Acts 15:23, commentary and pictures

The verse is the written greeting in which the apostles and elders and brethren send the council's decision to the Gentile Christians in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. It belongs to the dispute in which certain Jewish believers from Judea, of the sect of the Pharisees, insisted with great assurance that Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the ceremonial law and law of Moses in order to be saved. The decision so sent was that Gentile converts were not required to be circumcised or to observe the Jewish ceremonial law in order to be admitted to the church. They were asked to keep away from food offered to idols, blood, meat from strangled animals, and sexual immorality, and to keep God's commandments and live holy lives. The decree was framed by the apostles and elders as counselors acting with enlightened judgment under the Holy Spirit's guidance, who had already settled the question by giving the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles, and its message brought consolation and joy and helped unite believers.

Setting and Addressees

The greeting belongs to a dispute over circumcision and the law of Moses that the apostles and elders took up as counselors rather than by commanding the church. At Antioch certain Jewish believers from Judea, of the sect of the Pharisees, asserted with great assurance that in order to be saved one must be circumcised and must keep the entire ceremonial law and the law of Moses. That claim brought consternation to the believing Gentiles, while Paul and Barnabas promptly met this false doctrine and opposed introducing it to the Gentiles. Many of the believing Jews of Antioch favored the position of the brethren from Judea.

Jewish Christians who remained zealous for the ceremonial law resisted the church's departure from Jewish traditions. This was especially true of those shaped by Jerusalem's exclusiveness and attachment to Jewish privileges, who were not ready to accept the council's decision on whether Gentile converts were bound by Jewish ceremonial customs. Some blamed Paul, believing his principles about the law were lax and viewing him as too lax toward the Jewish law.

The letter is addressed to the Gentile believers in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. Antioch in Syria was the place from which Paul and Barnabas had been sent forth on their mission and to which they returned to assemble the believers. The church at Antioch was large and growing, a center of missionary activity and one of the most important groups of Christian believers. Its membership was made up of many classes of people from among both Jews and Gentiles.

The decision was sent as a written greeting from the apostles and elders and brethren to those Gentile Christians in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. In this the apostles, elders, and brethren acted together in the church's organized work. Their joint greeting illustrates New Testament church order as a means of unity.

Council Decision and Process

The council decided that Gentile converts were not required to undergo circumcision or observe the Jewish ceremonial law, rejecting the claim that Gentiles had to become Jews in order to be admitted to the church and share the privileges of Christ's church. That decision remained in force, and James affirmed it when Paul came to Jerusalem, while the later advice that Paul conform to ceremonial practices did not agree with the council's decision and was not prompted by the Holy Spirit. The decision recognized Paul's divine commission to preach to the Gentiles and affirmed his standing as a fellow worker with the other apostles, though false teachers later disregarded it.

What was required of Gentile believers was to keep away from food offered to idols, blood, meat from strangled animals, and sexual immorality, and to keep God's commandments and live holy lives. That ruling remained in force. Its guidance was intended to avoid needless conflict with Jewish believers, and it carried the council's authority.

Jewish converts could observe the Mosaic ordinances if they chose, but those ordinances were not to be imposed on Gentiles or made binding on Gentile Christians. The decree was framed and issued by the apostles and elders, leaders of influence and judgment, rather than decided by a vote of the entire Christian body, and it was generally accepted by the churches. The apostles, elders, and brethren acted together in the church's organized work in sending the greeting to Gentile believers in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.

They addressed the churches as counselors rather than by commanding, acting through enlightened judgment with grace, wisdom, and sound judgment. They recognized that God had already shown His decision by giving the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles and they followed the Spirit's guidance, without claiming infallibility. Their action illustrates New Testament church order as a means of unity, supporting that leaders are advisers and helpers, not rulers with authority to command, yet it expressed the church's authorized judgment and carried the council's authority. The Spirit's witness led the council to set aside prejudice and yield its prejudices and to affirm Paul's work among the Gentiles and his position, sending the churches an address expressing harmony with him. The Holy Spirit had already settled the question, the decision recognized Paul's divine commission to preach to the Gentiles and was part of his defense of Christianity against the narrow restrictions of Judaism at Jerusalem and at Antioch, and the decision was essential to the Christian church's continued prosperity and existence.

Reception Unity and Witness

The decision opened the way for the Holy Spirit to lead the church, and the written greeting sent to Antioch and Syria and Cilicia brought consolation and joy to the Gentile believers there. Its recommendations concerning certain rites and customs, including circumcision, together with its united commendation of trustworthy workers, served to bind believers together. In that commendation the council united in upholding Barnabas and Paul as trustworthy workers. That action recognized Paul's divine commission to preach to the Gentiles and affirmed his standing as a fellow worker with the other apostles. That authority was acknowledged in his ministry among the Gentiles, and he complied with its decisions.

The settlement did not end opposition, for the earlier agreement did not end the conflict and the same prejudices had to be faced again. Some ambitious and self-confident believers took it upon themselves to challenge the work of the leaders, although the decree had been framed and issued by the apostles and elders and generally accepted by the churches without a vote of the whole body of Christians. Others who remained zealous for the ceremonial law resented the change from Jewish customs and regarded Paul as too lax, while false brethren challenged the experienced teachers appointed by God. The council acted through enlightened judgment, recognizing that God had already shown His decision by giving the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles and following the Spirit's guidance without claiming infallibility, and its letter expressed the church's authorized judgment in the written greeting to the Gentile Christians in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. Its rejection of the demand that Gentile believers observe the ceremonial law was later disregarded by false teachers. Jewish Christians zealous for the ceremonial law resisted departure from Jewish traditions and blamed Paul as lax in his principles about the law, placing the decision amid dispute between Jewish and Gentile believers.

That ruling remained in force, requiring abstinence from food offered to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality, without requiring observance of the Jewish ceremonial law. James affirmed it when Paul came to Jerusalem, yet the later advice that Paul conform to ceremonial practices in order to quiet opposition did not agree with it and was not prompted by the Holy Spirit. Peter had received the decision as light from heaven and at first acted in keeping with it by eating with Gentile converts, but afterward withdrew when Jewish visitors arrived, causing harm and division in the church.

The difference of understanding over circumcision, whether admission to the church should be granted to uncircumcised Gentiles, was short-lived and soon settled. After the resurrection and ascension union had prevailed and believers were all of one heart and one mind. Through divine illumination and sanctification of the Spirit they were perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment, believing and speaking the same things. This unity and peace and harmony exists only in proportion to illumination and sanctification, and is and always will be the fruit borne under the influence of the Holy Spirit.