Acts 15:1-35
The Council at Jerusalem
1Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2This 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. 3The 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 brothers very glad. 4When 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.
5Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses."
6The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7After 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. 8God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10Now then, 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? 11No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."
12The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13When they finished, James spoke up: "Brothers, listen to me. 14Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. 15The 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,
17that the remnant of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things'
18that have been known for ages.
19"It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20Instead 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. 21For 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
22Then 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, two men who were leaders among the brothers. 23With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings. 24We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29You 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.
30The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. 31The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. 32Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers. 33After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. 35But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.
The old religion of God was Judaism...They had a high priest and a ruling council...Their council was called the Sanhedrin...Now after Jesus' death, we have a council of Christian leaders...The early disciples and elders were either organized, looked up to (as the early leadership), or just evolved into a council and would make rules for the early Christian churches and believers...The estimated time of this meeting and Council is around 50 a.d...This may have been the first meeting of the Council of Jerusalem (we are not told)...The disciples would be the natural leaders, because Jesus taught them for three years...They were the first to pass their teaching of Jesus, the good news on to others who had not seen Jesus in person...The gospel would be passed along from disciple to people like Barnabas, Paul, Judas (who was called Barsabbas), Silas, and John Mark and they would pass Jesus' teachings along orally and these teachings and sayings would get passed on to others and soon the Christian religion grew, and grew quickly...Those people in this Council and those attending would be of great importance to the early Christian churches and the Christian religion in its growth and spreading around the Roman Empire and the world...
James, brother of Jesus, was the spokesman of the early church...Peter speaks first in the meeting for the Council and then James speaks...It seems these were the two leaders of the Council from what we read in chapter fifteen... We can assume James was the early and was one of the first leaders of the Christian church...James being the brother of Jesus, and therefore knew Him all his life was an excellent spokesman for the Council at Jerusalem...Working with Peter and the Twelve disciples would have an excellent combination of knowing Jesus and His teachings...James quotes the prophet Amos and then gives advice on what the Gentiles should do in regards to the Law of Moses...
The purpose of this meeting of the Council at Jerusalem was the dispute of the older Judaism religion and Jesus' new covenants in the Church of Antioch...It seems Paul and Barnabas want some change for new Gentile converts, so the new religion can grow...The church of Antioch of Syria were the first church to be called Christians (Acts 11:26)...How much of the Law of Moses and early scripture traditions were to be followed?...Paul and Barnabas represented some change from Old Scripture to the New Christianity, when dealing with the new churches and Gentiles converting to Christianity...Paul and Barnabas taught less on the Law of Moses to the Gentiles...James and Peter as well as the others in the Council seemed to want to continue with following the Law of Moses, closer than Paul and Barnabas were teaching...Both sides want the teachings of Jesus to spread...James and the Council come up with four requirements for the new Gentile coverts...The Council, through James recommendation, writes these four requirements down and address the Christians in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia...In their letter they address Barnabas and Paul- as men who have risked their lives for the LORD...Early Christian persecution during this time was very much a common thing...They also address Judas and Silas to confirm these requirements by word of mouth (in addition to their written letter)...
The four requirements are:
1. Abstain from food sacrificed to animals...
2. Do not eat or drink blood of strangled animals...
3. Do not eat the meat of strangled animals...
4. Abstain from sexual immoralities...
Three of the four are food and dietary disagreements, the fourth is a sexual immorality...It may have been included, because when there was food sacrificed to idols, there may have been religious festivals and rituals that included food and sensual and sex activities during these events...The new religion were to exclude these four things and food remained a big controversy...Paul would write years later that food is not what gets us close to God...So food mixed with idols and idol worship does not make him or one sin...He felt he could eat that type of meat and not sin...Paul, as well as James were sympathetic to new Christian converts who did not know Christ or the Law of Moses, and did not want us to be unsympathetic to others liberal behavior that included eating idol food, while learning and finding Jesus...Paul teaches us to be sensitive to others and not let food issues get in the way of believing in Jesus, if possible (1 Corinthians 8:1-13)...Jewish tradition is long in kosher food and dietary restrictions...Paul was well versed in Scripture, as well as the LORD's Last Supper (1 Corinthians 10:14-22 and 1 Corinthians 11:17-34) and gives us much information on food and the LORD's Supper...He would have been a key player in the Council's meeting...
It seems we have disagreements on different things in religion and we need a body or council to help decide on our disputes...If these early Christians were divided over opinions about Jesus and they were there at the time of Jesus, we to must expect to have some disputes and arguments, in our thoughts and ideas on the Bible today...But these wise men stayed together...Jesus took Twelve ordinary men of fishermen and tax collector backgrounds, and one man He converted on the road to Damascus...He took this small Council at Jerusalem and had the entire Roman Empire one day and converted it to Christianity...One day He will have reached the ends of the earth...His Great Commission to His eleven disciples were to go and make disciples out of all nations (Matthew 28:19)...His disciples are close in having done just that...