Acts 15 - The First Church Council Meeting!

 Acts 15 - NIV

The Council at Jerusalem

15 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.”

The church has had a history of division and dissension. Though the church is the body of Christ, it is made up of fallible human beings. Besides the devil loves to sow seeds of discord in the church. If he can get people fighting in the church, they will distracted away from the mission to win people for Christ. 

In this case certain Jews, who were called Judaizers, came down from the mountain of Jerusalem to the plains of Antioch and told the Gentile believers they needed to be circumcised according to the Law of Moses. Paul and Barnabas were not buying it. Though they recognized the value of circumcision for those born of the covenant of Abraham, which required circumcision, Jesus came to bring a new covenant. A new covenant which was a circumcision of the heart. 

The gospel was at stake, because if Paul and Barnabas would have let this slide, the gospel would soon slide into works righteousness. So the church sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to deal with this problem. As they traveled through other towns, they shared with great pride how many Gentiles had come to faith in Jesus. When they got to Jerusalem, the majority of the church welcomed them and shared in their excitement. 

But there was a group of legalists, as there usually is in every church, who insisted the Gentiles must be circumcised under the law of Moses. They were advocating a gospel which was grace plus works. This was a turning point in the early church. Which way would they turn? To the Law or to the Gospel!

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.” 

Peter and Paul were the two main apostolic leaders of the church. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, and Peter oversaw the mainly Jewish church in Jerusalem. If they would not have agreed on this matter, it would have caused a major rift in the church. Peter got up to speak and all eyes were on him. 

Peter reminded them that when he preached to the Gentiles, many of them came to faith in Jesus. How did they know? They received the Holy Spirit and started speaking in tongues, just as the apostles had on the day of Pentecost. Importantly their hearts were "purified" by faith, not works! So he asked these legalistic Jews why then should they place a heavy burden on the backs of these Gentiles, when God had clearly received them by faith in Jesus. 

Peter reiterated the gospel very clearly when he said, "No! We believe it is by the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." 

We often credit Paul with the teaching of justification by grace through faith in Jesus, but we see here Peter taught the exact same thing. And we need to continue to preach the pure gospel until Jesus returns. It is only by preaching the simple and true gospel of Jesus that one can be saved. 

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 whole church gathered to hear Paul and Barnabas tell of their experience on the mission field. This time James, the brother of Jesus, got up to address the brothers. He used Peter's Jewish name, "Simon" perhaps to emphasize his Jewish heritage. James reminded them from the Old Testament where it said the house of David would be rebuilt, and it would include all of mankind (Jews and Gentiles).

This is such an important point to remember. The point of God choosing the Israelites was so that he might reveal his purpose to all people. The Jews were chosen to bring in a Messiah who would be a Savior for all people. God has also said to Abraham, "I will bless you and make your name great that you will be a blessing to all nations." Genesis 12:2

James did not ask them to be circumcised, but he did ask that they they abstain from sexual immorality. The second request is understandable, but what about the first one and last one? I.e. abstaining from food polluted by idols and from meat and blood of strangled animals. The Jewish food and purity laws created those who had a sensitive conscience. They felt they were disobeying God by eating food which was tainted in this way, Therefore, to keep it from being a stumbling block to them, he asked the Gentiles to refrain from eating this kind of meat. Paul did the exact same thing in Corinthians when he said, 

"Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall." 1 Corinthians 8:13

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.

The church formalized their verdict on the issue by sending a letter to the Gentiles. They sent it by way of Barsabbas and Judas who joined Paul and Barnabas. The Gentiles already knew Paul and Barnabas, as they had led them to faith, but Judas and Silas were men from the church in Jerusalem who came to communicate the statement from the church. They admitted that the group who came from the church were not authorized by the church. 

We can see the church starting to act as an authoritative body with the elders and apostles leading the people. It was as Jesus said to Peter, "You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it!"

God has given authority to the church to make decisions to protect the church from division like this, and in particular false teaching. In this instance the church leadership relied on the gospel of grace that had been given to them. 

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.

We often think of prophets as those who predict the future with a word from the Lord. But prophets were also similar to teachers. Whereas teachers spent more time explaining the Word of God, especially as it related to Jesus' fulfillment of the Old Testament law, prophets usually spent time exhorting the people as to how they should be living their lives. Prophets also encouraged and strengthened people because they were "mouthpieces for God". The Greek word "prophetes" has the connotation of being a "spokesperson" or "amabassador" on behalf of someone. In this case the prophets in the early church spoke for God.

You see many different people were involved in speaking on God's behalf. It wasn't just limited the apostle Peter or Paul. The passage ends by saying, "many others taught and preached the word of God!",

In most churches today it is usually one or two persons doing the preaching and teaching in a worship service, but others can lead in bible studies and small groups. 

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.

Again we see the leadership in the first church was not always on the same page. Paul was very disappointed in John Mark when he seemingly deserted them on a previous trip. But Barnabas wanted to give John Mark a second chance. Barnabas and Paul differed so much on the issue they ended up splitting apart. One wonders if this had a positive affect because the end result was two teams being sent out?