The Church In The New Covenant Order

SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP SERVICE, 8 March 2026
Sermon Series: “The Acts of the Apostles” (#22)
Sermon Text: Acts 15:1-35
Main Points:
Introduction
I. The surprise – the Jewish perspective
II. The stumbling block – circumcision and the law
III. God’s international family – The church in the new covenant order
Conclusion

As we’ve been following the chapters of the book of Acts, we’ve seen that the early NT church enjoyed a remarkable unity in both doctrine and life. A good summary of that unity is found in Acts 2:42-47. Their life together reflected a deep oneness in Christ.

Up to the end of ch. 14, the troubles facing the church have mostly come from outside. Beginning with the death of Stephen in ch. 7, persecution arose against the believers. Many Christians were forced to leave their homes and scatter to other regions. Yet, all that pressure from outside could not break the church’s unity.

But that unity now comes under threat in ch. 15. We’re told that some men came from Judea to the church in Antioch of Syria. There, they began stirring up a serious theological dispute among the believers – especially among the Gentile Christians. Luke tells us that these men were teaching the believers that unless they were circumcised according to the custom of Moses, they could not be saved. If their teaching was accepted, the very heart of the gospel – that is, salvation by faith alone – would be lost.

Paul and Barnabas strongly opposed this teaching and rejected their claim. But, the men who insisted on circumcision did not back down. As a result, the church in Antioch decided to bring the matter to the apostles and the elders in Jerusalem, seeking their wisdom and guidance to settle the dispute and restore unity in both doctrine and life.

So, for the first time in the history of the NT church, a council representing the wider church was convened. We know this gathering as the Jerusalem Council.

This council holds great significance in church history because it marked a decisive turning point in the NT church’s understanding of God’s saving work for humanity. Up to this point, the church had largely been viewed as a movement within Judaism – a kind of Jewish sect centred on Jesus as the Messiah. But, after this gathering, it became clear that Christianity was for all nations and all peoples.

In that sense, what we read in ch. 15 is greater in scope than many of the events that came before it. In other words, much of what we have seen earlier in Acts has been leading towards this moment and toward the decision that came out of this council.

So, today, I want us to consider what happened here and what it means for the church.

I. The Surprise – The Jewish Perspective

Let us begin by considering how surprising this whole matter was to everyone involved.

The issue under debate was this: ‘unless a man is circumcised, he cannot be saved.’ In other words, the claim was that salvation comes not only through faith in Christ but also through keeping the law of Moses.

As you can imagine, this must have come as a great surprise to Paul and Barnabas, and to Peter as well. But it was also, in a sense, surprising for the other side. Luke tells us in v. 5 that some believers who belonged to ‘the party of the Pharisees’ stood up and insisted that view. Luke earlier referred these people as ‘the circumcision party.’ And the rest of the council must also have been surprised as they listened to this debate unfold.

When we hear this, we might find ourselves asking a question: ‘Why, in the world, would these men insist that keeping the law of Moses was necessary for salvation?’ To us, it seems very clear that salvation is by faith in Christ alone.

So, let me ask a couple of questions. Were these men from the circumcision party heretics? Were they deliberately trying to undermine the biblical doctrine of salvation or to create division within the church?

The answer to both questions is no. These men were not heretics. They were genuine followers of Christ and members of the NT church. They had not joined the church under false pretences. Like the other believers, they had received the Holy Spirit. And as far as we can tell at this point in the story, their intention was not to divide the church. I’ll tell you later why I said ‘as far as we can tell at this point in the story.’

Rather, it seems that they wanted clarity in matters of faith. They did not want any uncertainty about what it meant to be Christians. In their minds, insisting on circumcision was actually a way of helping the new Gentile believers.

At this point, you might still be puzzled. If they were genuine believers, why would they insist on adding circumcision and the law of Moses to faith as requirements for salvation? The answer lies in how they understood the identity of God’s people.

For these men, becoming a follower of Christ essentially meant becoming a Jew. In the past, when Gentiles wanted to belong to God’s people, they became ‘proselytes’ to Judaism. These men of the circumcision party believed that the Gentile Christians should follow the same path. And the first step in that process was circumcision. So, from their viewpoint, it was quite surprising to see Paul and Barnabas opposing their position.

The leaders of the Jerusalem church themselves did not seem to have a fully settled understanding of this matter. Vs. 6-7 tell us that the apostles and the elders gathered to consider the issue, and that there was much debate. This suggests that some of them were sympathetic to the viewpoint of those of the circumcision party, while others were either uncertain or clearly opposed to it.

Their debate must’ve revolved around questions like these. First, could they approve of conversion without circumcision – faith in Jesus without the works of the law, and of commitment to the Saviour without entering Judaism? Second, was their vision large enough to see the gospel of Christ not merely as a reform movement within Judaism, but as good news for the whole world, and the church of Christ not as a Jewish sect, but as the international family of God?

If we translate those questions into today’s terms, they might sound something like this: ‘Can someone truly belong to Christ and to the church simply by trusting in Jesus? Or must they first adopt certain religious practices – perhaps follow OT dietary laws, keep the Jewish festivals, or observe particular traditions – before we recognise them as full members of God’s people?’ Of course, this is not a direct equivalent of the questions discussed at the Jerusalem Council, but it at least captures something of their confusion and why the issue led to such intense debate. The matter before the Jerusalem Council was the foundational matter of Christianity; it was a matter of life and death as salvation comes by faith alone, not by faith together with keeping the law of Moses.

So, everyone involved in that meeting in Acts 15 was surprised by the very nature of the issue.

II. The Stumbling Block – Circumcision

Now, I invite you to imagine stepping into the very chamber where the Jerusalem Council was debating. The matter is whether to allow someone to Christ’s life without circumcision or with circumcision. Once again, this circumcision represents keeping the entire law of Moses.

To become a Jew, circumcision was required – there was no question about that. But, the real heart of the debate in Acts 15 was whether becoming a Christian meant joining the Jewish people. To us in the 21st-century church, that seems like a simple matter: the answer is clearly no. Becoming a Christian is entirely different from becoming a Jew. But, for the 1st-century NT church – at least up to the moment of the Jerusalem Council – this distinction had not yet been fully understood.

As we read in v. 7, after much debate, Peter stood and told the council what God had been doing among the Gentiles. God had not required circumcision for anyone to receive the Holy Spirit; faith in Jesus Christ was enough. Following him, Paul and Barnabas shared their experiences of God’s work among the Gentiles. The council listened, and Luke tells us in v. 12 that they fell silent. Finally, James – ‘the Just,’ as we often call him, and one of the brothers of Jesus – stood and affirmed the council’s decision: the church should not burden Gentile converts, but welcome them fully into Christ through faith alone.

This final decision of the Jerusalem Council was, in fact, like closing one chapter and opening another. What I mean is that this declaration marked the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the church – spanning both the Old and the New Testaments. Before this moment, the church was largely seen as a movement within Judaism. After it, the church became the people of God for all nations and peoples. I’ll return to this point in the next and final point.

Meanwhile, let us consider why the council did not follow the view of the circumcision party. To impose circumcision on Gentile converts would’ve been a complete departure from the biblical teaching on salvation. Once anything is added to faith as a requirement for salvation, it destroys both the meaning and the effect of salvation Jesus taught.

Among the many reasons, I want to focus on two, using circumcision as an illustration of something added to faith. First, circumcision changes the meaning of salvation – salvation becomes a ‘transaction’ rather than a rescue. Instead of Jesus coming to save sinners, it suggests that sinners could demand Jesus to recognise their efforts. It makes salvation about what man does instead of what God has done, which is contrary to the teaching of Scripture.

Second, circumcision denies the sufficiency of Christ’s work. Luke tells us in Lk. 19:10 that “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Jn. 15:5 adds to this purpose, saying this: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” When Jesus gave His life on the cross, He declared, “It is finished”! His work was complete. But, adding anything – ritual, law-keeping, or works – suggests that Christ’s work alone is not enough, making salvation partly dependent on human effort, instead of entirely on God’s grace.

Moreover, adding requirements like circumcision shifts the focus from God’s initiative to human performance. Human performance becomes the main player, rather than God’s sovereign grace. This is why the Apostle Paul describes preaching Christ crucified is a stumbling block to Jews. Here, ‘Jews’ refers to those who insist on adding human effort – like circumcision – to faith.

Returning to the Jerusalem Council, I said earlier that the men of the circumcision party present there were not heretic. Their original intention was to help Gentile converts. We see evidence of this in the council’s conclusion: there was no resentment, no dissent recorded, and everyone agreed joyfully. V. 22 reads, “Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.”

Later, Paul refers to those who insisted on circumcision as heretics in places like Gal. 2:12, Tit. 1:10, Rom. 2 and 2 Cor. 11 and so on. These so-called ‘Judaisers’ intended to turn Christians back towards Judaism by insisting on the law of Moses, starting with circumcision. They were the enemies of the early church. But, they were a different group from the men of the party of the Pharisees in ch. 15, even if they may have originated from the same broader movement.

III. God’s International Family – The Church In The New Covenant Order

The Jerusalem Council’s unanimous decision liberated the gospel from its Jewish ‘swaddling clothes’ and revealed it as God’s message for all humankind. It also gave the church the true identity – the reconciled people of God, the one body of Christ, God’s international family!

This new reality is seen clearly in Peter’s words as in v. 11 – he said, “we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” Notice the surprising reversal here. If being a Jew was still the central point, Peter would’ve said, ‘the Gentiles will be saved just as we [the Jews] will.’ But, instead, he puts the Jews (‘we’) in the same category as the Gentiles (‘they’). This signals a dramatic shift in understanding. What had once been a hierarchical view – Jew first, Gentile second – was not dismantled. Salvation, Peter now sees, is without distinction, open to all people from every nation! This is what the new covenant order of Christ’s church truly means.

This order is so remarkable. God had already given the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles. God had already cleansed their hearts by faith. God Himself had made no distinction. The question is no longer whether Gentiles must become like Jews. The truth is now clear: Jews and Gentiles are saved in exactly the same way – by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ!

Conclusion

This is not just a lesson from the past. The church today is still God’s international family. In Christ, there is no distinction of race, culture, or background. Salvation is the same for all, and the church is called to live out this unity in love and grace.

So, here’s the challenge for us today: first, we should examine our own assumptions. Are there ways we expect people to ‘be like us’ before we accept them as one of us, as part of God’s family? Second, we’re called to live as a reconciled, inclusive family of God. We must welcome everyone in Christ, showing love and unity in our words, actions, and attitudes. And finally, we must always remember who we are in Christ. Individually and as a local church, we belong to the wider body of Christ, and they belong to us. This truth should shape our words and deeds, our prayers and daily lives. This is our true identity – we’re the church in the new covenant order. ***