This was a real huge question that the early church had to deal with as more and more gentiles became followers of the way. And the question still looms over us today as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
The issue isn't just about circumcision, it is about yoke. "Why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?" (vs. 10). What was happening was that when Gentile men professed Christ as Lord and were baptized some of the Jews were saying, 'yeah they are followers, yeah they got baptized, now what they need to do is get circumcised just like the rest of us.'
This led to a council at Jerusalem where the disciples had to make a decision. And the result; "we believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are" (vs. 11b). It is by grace that we are saved not by works so that no man may boast. In eternity no one will be boasting about how their circumcision grants them favor with God. We all will be boasting about the grace of Jesus Christ.
Sounds like a dumb Bible times problem right? Wrong! We still place yokes on ourselves and others and we offend the grace of Jesus. Let us walk through a couple examples and then you can figure out what your yoke is that you need to repent of.
Salvation by church attendance: We put a yoke on Christ-followers that to be a true christian you must attend our church and swear allegiance to our organization(the church) and if you do miss for a couple weeks then you are letting God down. That is a yoke. We are saved by grace not by presence at church. Is meeting with the assembly of God's people a good idea? Absolutely! But, it does not give us salvation.
Salvation by moral behavior. It is common in church culture that to be a christian means, 'you don't drink, smoke, cuss, or chew or date girls that do.' We can overemphasize these moral behaviors to the point that they become a yoke. We can give 'not behaving in certain way' more importance than Jesus Christ and His gospel. When someone is advocating this yoke they don't really care how you think of Jesus they just want to make sure you are behaving decently. Parents beware that you don't place this one on your kids. Christianity is so much more than behavior modification.
Salvation by small group. This says that you are saved by attending a small group. Sounds something like, "if you are not attending a small group then you are not experiencing all that God has in store for you." That is a yoke. There was no small group ministries in Jesus day. People just hung out with one another and loved one another. They didn't need a program for that to happen. Don't let a small group program become your yoke.
Salvation by service. If you want to be a real Christian then you have to serve. Be careful that you are not earning your favor with God through the different ways that you serve Him at church or in our community. We do not earn favor with God through our works. We earn favor with God at the cross of Christ.
These things are not bad in and of themselves! I am not saying that you should skip church, that you can behave however you like, that you should avoid small group opportunities, and that you should avoid serving. What I am saying is that you shouldn't elevate anything to the level where it competes with the cross of Christ. The gospel is the most important thing in our lives and in eternity. Do not crowd out the importance of the gospel with yokes that "Christians" can place on each other. "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them" (Luke 11:46). Jesus rebukes when we place burdens on one another. So let us not elevate works to the level of the cross and impose on one another heavy yokes.
"We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved" (vs. 11). Ephesians 2 teaches us that one day we will be standing in heaven singing praises about the one who graciously saved us and brought us to eternal life. And it also says that no one will have any ground to boast. No one in heaven will say, "look at how I conducted myself on the earth. Wasn't I so good? I earned this!" No! Everyone will sing the praise of the lamb that slain. Everyone will marvel at his grace for eternity. "God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:6-9).
Do not try to add to the grace of Jesus Christ. It is sufficient. There is not a yoke that needs to be added to your faith in Christ. There is nothing left undone that you need to finish up to earn your salvation. Just Jesus Christ and him crucified. He is enough. He saves. We need to accomplish nothing else. Isn't that good news?
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