Should Serious Christians Ever Compromise? (Acts 15) - The PursueGOD Truth Podcast

Welcome back to the podcast! Today's world is full of conflicting thoughts, ideas, and problems. In this episode, we'll be answering the question: should serious Christians ever compromise?--The PursueGOD Truth podcast is the “easy button” for making disciples – whether you’re looking for resources to lead a family devotional, a small group at church, or a one-on-one mentoring relationship. Join us for new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Find resources to talk about these episodes at pursueGOD.org.Help others go "full circle" as a follower of Jesus through our 12-week Pursuit series.Click here to learn more about how to use these resources at home, with a small group, or in a one-on-one discipleship relationship.Got questions or want to leave a note? Email us at [email protected] Now --Q. Should Serious Christians Ever Compromise? Might seem like a weird questionMaybe you know Christians who never compromiseDraw hard lines everywhere on everything. Totally unbendingEx: Halloween Ex: TattoosThe Fundamental Law of Legalism: Drawing a hard line in gray areas weakens the hard lines we draw in the black and white.So we have to be smart about compromise!Parents: could win the battle but lose the warOur strategy: don’t make a big deal of these gray areas (even though we still drew boundaries) – so our kids would take us seriously when we drew the line on serious issuesA strange paradox: Biblical Christians draw hard lines in some areasAnd then they turn around and compromise in other areasToday: We’ll see the first time the church wrestled with thisIt was such a big question, they gathered in JerusalemFirst church councilEverybody was there! Peter, Paul, Barnabas, etc.To answer: When do we fight vs when do we compromise?I want to start at the end: where they landedIn the words of Paul, later, to the church at CorinthIt’s a great summary, and it shows you this is a thingCompromise, that is, for serious ChristiansCause Pauls was serious, unbendingYet look at where he landed on this ?1 Corinthians 9:19-21 (NLT) 19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. 20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ…. 21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.Hypocrite? No way! Jesus-centered vs. rule-centeredJust wanted to point people to JesusTherefore willing to compromiseHeart issuePointed Jews to Jesus by using the law of MosesPointed Gentiles to Jesus without using the law of MosesAll along obeyed the higher law “of Christ”Ie, not free to do whatever we want (antinomianism)compromising on the Lordship of ChristLast week: Acts 14, Paul’s first missionary journeyProclaimed the gospelContextualized the gospel for GentilesMade disciples and commissioned them to make disciplesReturned to home base, Antioch Now we have a blended church, and with that came questions…Acts 15:1-2 (NLT) 1 While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question.This isn’t a secondary issue. This is a core, doctrinal issue - how can one be made right with God? There are times when we can agree to disagree - color of the carpet, how often to celebrate communion, what type of worship music to play - but there are essential doctrines that are worth fighting for.  We need to protect and proclaim the Gospel. There was a desire of the church in Antioch for truth.  If they were just looking for the answer that was most convenient or matched up with their feelings, they wouldn’t have sent a delegation to Jerusalem.  They would have just said, “Paul and Barnabas preached that it is by faith in Jesus that we are made right with God and that’s all we need.”  They wanted to make sure they weren’t in error and so they sent them to appeal to the apostles and elders. Do we desire truth?  Are we willing to invite other, more mature, believers in to weigh in on questions and give us advice?  Are we willing to follow the evidence, or do we put more stock in our feelings?  Jeremiah 17:9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? Acts 15:4-6 (NLT) 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them. 5 But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.” 6 So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue.This was a legit issue, they all wanted clarityFirst Peter sharesActs 15:8-11 (NLT) 8 God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us… 11 We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”Peter reminds the believers that they couldn’t keep the law, their fathers couldn’t keep the law, their grandfathers couldn’t keep the law.  No one could.. It isn’t just Gentile believers who are saved by grace, the Jewish believers were also saved strictly by God’s grace.  Even though they had the law and practiced the law and traditions, that isn’t what saved them.  Then Paul (and Barnabas) sharesActs 15:12 (NLT) 12 Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.Even though the dispute was sharp and the debate heavy, the believers were willing to listen to the evidence brought forth.  We could learn many lessons from this.  This is such a stark contrast to the way most disagreements are handled today where opposing sides just continually try to shout over one another or cut the other side down. This is what’s amazing about Paul. He had been so zealous as a Pharisee!What could have happened to him to change his whole outlook? He really met Jesus. Total transformation.This is the only hope for anyone struggling with the Fundamental Law of Legalism. Jesus changes people.Then James has the final wordJames, the brother of Jesus, declaries in verse 14 that God has taken a people for his name from among the Gentiles.  The significance of this statement is probably lost on us.  That is what Israel was supposed to be.  Israel was the people God had taken for his name.  James is confirming the previous testimony that God has also called a people for himself from among the Gentiles.  This would have been such a shift in thinking for a Jewish believer and the believers who were Pharisees were having a difficult time accepting it. James quotes Amos 9:11-12 - core value #1 We look to God and his Word in all we do. God’s Word would be the standard upon which the decision would be made. We should be able to point to God’s Word for the positions we take on any issue.  For all of the hot topics of today; abortion, transgenderism, premarital sex, pornography, divorce - God’s Word is the framework from which I take my position. Fallen tabernacle of David - Jewish nationIt will be rebuilt and restoredWhy? - so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord.  The so is the reasoning here.  God’s plan all along was to use the nation of Israel to draw people from all nations unto himself. Amos is arguing that if we would just take the time to really look, we’d see that God has made his intentions known since long ago. It’s always been the plan! Acts 15:19 (NLT) 19 “And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.”“We should not make it difficult”Legalism makes it difficultMatthew 23:13 (NLT) 13 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.”No compromise on the good newsSaved by grace through faith, period. But the next verse seems confusingMaybe not what you expect: Acts 15:20-21 (NLT) 20 Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from