13 Now after they had stopped speaking, James answered, saying, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. 15 And with this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written,
16 ‘After these things I will return,
And I will rebuild the fallen booth of David,
And I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it,
17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,’
18 Says the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago.
19 Therefore I judge that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from sexual immorality and from what is strangled and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations, Moses has those who preach him in every city, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” Acts 15: 13-21 LSB
Acts 15: 13-21
V. 13 James answered saying - James is the half brother of Jesus and the head of the church in Jerusalem.
James answered, saying - The Hebrew is more accurately "Jacob" (Ya'akov). James is in charge of the council and so speaks up. It is notable that it was James, not Peter, who presided over the council, which is certainly different than most of our encounters with Peter where he almost always seems to be in charge. It is also interesting that Luke does not once mention that James was the half-brother of Jesus, which implies that all in the assembly were fully aware of this relationship.
Wiersbe has an interesting note that "James had strong leanings toward the Law (there are at least ten references to law in his epistle), so he was most acceptable to the legalistic party in the Jerusalem church." Along this same line it is interesting that James in his letter would later emphasize that saving faith always issues in good works, and in so doing he gave the proper Biblical balance for works, emphasizing that faith alone saves, but the faith that truly saves is not alone but is evidenced by good works (James 2:14-26+, cf Paul's words in Eph 2:8-9+ of salvation by grace through faith and Eph 2:10+ this salvation leads to good works). - PA
18Only after three years did I go up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days. 19But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 20I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie.… Galatians 1: 18-20
…9And recognizing the grace that I had been given, James, Cephas, and John—those reputed to be pillars—gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. 10They only asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. 11When Cephas came to Antioch, however, I opposed him to his face, because he stood to be condemned.…
…12For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself, for fear of those in the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 14When I saw that they were not walking in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”… Galatians 2: 9-14
V. 14 Simeon has related - James is referring to the Apostle Peter.
Simeon - Simeon is Peter's Jewish name, whereas Peter is his Aramaic form of his real name, Simon. Robertson adds that "This little touch would show his affinities with the Jewish Christians (not the Judaizers). This Aramaic form is used also in Luke 2:25, 34 of the old prophet in the temple. Possibly both forms (Symeon, Aramaic, and Simon, Greek) were current in Jerusalem."
Jack Arnold observes that James "did not refer to Peter as “revered,” “holy father” or “mighty vicer,” but plain Simeon. Apparently Peter had no more authority at the council than James. James made it very clear that the purpose of God in this present age is to take, or call out, from the masses of Gentiles a people for His own name. God, through the preaching of the good news of Christ, is sovereignly bringing Gentiles to salvation to be part of the people of God, the church, in this present time. What is the purpose of God in this age? To evangelize and save a people for Himself. The purpose of God is not to Christianize but to evangelize, not social welfare but spiritual welfare. Because God is taking a people from the Gentile masses, we see that it is not His purpose to make everybody a Christian, nor is it His purpose to save every person. We should not expect that in the present age everyone should be saved and we should not fold up spiritually if everyone does not believe in Christ. It has always been true that there has been an elect remnant and that remnant has only been a small percentage of the world’s population. Who are the elect remnant? All who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Some, but not all, will be saved; yet we have the confidence that God is calling out, or taking out, His own as a people for His name. For sure, this verse denies the false teaching of universalism (all men will be saved). God is taking out some but not all. Who are the some? All who bow to Jesus Christ and accept Him as sovereign Lord and Savior. James merely agrees with Peter. Those Judaizers and legalists who said, “Without circumcision you cannot be saved,” were ignoring the fact that Gentiles were already being saved. God was already saving Gentiles without asking anyone permission to do so and He was doing it without any ritual, or the Mosaic Law.
V. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree - That God was going to bring in a people from all peoples was no new thing. James goes back to the OT to show that was is currently occurring, the salvation of the Gentiles by faith in Jesus Christ, apart from the works of the law, was taught by the prophets.
7Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring glory to God. 8For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs, 9so that the Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise You among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to Your name.”…
…10Again, it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.” 11And again: “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and extol Him, all you peoples.” 12And once more, Isaiah says: “The Root of Jesse will appear, One who will arise to rule over the Gentiles; in Him the Gentiles will put their hope.”… Romans 15: 7-12
“In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David
And wall up its breaches;
I will also raise up its ruins
And rebuild it as in the ancient days,
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom
And all the nations who are called by My name,”
Declares Yahweh who does this.
13 “Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh,
“When the plowman will overtake the reaper
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
When the mountains will drip sweet wine
And all the hills will melt.
14 Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel,
And they will rebuild the desolated cities and live in them;
They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine
And make gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will also plant them on their land,
And they will not again be uprooted from their land
Which I have given them,”
Says Yahweh your God. Amos 9: 11-15
V. 16 After these things I will return - Amos is writing before Christ first coming, and the language is literal, as in come back to where I once was. This can't be referring to Christ's first advent, but His returning advent. Amillennials will claim that the rebuilt house of David is the church, and so there is an issue here with James saying "return", though I have heard some Amillennials and Preterists say that Jesus did return in 70 A.D. I take this in the more literal sense that the after these things is after the time of Jacob's trouble, or what we call the Great Tribulation. As the commentator below points out, there are promises in verses 14 and 15 that have not yet been literally fulfilled, and we have no reason to allegorize this other than coming to the passage with a learned Eschatological bias.
AFTER THESE THINGS - As discussed James changed the original words from "in that day" to "after these things," the question arises as to what time does this time phrase refer? In other words the question is "After what?" If we examine the context, there is nothing in the preceding passage that allows us to determine the "timing." If we observe the entire context from which James takes this quotation, it is clear that Amos 9:11-15 describes a time of future glory and blessing on the nation of Israel. It describes conditions that clearly have not yet been fulfilled. We know from comparison to other descriptions of the end times restoration of Israel that Amos 9:11-15 describes a time which will follow a period of great distress for the nation of Israel, a time that other Scriptures refer to as the Great Tribulation (Mt 24:21+), the Time of Jacob's Distress (Jer 30:7+) or the time of great distress (Daniel 12:1+). After this time of Israel's future testing the promises of Amos 9:11-15 will be consummated. So this could be the time to which James refers when he says "after these things." - PA
V. 17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name - I think it's interesting that Israel was always supposed to be a light to the other nations. They had the covenants, the temple, the sacrifices, the law and the prophets, the ways God has chosen to communicate with fallen man.
…20This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Peoples will yet come—the residents of many cities— 21and the residents of one city will go to another, saying: ‘Let us go at once to plead before the LORD and to seek the LORD of Hosts. I myself am going.’ 22And many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the LORD of Hosts in Jerusalem and to plead before the LORD.”…
23This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue will tightly grasp the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” Zechariah 8: 20-23
V. 18 Says the Lord Who makes these things known from long ago - Again James points out with this that it is nothing new. The OT expected this.
Vs. 19-20 Abstain from things contaminated by idols, and from sexual immorality, from what is strangled and from blood - We know an idol is nothing, but this is answered in part for us in verse 21 where it states that Moses has those who preach him in every city. Jews were born under the law, and Christians should not use their liberty to place a stumbling block before a Jew. It is a matter of tempting someone away from their conscience, or having them turn off their ears to the gospel you are pronouncing because you have put such a high regard to your liberty. James also reminds them about sexual immorality because the culture does not set the bar. I remember when I was young telling a girl I couldn't have that sort of relationship with her, because my mom had taught us that such actions belong to marriage, that they were sacred. She laughed at me and said I was just being too pent up, that it was okay as long as two people mutually agree. People run with that, and then guess who pays the price? The innocent do in our culture, if you like sex, but not the fruit of it's design then you can go to the temple of Planned Parenthood and they will remove the consequence. Once I came to believe as that young woman did, it took me a long time to ever see it as sin again. I made many excuses and what I thought were good justifications, but God has spoken clearly.
Jack Arnold on fornication - It seems that both Jews and Gentiles would know what sexual immorality is wrong. We must understand the background to figure out why this prohibition was given. Premarital and extramarital sex (fornication and adultery) were so common among the Gentiles in that day that their consciences had been dulled. They did not see these acts as disgraceful. They were practiced without shame and without remorse. Without a written law (as the Jews had) telling these Gentiles that fornication was wrong, they did not think it was wrong. The Gentiles practiced sexual immorality as part of their pagan religions and it was part of their lifestyle. It was important, therefore, that the new Gentile converts understand the moral law of God on this matter and abstain from all illicit sexual activity. The sin of sexual immorality causes one to destroy himself, for illegal sexual relationships destroy one’s moral fiber, mess up his emotional life and tear him up psychologically. Fornication breaks up the inner integrity of man. Christians are constantly exhorted, therefore, to flee sexual immorality. - PA
21 For even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for [k]a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed [l]forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions; for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is [m]unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the males abandoned the natural function of the female and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing [n]indecent acts and receiving in [o]their own persons the due penalty of their error.
28 And just as they did not see fit [p]to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, [q]haters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. Romans 1: 21-32
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor [e]effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
Flee Sexual Immorality
12 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 Food is for the [f]stomach and the [g]stomach is for food, but God will do away with both [h]of them. Yet the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. 14 Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! 16 Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “The two shall become one flesh.” 17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18 Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the [i]sexually immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a [j]sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from [k]God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you were bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6: 9-20
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.