Written ~ 06-21-2024
Read Acts Chapter Fifteen
Acts 15
In the first few verses of chapter 15 we see Paul and Barnabus being challenged by some other men from Judea who were teaching the believers very controversial requirements about their Salvation. The result of this controversy was a heated argument and a disagreement that could not be resolved. So it happened that Paul and Barnabus went to Jerusalem to discuss this matter with the apostles and elders of the church. During this journey to Jerusalem they stopped off in towns where they could visit believers and tell them everything that had happened and that Gentiles were also being saved. This created a ripple effect of joy.
When Paul and Barnabus arrived in Jerusalem they were greeted with great joy and excitement over the things they were sharing with the church. But then the controversial subject was addressed…
Acts 15:4-5…
4When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them. 5But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”
Circumcision was the problematic subject matter that had many religious teachers up in arms that the new Gentiles converts weren’t being forced to obey this command. When God was setting up His covenant all the way back to Abraham, circumcision was one of the things God established as the mark of His everlasting covenant.
Genesis 17:9-14…
9Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. 10This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. 11You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. 13All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of My everlasting covenant. 14Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.”
And what was the covenant you might ask?
Genesis 17:7-8…
7“I will confirm My covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
The everlasting covenant… “I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.”
So this is the covenant that the religious leaders held dear. It was part of the law of Moses and carried on throughout history as being an established action to show faith in God and adherence to God’s law. So for the Gentiles coming to Salvation it made sense to those religious leaders to have them adhere to the law of Moses as well. What was still missing from their train of thought? Jesus. Even though they were believers, they still relied heavily on the tradition of the Old Covenant. They were still omitting the crucial point that Jesus had become the New Covenant.
Hebrews 8:6-7, 13…
6But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for He is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.
7If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it.
13When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means He has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.
When Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth, walked among us, declared that the Kingdom of God was at hand, died on the cross and raised from the dead, He became the New Covenant. Understanding who Jesus is and the meaning behind His ministry on earth unveils the plan God had for Salvation all along.
Why does this matter to us today? Why do we need to have this controversial debate recorded in Scripture? It is for us, the Gentile, to know we were always part of God’s plan. The Old Covenant was established for the descendants of Abraham, the Israelites. The New Covenant includes everyone. Jesus died for the world, not just the Israelites (the Jewish people). John 3:16… “For this is how God loved the WORLD: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
Let’s get back to our chapter for today’s study…
Acts 15:6…
6“So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue.”
Verse 15:7 says that this was a long discussion. The apostles and elders did not take the concerns that were raised lightly. They talked amongst themselves for a considerable amount of time before Peter got up and addressed everyone. And what Peter says in verses 15:7-11 needs to be heard by every believer today. This applies to us today as much as it did to the Gentiles being saved in that first century.
Acts 15:7-11…
7Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. 8God knows people’s hearts, and He confirmed that He accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us. 9He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts through faith. 10So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? 11We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”
God has made no distinction between the Jew and Gentile. That may have been a difficult concept for some to grasp, but for the Gentile, that means EVERYTHING! “…We are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.” Jesus is our Covenant, He is our mediator. In Him alone we find Salvation and eternal life.
After listening to what Peter had to say and then the accounts given by Paul and Barnabus; a decision had been made. James stood and said…
Acts 15:19-21…
19“And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood. 21For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations.”
The solution to much debate and argument was to tell the Gentiles to avoid eating food offered to idols, abstain from sexual immorality, stay away from eating the meat of strangled animals and do not consume blood. How do those things listed above apply to us today? When we become believers… we give our hearts, minds and souls over to the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been made new. We have been cleansed. The Holy Spirit now resides within us. That means we need to turn away from the evil of this world. We need to discard our old behaviors and replace them with praise, glory and honor in everything we do or say. For the first century believers, they would have to do away with traditions that had been handed down to them for centuries, behaviors that would have been listed as abominations to the law of God. So by clarifying the need to resist and abstain from those evil practices would help them move forward in their new status as Born Again Believers. It should also help us relate to this chapter in our Christian walk as well.
When the decision had been made that a letter would be sent out to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia, it was agreed that Paul and Barnabus along with Judas and Silas as the deliverers of this letter. Here is what the letter said…
Acts 15:23-29…
23“This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in Jerusalem. It is written to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings!
24“We understand that some men from here have troubled you and upset you with their teaching, but we did not send them! 25So we decided, having come to complete agreement, to send you official representatives, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27We are sending Judas and Silas to confirm what we have decided concerning your question.
28“For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements: 29You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.”
This letter was met with great joy and encouragement. Just think if you were struggling in your walk with the Lord, you weren’t sure if you were measuring up to what was expected of you. Then you receive word from a beloved friend who tells you everything is fine, you’re doing well in your walk with the Lord. The encouragement you receive was to pursue the Lord in all things and abstain from old behaviors that follow the world’s standards. You were given a list of things to stay away from, but then greeted with joy for the things you were adding to God’s Kingdom. This would have meant everything to you. Just as it did for those new Gentile believers.
Acts 15:30-35…
30The messengers went at once to Antioch, where they called a general meeting of the believers and delivered the letter. 31And there was great joy throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging message.
32Then Judas and Silas, both being prophets, spoke at length to the believers, encouraging and strengthening their faith. 33They stayed for a while, and then the believers sent them back to the church in Jerusalem with a blessing of peace. 35Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch. They and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord there.
Have you ever come across something you have read in your Bible that you really did not understand or questioned if it was relevant for you today? It is good to have a trusted resource at your fingertips. Whether that’s your pastor or leader at your church, or a reliable Christian friend, it is important to go to someone with those questions or doubts. If we don’t acquire some sense of understanding to those nagging questions, it may cause us to pick up our Bibles less and less, until we no longer go to God’s Word for guidance. The Gentile believers were distressed over the controversy of their uncircumcised status. So they brought their concerns to the church, they needed help and instead of ignoring their questions and concerns they were proactive and asked about it! The result in their asking was a reply that brought joy and encouragement and a strengthening they needed to grow in their faith.
We have this wonderful book – The Bible – God’s Word – The Holy Scriptures. The words in this book are invaluable to the believer. Asking the Holy Spirit to bring clarity and understanding as you read through the pages will help you navigate the instructions given to us by the Lord and apply them to your life. The trick is… you need to open your Bible and read from it! That’s the only way you can begin to learn from it’s powerful and supernatural qualities and it’s done through the piercing of your heart, mind and soul!
Praising God for His answers to my many questions and for revealing things in His Word that help me sort things out for my own life. Thank You Father for providing me with a wealth of information and for giving me Your Holy Spirit who brings understanding and wisdom to this thirsty soul of mine.
~AMEN~