“How Do We Know?”
Acts 15
Sermon Series: “Unstuck”
Introduction: Acts 15 records one of the most important events in the history of the church. The Book of Acts is amazing as it records many miraculous works of God, most importantly, the salvation of multitudes of people. However, a very important dispute had arisen within the church over the nature of salvation. The dispute resolved around this question, “Do you have to obey the Law of Moses in addition to believing in Jesus or is faith in Christ enough for salvation?” Translated for us today, the issue is, “Is faith in Jesus alone sufficient for salvation or is it faith plus works?” Or stated another way, “Do we earn God’s approval by what we do or do we receive it based on what Jesus has done for us?” So, the church had a meeting or a conference that was led by the apostles and the elders in order to answer this question. Heavy hitters like Peter, Paul, and Barnabas spoke. However, they decided the issue by appealing to Scripture. The Bible was clearly their authority and should be ours as well.
Key Principle: When the Bible speaks, God speaks and what He says goes.
Applications:
1. Our calling is to get to know God through studying, understanding, applying, and obeying His Word.
2. Scripture determines what we believe and how we live as individuals and as a church.
3. What the Bible teaches trumps: what other people say, what religion or church says, what culture says, my thoughts, my experiences, my feelings, etc.
4. Obeying Scripture is actually how we show that we are trusting God because faith is taking God as His Word and acting on it.
5. Developing this conviction in our children is one of the most important pieces in their spiritual development.
6. Conviction that makes a difference in the world comes from standing on the Word of God without apology (see also Daniel 1:8).
7. Life will not work when we do not listen and obey (Romans 6:16, Luke 6:46-49).
8. Our shortcoming and failures in obeying Scripture show us our need for a Savior who gives us grace (Galatians 3:24) in order to be saved and the power to then obey God.
