Acts 15:1, commentary and pictures

Certain men from Judea came down to Antioch and taught with great assurance that Gentile believers could not be saved unless they were circumcised after the manner of Moses and kept the entire ceremonial law. This happened after Paul and Barnabas had returned to the large and growing church at Antioch from the mission that church had sent them on and had told how God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. Their teaching brought consternation and contention among the believing Gentiles, which Paul and Barnabas promptly opposed as false doctrine rather than allow it to be imposed on the Gentiles. The Jerusalem council considered the question, yielded its prejudices, witnessed the Spirit's work among the Gentiles, and rejected the requirement, leaving Gentile converts free from the obligations of the ceremonial law. Christ's saving work embraces the whole world, so circumcision cannot be made a condition of salvation or church membership alongside faith in Christ, and to insist on it mingles Jewish traditions with the gospel, perverts the gospel, and lays an unnecessary burden on believers.

Setting of the Dispute

The setting was Antioch in Syria after Paul and Barnabas returned from the mission that church had sent them on, assembled the believers, and told all that God had done with them and how God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. The church at Antioch was large and growing, one of the most important groups of Christian believers and a center of missionary activity, with members of many classes from both Jews and Gentiles. At that time the apostles with ministers and lay members were united in earnest effort to win many souls to Christ.

Certain Jewish believers from Judea, of the sect of the Pharisees, came down to Antioch and taught with great assurance that except Gentile believers were circumcised after the manner or custom or law of Moses they could not be saved. They also insisted that the entire ceremonial law must be kept. By joining Jewish tradition to the gospel in this way they perverted the gospel and turned some people away from the truth.

This teaching brought consternation, alarm, confusion, discussion, contention and discord among the believing Gentiles. There was fear that continued discussion would produce division. Paul and Barnabas met the teaching with promptness as false doctrine and opposed introducing the subject to the Gentiles and imposing it on Gentile converts. Many of the believing Jews at Antioch favored the position of the brethren newly come from Judea.

Because the local believers could not agree and settle the matter among themselves, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas with responsible men to Jerusalem to lay the matter before the apostles and elders. They were to meet delegates from the different churches gathered there, for a final decision in general council to be universally accepted by the churches, with all controversy to cease until the decision was given. On the way to Jerusalem Paul and Barnabas visited believers in the cities through which they passed and encouraged them by relating their experience in God's work and the conversion of the Gentiles. At Jerusalem they reported the success of their ministry among the Gentiles and the confusion caused by the circumcision demand, which the delegates from Antioch also reported to the assembly there.

Behind the demand was Jewish exclusiveness, for some teachers treated Israel as uniquely entitled to Abraham's promises and Christ as Saviour of the Hebrews alone, and so made circumcision a condition of church membership and admission. Behind it was also attachment to Judaism, for Jewish Christians, especially those at Jerusalem, prized the privileges of their nation and the sacred status of Jewish customs. They believed Christianity had to retain Jewish ceremonies and customs and resisted the change from Jewish ceremonies and traditions to the Christian faith. Some therefore viewed Paul with anger and jealousy, believing his teaching made him lax about the Jewish law. It was the narrow restrictions of Judaism that Paul defended Christianity against at Jerusalem and at Antioch.

Behind the demand was also fear about Gentile morals, for Jewish Christians feared that Gentile converts would retain practices tied to idol worship, eating blood or meat from strangled animals, and sexual immorality, and would bring immorality and reproach on the church and bring Christianity into disrepute. They therefore regarded circumcision and observance of the ceremonial law as a test of sincere conversion and devotion to guard the church. By that test they intended to keep out those without true conversion who had not truly turned from pagan practices.

Truth Decided at Jerusalem

The question carried to Jerusalem was whether Gentile believers had to accept circumcision and keep the requirements of the Mosaic law, observing circumcision and other rites in order to be saved and accepted as saved. In council prejudice was yielded, the Spirit's witness to the gospel work among the Gentiles was recognized, agreement was given to Paul's position, and the requirement was rejected. By that rejection Gentiles were left free from the obligations of the ceremonial law, and the churches were freed from Jewish rites and ceremonies. Mosaic ordinances could still be observed by Jewish converts, but they were not to be imposed on Gentile converts. Christ's saving work embraces the whole world, so circumcision cannot be added alongside faith in Christ nor made a condition of church membership and admission to the church.

To insist on circumcision according to Jewish custom and the law of Moses as necessary for salvation imposed an unnecessary burden on Gentile believers. That insistence joined Jewish tradition to the gospel, mingled Jewish traditions with the gospel, perverted the gospel, and turned some away from the truth, and the same false urging to observe the ceremonial law continued despite the decision of the Jerusalem council. The demand confused the temporary ceremonial system with the gospel, for the sacrifices and rites had pointed forward to Christ and His death brought their purpose to its end. Those ceremonies would therefore cease, while the Ten Commandments continue to be kept in letter and spirit.

In deciding, the council made recommendations about certain customs to help unite the believers. It also commended Barnabas and Paul as trustworthy workers. It recognized Paul's divine commission to preach to the Gentiles and accepted him as a fellow worker of equal standing, and Paul complied with its decisions in his work among the Gentiles. That decision that Gentile converts were not required to keep the ceremonial law remained in force. Later advice for Paul to conform to the ceremonial law was inconsistent with it and was not prompted by the Holy Spirit but arose from fear of persecution, since nonconformity exposed Christians to hatred from unbelieving Jews and to accusation before the Sanhedrin that could lead to swift punishment as apostates.

Pattern for Church Unity

The dissension that arose in the local church at Antioch was over a matter the believers there were unable to agree upon and settle among themselves. It was not permitted to create a division in the church but was referred to a general council of the entire body of believers, made up of appointed delegates from the various local churches with the apostles and elders in positions of leading responsibility. This moving in concert and in harmony kept the scattered companies of believers as members of one body, moving forward solidly as a well-disciplined army. Satan's effort to attack the church in an isolated place was thus met by concerted action on the part of all, and his plans to disrupt and destroy were thwarted.

In that process the apostles and elders in Jerusalem served as counselors, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide the decision rather than settling the matter through mere church authority. Their report expressed agreement with the Holy Spirit, and the decision brought consolation and joy to Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. The account shows a way to address church disagreements that can bring lasting unity without leaders lording authority over the church.

The difference about circumcision was over whether admission to the church should be granted to uncircumcised Gentiles, and it was short-lived and soon settled. Apart from this brief exception and brief dispute, union prevailed after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, with believers all of one heart and one mind, unlike the differences now existing among Christians. Through the divine illumination and sanctification of the Spirit the believers were perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Such unity exists in proportion to illumination and sanctification, and is and always will be the fruit borne under the influence of the Holy Spirit.