Acts 15:1 Some men came down from Judea and taught the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised after the custom of Moses, you can’t be saved.” 2 Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small discord and discussion with them, they appointed Paul and Barnabas, and some others of them, to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. 3 They, being sent on their way by the assembly, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles. They caused great joy to all the brothers. 4 When they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the assembly and the apostles and the elders, and they reported everything that God had done with them.
At question, was it necessary to follow the requirements of the ceremonial law for salvation or was believing in the finished work of Christ alone sufficient for salvation? This was no small question. It resulted in much discussion and led to quite a bit of discord as Paul fought for the truth. Because the whole Gospel hinged on the answer to this question, this was not going to be solved on the local level. And because the solution to this dispute would affect the worldwide Church, the Church at Antioch commissioned Paul, Barnabas, and other elders to go to Jerusalem to consult with the apostles to resolve this question.
Throughout Church history, seemingly solid Christians, have nonetheless, taught false doctrines: the legalism of Acts 15, the antinomianism of Revelation 2:18-29, the Gnosticism discussed in 1 John, or the purchase of indulgences for salvation addressed by Luther in the 16th Century.
Can you identify any false teachings being brought into the Church today by otherwise faithful teachers?
Acts 15:5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to see about this matter. 7 When there had been much discussion, Peter rose up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that a good while ago God made a choice among you that by my mouth the nations should hear the word of the Good News and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, testified about them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just like he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.”
In Jerusalem the council of the apostles, elders, and other Church leaders met for debate. The Pharisees who were insisting that the ceremonial laws of the Old Covenant as revealed to Moses, and specifically, circumcision, was to be required of all male believers, were allowed to present their case.
Next, Peter spoke. He recounted how the uncircumcised Gentile converts had received the Holy Spirit just as the Jewish converts had received the Holy Spirit. They had been saved by faith just as they are, and not saved by faith plus the works of following the ceremonial law.
Agreeing with Peter, Barnabas and Paul reported how God had shown the Gentile nations signs and wonders, in reference to the prophesy of Joel.
Acts 15:12 All the multitude kept silence, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul reporting what signs and wonders God had done among the nations through them. 13 After they were silent, James answered, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has reported how God first visited the nations to take out of them a people for his name. 15 This agrees with the words of the prophets. As it is written,
16 ‘After these things I will return.
I will again build the tabernacle of David, which has fallen.
I will again build its ruins.
I will set it up 17 that the rest of men may seek after the Lord;
all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord, who does all these things.
All of God’s works are known from eternity.’ Amos 9:11-12
Next to speak was the brother of Christ, James the pastor of the Jerusalem Church. He reinforced the arguments of Peter, Paul, and Barnabas by quoting from the prophet Amos, who spoke of a time when the Gentile nations would call on the name of the Lord, pointing out that, through the Gospel preaching of Barnabas and Paul, that is exactly what was happening worldwide.
James concluded with three specific recommendations:
Acts 15:18 “Therefore my judgment is that we don’t trouble those from among the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but that we write to them that they abstain from the pollution of idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses from generations of old has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
The council came to an agreement, unity within the Church was preserved, and a letter was composed, to be carried to all of the newly planted Churches, explaining the matter.
The apostles worked hard to strengthen individual churches and to keep the Church together worldwide. Dealing with theological issues – hammering out the theology of the faith – is part of the ongoing work of Christ… There is no attempt to silence the dissenters, but to hear them out. Truth is always arrived at within the Christian movement when all parties have been heard and their views have been weighed in the balance with Scripture…
Christianity does not seek to stifle dissent, but to hear it, weigh it, and resolve it. What Christianity must not do is accommodate dissent – let each person have his or her own opinion about things, as if it doesn’t matter all that much what people believe. But in fact, it matters a great deal. And only when the entire Church’s understanding of Scripture has been consulted can we determine which of the dissenting views is to be embraced, and which denied. (T.M.Moore, ailbe.org, scriptorium Studies: Acts)
Acts 15:22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole assembly, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers. 23 They wrote these things by their hand:
“The apostles, the elders, and the brothers, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: greetings. 24 Because we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law,’ to whom we gave no commandment; 25 it seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose out men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves will also tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, it will be well with you. Farewell.”
30 So, when they were sent off, they came to Antioch. Having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. 31 When they had read it, they rejoiced over the encouragement. 32 Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers with many words and strengthened them. 33 After they had spent some time there, they were dismissed in peace from the brothers to the apostles. 34 35 But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
Believers worldwide were to abstain from:
- things sacrificed to idols:
Paul explains this in further detail in 1 Corinthians 8.
While it is not a sin, some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, they should not eat.
2. blood and from things strangled:
This is a reference to Genesis 9:4 and Leviticus 17:13-14. Ever since God gave permission to eat meat, mankind has been forbidden to eat blood. Additionally, people were forbidden to eat strangled animals because strangles animals had not been bled and still had their blood in them.
3. sexual immorality.
This goes back to the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:14. In a world of temple prostitution, homosexuality, and pedophilia, Christians were to follow God’s moral law, and not participate with the unbelievers in their moral anarchy. As Timothy would later teach, Christians were not to participate in the pride parades organized by the priestesses of Diana in the city of Ephesus. (John Foxe, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Bridge-Logos, 2001)
These final stipulations were in no way meant to imply that the Gentiles had to work to earn their salvation. Rather they were evidences of the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification in the lives of the new believers.
When the Church in Antioch heard the outcome of the Jerusalem conference they rejoiced, relieved, no doubt, that they didn’t have to get circumcised. And relieved that unity was preserved in the church.
The Church today would do well to learn from the Jerusalem council. Unfortunately, like the early Church leaders, we must recognize that even today there may also be divisive people within the Church, sometimes openly lobbying and sometimes secretly pushing their own unscriptural agenda. As David wrote in Psalm 11:2…
Look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
When leaders within the Church ignore the whole counsel of God, Acts 20:27, and secretly manipulate from the shadows pursuing their own agenda the Church becomes divided and weak. Divisive and unbiblical teaching must be addressed head on. Thankfully, after the Jerusalem Council’s debate, the false teachers of the circumcision accepted the teaching of the Scriptures and unity was preserved.
However, as Paul instructed Timothy, there will be times when those disrupting the unity of the Church refuse to be persuaded by God’s Word. In such cases:
Those elders who are sinning, you are to reprove before everyone, so that others may take warning. 1 Timothy 5:20
This means public censure and public repentance so that others may take warning. With disaster and division averted, and with the full integration of the Gentiles into the larger Christian community, Paul and Barnabas were ready to resume their ministry. Ever and always pastors, they decided to begin by retracing their steps to visit every city where they had established a church to strengthen and instruct them. Paul was anxious to see how each congregation was doing. However, as they prepared to set out on their second missionary journey, they had a disagreement so sharp that it broke up the band.
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