Basic Training in the Bible Andrew Stepp | Heretics: Judaizers

Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

Heresy or heretic: “Someone who has compromised an essential doctrine and lost sight of who God really is, usually by oversimplification. Literally heresy means ‘choice’ – that is, a choice to deviate from traditional teaching in favor of one’s own insight.”

The Situation (Acts 15:1-2)

The Driving Question: Does someone have to become a ______before they become a ______?

Context: The Ethnic/Cultural “Cold Shoulder”

▪ Jonah – It’s not about the ______!!!

▪ Acts 6:1 – The neglect of the Grecian Jewish widows

▪ Acts 10 – Peter and Cornelius

▪ Acts 11 – Peter’s Explanation in Jerusalem

The balance of the Church begins to tip!

▪ Acts 11:19-24 – The Church in Antioch

▪ 13:46-49 – “I have made you a light for the Gentiles…”

▪ 14:1 – Reaching out to both Jews and Gentiles

▪ 14:27 – God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles!

On a Collision Course

▪ “Was their vision big enough to see the Gospel of Christ not as a reform movement within Judaism but as good news for the whole world, and the church of Christ not as a Jewish sect but as the international family of God?” – John Stott

…Aaaaaaaaand Crash

Acts 15:1-2; Gal. 2:11-13

The Response:

The Jerusalem Council

▪ The Issue at hand – “Circumcision and the law were essential for observance.”

▪ Three key testimonies: Peter, Paul, and James, brother of Jesus.

Key theological insights:

Why is this important?

Historically

Theologically

One Big Diverse Family (Rev. 7:9; Eph. 2:11-14)

Salvation through Jesus Alone (Eph. 2:8-9; 2 Tim 1:9; Titus 3:4-5)