus so beautiful.

That despite my heart,

when I'm covered by the blood of Jesus,

when I place faith in the lamb of God

who's come to take away the sins of the

world, faith in him, not in my ability,

not in my strength, not in my education,

not in my wealth, not in my accolades,

my goals, my accomplishment, but when I

place faith in him, God looks at me and

what does he see? He sees the perfect

blood of his son

that covers me, that protects me, that

seals

me. And so, what does that mean for me?

Hold that thought. We'll get there in

just a moment.

So, God, who knows the heart bore

witness to them by giving them the Holy

Spirit just as he also did to us. He

made this. This is so important because

this is Peter laying down the evidence

and telling the Pharisees, "This is why

your argument falls apart. It has no

standing. It bears no foundation because

God made no distinction between the Jews

and the Gentiles, cleansing their hearts

by faith." Now then, and Peter really

gets to it here. Now then, why are you

testing God? by putting a yoke on the

disciples necks that neither our

ancestors nor we have been able to bear.

What Peter is saying is when you are

adding to the gospel, you're making it

impossible for people to encounter the

risen savior because you yourself can't

even obey the law. We can't obey the

law. Our ancestors, the patriarchs, the

role models of the faith couldn't even

obey the law. So why are you adding to

the gospel as if it's possible for

humanity to save ourselves?

Verse 11, on the contrary,

we believe that we are saved through the

grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way

they are. And all God's people said,

>> Lord, bless your word. Holy Spirit,

would you stir our hearts?

You know, you and I, we're a people of

ambiguity.

And we're a people of ambiguity because

ambiguity teaches us that we can

discover our own truth.

It tells us that however we believe and

what we perceive about a situation, as

long as we believe, it is the truth. But

what you'll really discover is when you

attempt to find truth, you discover that

your own truth is really no truth at

all.

And the reason that's important is

because someone somewhere

has to be the one who establishes truth.

Someone somewhere has to be the one who

establishes the foundation by which we

experience, perceive, and live in this

reality. And it's not you or I. Because

if it was, we would have differing

opinions.

We would have battles over who's right,

who's wrong, and there would be

conflict. there would be division. Your

truth and my truth can't coexist. There

can only be his truth, the truth, which

is the truth of God. The truth that is

revealed to us in the scriptures. It

reminds me of a story in the book of

Exodus. If you remember that story in

Exodus chapter 32, Moses is up on Mount

Exodus 32 · chapter mention

Si and he's having this majestic and

glorious encounter with the Lord. And

while he's up there, the people of

Israel grow impatient. How many of us

have ever grown impatient before?

And as they grow impatient, they go

before Aaron, Moses's brother, and they

tell him, "Moses is taking too long. We

don't want to wait on him. We don't want

to wait on our God, the very God who we

have seen miracles, signs, and wonders

from, the one who set us free from

Egypt. We no longer want to wait on him.

Make us an idol that we can bow down to

and worship." And many of us know the

rest of the story. They gather their

gold

and out of that we have the golden calf

and Moses is on his way down from the

mountain. He's carrying the tablets, the

Ten Commandments.

And the scripture says that he begins to

hear a ruckus in the camp

and Moses is intrigued. He wonders

what's going on. We don't really know

what was actually happening in his mind,

but maybe he was thinking there's a

celebration. They know I'm coming down

from the mountain and and and they're

ready to break out into praise. Look,

God has given us the commandments, the

foundation by which our people and the

nations of the world will be blessed.

But Moses finally gets to the base of

that mountain. He sees the camp of the

Israelites. And I love this. The the

story continues and it says that Moses

saw the people running wild.

It's this picture that's being painted

like an untamed animal

when we when we rebel against God. When

we choose our way over God's way. When

we choose the lies of the world over the

truth of God's word. When when we say,

"I will choose salvation for myself

rather than the one who is the author of

my salvation." We are like untamed

animals

running rampant and running wild.

And then we have this line in the sand

moment.

Moses is visibly upset. And if you know

that story, what does he do with the

tablets? He throws them on the ground.

God will deal with him later about that.

And Moses has this line in the sand

moment and he tells the Israelite

people, he says, "Those who want to be

serious about God, come over here.

And those who want to remain in the lie

of the perception that you are in

control of your own destiny, that you

are in control of your future in terms

of salvation and God's kingdom, stay

over there. And the scripture says that

the ground opened up and swallowed those

who would rebel against the Lord. Here's

what that tells us. That Moses, that God

doesn't allow neutrality.

After what was a clear rebellion, the

people publicly align themselves with

the Lord or they align themselves

against the Lord. There is no middle

ground with Christ.

There is no quiet faith.

You either step into what God is doing

or you step out into what you are doing.

And let me tell you, as long as you step

out into what you are doing, you will

fail every time. You might have worldly

success. You might experience some good

things here this side of eternity. But

at the end of the day, it will be your

undoing.

This is why the disciples chose to

settle it once and for all. We're not

going to have false gospels going

forward and deceiving people of what

salvation is. And did you know today

church false gospels still go forward

all over the world even in churches

today there are so many false gospels

that are going forward moving people

into a false sense of security. Moving

people to believe in a Jesus that is not

the Jesus of the Bible. The God who is

not the true God of creation. And they

might use the same language you and I

do. They might use the same words and

vocabulary you and I do. But when you

define those terms, because words have

meaning, and those meanings are

absolutely important, you discover

you're not as close as you think.

And this is what the disciples are

getting at. Because whenever we make the

gospel unclear,

people will begin to fill in the gaps on

their own.

And when they do that, make no mistake,

the gospel will be distorted.

So, here's what I want to do with the

rest of our time. We're going to go back

to our passage. We're going to draw out

some truths that I believe were relevant

then that are absolutely relevant for

today to help us walk in the truth of

the gospel to help us have some

self-reflection on how do you view the

gospel? How are you sharing the gospel

with others? And why it is only only the

gospel of Jesus Christ that changes

lives. So, if you're taking notes,

here's the first scene we want to draw

out. Don't add to what Jesus already

finished.

It's been phrased this way. Jesus plus

nothing equals everything.

You don't need Jesus plus something

else. Jesus plus your gifting, Jesus

plus whatever it is that you believe.

It's Jesus plus nothing equals

everything. And so, I want to unpack

that a bit more. more. Go back with me

to verse one.

Some men came down from Judea and began

to teach the brothers, "Unless you are

circumcised according to the custom

prescribed by Moses, you cannot be

saved." At first glance, maybe this

doesn't sound outrageous.

Well, weren't first century Jews already

doing that? Yes, they were in accordance

with Mosaic law, accordance with the

covenant God and Moses made. These are

men from Judea. They had high spiritual

standing. They likely believed in Jesus.

They're not denying Christ outright, but

they are adding to him.

And when you add to Jesus, I want you to

hear me now. When you add to Jesus, it

calls into question your devotion to

him. It calls into question your faith.

And this is exactly the problem because

the moment you begin to add something to

what Jesus has already declared is

finished, you no longer have the gospel.

You're preaching another gospel.

And what they were saying is this. Jesus

is not enough.

You need Jesus plus this.

But church, I want to remind us that

Jesus is enough.

He is all that we will ever need. For

every battle we face, for every trial we

endure, for every valley that we go

through, for every dark moment that

comes against us, you know just as well

as I do. I won't sugarcoat it. Life is

rough. Life is hard. Family's difficult.

Marriage is difficult. Raising kids is

hard.

Some of us are in jobs we don't like.

We're in marriages that we wish they

could get better. Our health is not

where we want it to be. There's a battle

in our mind about who we look at the mi

who we look and what stares us back from

the mirror every single day. Like life

is rough.

And that's a result of the sin that

exists in the world.

And we talked about this during our

sermon series from Habach. Some of us,

and I don't I I I hope I never come

across this way, but I I don't attempt

to come across as someone who who knows

everything, cuz I don't. My wife will

say, "You don't know nothing." No, I

hope she doesn't say that.

But I know this.

I know the God of creation. I know the

savior of the world. And I know that no

matter what we face, what we face may

not get better.

But if Jesus is by my side, that's all

that I need because he gives me hope. He

gives me strength. He gives me guidance.

Why would I add to that? Why would I

say, "Jesus, you're not enough." Now, I

get it. I get it. Sometimes it does not

feel like Jesus is enough.

That's the reality of human emotions.

That's the reality of the nature of the

sinful world that we live in. The

psalmist declared that before the face

of God. It doesn't feel like you're

enough right now, God. This is difficult

for me. But what's the difference

between one who has dug their heels on

the foundation of God's truth? Who

understands what it means to be set

apart by the grace of Jesus and the

grace of Jesus alone? It means that in

my questions, in my bitterness, in my

emotions, in my anger,

I'm still going to seek after the Lord.

Because what's the alternative? trust in

myself. I got myself into the situation.

The cards have just been dealt that way.

I need help. I need direction. And yes,

the situation may not get better, but

I'll have strength to endure. My focus

will shift.

>> My perspective will be different. So, I

don't want to add to that.

As I was going over this, it made me

think of the Mona Lisa.

Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da

Vinci in the 1500s and the Mona Lisa by

art historians and enthusiasts. This is

what the quote that I read that the Mona

Lisa is the best known, most visited,

most written about, most sung about work

of art in all the world.

And could you imagine someone visiting

the Lou in Paris, taking down the Mona

Lisa and said, "I can make it better."

and then begin to paint over it.

People would go nuts.

Where's the church going nuts about

people who bring in a false gospel and

saying, "I CAN MAKE IT better because

Jesus is not enough." This is why Paul

and Barnabas and Peter was so stirred.

We really don't see this type of passion

and stirring off the pages. But right

here in verse two, it says, "After Paul

and Barnabas had engaged them in serious

argument and debate, Paul and Barnabas

and some others were appointed to go up

to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem

about this issue." You know what scene

is being painted here? These men from

Judea

had a public service to deliver a false

gospel. And so what do Paul and Barnabas

do? They have public debate to bring

correction.

When there is a false gospel that is

shared publicly, it takes the church

publicly to share the truth. We cannot

be silent.

We cannot sit on our laurels and let the

enemy declare what is false. And so we

must be careful of any version of

Christianity that says Jesus is good,

but you also need this

because no matter how close it sounds,

no matter how counterfeit

it looks, it's still not the real thing.

So the question right that's now on the

table is, well, who's right? Who

actually saves? And so this is what we

see. Here's the second thing that we see

that we are to trust what God has

already made clear. Now, now this is

what I love. I want us to go to verse

six because remember Paul or Peter

begins to testify. He begins to bear

witness. And he doesn't start with

theory. He doesn't start with opinion.

He doesn't start with well a bunch of us

got together and this is how we think it

should go. No. What does he do? He

starts with a move of God. He starts

with truth. Right here in verse six, it

says, "The apostles and the elders ga

gathered to consider this ma matter.

After there had been much debate, Peter

stood up and said to them." Now, the

rest of that is Peter declaring what God

has already done.

Part of standing on the truth of God's

word, part of experiencing and living

out the truth of the gospel is to

recognize what God is already doing.

And this is not new to the church. It

has been happening since the beginning,

since creation.

God has been moving and God has been

working. And the way God saves today was

the way he saved then. It has always

been about faith in the Lord. It has

always been about belief in the lamb of

God who has come to take away the sins

of the world. It has often been phrased

this way. New Testament over here, Old

Testament over here, the life, death,

resurrection, and ascension of Jesus

here. Both were saved the same way by

believing in the Savior. We believe in

the Savior who has come. The Old

Testament believe in the Savior who was

to come.

This is what the book of Hebrews

tells us in chapters 11 and 12. And so

Peter,

he is declaring that we're to trust what

God has already made clear. That the

issue, the issue at hand, it isn't

what's external.

The issue is what's internal.

Because you can clean up your life all

you want. You can look good on the

outside. You can do everything right and

your heart still be evil and filled with

sin. This was one of the major uh uh uh

points of conflict Jesus had with the

Pharisees throughout his ministry. He

called them whitewashed tombs. You look

fancy and put together on the outside,

but but underneath you are rotten. You

are decaying because there's no faith in

you.

There's no true repentance in you.

The law can't save us.

Paul's entire argument in his letter to

the church in Rome is that the law is

there to show us that we can't save

ourselves, that we need a savior. And if

we can't save ourselves, we certainly

can't add to the gospel.

You don't clean yourself up so that God

will accept you. I want you to watch

this.

God accepts you through Christ and then

he begins to transform you through the

inside out. And this is what happens in

real time as Paul and Barnabas are on

their way to Jerusalem. They go and they

share with the Gentiles. And what do we

see? The Gentiles are filled with joy.

So God has made this clear.

And so then what do we do about Roland?

Should I try? Should I not try? Like,

like, what does that mean for me post

faith, postcon conversion? I've

repented. I've been baptized. What's

next for me? If if I don't need to do

anything to be saved, then what am I

called to do? I I'm glad you asked that

because here's the third truth that we

see.

Don't ever turn grace into an excuse.

I know I've been there before. Very

early on in my Christian walk, like many

of you, you're still getting

you're still understanding the the

implications of the gospel in your life.

You're still growing in theological

distinctives. You're still learning

doctrine and what that means, not just

for a spiritual life, but for all areas

of your life. You're learning those

things. And and if you're anything like

me, in those very early years, you you

look at grace and you think, "Well, this

is an excuse to sin because God will

forgive me anyway." You ever live life

like that before?

I mean, at the end of the days, if I'm

on my deathbed and I cry out to God to

save me, let me just live life the way I

want.

And watch what Peter says because Peter

Peter knows the hearts of men.

Likely Peter's endured this before, like

many of us have. Look at verse 10.

Why are you testing God

by putting a yoke on the disciples necks

that neither our ancestors nor we have

been able to bear? That is strong

language. Those are fighting words from

Peter. And whenever you add to the

gospel, whenever you try to make it

palatable for yourself, you are testing

God. And let me tell you something, when

you test God, you will fail at that

every single time.

And Peter, he's bringing to the surface

what what every honest reader of the Old

Testament should see, that the law was

never meant to save. It's all to reveal

sin. It exposes our inability. We cannot

save ourselves. It shows our need for

grace.

And so the way this looks like for us

today

is very much in principle the same way

that it looked like for Paul, Barnabas,

and Peter as they had this confrontation

and this conflict. For us today, we'll

say, "Well, we're going to get married

anyway, so it's okay."

Well, we love each other, so it must be

fine. We're not hurting anybody, so it

must be okay. It makes me happy, so it

must be okay. And it's not the gospel

plus your happiness. It's not the gospel

plus you eventually get married. It's

not the gospel because it's not hurting

anybody. No. No, no. It's Jesus and

Jesus and that is it. And Jesus has laid

out his rule and his law and his

standards and his precepts. So don't

test God. Can I just say this for a

moment? Some of us are testing God this

morning.

We're walking in sin and we're

attempting to justify it because we want

to play both worlds. We want to walk in

line with God because you believe I

believe that you believe that you love

the Lord and praise God for that. But

you're testing God and deceiving

yourself because you want to play both

sides. You want to play the world and

your pride gets in the way. The reason

people reject the gospel, let me just

say this, the reason people reject the

gospel is not because they don't believe

it's true. The reason people reject the

gospel is because it demands something

from us. It demands obedience. It

demands self-sacrifice. Thematically

throughout the scriptures, what do we

see? Crucify the flesh.

You and I have to put the flesh to

death. We have to stomp it out. The

desires of our heart,

the pride of life, we have to stomp it

out. Men, we lead the charge at home. We

need to stomp it out.

And we can expect to be the very people

God has called us to be if all we ever

do is attempt to justify our very lives.

Now, I love this in verse 11. We'll

close on this.

Paul continues or Peter continues, "On

the contrary, we believe that we now now

this is what's so important. This is

what's beautiful because Peter is a Jew

or Gentile. He's a Jew. Now notice this.

Peter flips the script. He says, "We,

the Jews, are saved through the grace of

the Lord Jesus in the same way the

Gentiles are." Now, it would have been

something for Peter to say, "The

Gentiles are saved in the same way we

are." But that was the Pharisees

argument. Unless they do it this way,

they cannot be saved. So Peter flips the

script in order to bring home the point.

No, no, no, no. It's not them becoming

like us. It's us becoming like them.

Because what do they understand that we

don't? That it's all Jesus. It is only

Jesus. Now, let me tell you why that's

good news.

Because it doesn't matter what you've

done. It doesn't matter your past, your

background. It doesn't matter how hard

you've experienced life. And I know many

of your stories and some of you have

experienced some pain and some darkness

and some evil and some sin.

and you have felt that there's that

there's no way out. The gospel speaks

into that

and Jesus boldly declares this anthem

that is lifech changing this reality of

the truth of the gospel. He says, "I am

the way. I am the truth. I am the life.

No one comes to the father except

through me, Jesus. No one comes to the

father except through Jesus." And maybe

today that's what the Holy Spirit's

calling you to do. Let's pray. Lord,

thank you for your word.

Thank you for the truth. Thank you for

the transformation that we find in you.

May you bless the remainder of our time

this morning as we continue to gather,

as we sing, as we celebrate.

Lord, we pray that you would continue to

call people out of death and sin to life

eternal.

All this we ask in Jesus Christ's name.

All God's people said,