Acts 15

1. Then some men came to Antioch from Judea. They began teaching the non–Jewish brothers: “You cannot be saved if you are not circumcised. Moses taught us to do this.”

This teaching comes from an evil lying spirit! It questions God as the devil did in the garden, “Did God really say that Jesus was all you need?” First of all, we build what we believe on the Words of our Lord Jesus (1 Timothy 6:3) and He would have told us this if it was true!

These Jewish believers said that Jesus was the Messiah, but that His death was not enough. There are churches today who say that you need Jesus AND something else to be saved OR to be as good a Christian as they are.

Some teachers say that Paul wrote the book of Galatians to these churches as soon as he left the area and heard about what these men were teaching.

Here is what he wrote: I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to Himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Gospel. Galatians 1:6

2. Paul and Barnabas were against this teaching and argued with the men about it. So the group decided to send Paul, Barnabas, and some other men to Jerusalem. There they could talk more about this with the apostles and elders.

Some teachers say that this could have been the argument that Paul talked about in Galatians 2:11.

3 – 5

The church helped the men leave on the trip. They went through the countries of Phoenicia and Samaria, telling all about how the non-Jewish people had turned to God. This made all the believers very happy.

When they arrived in Jerusalem, the apostles, the elders, and the church welcomed them. Paul, Barnabas, and the others told about all the things that God had done with them.

But some of the believers who had belonged to the Pharisee group came forward. They said, “The non-Jewish believers must be circumcised. We must tell them to obey the law of Moses!”

This is an example of Christians trying to control other Christians. The way it works is that they think they know something that nobody else knows and they have a need in their life to be looked up to by other people.

They will come into your church and if they do not get the attention that they are looking for they will look for a way to make trouble. Jesus said that we are supposed to wash each other’s feet. We are supposed to lay down our lives for each other.

When you meet these kind of people in the church do not argue with them. Give them a soft answer and invite them to go with you to share the Gospel. They are not interested in serving others and they will soon leave. Here was Paul’s answer:
Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I will say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. Galatians 5:2–3

6 – 7

The apostles and the elders met together to study this problem. There was a long debate. Then Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know what happened in the early days. God chose me from among you to preach the Gospel to the non-Jewish people. They heard the Gospel from me, and they believed.

Peter never said anything to Cornelius about circumcision, so he must not have been sure about this in his mind. See Acts 10:44.

8 – 11

God, who knows the thoughts of all men, accepted them. He showed this to us by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. To God, those people are not different from us. When they believed, he made their hearts pure.

So now why are you testing God? You are putting a heavy load around the necks of the non-Jewish brothers. It is a load that neither we nor our fathers were able to carry. But we believe that we and they too will be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus!”

Some teachers say that Peter visited Antioch shortly before this council meeting. If that is true then Peter must have changed his mind and remembered the things that Paul said to him.

I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions? Galatians 2:14

They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. Matthew 23:4

12. Then the whole group became quiet. They listened to Paul and Barnabas speak. Paul and Barnabas told about all the miracles and signs that God did through them among the non–Jewish people.

The ones who did not agree stayed quiet but later they followed Paul everywhere and make trouble in the churches.

13 – 15

After they finished speaking, James spoke. He said, “Brothers, listen to me. Simon has told us how God showed His love for the non-Jewish people. For the first time He has accepted them and made them His people. The words of the prophets agree with this also:

At this time James, the brother of Jesus, was seen as the leader of the church of Jerusalem.

16 – 18

After these things I will return. The kingdom of David is like a fallen tent. But I will rebuild it. And I will again build its ruins. And I will set it up. Then those people who are left alive may ask the Lord for help.

And all people from other nations may worship Me, says the Lord. And He will make it happen. And these things have been known for a long time.’

James sees Amos showing that people who are not Jewish will be saved and that Jesus will make it happen. See Amos 9:11–12

19 – 21

So I think we should stop making trouble for the non-Jewish brothers who have turned to God. Instead, we should write a letter to them. We should tell them these things: Do not eat food that has been offered to idols. (This makes the food unclean.) Do not take part in any kind of sexual sin. Do not taste blood. Do not eat animals that have been strangled.

They should not do these things, because there are still men in every city who teach the law of Moses. For a long time the words of Moses have been read in the synagogue every Sabbath day.”

James is saying, “Do not worry because the non-Jews will hear the law every time they go to church!” If you see that somebody needs to know something. Give God a chance to show it to them. You do not like to be pushed so do not push others.

22. The apostles, the elders, and the whole church decided to send some of their men with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. They chose Judas Barsabbas and Silas, who were respected by the believers.

The early Christians were accused of drinking blood because people do not understand what the Lord’s supper meant. Men who wrote about those days, said that there was no way Christians could drink blood because of what it said in this letter.

23 – 29

They sent the following letter with them:
From the apostles and elders, your brothers.

To all the non-Jewish brothers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Dear Brothers,
We have heard that some of our men have come to you and said things that trouble and upset you. But we did not tell them to do this! We have all agreed to choose some men and send them to you.

They will be with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul—men who have given their lives to serve our Lord Jesus Christ. So we have sent Judas and Silas with them. They will tell you the same things. It has pleased the Holy Spirit that you should not have a heavy load to carry, and we agree. You need to do only these things: Do not eat any food that has been offered to idols.

Do not taste blood. Do not eat any animals that have been strangled. Do not take part in any kind of sexual sin. If you stay away from these things, you will do well. Goodbye.

The letter was not sent as a command but with the idea of not offending other Christians by the way we live and use your common sense. Paul was able to use this letter to show the churches not to listen to the men who were telling them to keep the Law. He also could show that he had the blessing of the church of Jerusalem and was not working on his own. He explained more details about these things in some of his letters. 1 Corinthians 8:4, Romans 14

30 – 34

So the men left Jerusalem and went to Antioch. There they gathered the church and gave them the letter. When they read it, they were very happy because of the encouraging letter.

Judas and Silas were also prophets, who said many things to encourage the believers and make them stronger. After some time Judas and Silas were sent off in peace by the believers. They went back to those who had sent them. But Silas decided to remain there.

Remember that the churches were full of new believers and they did not know how to answer the men who were confusing them. Now they had something to answer them with and it was not just coming from Paul. Judas and Silas could tell the churches that they were witnesses of the Council meeting and the writing of the letter.

35 – 36

But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch. They and many others preached the Good News and taught the people the message of the Lord.

After some time, Paul said to Barnabas, “We preached the message of the Lord in many towns. We should go back to all those towns to visit the believers and see how they are doing.”

We think of men like Paul as being so far above the rest of us, that he would never do something foolish. It is no accident that the first time they went out it was by the direction of the Holy Spirit. This time it was their own idea and trouble was going to follow.

37 – 41

Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them too. But John Mark had left them at Pamphylia; he did not continue with them in the work. So Paul did not think it was a good idea to take him.

Paul and Barnabas had a serious argument about this. They separated and went different ways. Barnabas sailed to Cyprus and took Mark with him.

But Paul chose Silas and left. The believers in Antioch put Paul into the Lord’s care. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, giving strength to the churches.

This is not the first time that Paul has lost control of his temper. Barnabas used his gift of encouragement to rebuild Mark. He did a good job because later we see that Paul decided to forget about the argument. Colossians 4:10, 2 Timothy 4:11