Acts 15:29, commentary and pictures

The Jerusalem decision freed Gentile believers from circumcision and from keeping the ceremonial law as a condition of salvation, requiring instead that they keep themselves from food offered to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals, and from fornication, with the promise that in doing so they would do well. It was made by the apostles and elders after God had already shown His mind by giving the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles, and it remained in force under the Spirit's sanction. Not eating food offered to idols means refusing what was offered in heathen worship and then sold, lest believers appear to approve or support idolatry, while not eating blood and what is strangled means eating only meat fully drained of blood, since blood is life itself and a sacred emblem of Christ and was commanded to be drained to keep flesh wholesome. Not committing fornication means renouncing the licentiousness common among the Gentiles that even the heathen did not count criminal, lest unconverted profession bring reproach on the church. These requirements called converts turning from idolatry to holy living and protected fellowship between Jews and Gentiles sharing daily life and the same table, so that Gentile conduct would not offend Jewish believers or bring Christianity into disrepute.

Council Setting and Decree

The verse belongs to the dispute over whether Gentile believers had to be circumcised and keep the entire ceremonial law in order to be saved, a claim Paul and Barnabas opposed. That dispute centered at Antioch in Syria, a large and growing church made up of many classes of people from both Jews and Gentiles and a center of missionary activity, where Paul and Barnabas reported how God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. The same Jerusalem decision was later ignored by false teachers in Galatia when they urged Gentile converts to observe the ceremonial law. It belongs to Paul's defense of Christianity against the narrow restrictions of Judaism, a defense he made at both Jerusalem and Antioch.

The decision was made by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem after the Spirit witnessed to Paul's account of God's work among the Gentiles, with the members yielding prejudice and agreeing with Paul. The Holy Spirit had already settled the vital question before the church, and the apostles were given grace, wisdom and sound judgment to decide it. They acted with enlightened judgment, recognizing that God had shown His decision by giving the Gentiles the Holy Spirit. Their recognition of Paul's position concerning the Gentiles affirmed his apostleship, and he complied with those decisions in his work among the Gentiles.

The decree freed Gentile believers from circumcision and from obligation to keep the Mosaic ceremonial law. It rejected circumcision as a condition for Gentiles to enter the church and did not make ceremonial observance a measure of how near someone was to God. Jewish converts could continue to observe its ordinances if they chose, but those practices were not to be made obligatory for Gentiles. The move marked the church's departure from Jewish ceremonies and traditions, and for that reason some Jewish Christians regarded Paul's principles about the law as lax.

The decree was framed and issued by the apostles and elders with enlightened judgment rather than as an infallible ruling. The Christian churches generally accepted it. Some opposed the decision because of attachment to ceremonial customs and zeal for the ceremonial law, considering its approach to the Jewish law too lax and thinking Paul treated its obligations too lightly.

The decision on Gentile converts and the ceremonial law remained in force under the Holy Spirit's sanction and still stood in later years. The later advice that Paul demonstrate his respect for Jewish customs was not consistent with that decision. That decision had guided Peter to eat with Gentile converts, and his later withdrawal from their table under pressure from Jewish Christians contradicted it by wrongly suggesting that Gentiles were not fully accepted.

Meaning of Four Abstentions

The decree laid upon Gentile believers four necessary things, decided under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, with the assurance that in keeping themselves from them they would do well. They were to abstain from food offered to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals, and from fornication. These stood in place of the demand that they be circumcised and keep the ceremonial law, a demand that had no authority from the apostles.

Abstaining from meats offered to idols meant not buying and eating what had been offered in heathen worship and then sold by its priests. To do so would make Christians appear to approve, sanction, and support idolatrous customs and worship and to associate themselves with it.

Abstaining from blood and from things strangled meant eating only meat from which the blood had been made to flow fully from the body. Blood was regarded as life itself and as a sacred emblem of the Son of God and of Christ, and therefore unsuitable as food. Its shedding was in consequence of sin, so that to use it as food is sinful. God had commanded Israel to drain the blood in order to preserve health and keep meat wholesome. Gentiles, by contrast, were accustomed to eat the flesh of strangled animals and to catch the blood of the sacrificial victim for food.

Abstaining from fornication meant renouncing the extreme licentiousness common among the Gentiles, especially the Greeks. The heathen did not even regard such conduct as criminal, and some continued it after professing Christianity. Jewish Christians could not tolerate it, lest persons profess faith without true conversion and bring reproach and disgrace upon the church by immorality and excess. For this reason some wrongly regarded circumcision and observance of the ceremonial law as a test of the sincerity of Gentile converts that would keep unconverted persons out.

Purpose and Lasting Unity

The four abstentions were given to Gentile converts living among idolaters and sharing daily life and meals with Jewish Christians. They were to avoid conduct that would seriously offend Jewish fellow believers and create prejudice against Gentiles. Eating at the same table food that had been offered to idols, meat with its blood retained, flesh of strangled animals, and continuing in licentiousness would shock and outrage Jewish believers. The requirements thus protected Jew-Gentile fellowship and kept Christianity from disrepute.

They called Gentiles turning from idolatry to keep God's commandments and live holy lives. That meant leaving behind association with idols, the use of unwholesome food from blood and strangled meat, and sexual immorality. Keeping themselves from these things was doing well.

The settlement made definite recommendations to the churches about certain rites and customs, including circumcision, and those decisions helped unite the body of believers. In settling the brief difference over whether uncircumcised Gentiles should be admitted, the apostles and elders acted as counselors rather than rulers, giving room for the judgment of the Holy Spirit. The Gentile believers welcomed the result as a consolation. Through divine illumination and sanctification by the Holy Spirit the believers were perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment, all of one heart and one mind. Such oneness in understanding of truth, in judgment, in fellowship and love is always the fruit borne under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and settling differences in this way can bring lasting unity, unlike decisions imposed by mere church authority.