237 – Keeping Jewish Laws
Acts 15:1-35
Jewish teachers from Jerusalem went to Antioch. They started teaching members of the church that a person had to obey Jewish law in order to be saved. Paul and Barnabas were shocked at this teaching and tried to correct it. This only started an argument.
Finally, the church leaders felt they needed to get guidance from the apostles. So they sent Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, along with several others.
When they arrived at the church in Jerusalem, the two men gave a report of how eagerly the Gentiles received the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Pharisees among the membership responded by saying, “It’s wonderful that they’ve put their faith in Christ. But now they must be circumcised and be taught to obey the laws of Moses.”This caused a lot of discussion. Finally, the church leaders realized that this issue had to be resolved if the work of God was to prosper. They decided to meet together and not leave until they knew God’s will on this matter.
At one point, Peter spoke to the group. He said, “I was the first one to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. God forgave their sins and gave them the Holy Spirit. The way he treated them was no different than how he has treated us. I don’t believe God would be pleased if we required them to do something that we Jews have not been able to do. Listen to what I say. It’s only by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that we can be saved from our sins, both Jews and Gentiles.”
Paul and Barnabas then told what God had done among the Gentiles. They described the miracles and the wonders that were done.
Finally, James (the brother of Jesus) stood up and spoke to the others. He said, “We must remember that years ago the Scriptures told us about this. It clearly states that God will call Gentiles by his name. Here’s my advice. It wouldn’t be right to put all of our rules on the Gentiles. Instead, let’s give them three simple commandments:
• Don’t eat meat that has been offered to idols.
• Don’t be immoral.
• Don’t eat blood or anything that has been strangled.”
The church agreed on this idea. They put it in a letter and sent it to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They also sent a couple of men so there would be no doubt that the letter was from them. One of the men was Silas.
When they arrived at Antioch, they gave the letter to the church leaders, who read it to the congregation. The church received the letter with joy. Everyone was encouraged when they heard of their freedom in Christ.
