Stop Adding to the Gospel: What the Early Church Got Right

Sometimes the most dangerous thing in church isn’t outright heresy—it’s addition.

That’s what Acts 15 is all about.

As Paul and Barnabas returned from their first missionary journey, celebrating all that God had done among the Gentiles, a new controversy threatened to derail the joy and unity of the early church. A group from Judea showed up in Antioch with a different message: belief in Jesus was great—but not enough. If Gentile believers really wanted to be saved, they had to be circumcised and follow the law of Moses.

Suddenly, the party was over. Grace was being challenged. And the church needed answers about the heart of the gospel.

Acts 15 records what might be the most important business meeting in church history: The Jerusalem Council. The stakes couldn’t be higher. The apostles and leaders of the early church come together to answer one key question: Is salvation really by grace through faith? Or, is it grace plus something else? Circumcision? Law-keeping? Performance? The early church had to answer this question not just for the moment, but for the entire future of Christianity.

How did they figure out the solution?

Peter stood up and reminded everyone what had already happened: God had saved the Gentiles through faith alone. The Holy Spirit had been poured out on them—no circumcision required. And then Peter dropped the hammer: “Why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?” (v.10)

That’s the essence of legalism: asking others to carry what we’ve never been able to carry ourselves.

Peter makes it plain: “We believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (v.11) No fine print. No footnotes. Just Jesus. The Jerusalem Council made clear that Jews and Gentiles are all saved the same way. Everyone—Jew or Gentile, slave or free, rich or poor—is saved by Jesus.

At the end of Acts 15, the church sends a letter of encouragement to the Gentile believers in Antioch. The message is clear: you’re saved by grace through faith. Nothing more is needed. But as a way to foster unity, they ask the Gentiles to be sensitive to their Jewish brothers and sisters by abstaining from a few culturally charged practices. Not for salvation—just for love.

It was a beautiful moment of gospel clarity and gospel unity. And we still preach the same message today.

Don’t add a single thing to the gospel.