Acts 15-16 - Jerusalem Council and Call to Macedonia

The work in Antioch among the Gentiles was exploding.  It caught the eye of the circumcision party, who thought that the sign was required to be a Christian.  To settle the matter Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to discuss the matter with Apostles and elders (Acts 15:1-35).

There Peter forms the question:

Acts 15:10-11

Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

Much discussion is allowed to occur.  Paul and Barnabas give testimony.  And then James proposes a solution.  He begins by supporting the statements of Simon Peter:

Acts 15:13-18

After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

“‘After this I will return,

and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;

I will rebuild its ruins,

     and I will restore it,

that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,

    and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,

     says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’ 

Note he calls Peter "Simeon", which is the Hebrew pronunciation of "Simon".  Remember please he is speaking with and trying to win over the Jewish portion of the church that was aligned with the Pharisees.

He then quotes from Amos (Acts 15:16-18/Amos 9:11-12) proving to them that God would call the Gentiles as His own.  

And then he does something brilliant.  What he had just quoted was one part of a weekly cycle of readings that have been read in the synagogues since the time of Ezra and the Babylonian Captivity.  They read first from the Torah and then from the Prophets (See Parshah).  The other text that was part of week 30 (Qedoshim) was Leviticus 19:1-20:27.  He used this connection to propose that the Gentiles would only be required to abide by the limited laws contained in that passage (v 21)!

Leviticus 19 is a pleasant break from the ceremonial laws of the book and from the civil laws of Deuteronomy.  It is a condensation of the ten commandments and contains the greatest commandment "you shall love your neighbor as yourself".

This brought the discussion to consensus (dokeō) and in Acts 15:22-35, they commit this conclusion to a letter to be circulated.

For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements . . . 
. . . it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to . . .
For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements . . .

In v22, v25, and v28, the level of consensus is repeatedly emphasized to the point of “one accord” (homothymadon), which Luke uses repeatedly throughout the book to describe the unity of the church.  

This extended even to the Holy Spirit!  How so?  Even though they used an uninspired liturgy to drive the solution, the solution did not violate inspired scripture.

Chapter 16 includes:

• a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:38) based on personal opinion which split them into two teams.
• a unilateral decision to circumcise a non-observant ethnically Jewish Christian to allow their participation in Jewish evangelism Acts 16:3).
• an internal prompting by the Holy Spirit and dream that changed Paul's direction Acts 16:7,9).

So we have seen in this passage many decision making processes.  Some drive a group to consensus, others split a team apart, still others changes ones own mind.  What ever we choose to do, may it indeed "seem good" to the Holy Spirit.