Acts 15

For so many centuries, the organized worship of the Lord had been almost exclusively a Jewish enterprise. The Jews were given circumcision, the temple, the festivals, and especially the oracles of God contained in the Hebrew Scriptures. The idea that people could now worship Yahweh without being Jewish was a very radical idea for many people. Some were so passionate about this issue that their response to Paul’s mission to the Gentiles was to go directly to the churches that had been planted in Syria with the hope of convincing them to be circumcised. They presented this as the only way of salvation.

This was a matter that Paul and Barnabas were completely unwilling to concede, a fact that cannot surprise us the more we understand about the closing of the age of the Law in the death of the Messiah. To insist on circumcision and the keeping of the Law of Moses was a significant error, one which minimized the work of Christ and the coming of the new age of resurrection. The church considered this a matter that could not be ignored. They determined to send Paul and Barnabas and some others to the church in Jerusalem, probably because those who were insisting on circumcision were presenting themselves as having been sent out by that church. Meanwhile, as they travelled toward their destination, and even when they arrived there, all of the believers rejoiced in the full report of what God was doing among the Gentiles. Nonetheless, some of the Pharisees in Jerusalem who were now believers continued to insist that Gentiles should be instructed to become Jewish Christians.

There was much debate, followed by three important speeches that seemed to persuade the assembled apostles and elders. The first of these speeches was from Peter, who recounted what God had done some time before this in the matter of Cornelius. By giving the gift of the Holy Spirit to Gentiles, the Lord had authenticated that they could be true worshipers of God. Peter also made the case that neither the Jews of their day nor their forefathers had been able to keep the Law, and that the way of salvation for everyone could only be by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was immediately followed by the second speech, where Barnabas and Paul recounted the signs and wonders that God had performed among them, further attesting to the ministry and message of these men.

The final word was spoken through James, building on what Peter had said, but now making something of a closing argument based on the words of the Old Testament prophet Amos. The passage quoted is about God rebuilding the tent of David, which must be a reference to the coming of Jesus as the Davidic King, and perhaps more specifically to the resurrection of His body, since it was in the body of the Lord Jesus that God tented among us, and this one great Tabernacle of the Holy Spirit was restored to life. It is through this one Man, and through His death and resurrection, that the “remnant of mankind,” those “Gentiles who are called by My Name,” would seek the Lord. The point here is that it was known to God from of old that Gentiles would be called by His Name, not that Gentiles would become Jews, and then would be called by His Name. Despite all this, which settled the issue that the Gentiles do not need to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses, James argued that there were certain things that Gentiles should be taught to abstain from (things associated with idolatry, sexual immorality, strangled animals, and blood) with this reason given: the almost universal reading of Moses in the synagogues which would have apparently made certain practices offensive to many.

This was put in the form of a letter from the apostles and elders in the church in Jerusalem to the Gentile brothers in the Lord in Antioch in Syria, and a nearby city, Cilicia. Certain points were forcefully made in that letter. First, those who brought the message to Antioch claiming to be sent out from the Jerusalem church had not in fact done this based on the instruction of the church. Second, Barnabas and Paul were affirmed as men who had “risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.” These men, together with two respected men of the church, Judas and Silas, brought the advice of the Jerusalem church that “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit” and to them, that no requirement of circumcision and complete dedication to the Law of Moses was warranted for these Gentiles, but that they should abstain from certain behaviors offensive to many Jews, behaviors particularly associated with pagan idolatry.

This was well received by the church in Antioch, and the ministry of the two men from Jerusalem was also appreciated. Acts 15 closes with a disagreement between Barnabas and Paul regarding their next mission, with the result that two teams head off in different directions rather than just one. Through all of these missionary enterprises, it is the Lord that is our focus, and not the opinions or peculiarities of men, those these things are a part of our present experience in the church. We should keep this in mind: Our teaching and preaching is the teaching and preaching of the Lord. The Word that is proclaimed is the Word of the Lord. The strength and encouragement that true ambassadors of Christ impart is the grace of the Lord. Though challenges might continue to come for many decades, this careful consideration of Gentile conversion is a milestone in the history of the church. The church could never again credibly deny this fact: Christ shed His blood not only for the salvation of the circumcised, but for the salvation of even elect Gentiles throughout the earth.