The Judgment of the Holy Spirit Acts 15:19-21
Translator: Soo Hyun Park
Today I want to talk about the judgment of the Holy Spirit.
First, we need to be able to think of therefore.
It was certainly true that sins would be forgiven by believing in Jesus. So the apostles wanted to hear if other brothers would agree. The apostles were confident that if other brothers had received the same Holy Spirit they would ultimately reach the same conclusion. So, surely, people of the Holy Spirit have the gift of listening. It was the judgment of the Holy Spirit because the chairman did not argue his point from the beginning, but rather waited until the end and heard all the opinions that could be heard. Waiting until the end does not solely make it the judgment of the Holy Spirit. The criterion of judgment should not literally be the opinion of James. It was the Judgment of the Holy Spirit, not a single event, because he came to the conclusion based on the words of Amos 9:11, 12 that he remembered at that moment.
'Therefore,' patience and the Word are absolutely needed. The most important thing in our small group meetings is to patiently listen to others while pinching your thighs, if that is necessary. Just as James listened to the opinions of this person and that person, we should also listen carefully to others in the small group meetings. James delivers the message that encompasses both sides only after listening to the opinions of both sides. To put it simply, it means that for Jews you can only be saved by faith, and for Gentiles, if you are saved, you must live well as a Christian. Of course, we have to hear both stories.
Second, we must abandon the stereotype that the Law is the most important.
One can be saved only by faith. What the Jews consistently insisted was that even Gentiles must legally become Jews in order to be saved. The Jewish people had a deeply rooted stereotype that one must be circumcised and obey the Mosaic Law to be recognized as Gods people. In other words, it is the Law first. However, for the Gentiles, this demand for circumcision and the Law was too painful. Peter saw the demand for circumcision and the Law as a yoke, and James saw it as continuing torment. He also described Gentile believers as those who returned to God regardless of the compliance with the Law and those who repented and became Gods people. Each of us may have similar stereotype, even if it may not be about the Law. God has called us to be one body, but we have other values that we think more important than faith in Jesus and place higher than the Gospel. No matter how good the value is, the moment you place it higher than Gods grace, it becomes a weapon to kill others. In this Corona era, churches are constantly being shunned, and when you listen to them, it is easy to hear ethical sermons that say that you will be blessed if you do this and that. But now, if you see it, ethics often broke down even in the churches. We should listen to the accurate Gospel, and this may be hard at first but it will eventually make you healthy. It is even more difficult to listen to the Gospel after not listening for a while. Just as the Jews were too legalistic and failed to hear the Gospel, the church should accurately teach that salvation is only possible by believing in Jesus.
Third, we must abandon the stereotype that freedom is the most important.
It means that after your faith saves you from sins, you must go on toward sanctification. There are too many Jewish laws, but in our church we may propose only four of them to be obligated. We say, 'Come to the Sunday service, Wednesday service, and the small group service, and eat with us in the small group meeting.' All we have to tell others to do is these four things. We may talk about reading the Bible and doing QT only after they come to the church. In other words, the Jews and Gentiles have different cultures so lets not do anything to make them frown for them to get along well in the church community. What I mentioned above are the least things we have to do, but in fact, are the most essential things because by doing them we gain the greatest spiritual freedom. Idolatry would lead to fornication and eventually disregard for life. What may look like very minimal obedience would give us infinite freedom.
Fourth, we must listen to the Bible as the word that is given to 'me'.
It was very important for the Jews to avoid fornication. Not to forget the lessons of Moab, etc., in the synagogue on every Sabbath day, they avoided eating dirty things of idols or eating blood, and tried hard to memorize all these verses even though they did not believe in Jesus Christ. They had a custom of reading aloud the Bible because is was so essential to them. According to the Bible they read, Gentiles should avoid fornication by taking action. Since the Jews read the Bible only with their mouths, they certainly had limitations. Nevertheless, however, God acknowledged that their custom of reading aloud is also important. The important point is that, Jews or Gentiles, should only listen to the Bible as the words given to themselves because it was God who allowed the Law to be preached weekly in synagogues around the world. The death and resurrection of Jesus did not replace the Law, but only completed it. So what we need to do is to treat them with love, not point our fingers to them. We need to listen to the Bible they read with respect.
James listened to the opinions of the Jews with empathy and appropriately adjusted their opinions with the goal of persuading them to the end, and making them actively participate. Our church does not allow men and women sharing a ride or meeting just two of them as an attempt to fundamentally block the opportunity to engage in fornication. There is no exception for church ministers. The important thing is that we should read it aloud every day. Although the Mosaic Law seems like little more than a formality, holiness can be preserved because of the Law. As a Chairman, James concluded his opinion by sending a message to both sides. It would be very nice if we listen to both sides and make an agreement in our small group meetings. In the end, there are things that cannot be done by ourselves if the problem of sin is not seen or solved. It takes patience to do our best to listen to each other. That is why it is the judgment of the Holy Spirit.
