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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Acts 15:22 - 15:29
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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act_15:22-29
22Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas—Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren, 23and they sent this letter by them, "The apostles and the brethren who are elders, to the brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles, greetings. 24Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls, 25it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: 29that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell."
Act_15:22 This delegation was for the purpose of unity (cf. Act_15:23), not to mandate compliance.
▣ "Judas called Barsabbas" This faithful leader, like so many in the NT, is unknown to us. Nothing else in the NT is said about him. But God knows him well!
It is just possible that this man was the brother of Joseph Barsabbas, who was one of the candidates to replace Judas Iscariot in Act_1:23. If so, they were both sons of a man named Barsabbas.
▣ "Silas" He, like Barnabas, was a leader in the church of Jerusalem. He is called Silvanus by Paul and will replace Barnabas as Paul's associate on the second missionary journey. Paul may have chosen him so that when someone accused him of (1) preaching a different gospel than the Twelve or (2) being out of fellowship with the mother church, Silas could answer their concerns and accusations.
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Act_15:23 The letter from the Jerusalem Council is directed only to certain churches, apparently which had a large believing Jewish component. By listing only certain regions, James shows that it was not meant as rules for all the Gentile churches. The letter was only for fellowship and evangelism purposes and not for guidelines for ethics or salvation!
Do you as a modern believer totally avoid non-Kosher meats? See
1. Manfred Brauch, Abusing Scripture, chapter 7, "The Abuse of Context: Historical Situation and Cultural Reality," pp. 202-249
2. Gordon Fee, Gospel and Spirit
3. Hard Sayings of the Bible, "How Kosher Should Christians Live?", pp. 527-530 and "To Eat or Not to Eat," pp. 576-578
These are all helpful articles. It is so comforting to read other informed, sincere and Bible-believing Christians struggle with these issues. Their writings give other believers the freedom to think and live based on the light they have. Unity, not uniformity, is the key to healthy, growing, Great Commission churches.
▣ "Cilicia" This is Paul's home area (cf. Act_22:3).
Act_15:24 This verse shows that the church in Jerusalem had become aware that some of their membership, who had no authority or official standing (cf. Act_15:1), were (1) traveling to these mission churches and (2) demanding conformity to the Mosaic law (cf. Act_15:1). The verb (anaskeuazô) used is a strong military term used only here in the NT for plundering a city.
Act_15:25
NASB "having become of one mind"
NKJV "being assembled with one accord"
NRSV, NJB "we have decided unanimously"
TEV "we have met together and have all agreed"
This unity among believers was a characteristic of the Spirit's presence (cf. Act_15:28). Notice this did not mean that there was no discussion or the exchange of strong opinions, but that after a full airing of the issue the believers came to a unified agenda.
This unified theological agreement needed to be published abroad so the same tension and argument would not occur again and again. The Jerusalem church has now taken an official stand on the content of the gospel and its implications for Gentiles!
Act_15:26 Paul and Barnabas shared not only the victories, but also the hardships of mission work. This vulnerability was not a passing feeling, but a permanent commitment (perfect active participle).
Act_15:28 "the Holy Spirit and to us" God was present at this crucial meeting. He expressed His will through the discussion! The Holy Spirit is the one who produced unity. Here both aspects of biblical covenant are highlighted—God's activity and appropriate human response. Notice it was a compromise; each side got something. The grace-alone, faith-alone gospel was affirmed, but Jewish sensibilities were respected. See hyperlink at Act_1:2.
▣ "these essentials" These do not refer to personal individual salvation, but fellowship between believing Jews and believing Gentiles in local churches.
Act_15:29 This meant for Gentiles a complete break with their idolatrous past. Christian freedom and responsibility are hard to balance, but they must be (cf. Rom_14:1 to Rom_5:13; 1Co_8:1-13; 1Co_10:23-28). These pagans' previous worship involved all three of these excluded things!
These "essentials" are listed in various ways in different Greek manuscripts. The real question is to what do they relate?
1. things sacrificed to idols would refer to meat (cf. 1 Corinthians 8; 1Co_10:23-33)
2. blood could refer to either
a. non-kosher meat
b. premeditated murder
3. things strangled must refer to non-kosher ways of killing animals, implying that the previous two also relate to food sensibilities of the Jews (i.e., Leviticus 11)
4. fornication could refer to
a. participation in pagan worship rituals (as well as the food)
b. OT Levitical laws against incest (cf. Lev_17:10-14, see F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions, p. 43)
All of these "essentials" relate not to salvation, but to fellowship within mixed churches and expanded opportunities for Jewish evangelism. See F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions, pp. 80-81.
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▣ "if" Grammatically this is not a conditional sentence. The NJB has "avoid these, and you will do what is right."
▣ "Farewell" This is a perfect passive imperative which was used as a common closing wishing strength and health.