Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Acts 15:1 - 15:4

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Acts 15:1 - 15:4


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

The Convention at Jerusalem.

The question about circumcision:

v. 1. And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

v. 2. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

v. 3. And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.

v. 4. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.

The Christian congregations of Palestine and Syria were now enjoying a season of external peace and prosperity, and therefore Satan, as a sower of discord, determined to create internal dissension, thus working a most severe form of harm. There had been some dissatisfaction among those of the circumcision in Jerusalem at the course of Peter in entering into the house of Cornelius, chap. 11:2-3. At that time the matter had been adjusted satisfactorily when Peter had narrated the facts pertaining to the case. But it seems that certain members of the Church had since grown restive once more, their Jewish prejudices being unable to feel satisfied concerning conditions. Some of these purposely, as it seems, made the journey down to Antioch in Syria, and not only expressed it as their opinion, but, began to teach, they made every effort to force their teaching on the brethren of the congregation, declaring that unless they received circumcision according to the usage of Moses, they could not he saved. They thus made circumcision, an Old Testament sacrament, a condition of salvation in the New Testament. Naturally the matter caused a very heated controversy and discussion, since Paul and Barnabas could not possibly keep silence at such an open attack of their work in Antioch, on Cyprus, and in Asia Minor. The Judaizing teachers, then, mere responsible for the threatening discord; they began the questioning and disputing. It is difficult to realize the distress and confusion which must have followed and racked the minds of the brethren while the controversy was in progress. With such bitter emphasis did the men from Judea insist upon their point that Paul and Barnabas did not succeed in silencing them. So the congregation finally resolved and determined that Paul and Barnabas and some other men out of their midst should make the trip up to Jerusalem to settle this question of dispute, if possible. Paul and Barnabas were thus commissioned by, they acted as delegates of, the congregation at Antioch. Among their companions was Titus, Gal_2:1; Gal_2:3. Note: This procedure of the northern congregation was not an appeal to a higher tribunal nor even to a representative body, but simply a mission or delegation of one congregation, in itself independent and autonomous, to another of the same rank. Having been sped on their journey by their congregation, very probably in this manner, that the members accompanied them out for some distance, an action which both emphasized the solemnity of the occasion and the interest which the brethren took in the matter, the little party slowly traveled down along the coast through Phoenicia, then cutting across Samaria toward the southeast. wherever they found brethren, they narrated to them in full the conversion of the Gentiles as they had witnessed and experienced it. And in all places they found sympathetic listeners, to whom their recital of the wonderful mercy of the Lord brought great gladness. As they neared Jerusalem, they left behind them a string of congregations where the hearts were uplifted to the Lord in pure joy over the wonder of His redemption to all men. Upon their arrival at Jerusalem, Paul and his companions were received by the entire congregation, as well as by the apostles then present in the capital and by the elders of the local body, and they rendered a complete report, telling how many and how great things God had done with them as His instruments of grace, and on their behalf, in giving testimony to the Word as it was preached by them.