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BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY
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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday November 6, 2016
THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM
Acts 15:1-21
It was William Barclay who wrote, “The paradox
of Christianity is that, the way to victory is through surrender, and the way
to power is through admitting one’s own helplessness”.
In
the, now famous, “Acts 15 Council” that is chronicled by Luke here in this
chapter of the Book of Acts, we see, once again, the core differences between
the man who sees religion as “ritual”, and the man who sees in religion, loving
GOD and loving his fellowman. Perhaps we saw it first in the Gospel of Mark in
chapter 7, verses 1-15, when JESUS sought to teach the Pharisees about “inner
purity”, on an occasion in the port village of Gennesaret, shortly following
HIS legendary “walk on water”.
For
the orthodox Jew, the law meant two things. First of all, it meant the “Ten
Commandments”, and then secondly, it meant the “Pentateuch”, the first five
books of the Old Testament that were written by Moses. From these two
documents, they formed a very complex, “self-made”, spoken list of rules and
regulations, known as “Oral Laws”, or, “The Traditions of the Elders”.
However,
it wasn’t until roughly 300 years, after the Crucifixion of CHRIST, that these
“Oral Laws”, were first written down. Over time, they came to form the
compilation we know today as the “Mishnah”, which is the first, and most basic
part of the “Jewish Talmud”, and the written basis of religious authority for
traditional Judaism. To the orthodox Jews, Scribes, and Pharisees, these rules
and regulations were the essence of religion. In their minds, to observe and
obey them was to please GOD.
Here
in Acts 15, while Paul and Barnabas were still at Antioch of Syria, some men
came from Judea and began teaching the newly formed Christian Church, that,
unless they keep these ancient Jewish customs, and, in this case, the ancient
custom known as “circumcision”, they could not receive “Salvation”. In other words, they seemed to be telling the
Gentile newcomers that the only way to become a Christian, was that they first,
become a Jew.
Paul
and Barnabas sharply disagreed, and they argued forcefully and at length with
these former Pharisees. Finally, Paul and Barnabas, along with a few of the
other Believers, were sent to Jerusalem to discuss this dispute with the
apostles and elders there at the central Church. The discussion that ensued
that day is what has now come to be known as the “Acts 15 Council”.
During
this council, the Apostles and Elders ruled in favor of Paul and Barnabas and
stipulated that the Gentile believers only had to abstain from eating foods
that were sacrificed to idols, abstain from sexual immorality, and abstain from
drinking blood and eating the meat of strangled animals. They felt that these
requirements were “HOLY SPIRIT” led, and had been preached in the Synagogues
for centuries.
James,
the half-brother of JESUS, apparently the head of the Church at Jerusalem at
that time, cited a quote from the Prophet Amos (Amos 9:11-12) as the basis for
their decision in Acts 15:16-18. They then sent Paul and Barnabas back to
Antioch with a letter announcing their decision.
All of the requirements cited by James in his
letter speak only to moral issues that any person in CHRIST should seek to
observe. The things mentioned by the Jerusalem council did not require a person
to make physical changes, such as circumcision, in order to come to CHRIST, but
rather, they required a person to make certain spiritual disciplinary
adjustments that are necessary to become more like CHRIST.
No
person can be justified by keeping the “Law of Moses”, but rather, one can only
be justified through surrender to CHRIST. Circumcision was that part of the law
that GOD gave to Abraham only as a sign of the Jews personal commitment to HIM.
It was never intended to be a requirement for Salvation, as GOD’s plan of
Salvation had not yet been revealed to man in those days.
Abraham
was accredited righteousness by GOD, because of his faith, not because he was
circumcised, or kept any other law. Salvation has always been, is now, and will
forever be, a gift of grace from GOD, and serves as a reward for our belief in
our LORD and SAVIOR, GOD’s only begotten SON, JESUS CHRIST.
Christianity
is the only true religion, because it is the only religion that is a product of
GOD’s mind. It is the religion that is based simply on listening to GOD, and accepting HIS Word. And so we can
conclude that, any rule that prevents us from helping our fellowman can never
be a rule of GOD.
JESUS came to show us that worshiping GOD
can only be done from the inside out. Peter, perhaps, put it best in Acts
15:10-11 when he says, in effect, “Why are we now questioning GOD’s way, by
burdening other believers with a yoke that neither we, nor our ancestors were
able to bear? We believe that we are all saved the same way, and that is, by
the special favor of our LORD JESUS”.
And so, all of the Church leaders involved themselves in the
process of solving and getting over the early Church’s first major internal
hurdle. They first obtained a clear statement of the issues, heard arguments
from both sides, consulted the scriptures, maintained good communications, and
as a result, built upon the strong unity that it takes to be successful in
GOD’s work.
THE
LETTER FOR GENTILE BELIEVERS
Acts
15:22-35
When Paul and Barnabas, along with a group of
chosen delegates arrived back at Antioch of Syria with the report and letter
outlining the results of the Acts 15 Council, they immediately called a meeting
of the Christians to give them the good news about Gentile inclusion. There was
great joy throughout the church that day as the apostles read the letter that
had been given to them by the heads of the Mother Church at Jerusalem. The
letter was stated thusly (Vs.24-29 - NLT);
“We
understand that some men from here have troubled you and upset you with their
teaching, but we did not send them! So we decided, having come
to complete agreement, to send you official representatives, along with our
beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives for the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are sending Judas and Silas
to confirm what we have decided concerning your question. “For
it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you
than these few requirements: You must abstain from eating food
offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and
from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.”
Afterwards
Judas and Silas (Silvanus), two of the chosen delegates, both being prophets,
stayed for a while and spoke extensively to the congregation in an effort to
encourage them, and strengthen their faith before returning to Jerusalem. Paul
and Barnabas, on the other hand, stayed in Antioch of Syria to help those who
were teaching and preaching the Word of the LORD there.
PAUL AND
BARNABAS SEPARATE
Acts
15:36-41
After spending some time in Antioch of Syria, Paul and Barnabas began to
discuss returning to some of the cities that they had visited and planted
churches in, during their first and only missionary journey together. They were
curious to see how the new believers in those cities and towns were getting
along, and to help to encourage them to hold fast to their newly found
Christian faith.
Barnabas agreed with Paul, but wanted to again take along young John
Mark to assist them. However Paul, still greatly disappointed in the young man
for deserting them on the first journey near Pamphylia, strongly opposed
bringing John Mark along again. This disagreement was so sharp that the two
apostles decided to separate and go in different directions. Barnabas took John
Mark and sailed back to his homeland of Cyprus, and Paul chose Silas and they
traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia to help strengthen the churches there.
A
Sunday school lesson by,
Larry
D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website
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