St Paul’s Kogarah 10 August 2025
HEARTS FOR THE GOSPEL
Acts 15:1-29
Good morning and thank you for welcoming me again at your church. It’s great to see you again after one year or so.
Since my last visit with you, not much has changed in my family, other than for my daughter who last year started a job at the university that she goes to. As she got an increase in income, she decided to join a gym close to where we live. Her bank account gets deducted for gym membership fees every month.
Who here also belongs to a gym?
I wonder if you knew that if you belong to the gym there are two prices that you pay?
Yes, one is the monetary cost – the gym fee. The membership cost that you pay every month.
But do you get the benefits – do you achieve your fitness goals - just by paying the membership fee?
No! There is a second price you pay. And that is actually dragging yourself to get to the gym and work out.
Paying the membership cost gets you into the gym, but to get the full benefits of it, you have to pay with effort and exertion.
I think that being a Christian is like that. Christ has paid the price for us to be part of the Kingdom. He has paid the membership fee. Access to the Kingdom is now ours. But to get the full benefit of the Kingdom now, we need to put in effort as well.
Being a Christian is not a once in a moment baptism or declaration that you believe in God the Father, Son and Spirit in front of the church. Even Paul tells us to work out in the gym of Salvation:
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:12b-13)
As we look at our reading this morning, I’d like us to have this in mind. When I read God’s word, how does this help me in my Godly training and working out my salvation?
Now here is the problem. If you read our passage this morning at a glance, it seems to be a story for national or international church leaders on how to deal with a group of people that try to teach something contrary to the church’s doctrine.
Are there any national or international church leaders here among us today?
If I read the passage, I could say that this passage does not apply to me since I’m not a church leader responsible for doctrine or teachings in the church. So, you may think that this passage is just to increase our knowledge on church history – that it’s just for the brain but not for the heart or for working out our salvation, for us to put into practice.
But please bear with me for a moment while I get us there.
THE HEART OF CHURCH LEADERS
First let’s look at the challenge being faced by church leaders of the day. There was a group of Christians from one church trying to influence their beliefs onto another church:
“Unless you are circumcised, and follow the laws of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Why was this a major issue? Couldn’t the other church just ignore them?
It was a huge problem because the ones teaching this message are from the church of Judea and they are spreading it to the church in Antioch.
Problematic because the church in Antioch was a young church – around 8 years old at the time - established after Christians scattered following the stoning of Stephen who is known as the first Christian martyr. You can read this in Acts 6 and 7.
Meanwhile Judea (which includes Jerusalem) was the original Christian church established on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.
As you can imagine, what the Judeans said carried a lot of weight among the other Christian communities at that time. If they taught that following the Jewish law – starting with circumcision - was essential for salvation, many people would believe it.
As we all know, that is not the case and this was false teaching.
So, Paul and Barnabas confronted them personally in Verse 2.
After Paul and Barnabas had engaged them in serious argument and debate, Paul and Barnabas and some others were appointed to go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this issue.
In their wisdom, they also wanted to stop this false understanding of the Gospel to spread to other young Christian communities as well. So, a bunch of them went to Jerusalem.
They called for a council, a meeting of church leaders in Jerusalem and issued a statement that basically summarises the true teachings of the church and renounce any false teachings that have spread among believers. This can be read in verses 23-29. They do not mention circumcision as a requirement for salvation, rather that they abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from eating anything that has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.
If you become a bishop or a national church leader and there is division among your churches in the area of doctrine the lesson here is:
1) Quickly speak to the people who are spreading the wrong message and show them where they went wrong.
2) Call for a meeting of church leaders or a council to formulate a statement to the churches
3) Send a written statement from that council to all members via the local churches.
This pattern of resolving conflict and disagreements in the church has been part of church life for thousands of years.
· Some of you would be familiar with the Nicean Council in 321 AD which was the first significant assembly of the church when Rome started to become a Christian empire. In the next 460 years there were 5 or 6 other “ecumenical councils” where the church leaders would debate current issues that came and produced statements that would condemn one teaching while upholding the other.
· Further down in history, in the year 1562, the Anglican Church formulated 39 Articles of Religion which addressed errors in the Roman Catholic Church and is the theological foundation of Anglicanism worldwide.
· There is a more recent example of this. In 2003 the Sydney Anglican Church synod addressed the issue of some of its parishioners being members of the Masonic Lodge. Synod at that time condemned Freemasonry and describes the belief system as ‘fundamentally and irreconcilably incompatible’ with the Christian faith. The motion called on Christians who belong to a Masonic Lodge to resign their membership, as a demonstration of their commitment to Jesus Christ.
At every era, the Christian church view different challenges to our faith and beliefs and church leaders have an obligation to restore the true message of the Gospel and condemn anything that tries to undermine it.
Now, as a church member, and not a church leader, let’s now consider: How does this help me become active and transformed in my Christian faith?
THE HEART OF CHURCH MEMBERS
1) Sharing Your Faith Correctly
In our passage there are a few lessons for all of us. First of all, our reading teaches us: don’t be part of the problem, be part of the solution. In this story we have the problem makers and the solution makers. The solution-makers attempt to resolve dispute by faithfully understanding what Jesus has taught them, whilst problem-makers spread teachings that are against that of the church and cause tension and disunity.
As Christians we have a heart to share what we believe to others. The church in Judea was like that – they wanted to share their beliefs to others. But there is a right and wrong way to go about it.
It is good to share what you have learned from a good seminar or a book with others – but before you go on and try to influence others, ask yourself:
Are you being helpful in raising up the faith of others, or are you inadvertently preaching a different Gospel?
Are you taking something that is a “nice to do” and turning it into a “must do”?
For example, you have found it helpful to read the bible for 15 minutes every day in a quiet place.
The way that you share this with other Christians is not by saying “You can’t grow as a Christian unless you spend at least 15 minutes a day reading the bible in a place where you can’t be distracted by anything” – rather you could say “It is essential to spend time in God’s word to grow as a Christian. What has helped me is I intentionally block out 15 minutes a day and I spend this time in a quiet room to read the bible without any distractions”.
Just by changing some words, you can still share a truth about what is essential (studying the bible regularly), but not making your own experience a new law that must be followed by others.
And on the other hand, if there are Christians whom you look up to and respect, you still need to discern what they say based on what the bible tells us. You can ask them: “What part of the bible did you get that from?”, then study it for yourself in the context of the passage and in the context of Christ’s redeeming work. Do they all match up? Don’t hesitate to ask for a second or third opinion, especially from your Pastor.
2) It’s the Heart that Matters
In Acts 15:2 Paul argued strongly against this doctrine of following Mosaic Law – including circumcision - as the means to salvation. He was passionately opposed to the idea that Gentiles, or non-Jews would have to undergo Jewish rituals and laws to be saved after all that Jesus has done on the Cross.
In verse 10 Paul said that even the Jews could not keep God’s commands, so why are you enforcing it on the Gentiles.
Now then, why are you testing God by putting a yoke on the disciples’ necks that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?
But guess who performed the next circumcision recorded in the bible?
It was none other than Paul.
In the next chapter – yes, just one chapter away – Paul circumcised Timothy. In Acts 16:1-3 we read:
Paul went on to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman, but his father was a Greek. The brothers and sisters at Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him. Paul wanted Timothy to go with him; so he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek.
Why????
What’s the point of circumcision when they knew it wasn’t necessary in salvation?
Why go through such a painful exercise?
Even though Paul was the first one to condemn circumcision as a means of salvation in Acts 15, he performed the ritual himself in the very next chapter on Timothy, who was his junior ministry co-worker.
But they did it simply and purely for Gospel reasons: So that Jews that they intend to share the Gospel with would be more open and willing to listen to them. They knew that Jews will be more inclined to listen to them knowing that Paul and Timothy were Jews themselves – and circumcision was part of being Jewish men. It would open up doors for the gospel.
They did it for God’s glory and for the people they were ministering to.
The act of circumcision is a reflection of a heart that longs for the advancement of the Gospel.
God’s grace of salvation activated their hearts and that led to the physical act of circumcision.
It is very different to how the Judean church saw it, that the physical action of circumcision activated salvation.
This is a great lesson for us to look at: how do we connect the heart with physical action.
For instance, let’s look at tithing or giving 10% of your income to the house of God was an Old Testament law. It is a command, an obligation that most Jews had to fulfill.
As Christians, we no longer have the obligation of tithing. We learn that Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient for us to have an eternal relationship with God.
But the fact that God generously sacrificed his Son for us should transform our hearts and lead us to practice generosity like He did. We give generously not so God has favour on us, but because from the inside we marvel at how God has been so generous to us and we want to imitate that.
Jews view the law of tithing activates God’s favour. For us, God’s favour on us through the cross of Christ activates our generosity.
The question becomes: if a faithful Jew, who lives by the law, gives 10% of their income, how much should I, a sinner saved by God’s generous gift of His own Son, give for the advancement of His gospel?
Should I give more than the Jew living under the law, or is it appropriate for me to give less?
I will leave that answer to you.
Ultimately God looks at the heart. He doesn’t look at the physical act of Timothy’s circumcision or how many dollars you transfer to church each month. He looks at the motivation behind Timothy’s and Paul’s actions. He looks at the motivation behind your generosity or lack of generosity.
If it is hard for you to be generous towards the work of the Gospel, examine your heart: Do I love money? What do I prioritise in life? Do I spend too much or save too much than what is necessary? Could I make changes in my spending so that I could afford to be more generous?
3) How do We Guard our Hearts?
Proverbs 4:23 says:
Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.
In the scriptures the heart refers to the source of life. It doesn’t refer to is our bodily organ that pumps out blood to the rest of our body. But just like the heart that distributes blood through our veins, it is the source from where everything flows: it is the source of our being: feelings, emotions, speech, and actions.
Our feelings or emotions is not our heart. This means that we should not do things just because we feel like it or moved by emotions.
In other words, don’t be ruled by our feelings or emotions, but let our Christian heart rule our feelings and emotions. The Christian heart is one that is transformed from seeking the best for ourselves to but seek what pleases God. What is a sign of us having a transformed heart?
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
The Christian heart is one where it leads us from following our fleshly desires to following his Holy statutes and laws - leading us where God has destined for us to go, through our thoughts, emotions, feelings, and actions.
God also said:
Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)
So instead of spending so much time thinking of how we can make my outward appearances look the best, it is more important to focus on our hearts. Guard our hearts against temptation, against evil thoughts. Keep your heart pure and focused on Jesus.
So how do we guard our hearts?
1) Have a good relationship with God through his word:
I have treasured your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11)
2) Be careful of what you consume on TV, tiktok, social media and the news:
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness! (Matthew 6:22-23)
3) Anxiousness can tempt us to walk away from God. To guard against that, pray whenever you are worried about anything:
Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
4) Be careful who you let influence your life:
Bad company corrupts good morals. (1 Corinthians 15:33)
5) Think pure thoughts.
… whatever is true, whatever is honourable …dwell on these things. (Philippians 4:8)
CONCLUSION
To finish up my time with you this morning, I wonder if any of us are like those who have a membership to the gym, but hardly ever go and put in the effort to work out?
If we believe in our hearts that Christ is Lord and have declared it with our mouths we have a pass to God’s Kingdom, but let’s train ourselves in righteousness. The more we do, the more we will benefit from Christ’s sacrifice.
I hope our passage this morning reminds us to be good, active members of God’s family, the church. To be part of the solutions, and not part of causing problems. To strive towards unity and not division.
I hope we remain faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not lead others astray.
I hope we are reminded to train our hearts and our actions to align with God’s purposes in our lives - to guard our hearts against the evils in the world so that we can enjoy the full benefits of membership in the Kingdom.
Amen.
THREE QUESTIONS
Please reflect on these three questions I have for us today:
1) Do I spend more time working on my heart than on my outward appearances?
2) What are the things I can do to be an active member of the church?
3) What are the things that I need to repent of and get rid of from my heart?