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| Chapter 15 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And certain men who came down from Judea were teaching the brethren and saying, "Unless ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." 2 When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. 3 And being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles; and causing great joy unto all the brethren. 4 And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and by the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. 5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying that it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the Law of Moses. 6 ¶ And the apostles and the elders came together to consider this matter. 7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, "Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the Word of the Gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knoweth the hearts, bore them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit even as He did unto us, 9 and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." 12 Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul as they declared what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. 13 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, "Men and brethren, hearken unto me. 14 Simon hath declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out from them a people for His name. 15 And to this agree the words of the Prophets, as it is written: 16 ’After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down. And I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up, 17 that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom My name is called, saith the Lord who doeth all these things.’ 18 Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world. 19 Therefore my judgment is that we trouble not those from among the Gentiles who are turned to God, 20 but that we write unto them that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. 21 For Moses from olden times hath in every city those who preach him, he being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day." 22 ¶ Then it pleased the apostles and elders, together with the whole church, to send men chosen from their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely Judas surnamed Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren. 23 And they wrote letters to accompany them in this manner: "The apostles and elders and brethren send greetings unto the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: 24 Inasmuch as we have heard that certain ones who went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, ’Ye must be circumcised and keep the law’ --to whom we gave no such commandment-- 25 it seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication. If ye keep yourselves from these things, ye shall do well. Fare ye well!" 30 So when they were sent off, they went to Antioch. And when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle; 31 and when they had read it, they rejoiced in its consolation. 32 And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and strengthened them. 33 And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace by the brethren to return unto the apostles. 34 Notwithstanding, it pleased Silas to remain there still. 35 Paul and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the Word of the Lord, with many others also. 36 ¶ And some days later, Paul said unto Barnabas, "Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the Word of the Lord, and see how they do." 37 And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. 38 But Paul thought it not good to take him with them, as he had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them in the work. 39 And the contention was so sharp between them that they parted asunder, one from the other; and so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus. 40 And Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren unto the grace of God. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. |
This chapter shows that progress of the Gospel can often be hindered, delayed by some people who are not open to the leading voice of God. Paul and the disciples face one such challenge about twenty years after Pentecost. The problem starts with some Jews who were teaching that Gentiles, without circumcision as instructed by Moses a person cannot be saved. This group, who had been Pharisees v5, appears to have come from the Jerusalem church, but was not with the churches permission, v24. These people wanted to remove the freedom for both the Jews and Gentiles which comes with Christ, salvation is by grace. Gal 2:1-10; Gal 5:1ff. It is not unexpected that some Jews, who had been trained throughout their life to respect the Law of Moses would not have a problem with salvation by grace. As a result they were mixing the Law and Grace, the effect of this was to block the way for a believer to access God, the way that Jesus had opened on the cross with His death, Heb 10:19-25, was being closed by their teaching, they were insisting that obeying the Law of Moses was essential for salvation. "You have to become a Jew to be saved." Eph 2:11ff; Gal 5:1; Acts 15:10. The message of the Gospel is all in the work of Christ on the cross 1 Cor 15:1-8; Heb 10:1-18. If a person adds anything to this Gospel then God has given a warning of punishment. Gal 1:1-9. This must warn us of any group who teaches that "if you do not worship our way you cannot be saved." A further danger from this teaching was that the Gentiles saved, through the work of Paul and Barnabas, had not received this additional teaching and so were not saved and was a waste of time. It is not surprising that Paul and Barnabas argued strongly against this teaching, v2. Paul and Barnabas were instructed (by God Gal 2:2) to go to the Jerusalem church leaders. Though each local church was independent, decisions by the church in Jerusalem were respected. v6-18 The Discussion. It appears that there were four separate meetings in this conference. 1) v4 A public meeting of welcome and report. 2) Gal 2:2 a private meeting of Paul and the main leaders. 3) v5-6 A second public meeting where the Judaizers were presenting their case. Gal 2:3-5. 4) v6ff A public meeting lead by four main leaders. v6-11 Peter looks at the past. The report written by Luke seems to indicate that Peter had been quietly listening at the previous meetings, now feels led to speak. He reminds the church of four ministries to the Gentiles that God has allowed Peter to be involved in. 1) v7 God chose Peter to take the message to the various groups, the Jews Acts 2; The Samaritans Acts 8:14-17 and finally the Gentiles Acts 10. The Jews had initially objected to Peter going to Cornelius and eating with him, but Peter was able to prove that it was all in the plan of God. Peter emphasized that the Holy Spirit was given to the Gentiles exactly the same as given to the Jews at Pentecost, and they Gentiles did not obey the Law of Moses, they just believed. 2) v8 The Gentile received the Holy Spirit as a witness of being born again. God would not have given the Holy Spirit if obedience to the Law of Moses was needed. Gal 3:2. 3) v9,11 God originally made the Jew special, but the work on Calvary has made the Jew and the Gentile of no difference. Rom 10:9-13. 4) v10 The Law had been given to protect the Jew from the Gentile but it was also a yoke for the Jewish nation, it controlled them, was a burden to them, but Jesus took away this burden. Gal 5:1ff; Col 2:9-17; Matt 11:28-30. The Law cannot remove sin in a person Gal 2:21, give the Holy Spirit Gal 3:2, or give life eternal Gal 3:21. It could only be done through God’s Son Rom 8:1-4. v12 It appears that Peter’s words had some affect as all the audience remained silent as Paul and Barnabas now make their report of what God had done amongst the Gentiles. They were able to tell of God’s miracles as proof of it being in the Will of God, God saved by grace not by the Law. Gal 3:5 These two men had great respect in the church of Jerusalem v25. v13-18 James sums up and makes a recommendation. James was the brother of Jesus Gal 1:19. James did not believe in Jesus until the resurrection. 1 Cor 15:7; Acts 1:14. James has a tendancy towards the teaching of the Law so he was very acceptable to those who wanted to add the Law to Grace. James starts by agreeing with Peter that God was saving the Gentiles through Grace only. v17 must have caused a few comments "Gentiles upon whom My name is called," as this was the Jews title for hundreds of years. Today God calls both Jew and Gentile out for his people. Judaizers thought that this action was reducing the glory of Israel, they could not see or accept that we are "all one in Christ." Gal 3:28, this was the ‘mystery’ hidden from the Jews and revealed in the church by the Holy Spirit. v15-17 James also said that the prophets confirmed this by quoting Amos 9:11-12 "In that day I will restore David’s fallen tent. I will repair its broken places, restore its ruins,and build it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name," declares the LORD, who will do these things. v18 This was all part of God’s plan. v19-35 The Decision. v19 James makes a decision. v22 The whole church accepts the decision by James. v28 The Holy Spirit has guided the meeting to make a doctrinal and practical decisions on living the Christian life. v20 James recommends that the church writes to all the Gentile churches informing them of the decision. To help the Jewish believers James also asks that the Gentile believers agree to avoid the sins of idolatry and immorality and try not to eat blood and animals which had died from strangulation. Why the problem with the food? The early church often eat together as part of their worship, often in each others homes. Gentiles could eat food which could upset Jews meeting with them and possibly causing a Law / Grace split. Paul talks about the subject Roman 14 - 15. v23-29 The letter sent with four disciples to act as witnesses. v30-31 the four men departed for Antioch to deliver the letter where it was greeted with joy. Partner problems v36ff Paul and Barnabas agree to set off to re-visit the new churches but Paul is not happy about taking John Mark as he had deserted them in the work Acts 13:13. What started out as a discussion turned into a serious argument and resulted in two teams going out, Paul took Silas and headed for Syria and Barnabas took Mark to Cyprus. Was this split right? Let us remember that God is in control in all situations. Two teams are now preaching the Gospel. |
Easy English Translation
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