Chapter 406 of 957

The Letter To The Gentile Believers

THE LETTER TO THE GENTILE BELIEVERS

ACTS 15:22-35

We should sometimes be ready to limit what we do, rather than unnecessarily upsetting our brothers and sisters in Christ.

A delegation of four men is appointed to carry this letter containing the terms of the “apostolic decree” from Jerusalem to Antioch. It was at Antioch that Christian fellowship between the two branches of the church had been disrupted by the arrival of certain Jerusalem teachers (called Judaizers) who, claiming to speak with James’s authority, insisted on a separation of Jewish Christians from uncircumcized Gentile believers, and brought pressure to bear upon Peter (Galatians 2:11ff.). It was therefore necessary that:

These Judaizers should be checked (15:24).

Paul and Barnabas who had put matters right at Antioch should be vindicated by the general assembly (15:25-26).

Some independent evidence of the assembly’s decision should be provided, lest the Antiochians should imagine that Paul was inventing all this. Two impartial witnesses are commended (15:27).

It was further required that the terms of Christian moral practices should be spelled out clearly, so that the high moral tone of the church (which was quickly becoming the spiritual home of Gentiles who had been converted to Christ from a world of licence, immorality and self-indulgence) should be preserved (15:28-29).

The guidance of the Holy Spirit is acknowledged in this epoch-making decision (15:28).

How was the decree received (15:31)? Further explanations were given by the two accredited delegates, who had a spiritual gift of prophecy (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:3).

Notes 15:22: Judas Barsabbas—was he brother to Joseph Barsabbas (1:23)? Silas (or Silvanus) is first introduced. He played an important part in the Pauline and Petrine correspondence (1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:19; 1 Peter 5:12). 15:24: “unsettling your minds”—a military term for plundering a town. 15:26: “risked”—the Greek verb is the same as in Galatians 2:20; Romans 4:25; 8:32. Perhaps we should translate: “men who have dedicated their lives.” But the RSV thought recurs in Philippians 2:30. 15:33: “in peace” = with the good wishes of the congregation, and in prospect of Silas’ return to Antioch (15:40; 15:34 in the margin simply confuses).

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