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ToBeLikeHim.com Return
to Acts Series The Book of Acts Series Acts, Chapter 15 John Baugh December, 2009 Acts
15 (New American Standard Bible) Key events in
Acts - Chapter 15 1
- Council at Circumcision Paul and Barnabas come to Peter addresses the council James addresses the council 2
- Men chosen to accompany Paul and Barnabas Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas 3
- Letter to the brethren in The essentials of the letter 4
- Silas remains in 5
- Second Missionary Journey Paul and Barnabas disagree on John Mark Paul and Barnabas Separate Barnabas takes John Mark with him to Paul takes Silas with him to The Council at 1Some men came down from Judea
and began teaching the brethren, "Unless you are circumcised according
to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." Luke begins
Chapter 15 with Luke and Barnabas in In his Daily
Study Bible study on Acts, William Barclay wrote, "The mental background
of the Jew was founded on the fact that he belonged to the chosen people. In
effect they believed that not only were the Jews the peculiar possession of
God but also that God was the peculiar possession of the Jews." In the mind of
these teachers form During his
experience with Cornelius in Acts 10, Peter came to understand that any
effort to distinguish between "clean" and "unclean"
people has no relevance as far as salvation is concerned. That was the base
of his vision and what he came to understand. This is also what he explained
to the This problem set
the stage for a showdown between the Jews who believed that Jewish custom was
as important as faith for conversion and Paul and Peter who believed that
faith is what God wants from us in conversion. 2And when Paul and Barnabas had
great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and
Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and
elders concerning this issue. 3Therefore,
being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both This belief by
the teachers who came to This trip to Luke reports
that the group from When they
arrived in 5But some of the sect of the
Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, "It is necessary to
circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses." 6The apostles and the elders
came together to look into this matter. This is the
first time that Luke mentions that people who were Pharisees had been
converted. Evidently it is these people who are calling for circumcision by
all male converts. The Pharisees were strict observers of the law and any
deviation would have been a problem with them and so they immediately insist
that any new believers accept and follow the Law of Moses. Evidently there
was considerable debate in the issue, because Luke uses the words "after
much discussion". At its base, the
decision to be made concerns the question - should the church follow Mosaic
Law (the Torah) literally in all of its details and in all cases? Another way
to put the question would be to ask, are scripture and tradition a greater
authority than the principle of faith in determining the basis who will be
included in the people of God? Peter's Speech 7After there had been much
debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brethren, you know that in the
early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would
hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8"And God, who knows the
heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to
us; 9and He made no distinction between us and them,
cleansing their hearts by faith. 10"Now therefore why
do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke
which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11"But
we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same
way as they also are." Luke reports
that after much debate, Peter stands to address those in attendance. He makes
a strong case for admitting Gentiles into the church on the basis of faith
alone, arguing that God established a precedent in the early days of the
church of bringing Gentiles into the body of believers through faith. This
reference goes back to the story of Cornelius and his family (Acts chapter 9). Peter tells the
attendees that, "God, who knows the heart,". He reminds them that
God gave them the Holy Spirit, "just as He also did to us". In
doing this, God showed that he accepted a Gentile even while he was
uncircumcised. Peter insisted
that faith was more important to God than the ritual observance of
circumcision in determining who would be considered a Christian. In Peter's mind,
conversion was God’s doing and not the work of either the preacher or the
believer. People do not decide on their own to take a place among the people
of God. God is the one who converts them, and he does it by giving his
Spirit, not by requiring the person to practice certain rituals. What is
important is that we hear the calling of God and accept his offer of
salvation. Peter calls the Pharisee's
insistence to force the Gentiles to live as Jews as putting God to the test
and as "a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to
bear". The yoke Peter refers to
is the insistence on a long list of rules that earn us salvation by
righteousness. The word
"yoke" (Greek, zygos) refers to a physical restraint - something a
beast must carry. Peter uses the term to identify a burden of oppression the
Pharisees were insisting the new believers carry. In Peter's mind,
the Law of Moses was both a physical burden and a form of religious
oppression, even though well-meaning Jews were using it to keep themselves
separate from the world. Peter understood as the Pharisees were using
circumcision to separate themselves from other believers, they were failing
to honor what God was doing as He brought the Jews and Gentiles together as
one people in the church. Jesus said
"my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). People
burdened and weary with sin, guilt and religious duty can come to Christ and
find rest in him. That is what Peter was saying. The Christian way of life
should not be religiously burdensome. There are many things we do out of love
and the desire to be like Christ, but our salvation is not dependent on those
things. That is a lesson all churches
and religions need to learn. Peter ends his
speech by echoing the thought of Paul: "We believe it is through the
grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are". In this
statement, Peter sides with Paul and puts his stamp of approval on Paul’s
work, phrasing salvation in terms of grace. Peter's Last Statement in Acts With the end of
Peter's speech, Luke makes no further mention of him anywhere in the book of Acts. Barnabas and Paul speak (15:12) 12All the people kept silent,
and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating what signs
and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. Barnabas and
Paul now address the assembly, and "the whole assembly became
silent" (15:12). Luke indicates that Barnabas spoke first. He was a
respected member of the Luke devotes
only a single sentence to what Paul and Barnabas say at the conference. We
don’t know exactly what they say. However, we know from Acts and especially
Paul’s writings exactly where he stands on the matter of circumcision. In
this case, they probably again report on their experiences. Hundreds of
Gentiles are now converted and God is working miracles through Paul and
Barnabas. The two missionaries appeal to such things, just as Peter had
argued from his experience with Gentile conversions. James's Judgment 13After they had stopped
speaking, James answered, saying, "Brethren, listen to me. 14"Simeon
has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the
Gentiles a people for His name. After Peter,
Barnabas and Paul speak, James (the half brother of Jesus) addresses the
assembly. He is the leader of the church in James’ speech
sums up the testimony already presented by Simon Peter It is interesting that
he refers to the Apostle as Simon, but that may be simply a reference to his
Hebrew name. James begins his comments before the assembly by summarizing Simon's
speech. But he makes no reference to the comments of Paul and Barnabas. This may
be because their teaching is the subject of the controversy. The point of
James’ speech is that God is taking the Gentiles as "a people for
himself" (15:14). There is no disagreement on this. If nothing else, the
experience of Cornelius (coming of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles) proves
it. In his speech, James
emphasizes the presence of God’s hand in the work of the apostles (15:14). When
he reminds the assembled of this he is echoing the thoughts of both Simon and
Paul. Paul had referred to "everything God had done" (15:4) including
his "wonders" (15:12). In his speech Simon said that "God made
a choice" (15:7) and that "God... showed" (15:8). The three
are making the same point: this outreach to the Gentiles is nothing that
humans dreamed up. They are only fulfilling the purpose of God and serve as
his tools for presenting His will to the gentiles. 15"With
this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written, After James
cites the experiences of the apostles as the fulfillment of God’s purpose, he
refers to a text of Scripture relevant to the discussion. James says,
"The words of the prophets are in agreement with this".
"This" refers to the fact that God is calling Gentiles to his
church, and that he does it through faith. By quoting Amos
9:11-12, James is saying that the promised enlargement of "David’s
fallen tabernacle" ( James' Judgment on the Gentiles and Circumcision: 19"Therefore it is my
judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the
Gentiles, 20but that we write to them that they abstain from
things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled
and from blood. 21"For Moses from ancient generations has in
every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every
Sabbath." At the end of his
address, James states his decision: "It is my judgment, therefore, that
we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to
God". In other words, no one should require Gentiles to be circumcised
to be saved. James does offer
four things he believes are important even though circumcision should not be
considered as a requirement for salvation. The things that are important to
him concern living a Godly life and not as a requirement to be saved. With this in
mind, James outlines four prohibitions that the Gentile Christians should
observe. These practical considerations may have been shared to help keep
peace in a church that includes people from two widely different cultures,
Jewish and pagan. By stressing the observance of these regulations, James may
have believed it will be easier for Christian Jews to accept Gentiles
"as they are" and live in harmony with them. James’ four
regulations direct Christian Gentiles to "abstain from food polluted by
idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from
blood" (15:20). Three of the
restrictions concern food. Avoiding Food Sacrificed to Idols: First, any food
associated with idolatrous worship is to be avoided—especially meat offered
to pagan deities in ritual sacrifices. Such meats were eaten in temple
banquets, and the excess is sold in the meat markets. In Gentile
cities much of the meat for sale in shops or markets consisted of the
carcasses of animals which had been used for sacrificial purposes in one or
other of the pagan temples. In the process of sacrifice, they had been
dedicated or offered to some pagan god. From the Jewish point of view, the
eating of such meat condoned paganism and was an act of sacrilege. Avoiding Meat from Strangled Slaughter: The second
prohibition concerns the flesh of animals that are improperly killed (
"strangled"), and from which the blood has not been properly
drained, pointing back to the restrictions listed in Leviticus 17:10, 13.
Jewish slaughter practices ensured that an animal killed for food had its blood
drained. These are the slaughter practices followed by most meat processors
today. Avoiding Blood: The third
prohibition cautions Gentile Christians to avoid eating blood (Leviticus
3:17; 7:26; 17:10; 19:26; Deuteronomy 12:16, 23; 15:23). This is an extension
of the restriction on eating improperly slaughtered animals. Avoiding Sexual Immorality: A fourth
restriction James imposes had to do with sexual immorality. Th egreek word
used here is "porneia". The New Testament condemns all forms of
sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians
5:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; Hebrews 13:4). So
did the Jewish writings of the time. James reminds the assembled that
restrictions against fornication, adultery and sexual immorality in general are
forbidden either directly or in principle for all people, pagans, recently
converted gentiles and Jews. James then
concludes by saying: "For Moses has been preached in every city from the
earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath" (15:22). Wherever Moses is preached, the four
prohibitions are part of the most fundamental beliefs—and determine
life-style. James seems to be saying that the Christian Gentiles should
therefore respect these Jewish beliefs, and practice them as well. The norms set
down by Moses have value for the Christian life, whether Jewish or Gentile. As
Moses taught, observing these prohibitions are the basic essentials of
Christian observance in such matters as food and sex. 22Then it seemed good to the apostles
and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send
to James’ proposal
is accepted by the apostles, the elders and all others present "the
whole church" (15:22). Here, Luke points out that almost everyone is on
the same page regarding the matter of Jewish beliefs and practices. Luke also tells
us that Paul and Barnabas' mission is now publicly legitimated in the church.
A formal agreement by the leading apostles gives comfort to both Jews and
Gentiles that the path the church is choosing is within God’s will. A letter
regarding James’ decision is drafted and sent to the churches in Luke writes that
Judas and Silas are "some of their own men" and are prophets. The
two men represent the agreement of the apostles and the We know nothing
of Judas Barsabbas, but Silas plays a key role as Paul’s future partner in
missionary work (15:40-41; 16:19, 25, 29; 17:4, 10; 14-15; 18:5). Like Paul,
he is a Roman citizen (16:37). He is also a valued co-worker mentioned by Paul
several times in his letters (2 Corinthians 1:19; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2
Thessalonians 1:1). In his epistle, Peter also mentions a Silas, who may be
the same individual (1 Peter 5:12). 23and they
sent this letter by them, "The apostles and the brethren who are elders,
to the brethren in 28"For it seemed good to
the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these
essentials: 29that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and
from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep
yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell." 30So when
they were sent away, they went down to 32Judas and Silas, also being
prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brethren with a lengthy
message. 33After they had spent time there,
they were sent away from the brethren in peace to those who had sent them
out. 34[But it seemed good to Silas
to remain there.] 35But Paul and Barnabas stayed
in Antioch, teaching and preaching with many others also, the word of the
Lord. Luke records the
elements of the letter crafted by the council regarding circumcision. It is
addressed to the Gentile Christians in The letter
begins by acknowledging that those Jews who stirred up the controversy over
circumcision came from Barnabas and
Paul (the letter mentions Paul in second place) are called "our dear
friends" (15:25) and "men who have risked their lives" for the
gospel (15:26). Th men are held in the warmest regards by The letter states
"It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us..." (15:28). The Holy
Spirit is called the author of The final statement
in James’ letter tells the gentile Christians: "You will do well to
avoid these things" (15:29). The wording does not say that people must
avoid these things in order to be saved; it just says that it is good to
avoid these things. Judas and Silas
read the decision in Second Missionary Journey 36After some days Paul said to
Barnabas, "Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which
we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are." After the
Jerusalem Council, Luke begins to narrate Paul’s second major journey. Paul’s
original objective on this trip seems to be more pastoral than missionary.
Paul says to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the
towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing".
Paul apparently
wants to deliver the The Controversy Regarding John Mark: 37Barnabas wanted to take John,
called Mark, along with them also. 38But Paul kept insisting that
they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not
gone with them to the work. 39And there occurred such a sharp
disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark
with him and sailed away to Barnabas agrees
that another trip through The story of the
disagreement between Paul and Barnabas does not make pleasant reading, but
Luke’s realism in recording it helps us to remember that the two men, as they
themselves said to the people of Lystra, were ‘human beings with feelings
like’ any other. Sadly we see ourselves in this recounting of the frail
humanity expressed by Paul and Barnabas. Evidently, Paul
believed Mark’s refusal to go with the missionaries into Evidently, Barnabas,
the "Son of Encouragement," saw promising qualities in Mark and
wanted to give him experience and training. Mark was Barnabas' cousin, and it
may be that Barnabas knew the family traits, or wanted him along because of family
loyalty. I need to remind everyone, who sides with Paul in this consideration
to remember that John Mark is the person who eventually writes the Gospel of
Mark, and that we all consider the millions who owe their salvation to the
work of the Holy Spirit through reading John Mark's gospel. Considering
this, Mark proved Barnabas right in the end, and perhaps Paul was being too
hard-nosed (Colossians 4:10; Philemon 23). Years later, Paul would write to
Timothy of the young man he had once rejected: "Get Mark and bring him
with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry" (2 Timothy 4:11). It may be that both
Paul and Barnabas were correct: It could have been that Mark would do poorly
under Paul’s leadership, but would grow while helping Barnabas. Such is the
work of the Holy Spirit - placing us with the people we need to be with. Barnabas has
occupied a central part in Luke’s story as a trusted representative of the But after
separating from Paul, Barnabas is not again mentioned in Acts. Luke’s story throughout
the rest of Acts is about Paul, not anyone else. Barnabas is referred to in
only three other places in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 9:6; Galatians
2:1, 9, 13; Colossians 4:10). In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul speaks
of his and Barnabas’ need to get jobs in order to provide support while doing
missionary work. Since this epistle was written after the split between the
two men, it might indicate that they worked together again, or at least had
buried their differences. The beauty of
Like's story about the disagreement between Paul and Barnabas is in the
eventual outcome of their disagreement. The sadness is in how much like the
less desirable parts of Paul's character we can be. 40But
Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of
the Lord. 41And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia,
strengthening the churches. Barnabas takes
Mark and sails for Paul chooses
Silas as his missionary partner and sets out on a tour of the churches in
eastern With Silas, Paul
begins his trip by traveling through End of Chapter 15 Copyright © 2009, by ToBeLikeHim
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