Acts 15:1-2

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.

Acts 15:10-11

Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.

The saying is true and worthy of full acceptance: where two or three are gathered together on earth there will be at least five opinions. It is part of our nature, at least the et peccator (or sinful) nature. And its roots are clearly recorded for us in Genesis 3:1: “Now the serpent… said to the woman ‘Did God actually say You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’’’ And so was conflict and separation introduced into the world.

Satan continues his attack on the church, God’s Word, and God’s mission throughout the ages. Sometimes he leads denials of God’s Word, and sometimes he attaches to it rules and rubrics that attack the saving message from within. The Jerusalem Council is but one example. The cover story is about circumcision and obeying God. But the underlying battle is about the mission of God to all people and the behavior of God’s people that enables the full and free proclamation of God’s saving grace.

Sadly, sometimes the very church itself restricts these truths. We all remember Martin Luther’s somber response at Worms, “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God.”

It is not incidental that the Jerusalem Council appears immediately following Paul’s and Barnabas’s initial missionary journey into Asia Minor. The challenge of the party of the Pharisees stands as a frontal attack by the devil and his angels upon both the source and the goal of the gospel. We must not be deceived. That challenge did not end in Jerusalem or Worms. It is just as important today that we continue to pray that “Your Word may have free course and be preached to the joy and edifying of Christ’s people.” When Luther wrote these words of his hymn “Lord Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word,” he addressed the devil’s assault from without and within the church.

Jerusalem’s response to Paul and Barnabas’s mission has much to teach us. First, the church listened to what God was doing through both arguments. Second, the church addressed the issue with the clear and unambiguous message of the saving Word of God. And finally, the church encouraged the continued extension of God’s grace to all.