Acts 15:1-35

Acts 15:1-35

Position #1: Gentiles need to follow Law of Moses (15:1-5)
1. Jewish believers had a rich history with the Law of Moses
2. Some Jewish believers were very passionate about the Law
3. Some Jewish believers thought the Law was still the Law

Position #2: Gentiles need not follow Law of Moses (15:6-12)
1. Gentile believers had little history with the Law of Moses
2. Some Jewish believers were not very passionate about the Law
3. Some Jewish believers thought grace was now the Law

Decision: (15:13-35)
1. James, apparently, was responsible to make the final judgment
2. James referenced Simon’s vision & Scripture to support #2
3. James referenced 4 areas of abstinence in compromise to #1

The apostles and elders, your brothers,

To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.


It is interesting to note that Paul, later (1 Corinthians 10), further elaborated on the 'compromises' with position #1. It seems that these compromises were solely for the purpose of not offending Jewish-Christians. The ceremonial 'compromises' (as opposed to the 'moral' requirement of sexual immorality) were not moral requirements for believers in Christ.