READ | ACTS CHAPTER 15
The Council at Jerusalem
1 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14 Simon[a] has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
16 “‘After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’[b]—
18 things known from long ago.[c]
19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers
22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:
The apostles and elders, your brothers,
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell.
30 So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. 32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. [34] [d] 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.
Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas
36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
1 Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14 Simon[a] has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
16 “‘After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’[b]—
18 things known from long ago.[c]
19 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers
22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:
The apostles and elders, your brothers,
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell.
30 So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. 32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. [34] [d] 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.
Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas
36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
DEVOTIONAL
Have you ever gone for a hike in the woods? What about going for a hike in the woods… after a storm? The two are very different. Hiking after a storm is sure to bring a host of problems that might normally be avoided under ideal conditions. A tree may have fallen over the path. The trail may be washed out because of flooding. There might be a detour that takes you around the long way because of a rockslide. Whatever you encounter, it makes the already difficult hike that much more difficult with each added obstacle.
Chapter 15 of Acts tells us of another storm looming on the horizon. It tells the story of the first council of the early church. A church council was a gathering of church leaders called together to discuss critical issues of doctrine which would greatly impact all areas of the church. There would be many more significant councils of the early church and even today, but this first council was the most important because it really determined what the Christian Church would become. The main issue of this first council was what some church leaders saw as the problem of gentiles becoming Christians. Up until recent years, the early church was made up entirely of Jews, and only recently had droves of gentiles, Greek and Roman mostly, had turned to faith in Jesus. The question at hand was if gentiles who became followers of Jesus also needed to convert to Judaism.
What must I do to be saved? This was essentially the question being asked and debated. People from one side of the argument, known as Judaizers, would say that a person coming to faith in Christ needed to also become Jewish, be circumcised, and submit to a whole host of Jewish laws, customs and festivals. The other side of the argument said these things were not necessary, only faith in Jesus was needed. At first read, it may not seem like that big of a deal and only a minor squabble, but this council was far more important than the casual reader would think. Salvation itself was on trial; a works-based salvation versus a faith-based salvation. If the council had determined it was now required for gentiles to convert to Judaism in order to become Christians, it would have severely hampered the growth of the early church and had major implications for all of history. The church was once again under attack, just as it has always been. We’ve already seen the oppositional tactics to the expansion of the local church of fear, intimidation and pain. We’ve also seen the tactic of suffering and death. We’ve even seen the tactic of tempting the apostles of God with praise, riches and honor. But now, we see a brand-new tactic of introducing a works-based religiosity into Christianity under the guise of exclusivity and Jewish cultural pride. This was not a matter where there could be disagreement among believers, with some believing you must submit under Jewish law, and some believing it wasn’t important or necessary. This was an issue that went to the core of Christianity, and it had to be resolved. We can just imagine how Satan wanted to take advantage of this situation. First, he wanted the false doctrine of righteousness by works to succeed. But even if it didn’t, Satan wanted a costly, bitter doctrinal war to completely split and sour the church. A church turned inward through in-fighting and theological disputes is a church that is not spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth. This debate may be the greatest threat to the work of the gospel yet seen in the book of Acts.
Thank God for strong Christian leaders who stood up to it. Peter shared his testimony of how his mind had been changed by God on this subject. Paul and Barnabus were brought in as expert witnesses to testify to the spread of the gospel to the gentile world. Paul’s argument was that since these gentiles were being healed, delivered and filled with the spirit without first converting to Judaism, then in Gods eyes, the circumcision and conversion were not necessary. This was a convincing argument and hard to debate against, but Paul’s view did not have the authority that it did in Jerusalem as in the churches he had planted. The main figure of authority in the room besides Peter was James, the brother of Jesus. In the fifteen years which had now passed since the resurrection of Jesus, James had become a strong believer and was seen as having great influence in the early church. James, who also wrote the book of James, was a wise and no-nonsense kind of leader. He stood in front of the council after pondering both sides of the argument and said something like this: Why are we making it harder and creating more obstacles for people to come to Jesus? Shouldn’t we help people come to Christ by eliminating unnecessary obstacles? People already have enough reasons not to give their lives to Jesus: guilt, shame, fear, pride. Is it wise for us to heap on additional barriers? It is my judgment therefore that we should not make it more difficult for gentiles who are turning to God.
Chapter 15 of Acts tells us of another storm looming on the horizon. It tells the story of the first council of the early church. A church council was a gathering of church leaders called together to discuss critical issues of doctrine which would greatly impact all areas of the church. There would be many more significant councils of the early church and even today, but this first council was the most important because it really determined what the Christian Church would become. The main issue of this first council was what some church leaders saw as the problem of gentiles becoming Christians. Up until recent years, the early church was made up entirely of Jews, and only recently had droves of gentiles, Greek and Roman mostly, had turned to faith in Jesus. The question at hand was if gentiles who became followers of Jesus also needed to convert to Judaism.
What must I do to be saved? This was essentially the question being asked and debated. People from one side of the argument, known as Judaizers, would say that a person coming to faith in Christ needed to also become Jewish, be circumcised, and submit to a whole host of Jewish laws, customs and festivals. The other side of the argument said these things were not necessary, only faith in Jesus was needed. At first read, it may not seem like that big of a deal and only a minor squabble, but this council was far more important than the casual reader would think. Salvation itself was on trial; a works-based salvation versus a faith-based salvation. If the council had determined it was now required for gentiles to convert to Judaism in order to become Christians, it would have severely hampered the growth of the early church and had major implications for all of history. The church was once again under attack, just as it has always been. We’ve already seen the oppositional tactics to the expansion of the local church of fear, intimidation and pain. We’ve also seen the tactic of suffering and death. We’ve even seen the tactic of tempting the apostles of God with praise, riches and honor. But now, we see a brand-new tactic of introducing a works-based religiosity into Christianity under the guise of exclusivity and Jewish cultural pride. This was not a matter where there could be disagreement among believers, with some believing you must submit under Jewish law, and some believing it wasn’t important or necessary. This was an issue that went to the core of Christianity, and it had to be resolved. We can just imagine how Satan wanted to take advantage of this situation. First, he wanted the false doctrine of righteousness by works to succeed. But even if it didn’t, Satan wanted a costly, bitter doctrinal war to completely split and sour the church. A church turned inward through in-fighting and theological disputes is a church that is not spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth. This debate may be the greatest threat to the work of the gospel yet seen in the book of Acts.
Thank God for strong Christian leaders who stood up to it. Peter shared his testimony of how his mind had been changed by God on this subject. Paul and Barnabus were brought in as expert witnesses to testify to the spread of the gospel to the gentile world. Paul’s argument was that since these gentiles were being healed, delivered and filled with the spirit without first converting to Judaism, then in Gods eyes, the circumcision and conversion were not necessary. This was a convincing argument and hard to debate against, but Paul’s view did not have the authority that it did in Jerusalem as in the churches he had planted. The main figure of authority in the room besides Peter was James, the brother of Jesus. In the fifteen years which had now passed since the resurrection of Jesus, James had become a strong believer and was seen as having great influence in the early church. James, who also wrote the book of James, was a wise and no-nonsense kind of leader. He stood in front of the council after pondering both sides of the argument and said something like this: Why are we making it harder and creating more obstacles for people to come to Jesus? Shouldn’t we help people come to Christ by eliminating unnecessary obstacles? People already have enough reasons not to give their lives to Jesus: guilt, shame, fear, pride. Is it wise for us to heap on additional barriers? It is my judgment therefore that we should not make it more difficult for gentiles who are turning to God.
