The Jerusalem Council
Bible Study Time 3-4-07
Church links:
Bible Study Time 3-4-07
After Paul was saved on the road to Damascus, he wound up back in his home town of Tarsus. One day a man named Barnabas came knocking at his door, asking if Paul wanted to go to Antioch to help with the ministry there. Paul seemed to jump at the chance.
When Paul arrived in Antioch, he found that many Gentiles there had put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and as he and Barnabas continued preaching the gospel, more and more Gentiles came to know the Lord. It’s clear that when these Gentiles got saved, God did miraculous things in and through them. These miracles served as proof that these Gentiles were truly saved.
It was very much like it was with Cornelius in Acts, Chapter 10. Peter knew that Cornelius was saved because Cornelius started speaking in tongues.
The Galatians also gave evidence of their salvation by miracles. In Galatians 3:5 Paul asked:
Galatians 3:5
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?--
Obviously, God did miracles to validate the salvation of those who were saved.
But in Acts, Chapter 15, we read about the Church at Antioch, and we read that:
Acts 15:1-2
1 . . . certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, (saying) "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."
2 Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.
Now, when this says that they went up to Jerusalem, it wasn’t saying that they went north to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was actually south of Antioch. But since Jerusalem was on a high plateau, it was going to be an uphill march to Jerusalem. Therefore, Paul and Barnabas went up to Jerusalem.
Acts 15:3
3 (And) being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren.
Again, it’s obvious that God did many outward miracles to prove the salvation of the Gentiles.
Acts 15:4-5
4 (But when Paul and Barnabas came) to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them.
5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses."
Evidently, the Law of Moses had become so much a part of their lives that they could not imagine anyone having a relationship with God apart from the rituals and ceremonies of the Law.
Acts 15:6-9
6 (So) the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter.
7 And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: "Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
8 "So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us,
9 "and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
As you know, some time earlier Peter had stood before these same men explaining his relationship with Cornelius. When he told them that God had specifically told him to go to Cornelius, and when he explained that Cornelius had spoken in tongues after hearing the gospel, they were satisfied that God was actually working to save the gentiles. Acts 11:18 says:
Acts 11:18
18 When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life."
We’re not told if Cornelius ever did submit to circumcision after that. If he did, then we can more easily understand why the Christian Pharisees continued to insist that Gentile converts had to submit to circumcision. If Cornelius never did submit to circumcision then the Christian Pharisees must have excused Cornelius as an exception to the rule.
Whatever the case, we know that the Christian Pharisees did continue to insist upon the circumcision of Gentile believers. But now, they were faced with the testimony of Paul and Barnabas, and as they discussed the situation, Peter rehearsed the fact that Cornelius had been saved by faith even though he was uncircumcised. Peter went on to say:
Acts 15:10-11
10 "Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck 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 in the same manner as they."
Peter clearly understood that salvation had nothing to do with rituals and ceremonies. He said that it was by the grace of Jesus Christ that Jews shall be saved even as the Gentiles were being saved, without the rituals of the Law. Then verse 12 says:
Acts 15:12
12 . . . all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles.
Once again, we see God using the miracles. It was the miracles of Jesus that proved He was the Messiah. It was the miracles of the Apostles which proved their message concerning the resurrection of Christ. And now, God was using miracles to prove that the Gentiles were being saved by grace without the deeds of the Law. Then:
Acts 15:13-17
13 . . . after they had become silent, James answered, saying, "Men and brethren, listen to me:
14 "Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
15 "And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:
16 'After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up;
17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things.'
Obviously, James was expecting the kingdom to come at any moment, and this figured into his decision concerning the Gentiles. In his mind, he was thinking, if the kingdom is coming soon, then it’s time for the Gentiles to get saved. Therefore, James said:
Acts 15:18-21
18 "Known to God from eternity are all His works.
19 "Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God,
20 "but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.
21 "For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath."
The rest of the chapter goes on to tell how they wrote a letter which explained to the Gentiles in Antioch that they would not be required to submit to circumcision.
In the book of Galatians, we see Paul’s perspective on the Jerusalem Council. In chapter 2, he said:
Galatians 2:1-2
1 . . . after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me.
2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain.
Paul says that he went to the Jerusalem Council by revelation. He did not go because he was under any obligation to explain himself to the elders in Jerusalem. As Paul said in the first chapter of Galatians, he was called by God, and he was therefore only accountable to God. But Paul said that he went to the meeting in Jerusalem because God told him to go.
That, in itself, should speak to each one of us. God does want us to go the extra mile with other believers. God wants us give more than we are obligated to give. He wants us to give the way Jesus gave, without any thought for our own rights and privileges.
So Paul went to Jerusalem, and as he thought back on that meeting, he said that the meeting actually:
Galatians 2:4-5,7,9
4 . . . occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage),
5 to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
7 But when (the Jews in Jerusalem) saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter
9 . . . they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
As Paul wrote to these Galatian believers, he was able to use this decision which was made at the Jerusalem Council to defend the gospel of the grace of God. He simply pointed out that even the Jews in Jerusalem had agreed that the Gentiles did not have to submit to the Law of Moses in order to be saved.
This also helps us to realize that during the Acts period, the Jews and the Gentiles lived under two different programs. Peter was called to administer the program for the Jews, while Paul was called to administer the program for the Gentiles. The Jews practiced the Law while the Gentiles did not.
Well, this brings us to a critical issue which faces us today. As we look at the Christian media, we’re often faced with the issue of the Jews. Are the Jews really saved by a different gospel than Gentiles? Are the Jews saved even if they don’t believe in Jesus?
No, not at all. First of all, even at the Jerusalem Council it was understood that both the Jews and Gentiles would have to believe in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus in order to be saved. The only difference between the believing Jews and the believing Gentiles was that the believing Jews did continue to practice the rituals of the Law. However, even during the Acts period, Paul made it perfectly clear that even the Jews were not saved by the Law. In this same chapter of Galatians, Chapter 2, Paul said:
Galatians 2:16
16 "knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
But still, the question remains as to whether or not God wants believing Jews of our present age to continue practicing the Law. To find the answer to this question we have to understand the difference between Paul’s ministry during the Acts period and his ministry after the Acts period.
During the Acts period, God was still offering to the Jews the New Covenant Kingdom. Even in the last chapter of the book of Acts Paul called for a meeting of the Jews in Rome. He showed them from Moses and the Prophets that Jesus really was the promised Messiah. When they refused to accept Christ, Paul said:
Acts 28:25-28
25 . . . "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,
26 "saying, 'Go to this people and say: "Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you will see, and not perceive;
27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them." '
28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!"
From that time on, Paul taught that the Law was abolished at the cross. In Ephesians 2, he said:
Ephesians 2:14-16
14 For (Christ) Himself is our peace, who has made both (Jew and Gentile) one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
16 and that He might reconcile (both Jews and Gentiles) to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
Therefore, the practice of the Law among the Jews in our present age is nothing more than a reminder of their failure to accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Jewish believers today are members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, and as such, they need to realize that they have a hope which is separate and apart from national Israel.
When the church of our present age is raptured and taken home to heaven, the unbelieving Jews will remain on the earth to go through the tribulation period. At that time, many Jews will be saved. At that time the practice of the Law will be appropriate because, like during the Act period, the kingdom will once again be offered to Israel. The practice of the Law has always been associated with the earthly kingdom.
For the time being, however, all believers whether Jew or Gentile belong to one body and the rituals of the Law are not appropriate for our worship of the Lord.
Well, I see that our time is gone for today. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
When Paul arrived in Antioch, he found that many Gentiles there had put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and as he and Barnabas continued preaching the gospel, more and more Gentiles came to know the Lord. It’s clear that when these Gentiles got saved, God did miraculous things in and through them. These miracles served as proof that these Gentiles were truly saved.
It was very much like it was with Cornelius in Acts, Chapter 10. Peter knew that Cornelius was saved because Cornelius started speaking in tongues.
The Galatians also gave evidence of their salvation by miracles. In Galatians 3:5 Paul asked:
Galatians 3:5
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?--
Obviously, God did miracles to validate the salvation of those who were saved.
But in Acts, Chapter 15, we read about the Church at Antioch, and we read that:
Acts 15:1-2
1 . . . certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, (saying) "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."
2 Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.
Now, when this says that they went up to Jerusalem, it wasn’t saying that they went north to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was actually south of Antioch. But since Jerusalem was on a high plateau, it was going to be an uphill march to Jerusalem. Therefore, Paul and Barnabas went up to Jerusalem.
Acts 15:3
3 (And) being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren.
Again, it’s obvious that God did many outward miracles to prove the salvation of the Gentiles.
Acts 15:4-5
4 (But when Paul and Barnabas came) to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them.
5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses."
Evidently, the Law of Moses had become so much a part of their lives that they could not imagine anyone having a relationship with God apart from the rituals and ceremonies of the Law.
Acts 15:6-9
6 (So) the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter.
7 And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: "Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
8 "So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us,
9 "and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
As you know, some time earlier Peter had stood before these same men explaining his relationship with Cornelius. When he told them that God had specifically told him to go to Cornelius, and when he explained that Cornelius had spoken in tongues after hearing the gospel, they were satisfied that God was actually working to save the gentiles. Acts 11:18 says:
Acts 11:18
18 When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life."
We’re not told if Cornelius ever did submit to circumcision after that. If he did, then we can more easily understand why the Christian Pharisees continued to insist that Gentile converts had to submit to circumcision. If Cornelius never did submit to circumcision then the Christian Pharisees must have excused Cornelius as an exception to the rule.
Whatever the case, we know that the Christian Pharisees did continue to insist upon the circumcision of Gentile believers. But now, they were faced with the testimony of Paul and Barnabas, and as they discussed the situation, Peter rehearsed the fact that Cornelius had been saved by faith even though he was uncircumcised. Peter went on to say:
Acts 15:10-11
10 "Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck 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 in the same manner as they."
Peter clearly understood that salvation had nothing to do with rituals and ceremonies. He said that it was by the grace of Jesus Christ that Jews shall be saved even as the Gentiles were being saved, without the rituals of the Law. Then verse 12 says:
Acts 15:12
12 . . . all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles.
Once again, we see God using the miracles. It was the miracles of Jesus that proved He was the Messiah. It was the miracles of the Apostles which proved their message concerning the resurrection of Christ. And now, God was using miracles to prove that the Gentiles were being saved by grace without the deeds of the Law. Then:
Acts 15:13-17
13 . . . after they had become silent, James answered, saying, "Men and brethren, listen to me:
14 "Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
15 "And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:
16 'After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up;
17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things.'
Obviously, James was expecting the kingdom to come at any moment, and this figured into his decision concerning the Gentiles. In his mind, he was thinking, if the kingdom is coming soon, then it’s time for the Gentiles to get saved. Therefore, James said:
Acts 15:18-21
18 "Known to God from eternity are all His works.
19 "Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God,
20 "but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.
21 "For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath."
The rest of the chapter goes on to tell how they wrote a letter which explained to the Gentiles in Antioch that they would not be required to submit to circumcision.
In the book of Galatians, we see Paul’s perspective on the Jerusalem Council. In chapter 2, he said:
Galatians 2:1-2
1 . . . after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me.
2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain.
Paul says that he went to the Jerusalem Council by revelation. He did not go because he was under any obligation to explain himself to the elders in Jerusalem. As Paul said in the first chapter of Galatians, he was called by God, and he was therefore only accountable to God. But Paul said that he went to the meeting in Jerusalem because God told him to go.
That, in itself, should speak to each one of us. God does want us to go the extra mile with other believers. God wants us give more than we are obligated to give. He wants us to give the way Jesus gave, without any thought for our own rights and privileges.
So Paul went to Jerusalem, and as he thought back on that meeting, he said that the meeting actually:
Galatians 2:4-5,7,9
4 . . . occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage),
5 to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
7 But when (the Jews in Jerusalem) saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter
9 . . . they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
As Paul wrote to these Galatian believers, he was able to use this decision which was made at the Jerusalem Council to defend the gospel of the grace of God. He simply pointed out that even the Jews in Jerusalem had agreed that the Gentiles did not have to submit to the Law of Moses in order to be saved.
This also helps us to realize that during the Acts period, the Jews and the Gentiles lived under two different programs. Peter was called to administer the program for the Jews, while Paul was called to administer the program for the Gentiles. The Jews practiced the Law while the Gentiles did not.
Well, this brings us to a critical issue which faces us today. As we look at the Christian media, we’re often faced with the issue of the Jews. Are the Jews really saved by a different gospel than Gentiles? Are the Jews saved even if they don’t believe in Jesus?
No, not at all. First of all, even at the Jerusalem Council it was understood that both the Jews and Gentiles would have to believe in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus in order to be saved. The only difference between the believing Jews and the believing Gentiles was that the believing Jews did continue to practice the rituals of the Law. However, even during the Acts period, Paul made it perfectly clear that even the Jews were not saved by the Law. In this same chapter of Galatians, Chapter 2, Paul said:
Galatians 2:16
16 "knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
But still, the question remains as to whether or not God wants believing Jews of our present age to continue practicing the Law. To find the answer to this question we have to understand the difference between Paul’s ministry during the Acts period and his ministry after the Acts period.
During the Acts period, God was still offering to the Jews the New Covenant Kingdom. Even in the last chapter of the book of Acts Paul called for a meeting of the Jews in Rome. He showed them from Moses and the Prophets that Jesus really was the promised Messiah. When they refused to accept Christ, Paul said:
Acts 28:25-28
25 . . . "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,
26 "saying, 'Go to this people and say: "Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you will see, and not perceive;
27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them." '
28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!"
From that time on, Paul taught that the Law was abolished at the cross. In Ephesians 2, he said:
Ephesians 2:14-16
14 For (Christ) Himself is our peace, who has made both (Jew and Gentile) one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
16 and that He might reconcile (both Jews and Gentiles) to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
Therefore, the practice of the Law among the Jews in our present age is nothing more than a reminder of their failure to accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Jewish believers today are members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, and as such, they need to realize that they have a hope which is separate and apart from national Israel.
When the church of our present age is raptured and taken home to heaven, the unbelieving Jews will remain on the earth to go through the tribulation period. At that time, many Jews will be saved. At that time the practice of the Law will be appropriate because, like during the Act period, the kingdom will once again be offered to Israel. The practice of the Law has always been associated with the earthly kingdom.
For the time being, however, all believers whether Jew or Gentile belong to one body and the rituals of the Law are not appropriate for our worship of the Lord.
Well, I see that our time is gone for today. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Church links:
