For the Sake of the Gospel (Part 2 of 2)

The Apostle Paul was zealous to proclaim the Gospel to anyone who would listen when he returned to Jerusalem. However, Jewish believers accused him of trying to overturn their customs and traditions. Today on Truth for Life, we'll consider the solution suggested and Paul's supernatural response.

Alistair Begg is teaching from Acts chapter 21. Paul was teaching Gentile Christians that they were not obligated to obey any of these mosaic ceremonial aspects of Judaism, which is perfectly understandable. But he was not teaching Jewish believers that it was necessary for them to turn their back on all these different things. Remember, the issue is not the Gospel here. And as a result of that, those who chose to misunderstand him became the spreaders of rumors. And so they had a problem. And James raises it, and he says in verse 22, we need to come up with a plan of action in order to address this.

What shall we do? Now, let me say to you again, the issue of James' concern is, number one, not about salvation, because both James and Paul were agreed that salvation was as a result of the work of Christ and not as a result of keeping of the law. It was not about salvation, but it was about what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus. The issue was not, as I've said, that Paul was teaching Gentile converts, but that he was teaching Jewish converts. That was the allegation. He's saying to the Jewish believers, you shouldn't do this, and you mustn't do this, and you can't do that.

He wasn't. And thirdly, it wasn't an issue about the moral law. It was an issue about Jewish traditional customs. Again, you see, because both James and Paul understood that the people of God, when they have come to God through Jesus, must live a holy life. So because we love God, we don't tell lies. Because we love God, we love him with our hearts. Because we love God, we don't cheat on our wives. Because we love God, we don't bear false witness against our neighbors. Because we love God, we are no longer covetous and so on. That is the work of God within our hearts. But we don't use the Ten Commandments as a ladder that we're trying to climb up to finally reach God and receive his well done.

All of the well done is in our opening song. A royal robe we don't deserve has been given to us in Jesus. All of our best righteousnesses, says the prophet, are like filthy rags. You take all of our best days and all of our best deeds and all of our greatest religious aspirations, they're just like junk. And if we come to God on the basis of how well we're doing or how well we've done, we will be sorely disappointed. But when we come to God and say, I have done poorly, I made a hash of things, I am a royal mess. There is no way I can come into your presence. Would you forgive me and would you be gracious to me? And he says, I will.

Not only will I clean you up, but I'll put you in a positive situation. Here is a wonderful royal robe that you don't deserve. And Paul had been clothed with that royal robe, and he was concerned that others would understand that. But the rumor mill was flowing. James and the rest are able to distinguish themselves from these rumors. They know that Paul is not guilty of teaching Jewish believers to abandon their ancestral customs.

He's not doing that. And in fact, they want it to be clear, verse 25—I might just jump forward there for a moment—they want it to be clear that they want to abide by the decisions that had been made at a previous gathering, recorded for as in Acts 15, referred to as the Council of Jerusalem, when in a quest for unity within the body, the Gentile believers were asked so as not to put a stumbling block in front of their Jewish believing friends to abstain from food that was sacrificed to idols, from blood and from the meat of strangled animals, and at the same time from sexual immorality. He said, Well, of course. No, no, there's no of course to it. These Gentile believers came to their newfound faith, bringing all their previous junk with them.

And if they continued in that junk, not only were they in the wrong, but they were going to cause great discord amongst those who were fastidious about these issues. And you remember when Paul writes to the Corinthians, he says to them, I can't even believe that at your communion services you're up to the nonsense you're up to. This is not part of the Christian life, he says. You want to be a disciple of Jesus?

You have to kiss that goodbye. You can't have Jesus in this. And for the well-being of the unity of the body, they had committed to these things. But the tension was there. It was obviously there.

And they needed some kind of solution. And that's where we go in verse 22. What are we going to do? They're certainly going to hear that you've come. This meeting is taking place, presumably, in the home of James—a large home.

They're all together. James says, It's not going to be possible for us to have this meeting, to go out from here, without everyone knowing that you're here, Paul. Given that the people are saying what they're saying about you, what do you think about this as an idea for how to handle this? And operating on the principle that a picture is worth a thousand words, they produce what at first glance, at least at my first glance, appears to be a compromise solution for Paul, where Paul has to give up everything in order to achieve the subjective. And I spent quite a bit of time thinking about the wisdom of Paul complying with this proposal. As a matter of interest in discussion debate, do you think it was a good idea for Paul to do what he subsequently did?

I wonder what you think. Now, the practicality of it, the political nature of it, was wonderful. Here's an opportunity for Paul to guarantee the orthodoxy of his own conduct. And the way he can do this is by participating in the haircut procedures of these four individuals. Without descending into the abyss, a little background on an Azarite vow will suffice. The taking of an Azarite vow would often be in response to some wonderful kindness of God that had been showered upon somebody, and so in an act of devotion they determined to commit themselves to this period of purification and sacrifice. Or, in the prospect of some peculiar challenge, they did the same.

All that we need to know is that four individuals were in this process. The process involved thirty days abstaining from meat and from wine, and during the thirty days you were not to have your hair cut. Indeed, you were to let your hair grow. At the end of that time you were to come, following purification rites, into the temple and to offer up sacrifices, and at that time your heads were to be shaved, and the hair from your head was now to be cast into the fire alongside the sacrifices that were being offered.

This seems very strange to us, but that's what it was. And it was an obviously costly business, because you had to take a month from your work. And not everybody could take a month off work in order to display their devotion to God in this way. And so what they did was, wealthy individuals who were tender towards the devotion of others—these individuals who were not sufficiently financially to the fore to be able to deal with it—the wealthy individual came in and paid for this to take place so that these folks might proceed with their Nazarite vow. Now, that is what James suggests Paul should do. He says, Look, why don't you step up and pay for these four individuals? This is the best thing that we could possibly do, because everybody will then realize that you're, you know, kosher after all. No pun intended.

Okay? So here we are. We're coming now to our third and final point. First of all, there is a report which is detailed and God-centered, which is responded to with humility and with magnanimity and with genuine praise. Then we're introduced to the underlying tension, which is emerging as a result of the rumors that are going around, suggesting that the apostle Paul is seeking to turn Jewish believers away from the blessings and benefits of their cultural framework.

And then the solution which is offered, as we have just outlined it. So we come to our final section, which is to look simply at the action that Paul took, and then a word or two of application. Now, Paul actually went ahead with this. You can see in verse 26 there is a summary statement there, The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them, and so on. Because in acting in this way, Paul could give the lie to the rumors that were accompanying his ministry.

This was an obvious, straightforward way for him to squash these rumors. Now, it is at this point that commentators begin to disagree with one another. For example, Berkeley says of Paul engaging in this, There can be no doubt that the matter was distasteful to Paul. For him the relevancy of things like this was gone. Another commentator says, Paul readily headed, heeded James' advice to demonstrate his respect for Israel's heritage by participating in this process.

And if you take all the different commentators, they kind of line up between these two positions. One group says, you know, Paul said, Oh, well, okay, whatever, fine, if that's what I've got to do. And he grudgingly went to it.

And the other group say, No, he went there readily so as to ensure that everyone would not misunderstand his view of Israel's heritage. Well, I wonder what you make of this. I mean, you're sensible people. You have to come to some kind of decision.

You have every legitimate right to say, Was this a good idea or not? After all, Paul is just a man. The best of men are men at best. James and Paul come up with this together. James says, I've got an idea. What do you think of this idea?

Paul has to either go with it or go against it. Are you surprised by what he's done? Anybody annoyed? Anybody confused? Anybody disappointed?

Anybody encouraged? I think if I was to take a survey, I would find a whole variety of responses in this room right now. And there's no surprise in that. And some of you may be wondering what I think. So I'll tell you what I think.

And then I'll tell you why I think it. I don't think that Paul was a grudging participant in this strategy. And the reason I don't think so is because what he did in this context was directly related to two features which were fundamental to his Christian pilgrimage. One, the reaching of unbelieving Jews and Gentiles with the gospel, and two, the unity of God's people.

Now, let me unpack that, and then we're through. Surely we can learn, by way of application, from the generosity of Paul's spirit. Yes, we should learn also from the magnanimity of James' spirit in rejoicing in what he had heard concerning the ministry of Paul in the outlying districts. But Paul here doesn't take James' words as a personal challenge. He could have said, James, do you really think I came here to Jerusalem to have you come up with a crazy idea like this and tell me what to do? I mean, they were just men. They were talking to one another.

They were apostles, but they were men. And actually, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if Paul had reacted in that way. After all, he had withstood others to their face. He had turned his back on John Mark on a previous occasion. He'd made mistakes in the way he responded to things, but he doesn't do that now. He doesn't play the poll card. He doesn't say, Hey, James, don't you know who I am? Nor does he respond with indignation and with annoyance. He could have responded by saying, What's wrong with these people?

How dare they misunderstand me? Don't they know that I'm the apostle Paul? He could have jumped to his own defense, but he doesn't. And he could have censured James, couldn't he? He could have said to James, James, you've got to be crazy if you think I'm doing this. James, these are your people, and this is your problem. I'm the apostle to the Gentiles. You're the one that's heading up the Jewish evangelism. If you don't have the guts or the gall or whatever is necessary to stand these people up and let them know how things really are, why am I going to have to bail you out?

Why do I have to go and do this? Now, he wouldn't have said it probably in such categorical terms, but it wouldn't have been surprising, would it? But he doesn't do it.

And I know why. Because he practices what he preaches. And what he preaches is this.

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. So he has been teaching the absolute imperative nature of preferring one another in the Lord Jesus Christ. He goes on, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, which is entirely natural and understandable, but also to the interests of others, which is actually entirely supernatural. Now, that is what he wrote to the Philippian church. Now he is confronted with a circumstance which allows him the privilege of taking what he has preached and putting it into practice. He would presumably have had his own views concerning this strategy, but he determines under God and in light of this principle for the well-being of God's people and for the unfolding of the gospel to do what he does.

And finally, we must surely understand his action in light of another overarching principle which marked his ministry. Remember, he tells the Corinthians that he is committed to winning as many as possible. He uses the phrase—it's in the very athletic section where he says, I don't run aimlessly. I don't box like a man, box in the air. I beat my body, and I bring myself into submission, and I want you to run, he says, so as to gain the prize.

Don't just be ambling along. And in that context, he then explains that to the Jews I became like a Jew, to those not having the law I became like one not having the law, to the weak I became weak. In fact, I've become all things to all men so that by all possible means I'm… Now, some people read that, and they say, You see, that's what we're supposed to be like.

No convictions at all. Just fit in. And what Paul is saying here is he wanted everyone to like him. So when he went to the Jews, he did the Jew thing. When he went to the weak, he did the weak thing, the strong thing, and so on. So everyone said, Oh, we love Paul.

No! He explains exactly why he did what he did. I do all this, notice, for the sake of the gospel. For the sake of the gospel. In other words, his life and ministry was calibrated by his commitment to seeing unbelieving people become the committed followers of Jesus Christ. And so when rumor and slander came into his sphere of reference, when the challenges of misunderstandings and misinformation could have easily overwhelmed him, and when his colleagues came with this suggested strategy and solution, instead of standing up and defending his own position, of holding up his head, of dealing with it from an egotistical point of view, he does what he does.

Why? For the sake of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. F. F. Bruce suggests, and I think accurately so, that his willingness to do this, to live as one under the law, was not primarily, even fundamentally, to pacify the scruples of the Jews who had already believed. But it was actually because of his desire to introduce the Jews who had never believed to the freedom that is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Bruce, in a wonderful sentence, says, A truly emancipated spirit such as Paul's is not in bondage to its own emancipation.

Do you get that? A truly emancipated spirit such as Paul's is not in bondage to its own emancipation. In other words, he recognizes his freedom.

He could have stood his ground. He engages in what is essentially a concession on his part to preserve the unity of the body and to see men and women become Christians. Now, we know enough, don't we, from our Bibles to recognize that Paul wouldn't give an inch. He wouldn't budge one iota when it came to the issues of the gospel. The whole of Galatians pulsates with that story.

But what is equally clear is that when it came to matters of custom and culture and ceremony and tradition, then he was perfectly prepared to make concessions for the sake of the unity of God's people and the expansion of God's kingdom. Now, what should we expect as a result of this strategy? What do you think you're going to find when you go to 27 and following? You're going to find a great explosion of the gospel?

No. Actually, the plan seems to backfire. Ironically, what he sets out to accomplish, as per the directive of James and the rest, just comes up and hits him right on the face. And he's introduced to chaos, to arrest, to imprisonment, and to punishment.

Well, how does that work? You do the right thing, and all this happens to you? Maybe you shouldn't do the right thing. But it's always right to do what's right. Even what happens seems so wrong.

But that's for next time. You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. Alistair returns shortly to close today's program. As we've been learning in our study of the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul did everything for the sake of the gospel to see unbelieving men and women become committed followers of Jesus. And that's the title of today's message and the series we're currently in, For the Sake of the Gospel. If you're enjoying this study in the book of Acts, you'll want to get the supplemental study guide that's available for free, as a digital download from Truth for Life. It offers 21 lessons, one for each of Alistair's sermons in this series. The lessons will help you dive deeper into the later years of Paul's ministry and find encouragement in the fortitude, endurance, and faith he demonstrated throughout his remarkable journey. You'll find the messages and the downloadable study guide online at truthforlife.org slash acts. Now today, Alistair is wrapping up the final day of the annual Basics Conference for Pastors.

The conference was sold out this year, nearly 1,500 men attending. In addition to the Bible teaching they heard from Alistair, William Philip, and Richard Pratt, these men were able to worship together and enjoy a time of fellowship. We trust that these men were refreshed and encouraged as they attended, and we ask that you join us in praying for safe travel as these pastors head home.

Now here's Alistair with a closing prayer. Father, thank you for the Bible. Thank you that we're not left to our own devices. Thank you that the Spirit of God prompts and instructs and guides and teaches us. Help us to think clearly with our minds. Surprise us with your truth, instruct us in your Word, and change us by your Spirit. We long for the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ to be renewed by your Spirit, to be established in unity, and to live in order to see others coming to faith in Jesus. Look into our hearts today and see where we are in relationship to these things. Come to us in your mercy, we pray, and show us the futility of trying to earn our acceptance with you, and show us the wonder of your grace, that in the gift of your Son, our repentant hearts may be brought into communion with yourself. Hear our prayer for Jesus' sake. Amen. Thanks for listening. Tomorrow, as Alistair hinted, we're going to learn why it's always right to do what's right, even when the outcome seems wrong. I hope you'll join us. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.