Acts 15:1-41
The Jerusalem Council
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 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’—
18 things known from long ago.
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] 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.
The Jerusalem Council, which took place in 49 AD, was a meeting of early Christian leaders who gathered to discuss the relationship between Jewish and Gentile Christians...The Council knew that there would be decisions that need to be made because of the different cultures in the world...The Council worked together to come to a consensus to welcome Gentiles to become followers of Jesus...The Council was trying to spread the Word of Jesus, knowing that He is all about being inclusive and their needed to be some things said or written that could bring us all together as followers of Christ...The Jerusalem Council believed it is through the Grace of our LORD Jesus that we are saved, just as they are and not having to go through the process of circumcision, a much debated topic during the meeting...The Council also said followers of Jesus were to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality...They said you will do well to avoid these things...The Council's decision that Gentile converts did not need to be circumcised in order to be saved, and these other topics were a watershed moment in the history of Christianity, and it paved the way for the rapid spread of the Gospel to the Gentile world...
What we might think was an easy decision (two thousand years later) for the Jerusalem Council was not easy and was much discussed...I might bet that some Council members disagreed with the final decisions...And as I read about the Lausanne Covenant, I thought about the difficult decisions that the Jerusalem Council had to make to get the Word of Jesus to the ends of the earth...The Jerusalem Council had to make difficult decisions then about bringing people together to get to know the Word and Teachings of Jesus, because each nation and groups of people are different and have different beliefs...
The Lausanne Covenant started when a committee of Christians got together in 1974...Billy Graham was a part of this committee...The committee worked together to put together a religious document that many Christians from over on hundred fifty nations and over two thousand evangelicals could follow...This group got together in Lausanne, Switzerland and wrote about the main basic beliefs of following Christianity and put them in a document...The Lausanne Covenant is deeply rooted from the Bible and in Jesus' Teachings and His Beliefs...
The Lausanne Covenant affirms the Gospel of Jesus Christ and asks and challenges Christians to work together to make Him known throughout the world...Working together is an important part of the Covenant...
The Authority of the Lausanne Covenant gives Authority to the Bible...The Bible is infallible as is the Word of God...The covenant asks that Christians obey the teachings of Jesus and the Bible...The Gospel of Jesus is the Good News that came to earth that was sent by our Father in Heaven, and much like the Great Commission this Covenant asks that Christians proclaim the Teachings, the Words, and the Acts of Jesus Christ...The message of the covenant is like St. Luke writes before Jesus ascended, when He said you Disciples will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of all the earth...In Jesus' message is the the Gospel, the Good News, and this Good News is for everyone...It is inclusive, not a dividing Teaching...God's Salvation is for all people...
The Covenant asks that we share our beliefs in Jesus with others, and recognizes the importance of each of us sharing the Teachings of Jesus as we work together talking about His Words and Deeds...
Followers of Jesus are to be concerned for the poor, the needy, the meek, and the oppressed...Followers of Jesus are to work together and not be self-centered (followers of Jesus are not on the end of a rope and pulling away from each other) but do as Jesus did in His Ministry and fulfill the Great Commission working together, hand in hand...His followers are all pulling in one direction...The Jesus Direction...The Way of the Truth and the Life...
The Lausanne Covenant has been translated into over two hundred languages and has been used by Christians around the world to help bring together Jesus' Teachings, Ideas, and Works...The Covenant is a landmark document in the history of evangelicalism, and continues to be a source of inspiration and guidance for Christians today, because Jesus is our Great Source of Inspiration and Divine Guidance in all that He did...