Acts 15
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.”
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 Godby 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 wondersGod 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 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 livesfor 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] [d] 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 Silasand left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 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.
Acts 15:19-20
Something we don’t think about much is how Jewish the Early Church was. Of course, every Christian knows that Jesus was a Jew and that the early Christians considered themselves to be Jewish and not a separate religion. The early persecution of the Church was not between Jews and Christians but Jews and Messianic Jews. Christianity was very Jewish and sometimes I wonder whether we are no longer Jewish enough.
The idea was that God had opened up his holy people wider and that he was now inviting Gentiles to become part of the nation of Israel. They would live as part of his kingdom on earth and would follow the Torah (The Jewish Law) and the way of Jesus. The ceremonial laws were considered to be obsolete because Jesus had fulfilled them once and for all. So, Paul and Barnabus preached the Gospel, told people about Jesus and invited them into the Church.
However, quickly people started to suggest that in order to be proper Jews they would need to be circumcised. This would identify them as children of Abraham and a part of the promise:
I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you
Genesis 12:2-3
As you may imagine, the new converts were not so excited about the idea of adult circumcision and a huge debate raged. Eventually it was decided that circumcision would remain for Abraham’s true descendants and his adopted children would not need to have the procedure (thank you Jesus!). However, they would still need to be a holy people, circumcised in their hearts - this was the fundamental identity of Israel. To do this they would need to ‘abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.’
Let’s look at the list:
- Food to idols
In the Greco-Roman world, meat was often dedicated to idols before being sold in the market or served at banquets. Participating in idol feasts was a normal part of social life. The Council wasn’t necessarily outlawing all meat that had ever been near an idol (Paul later nuances this in 1 Corinthians 8–10), but it was calling Gentile believers to avoid practices that would look like idolatrous worship. Value: Holiness - avoid anything that is related to false worship.
- Sexuality
Porneia is often used in the New Testament to refer broadly to any sexual activity outside of the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (e.g., Matthew 15:19; 1 Thessalonians 4:3–5; 1 Corinthians 6:18). The Council were reinforcing that God has a design for our closest relationships and foundations of family. Value: Purity - sexuality is beautiful but protected within a marriage.
- Blood
The Old Testament repeatedly commands that blood should not be eaten because “the life of the body is in its blood” (Leviticus 17:10–14, NLT). Blood was sacred — used for atonement in the sacrificial system — and consuming it was strictly forbidden for both Israelites and “the foreigners living among them.” While the sacrificial system was obsolete, the importance of blood was still fundamental to them. By abstaining from consuming blood, Gentile believers were honouring God’s view of life and sacrifice and respecting Jewish dietary sensitivities. Value: Life - honour God’s value of life in all its forms.
What was the result? The Gentiles were to change the way that they engaged with their appetites and start living in a new way. These practices would have made it much harder to buy meat and would have made them appear odd (even strict?) to the society around them in the way that they approached their relationships. They were being invited into a nation and were to become part of a holy people, living as foreigners in the world.
