The Turning Point
- Pat Adamson
Some bible students are quick to point to the Jerusalem Council in Acts chapter 15 as the watershed event that changed the whole landscape of a gentile’s orientation to Torah. Was this the “turning point” that set many believers against living a Torah lifestyle? Or is there another event that might explain – or help to explain the church’s shift away from Torah, even leading some into complete antinomian (anti-Law) ways? First, some fundamental questions need to be asked about the Jerusalem Council. What was it? Was the Jerusalem Council intended as a mandate for all believers, universally? In other words, were the instructions instituted by the Jerusalem Council all-inclusive and directed to all non-Jewish believers everywhere?
The Jerusalem Council convened to address a very specific issue that extended beyond the walls of the local community – the issue of circumcision. Some, mostly non-Jews, were pushing other non-Jews to be circumcised as a mark of their “true” conversion. Was circumcision required for gentiles to come into a relationship with the G-d of Israel?
Let’s be clear – while it is true that circumcision was a sign of inclusion with Abraham (and his G-d), circumcision of the flesh never superseded a circumcised (fully surrendered) heart to G-d. The Council’s decision resolutely determined that gentiles are not required to be circumcised in order to be included as Covenant participants. The Council was clear on this point. The determining factor for Covenant inclusion for gentiles was not the circumcision of the flesh – rather, circumcision of the heart was most important. And for the Jewish person, while circumcision of the flesh was (and remains today) the outward sign of the Abrahamic Covenant with G-d, circumcision of the flesh alone is not sufficient for the relational connection G-d desires. Put in a slightly different light, Covenant fidelity for the Jewish person is not ultimately determined through B’rit Milah (circumcision of the flesh) but rather, it is determined through “heart conversion” – surrendering one’s life to following G-d, (i.e. circumcision of the heart).
“For circumcision is indeed of value if you do what Torah says. But if you are a transgressor of Torah, your circumcision has become uncircumcision! Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the Torah, won't his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? Indeed, the man who is physically uncircumcised but obeys the Torah will stand as a judgment on you who have had a b'rit-milah and have Torah written out but violate it!” (Romans 2:25-27 CJB)
Hence, the Jerusalem Council concluded by affirming four commandments that non-Jews (gentiles) were to keep.
They were to abstain:
- from things sacrificed to idols
- from blood
- from things strangled
- from fornication
Now, if the Jerusalem Council was intended as some kind of a mandate for all believers both then and now, the obvious question then is: “What do we do with all the other commandments NOT mentioned by the Council?” What about the big 10 that many people honor today (Exodus 20)? Why were these commandments never mentioned? Check it out: “Thou shall not murder; covet; steal; commit adultery; lie; . . .” What about loving God and keeping the Sabbath? Are these commandments any less foundational in knowing and loving G-d? Are the four listed above greater than these?
Some would say that the reason these commandments were never mentioned is because it was already assumed that the followers of Messiah would know these things. Interesting! Interesting that so many heathens were pouring out of paganism and idolatry and automatically knew the ways of HaShem the minute they came to Him! Doesn’t discipleship need to be understood as part of the process, just as this today, is part of our experience with G-d? Interesting isn’t it, that we are basing so much, not only on the words stated in Acts 15, but also on what we assume to be understood – that every one of these folks fresh out of paganism and idolatry were already practicing the other commandments! That is an absurd notion, and it’s the very notion that is being addressed by the Jerusalem Council!
Truly, historically, the Jerusalem Council has been the Alpine moment – the proof text of all proof texts – the pinnacle doctrinal statement many Bible students over the years have hung their hat on arguing that the Church’s orientation to the Torah is now different, that it has all changed. In a way it has! The compulsion to follow G-d’s ways are different in that now, we are NOT following out of obligation, but rather out of a love response toward the One who loved us first!
To me, every commandment from Genesis onward is an expression of G-d’s love to all those that trust in Him by faith. The Bible is the book of restoration, renewal, and recommitment to His ways. It’s the only religious writing in the world that foundationally guides our relationship with Him. Therefore, by trusting and acting upon these words . . . we believe. We believe we are hopelessly lost in our own sins; we believe in Yeshua – that He gave His life willingly as a sacrifice in our behalf. We believe that eternal life can only be found in Yeshua and that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We believe through Yeshua, we are no longer eternally lost – rather, we are eternally restored and forever loved by Him. We believe that to love G-d with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, is to follow Torah in the grace and love of G-d.
“By grace you [I] have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of G-d; not as a result of works that no one should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 - NASB)
You’ve heard it said that “grace plus anything else can no longer be considered grace.” That’s true! But would it surprise you that this is the way it has always been with HaShem, even from the beginning? We must always combine Ephesians 2:8-9 with James who said,
“What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith but has no actions to prove it? Is such "faith" able to save him?” (James 2:14 – CJB)
While “doing” good deeds is not necessarily proof of anything, NOT living in the manner G-d has prescribed in his Word, according to James, would render a person’s faith highly suspect – even non-existent altogether! HaShem has provided a way of life that sets us apart, clearly identifies us as His people, and flows naturally from one whose faith rests totally in the Living Written Word personified in Yeshua.
Question: what part of God’s Word should be considered less than His grace toward us? Put another way, which part of Yeshua would we throw away or minimize as unimportant in our relationship with Him? We need to think hard and deep about these things! What you shouldn’t do is dismiss what your heart and mind tells you is true in spite of a history of misunderstanding of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15.
Now, if Acts chapter 15 (the Jerusalem Council) was not addressing universal mandates, then what was going on there?
The Jerusalem Council was specifically called into session to present a universal ruling on circumcision only. The other stated rules, again: 1.) abstaining from things sacrificed to idols 2.) from blood; 3.) from things strangled, and 4.) from fornication were only applied toward a local need, only to a specific issue/crisis in Jerusalem – nothing more. If this Council was intended to be understood in a broader way, then it is certain the requirements would also have been more broad in their scope.
Now, certainly nobody would argue that fornication and the three other points mentioned are not important, and nowhere in Scripture is it suggested that keeping these things had any salvational connotations at all – of course they ARE important and keeping them has no bearing on salvation! And along the same lines, there is no other requirement – no other commandment in Scripture (other than faith and trust in HaShem) that has any bearing on salvation whatsoever. You don’t do these things – follow G-d’s Word to earn anything! You follow G-d’s Word because you have already been given everything in Messiah through your faith in Him. I don’t know how much more plain this can get! Why has this plain truth been so distorted and so maligned for such a long time?
Switching gears just a little bit, we’re still looking for a turning point that caused non-Jewish believers to turn away from a Torah-centered lifestyle.
I would offer one explanation that seems highly plausible. In the book of Acts chapter 7, we see a young disciple by the name of Stephen (a Hellenized – Greek-leaning Jew) challenging the orthodox conventions of the day. His passionate belief in Yeshua threatened the Pharisaical mind-set and the wrong presuppositions they held about Yeshua. But deeply in love with his Messiah, Stephen refused to yield to this “orthodox authority” and the result of this was that he suffered a martyr’s death – he died for his faith in Yeshua. In effect, Stephen was announcing a new paradigm centered on the Messiahship of Yeshua – and it was too much for their pious (traditionally religious) ears! Is this to say that all Pharisees held to these traditions and views? No way. Rav Sha’ul (the apostle Paul) and Nicodemus and even Yeshua are prime examples of orthodoxy that challenged convention!
Nevertheless, the stoning of Stephen was not a trivial matter. It set off a firestorm of persecution, routing out Hellenistic Jews (like Stephen) far and wide. These Jews were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1) even before the destruction of the 2nd Temple. Back at this time, if you did not hold to the “conventional orthodoxy” then you were earmarked as a traitor to the faith.
HaShem used this important event – the stoning of Stephen, to propel the Jewish testimony of Yeshua outside of Jerusalem to “the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
To conclude: in my view, it is the stoning of Stephen that demonstrates most prominently how the early believing community was changed in its perspective to the world and to the Torah, even more so than the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. In my understanding and from my perspective, it was the stoning of Stephen that changed the landscape of how the early church began to distance itself from a Torah/Yeshua-centered way of life.
One might suppose that the illegal stoning of Stephen would result in a severe backlash against Pharisaical orthodoxy. This was indeed the case. Actually, Stephen’s martyrdom was the turning point between the religiously orthodox and those who were more Greek-leaning and hellenized. After Stephen this divide began to grow and thus, instead of a proper reaction to pharisaical Judaism, the people turned away from all things considered Jewish as old and “passing away.”
