Acts 15 Study Notes

15:1 After arriving back in Antioch, Paul and Barnabas reported on what God had done in Asia on the first missionary journey, especially the evangelizing of the Gentiles (14:27). Some men came down from Judea and attempted to modify Paul’s approach to non-Jews. By insisting that Gentiles be circumcised, they made observance of Jewish ritual a requirement for salvation.

15:2 Unable to reach an agreement, Paul and Barnabas were sent to the elders in Jerusalem, a sign that the Jerusalem church, with its apostles and elders, was still the center of the Christian movement. If Paul failed to convince the Lord’s apostles, the church would not support him.

15:3 On the way to Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas wisely shared details about the conversion of the Gentiles with believers in Phoenicia and Samaria, creating great joy among the brothers and sisters.

15:4-5 Though the Pharisees (including Paul) had opposed Jesus bitterly, some had become believers (6:7). In this case a group of them failed to understand the freedoms Christ had won for believers.

15:6 The central issue of the Jerusalem Council was whether Gentile Christians had to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. Given the Jewish roots of Christianity, it is understandable that the church had to grapple with this issue in an era of transition.

15:7-9 Peter reminded his hearers of four things: (1) God had chosen him to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles (10:1-43). (2) The Gentiles believed Peter’s message. (3) When the Gentiles believed, they received the Holy Spirit (10:44-46). (4) The pattern of Gentile conversion was the same as for Jewish believers. God was making no ethnic distinctions in building the church.

15:10 In light of the above points (see note at vv. 7-9), the believers from the “party of the Pharisees” (v. 5) were testing God and putting on Gentile converts a burden that neither Jewish ancestors nor contemporary Jews were able to bear.

15:11 Having mentioned the inability of Jews and Gentiles alike to fulfill the law perfectly, Peter insisted that salvation is through the grace of the Lord Jesus, which means it is a free gift. Rituals such as circumcision cannot save anyone.

15:12 The signs and wonders among the Gentiles demonstrated that they were included in God’s salvation.

15:13-14 As leader of the Jerusalem church, James, the brother of Jesus, assessed the claims and counterclaims. He began his address by recalling how Simeon (Peter) had reported God’s plan to take from the Gentiles a people for his name, which had occasioned controversy of its own (11:2ff).

15:15-18 James cited the prophets Amos (Am 9:11-12) and Isaiah (Is 45:21) to show that God had long ago foretold that Gentiles would be called by his name.

15:19 James’s position as the first among equals in the Jerusalem church is seen in his summarizing conclusion to the debate. In his judgment, Jewish believers should not cause difficulties for those turning to God from among the Gentiles.

15:20 Despite the common basis of salvation for Jews and Gentiles, a number of restrictions were required (v. 29; 21:25). Some scholars think these may have been introduced as a way for Jews and Gentiles within the church to have a common basis for contact. But it is more likely that these were designed to elevate the moral standards of the Gentiles by prohibiting them from engaging in a number of the practices that were associated with pagan temple rites such as animal sacrifice, sexual immorality, and idolatry.

15:21 James’s reason for invoking Moses and the widespread proclamation of the law is not entirely clear. He may have meant that Jewish people who spread throughout the world via the Diaspora had made Moses’s law known among Gentiles through their public reading of Scripture. Alternatively, he may have been saying that the standards he demanded of Gentiles in v. 20 reflected universal moral laws that were enshrined in the law of Moses.

15:22-23a Judas and Silas, both leading men among the brothers in Jerusalem, accompanied Paul and Barnabas back to Antioch in order to vouch (personally and via hand-delivered letter) for the results of the Jerusalem Council.

15:23b-27 The letter not only conveyed the findings of the council but also commended the ministry of Barnabas and Paul. A letter in the ancient world was a substitute for the personal presence of the author. It was often carried by a trusted person who would validate and expand upon its contents, which Judas and Silas as emissaries of the leaders of the Jerusalem church would do.

15:28 James names both the Holy Spirit and human initiative (ours) as factors in the Council’s decision. Throughout the NT, there is interplay between divine guidance and human actions that accomplish God’s purpose (e.g., Php 2:12-13).

15:29 The four things to avoid are repeated from v. 20 but in a different order.

15:30-31 The letter was an encouragement to the church at Antioch because it endorsed the strategy of Paul and Barnabas in evangelizing Gentiles and did not impose unnecessary burdens on new converts.

15:32-35 Judas and Silas, who were prophets in addition to being leading figures from the Jerusalem church, encouraged and strengthened the believers in Antioch with a long message that Scripture nowhere records. We are reminded yet again that many great speeches and vital events went unreported by the Bible’s authors (Jn 20:30; see note at Jn 21:25). Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, each author had to choose which events and sayings to include or exclude. In many cases this leaves readers wanting more or even grappling with unanswered questions. Nevertheless, enough information is given that the reader “may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God” (Jn 20:31).

15:36 This verse marks the beginning of Paul’s second missionary journey. Out of a sense of responsibility, Paul wanted to visit the converts in every town they had evangelized to see how they were progressing in the faith.

15:37-40 That Paul and Barnabas parted company over John Mark shows that even within the apostolic fellowship, perfect unity was not always obtainable. Sometimes God’s workers have to agree to go separate ways, but there is always hope for reunion (Col 4:10; 2Tm 4:11; Phm 24). Paul took with him Silas, one of the men who had carried the Jerusalem letter to Antioch (vv. 23-34). Barnabas is not mentioned in the book of Acts after this incident.

15:41 Rather than going to Cyprus to strengthen the believers there, Paul and Silas went to Syria and the region of Cilicia, entering the province of Asia Minor.