This ends our three-part sereis on Acts 15. In the first part we looked at legalism; in the second we dealt with idolatry. In this section we’ll talk about sexual immorality – something the early church felt a need to specifically address.
Way back on June 8, 1978 author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn delivered the commencement address at Harvard. At the time he was exiled to the West for his courageous writing and speaking during the Soviet era. Today – a relaxing day off – I was reading it in a collection of essays and it just kind of struck me. it’s amusing interesting fascinating that some of the things he said might easily be said today – 30 years later. Here’s a little bit of it. The complete text can be found here: A World Split Apart
“Without any censorship, in the West fashionable trends of thought and ideas are carefully separated from those which are not fashionable; nothing is forbidden, but what is not fashionable will hardly ever find its way into periodicals or books or be heard in colleges. Legally your researchers are free, but they are conditioned by the fashion of the day … a selection dictated by fashion and the need to match mass standards frequently prevent independent-minded people from giving their contribution to public life. There is a dangerous tendency to form a herd, shutting off successful development. … This gives birth to strong mass prejudices, blindness, which is most dangerous in our dynamic era. There is, for instance, a self-deluding interpretation of the contemporary world situation. It works as a sort of petrified armor around people’s minds … It will only be broken by the pitiless crowbar of events …
“If humanism were right in declaring that man is born to be happy, he would not be born to die. Since his body is doomed to die, his task on earth evidently must be of a more spiritual nature. It cannot unrestrained enjoyment of everyday life. It cannot be the search for the best ways to obtain material goods and then cheerfully get the most out of them. It has to be the fulfillment of a permanent, earnest duty so that one’s life journey may become an experience of moral growth, so that one may leave life a better human being than one started it. It is imperative to review the table of widespread human values. Its present incorrectness is astounding…
“Even if we are spared destruction by war, our lives will have to change if we want to save life from self-destruction. We cannot avoid revising the fundamental definitions of human life and human society. Is it true that man is above everything? Is there no Superior Spirit above him? Is it right that man’s life and society’s activities have to be determined by material expansion in the first place? Is it permissible to promote such expansion to the detriment of our spiritual integrity?”
Last week we looked at the decision of the Jerusalem council, which determined that the non-Jews who were now coming into the church didn’t have to become Jews in order to become Christians. This was a very important decision and essentially ruled out all forms of legalism or works-based merit before God. We examined legalism and the difference between that and a biblical faith which leads to good works.
This week we will look at idolatry – one of the things the council wanted to emphasize to the Gentiles as prohibited. They rightly assumed that non-Jews would need to learn that the God of the Bible is not to be worshiped with idols.
Audio: Acts15b.mp3
Notes: Acts15b.pdf
In this chapter a conflict arises in the church. Certain Jewish believers wanted to impose specifically Jewish rules and practices, including circumcision, on the newly converted Gentiles. The conflict leads to a big meeting in Jerusalem among the recognized leaders in the church. They conclude that clearly the Gentiles need not “become Jews” in order to be Christians. Rather they come up with a short list of things that the Gentiles need to be aware of. In conclusion, we’ll look at the whole issue of legalism in the church. Here are the notes and audio:
Next week in Part 2, we’ll finish the chapter examining both idolatry and sexual immorality. These are two points the early church leaders realized needed to be specifically addressed in the non-Jewish world of that time. They are areas we need to address just as much today.
Central Reflections 