A STUDY GUIDE ACTS 15:1-12
1. A Study Guide
a) A study guide of Acts of the Apostles. It is intended to be expository — to explain and bring out the meaning of the original text. You may use this for your personal bible study or even group bible study.
2. Acts 15:1-12
a) The verses describe how Paul spoke to the council at Jerusalem.
#1) Acts 15:1-2
15 Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And 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.
i) Custom of Moses. The church in Antioch Syria, and the churches Paul and Barnabas had established, were making disciples among the Gentiles. These converts were not required to be circumcised or to keep the law of Moses; nor were they required to become Jewish proselytes and attend the synagogue every Sabbath. People were accepted as complete Christians without practicing Judaism or the Mosaic law. They were required only to keep themselves from pagan practices and to follow the gospel of Christ. Now trouble makers from among the Jewish Christians were contradicting that. This put in danger the new movement to take Christ to the Gentiles.
ii) Men from Judea. Paul and Barnabas had heated discussion with these intruders from Judea. The issue was not resolved. So the Antioch church decided to consult the Jerusalem church about the problem. Jerusalem is the capital of Judea. Since these teachers came from Judea, let Jerusalem sort out the problem before it spreads further.
iii) To go to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some others, to make the journey up to Jerusalem, and to put the question before the apostles and elders there. This isn't because the Jerusalem church had jurisdiction over the Antioch church, but simply because the trouble makers came from Jerusalem’s region. The source of the problem is the first place to look for a solution.
#2) Acts 15:3-4
3 Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. 4 When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.
i) The journey to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas visited churches along the way, to tell them about the Gentile conversions. They probably took the opportunity to emphasize that the Gentiles were converted to Christianity, not to Judaism. The news cause gladness. The light of the gospel was now shining among the nations.
ii) Received by the church. The delegation from Antioch received a welcome from the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, and a meeting was quickly arranged. Rather than talk about the problem, Paul and Barnabas used this meeting to deliver the same report to Jerusalem that they had delivered to the other churches along the way. The first missionary journey had given a great impetus to the outreach among Gentiles. Nothing should be allowed to undo this important advance, especially because it was a work that God had done.
#3) Acts 15:5-6
5 But 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.”
6 The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter.
i) Some believers rose up. Paul and Barnabas didn't have to raise the Antioch problem. Its protagonists in Jerusalem were quick to raise it themselves. They were saying, in effect, that Paul and Barnabas had got it wrong. They should have made their Gentile converts become not only Christians but also Jewish proselytes.
ii) Sect of the Pharisees. This sect believed in a resurrection from the dead (Acts 23:8) so some of them were able to accept that Jesus had risen. Hence they were believers. But they treated the Christian faith as a development within Judaism, not as a replacement for it. This was contrary to the message that Paul and Barnabas had preached on their missionary journey. So there it was. The controversy was on the table. So a second meeting was called to examine the issue.
#4) Acts 15:7-9
7 After 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; 9 and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
i) Much discussion. As in all such meetings, everyone put in his sixpence worth. Talk like this often goes up and down every garden path but reaches no conclusion. So Peter decides to bring it to a focus. He, in a few crisp sentences, reminds them of the conversion of the Gentile Cornelius and his household (Acts 11:15). Then Peter draws his conclusion as follows...
#5) Acts 15:10-11
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.”
i) Saved by grace. A few more crisp sentences from Peter, and the matter is made simple and clear. The law of Moses is a burden nobody needs to bear any longer. Not only can Gentiles be saved without it, so can Jews. Both Gentiles and Jews, without distinction, are saved by faith through grace. Moses is no longer necessary. The Christ (Messiah) has made all things new.
ii) A yoke on the neck. A yoke is a frame connecting the necks of beasts of burden, keeping them together sharing the load.
#6) Acts 15:12
12 All 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.
i) Kept silence and listened. Peter’s statement brought silence to the meeting —not that he put a dampener on discussion, but that he clarified the issue so that it was pretty well settled. Barnabas and Paul then relate the miracles God did to confirm their message. Just as Peter had signs from God to cite, so did Barnabas and Paul. The Pharisees opposing them had no signs from God to confirm their assertions. So it was game, set, and match. End of controversy.
a) A study guide of Acts of the Apostles. It is intended to be expository — to explain and bring out the meaning of the original text. You may use this for your personal bible study or even group bible study.
2. Acts 15:1-12
a) The verses describe how Paul spoke to the council at Jerusalem.
#1) Acts 15:1-2
15 Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And 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.
i) Custom of Moses. The church in Antioch Syria, and the churches Paul and Barnabas had established, were making disciples among the Gentiles. These converts were not required to be circumcised or to keep the law of Moses; nor were they required to become Jewish proselytes and attend the synagogue every Sabbath. People were accepted as complete Christians without practicing Judaism or the Mosaic law. They were required only to keep themselves from pagan practices and to follow the gospel of Christ. Now trouble makers from among the Jewish Christians were contradicting that. This put in danger the new movement to take Christ to the Gentiles.
ii) Men from Judea. Paul and Barnabas had heated discussion with these intruders from Judea. The issue was not resolved. So the Antioch church decided to consult the Jerusalem church about the problem. Jerusalem is the capital of Judea. Since these teachers came from Judea, let Jerusalem sort out the problem before it spreads further.
iii) To go to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some others, to make the journey up to Jerusalem, and to put the question before the apostles and elders there. This isn't because the Jerusalem church had jurisdiction over the Antioch church, but simply because the trouble makers came from Jerusalem’s region. The source of the problem is the first place to look for a solution.
#2) Acts 15:3-43 Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. 4 When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.
i) The journey to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas visited churches along the way, to tell them about the Gentile conversions. They probably took the opportunity to emphasize that the Gentiles were converted to Christianity, not to Judaism. The news cause gladness. The light of the gospel was now shining among the nations.
ii) Received by the church. The delegation from Antioch received a welcome from the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, and a meeting was quickly arranged. Rather than talk about the problem, Paul and Barnabas used this meeting to deliver the same report to Jerusalem that they had delivered to the other churches along the way. The first missionary journey had given a great impetus to the outreach among Gentiles. Nothing should be allowed to undo this important advance, especially because it was a work that God had done.
#3) Acts 15:5-6
5 But 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.”
6 The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter.
i) Some believers rose up. Paul and Barnabas didn't have to raise the Antioch problem. Its protagonists in Jerusalem were quick to raise it themselves. They were saying, in effect, that Paul and Barnabas had got it wrong. They should have made their Gentile converts become not only Christians but also Jewish proselytes.
ii) Sect of the Pharisees. This sect believed in a resurrection from the dead (Acts 23:8) so some of them were able to accept that Jesus had risen. Hence they were believers. But they treated the Christian faith as a development within Judaism, not as a replacement for it. This was contrary to the message that Paul and Barnabas had preached on their missionary journey. So there it was. The controversy was on the table. So a second meeting was called to examine the issue.
#4) Acts 15:7-9
7 After 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; 9 and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
i) Much discussion. As in all such meetings, everyone put in his sixpence worth. Talk like this often goes up and down every garden path but reaches no conclusion. So Peter decides to bring it to a focus. He, in a few crisp sentences, reminds them of the conversion of the Gentile Cornelius and his household (Acts 11:15). Then Peter draws his conclusion as follows...
#5) Acts 15:10-11
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.”
i) Saved by grace. A few more crisp sentences from Peter, and the matter is made simple and clear. The law of Moses is a burden nobody needs to bear any longer. Not only can Gentiles be saved without it, so can Jews. Both Gentiles and Jews, without distinction, are saved by faith through grace. Moses is no longer necessary. The Christ (Messiah) has made all things new.
ii) A yoke on the neck. A yoke is a frame connecting the necks of beasts of burden, keeping them together sharing the load.
#6) Acts 15:12
12 All 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.
i) Kept silence and listened. Peter’s statement brought silence to the meeting —not that he put a dampener on discussion, but that he clarified the issue so that it was pretty well settled. Barnabas and Paul then relate the miracles God did to confirm their message. Just as Peter had signs from God to cite, so did Barnabas and Paul. The Pharisees opposing them had no signs from God to confirm their assertions. So it was game, set, and match. End of controversy.
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