COUNCIL APPROVAL

 COUNCIL APPROVAL

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain. Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me. But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter (for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do. Galatians 2:1-10.

Introduction

Have you ever seen those signs people put on their mailboxes? Perhaps you have one on your mailbox, “No Junk Mail”.  We didn’t have a sign like that, but we used to get hardly any junk-mail when we lived in a cul-de-sac at the end of a road. I guess the junk-mail deliverers couldn’t be bothered with our street. You may think that’s a good thing. However, my wife didn’t. For some strange reason, she likes junk mail. I guess it has to do with the sales and things.

Then, when I live in a manse I was amazed at the amount of junk-mail we got. Here’s what I want you to note: A lot of the junk mail comes from Christian organizations. We get mail from Christian outfits you’ve never heard of, outfits who have no church affiliation. It all causes me to wonder what is going on in the Lord’s Church?

It seems to me that every man and his dog has some ministry or other which needs my support, my financial support! What does this have to do with what we’re looking at? Well, in the following I would like you to see that Paul, his gospel, and his ministry all met with council approval.

In a word, there is an ordered structure to the Church of Jesus Christ. This ordered structure is the strength of the Church. It’s the spine, the backbone by which everything else is supported and is attached. Just as it is in society, so it is in the Church. If there is no system of checks and balances then everyone gets to do what they like.

In any organized society you must seek council approval before you do anything. You need to consider society as a whole before going ahead with whatever it is you want to do. Therefore, you’d meet with the council and you’d submit your plans for approval. At least that’s how things are done in a civilized world. Why? Because whatever you choose to do will have an impact on everyone else.

Is there any more civilized society on earth than Christ’s church? Christ Himself runs it. It is His organization. Therefore, if you have plans to do something, you must submit them to the church. You don’t just run off and do your own thing, such as starting your own private ministry. You’re supposed to bring your plans before the council of the church for approval. Look at the Apostle Paul. He took his case before the council of the church. He went with Barnabas and Titus to talk to the council about his gospel ministry.[1]

The Meeting

This meeting took place in Jerusalem. I believe the meeting mentioned here refers to an account that is recorded in Acts 15. Paul, Barnabas, and Titus were all involved in the general meeting of the council. But Paul met in private with the Apostles Peter, James, and John.

According to Acts 15:3, the church at Antioch had sent Paul, Barnabas, and Titus to the General Assembly at Jerusalem. Yet we are told in our text in Galatians 2:2 that Paul went there because of a revelation he’d been given. So then, did the church send Paul or did the Lord talk to him personally? What’s wrong with the church sending him and the Lord confirming it by way of revelation? I think it just reinforces the fact that the Lord gifts His church with wise leaders. He puts elders in His church and He gives them the ability to know what to do.

So the church sent Paul, Barnabas, and Titus to the General Assembly at Jerusalem. And, Paul, as an Apostle, received special confirmation that this was the Lord’s will. Well, look at the subject matter of this meeting up ahead. But for now, we need to note that the members of this council included Apostles and elders.

We don’t have Apostles in the church anymore. Apostles were men who witnessed the resurrection and were commissioned by Christ. Paul refers to himself as one “born out of due time” 1 Corinthians 15:8. Now that we have the completed canon of Scripture we do not need Apostles. The Scriptures are sufficient for all our needs. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good workö” 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Therefore, we have all we need when we have the Scriptures. However, everything in the church is to be done decently and in order 1 Corinthians 14:40. And to accomplish this the Lord has put in place an ordered structure. It’s called Presbyterianism, which simply means Eldership.

Each church has Presbyters, which is another name for Elders. These elders have meetings in order to discuss the spiritual functioning of the local church. They also meet with Presbyters or Elders from the other churches from time to time. This is what Paul is talking about in our text. He is part of a committee sent from the local church at Antioch. They are to meet with committees from other churches in one huge committee meeting. This committee is meeting to discuss doctrinal issues affecting the church as a whole.

I remember saying, with a note of sarcasm, to one of the lecturers when I was at theological college, “When I become a minister I’ll get to be on a million committees. “He looked me straight in the eye and said, “Don’t mock committees. God is a Committee!” It’s true that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the “Committee” that planned, approved, and built the universe. So the point the college professor made is well taken.

The Triune God is three Persons but One God. Each Person considers the Other Person’s wellbeing before giving approval. Like the Trinity, we, the Church, are a plurality of persons. Therefore like God, we ought to meet and discuss the things that will promote the wellbeing of the body corporate.

It’s all about checks and balances. The right-hand needs to know what the left is doing! Otherwise, we may end up working against ourselves and, as you know, a house divided falls. Therefore, we need to note the wisdom of the ordered structure of the Lord’s church. We see it displayed before us in this text. Council meetings have a firm Scriptural basis. One verse should suffice to cap off our first point, “Where there is no counsel the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety” Proverbs 11:14. As we used to say in Scotland, “Two heads are better than one!”

The Matter

Remember what has already been said, i.e., that elders meet to discuss the matter of doctrine. So what’s the matter? The doctrinal matter of this particular meeting was to do with the doctrine of gospel liberty. That’s why Paul says, “[I] communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles” Galatians 2:2.

We know all about the false teachers who were infiltrating the church. The heart of the matter was to circumcise or not to circumcise. So Paul tells the Galatians that the council approved that Titus the Greek remain uncircumcised Thus he wants them to see that his gospel is the Church’s gospel. That’s Paul’s point here. The Church had been infiltrated by people promoting their own ministries. The trouble was that a lot of these ministries were not approved ministries. The fact was that they were causing a schism in the church! As Samuel John Stone says in his hymn,

Though with a scornful wonder

Men see her sore oppressed,

By schisms rent asunder,

By heresies distressed,

Yet saints their watch are keeping…

It’s the job of the Presbytery to keep watch over the church. And that’s exactly what this Presbytery meeting was all about. “We see what’s happening in the Church. Now, what are we going to do about it? What is our plan, our strategy, our course of action? What shall we do to protect and promote the well-being of the Lord’s Church against those who are causing division?”

Paul wants the Galatians to see that what he taught them is the orthodox teaching of the church. He wants them to see that his gospel is council approved. He wants them to see that his ministry is counsel approved.

The gospel says a man doesn’t need to be circumcised to be saved. He wants the Galatians to see that the Judaizers are not part of the church If the Judaizers were part of the church they would follow the teaching of the Gospel. But here are the Judaizers saying that men need the gospel plus to be saved.

Apparently, a sect had developed from these Judiazers who become known as the Ebionites. This group regarded Paul, not as an Apostle, but as an apostate from the law of Moses. Of course, their accusations were false because the Ebionites had a false view of the law, as did their fathers the Pharisees and Judaizers.

Nowadays there are all kinds of Christian sects and cults around. For example, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Moonies, etc., etc., etc. It’s clear that these groups are on about another gospel and not the gospel Paul is defending. I remember receiving a book from the Mormons, i.e., The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The title is THE BOOK OF MORMON. And the subtitle reads “Another Testament of Jesus Christ”. As I began to read through it, I figured that instead of Another Testament of Jesus Christ, a more accurate description would be “A Testament of Another Jesus Christ”. It doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out that the Mormons are on about another gospel. Then there are those cults and sects where it’s a bit more difficult to tell. For instance, there are legalist groups such as the Seventh Day Adventists. They say that the whole of the Christian church is apostate apart from them. They adhere to all the Old Testament’s dietary laws, and, of course, they have a mammoth hangup with the Christian Sunday Sabbath.

Then some say that you must be baptized to be saved. So they add what they call baptism to the gospel. Along with the Seventh Day Adventists, they would condemn the repentant thief on the cross to hell. Some of them would say the thief on the cross had already been baptized. But what does that then say about their legalistic “Believers Baptism”? And of course, to legalists, baptism is not baptism unless you’re fully immersed. These legalists say you must be fully immersed just like – well, we’re still waiting on them proving to the church from Scripture that someone was fully immersed! Like the Adventists with their Saturday Sabbath, we hear all about the practice of the early church. We hear about men like St. Columba, we hear about men being immersed three times, seven times, but they never prove a thing from the Bible. This is because the meaning and mode of Christian baptism is a theological argument, not a historical one.

Then there are the Antinomians who are the opposite of the legalists! Antinomians are usually of the Dispensationalist camp. Their catchphrases are usually things like, “That was Old Testament, but this is the New Testament.” Or, “We’re under grace, not law!” Then they quote their favorite proof texts. 

Free from the law!

O happy condition,

Sin all you like

There’s always remission!

But let’s not kid ourselves. Even the Antinomians bind people’s consciences with things the Scriptures are silent on. You’ll find both Legalist and antinomian alike say, for instance, “Thou shalt drink no alcohol! “You can’t be a Christian if you drink alcohol!” Therefore both Legalists and Antinomians are guilty of adding to the gospel, be they adding baptism, i.e., baptism done only the way they think it ought to be done, be it Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening. be it doing whatever you like, on whatever day you like, as the Antinomian would have it. All are adding to the clear teaching of the gospel!

The truth of the matter is that there is liberty (freedom) in the gospel. But it’s not the gay abandon of the Antinomians. But there are also legal requirements too. But certainly not the requirements of the legalists!

Let’s look and see what the General Assembly decided,

Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren. They wrote this letter by them:

The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:

Greetings.

Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law”—to whom we gave no such commandment— it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.

Farewell.

So when they were sent off, they came to Antioch; and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement. Acts 15:22-31.

There’s nothing there about circumcision, baptism, or Saturday Sabbaths. The gospel brings liberty to the captives. It sets you free! But free to do what? To do as you like? No! The Gospel sets you free to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus says, “If you love Me keep My commandments.” Therefore, we must not go a millimeter beyond what the Bible teaches us, It’s the pure unadulterated Word of God that must be the measure of whether people are part of the church at large or not.

In summary: We’ve looked at the meeting, and we’ve seen that the Lord has put in place a system of church government. This we call Eldership-ism better known as Presbyterianism. (Presbyters are elders.) The Presbytery meets to deal with matters of faith and doctrine (such as we see in our text).

We’ve looked at The Meeting and The Matter. And we’ve seen that what Paul has been teaching is in line with what the church at large is believing. Which in a word is this, The Gospel alone is sufficient for salvation.

The Mission

What was the Apostle Paul’s mission? What was, what is, the mission of the church? It’s the Great Commission, isn’t it? In Matt. 28:18ff., Jesus said, “‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.”

Now consider what Paul says in the following, “And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised” Galatians 2:9. So, what do we have here? We have the organized church of Jesus Christ being obedient to the Great Commission. But make sure you notice:

1.      Missions to the nations were not just one big free-for-all. It was Council Approved.

2.      That the Apostles and Elders are agreed on what the gospel is. It was Council Approved.

3.      That the right hand of fellowship is given only to those who believe in the gospel. They are Council Approved.

In a word, the Church is the repository of the Gospel. Remove the ordered structure of the Church and you’ll end up with a lot of what we have today. You’ll have all kinds of cults, sects, and denominations springing up all over the place. And have you noticed that each one claims to be the true Biblical church? Each one emphasizes what it thinks the gospel is. The Apostle Paul fought the good fight in his day. And we need to fight the good fight in our day. First off we need to fight for the purity of the gospel. Secondly we need to offer the right hand of fellowship to all who believe in the same gospel. This being done we then need to send out council-approved missionaries.

At the time of the Reformation, there was a group of people known as the Waldensians. The Church Reformers sent out a delegation to meet with the Waldensians. The Waldensians had not submitted to the false gospel of Rome. So they had been persecuted by the papacy for centuries. But on September 12, 1532, they met with the Swiss Reformer William Farel. They held their meeting with the Elders. They discussed the matter of doctrine. Then they set about their mission – which in their case was to translate the Scriptures into French. What a day that must have been when the Reformers and the Waldensians extended to each other the right hand of fellowship. The Waldensians could see that the Reformers were the repositories of the true gospel. Therefore they submitted themselves to the authority of the church. Therefore they received Council Approval.

Conclusion

We began by talking about junk mail. I mentioned that a lot of it was from Christian organizations. You’re probably wondering how I can call it junk mail. Well, I’ve never heard of a lot of these organizations. We call a lot of these groups “para-church organizations”. A para-church is an organization that exists alongside the church while not being part of it. A lot like a paramilitary organization, it isn’t exactly the military though it acts as if it is. And, since the para-church groups are exactly that, i.e., para-church, this means they need to solicit financial support from somewhere. Hence all the Christian junk mail. They all claim to be doing a great work. But a great work for whom? How can I trust any organization not under the authority of the Church? How can I trust those who don’t have Council Approval?

I’m Presbyterian. I’m Reformed. Therefore I believe in the structured authority of the church. It would be wonderful to extend the right hand of fellowship to the groups. No doubt some of them are doing a great work for the extension of the Lord’s kingdom. But how can they be – if they refuse to submit to the authority of the church? From what I understand of the Scriptures this makes all parachurch organizations a law unto themselves.

Christ didn’t say the gates of Hades will not prevail against the PARA-church. The Church alone has been entrusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ, by Jesus Christ, the sole Head of His Church. Christ has put in place gifted men to rule in His church. All in accordance with His Word. Therefore, whether we like it or not, all para churches ought to get back into church where they belong.

Do you remember the second half of that Proverb I read earlier? “In the multitude of counselors there is safety” Proverbs 11:14b. I tell you that it’s not safe having all these organizations running around. Who knows what kind of twisted gospel they might be teaching the nations. And the bit that miffs me personally is that they solicit funds from me to help them!

Enough of this nonsense. The para churches need to get back into the churches. Along with the rest of us, they need to submit themselves to the checks and balances the Lord has put in place. Paul didn’t say, “O well, I’ve got the gospel and there’s a job to do. I can’t hang around here arguing over doctrine when there’re people needing saved!” Nor did he say, “The church has been infiltrated by Legalists and Antinomians. I’ll just form my own group and get on with it. I’ll just send begging letters to the different churches and their members to support my worthy cause.” No! He wanted to make sure the church herself was believing in the Gospel.

Listen closely: Paul’s first and foremost mission was to the Church. He knew what the devil knows, i.e., that if you destroy the foundation and the pillars of the church that if you remove the ordered structure, the spine, the backbone, then as the body without the spirit is dead, so is the church! The church will crumble back to dust. And the Gospel? Well, it would return to God who gave it. It’s almost like that verse in Ecclesiastes, “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to the God who gave it” Ecclesiastes 12:7. But we have the Lord’s assurance that this won’t happen no matter how bad it looks at the moment. The Lord likens His Church, the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed. Though it’s the smallest of seeds, it will grow and grow and grow, like leaven, it will permeate the whole earth!

Reformation begins in the heart of the individual then it spreads, even to all the nations. Martin Luther discovered what the Gospel was. He extended the right hand of fellowship to those who believed the same gospel. We are justified by grace through faith alone. Why don’t you begin a Reformation in your heart? Make sure your gospel is the same as that adhered to here, the gospel that’s taught here is the same as that that was rediscovered at the Reformation, which is that of the Apostle Paul, which is grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the Scriptures alone, to the glory of God alone. This is the Gospel entrusted to the saints once and for all. For this is the only Gospel that has been Council Approved.

---

[1] There may, of course, be some exceptions for private and personal ministries. For examples, the publishing of Christian articles and books.