PAUL THE APOSTLE ( Part 17) | THE JERUSALEM COUNCIL ( AD 50 ) REVIEWED

Pastor Christopher Choo

Lesson 3116

PAUL THE APOSTLE ( Part 17)


THE JERUSALEM COUNCIL ( AD 50 ) REVIEWED

In the earliest days of the Christian church, the church was dominated by Jews - as they were the earliest converts on the Day of Pentecost.

Then the Gentiles started to come into the church in droves through evangelism as new converts:

1.In Acts Chapter 8, the gospel spread to the Samaritans (who were ethnically mixed Jews-Gentiles).

2. In Acts Chapter 10, the apostle Peter was the first to take the gospel specifically to the Gentiles.

3. In Acts Chapters 13—14, Paul and Barnabas had a very fruitful ministry among the Gentiles - in what is called Paul's First Missionary Journey.

But a problem was created by the new influx of Gentiles who became the majority.

Many of the new converts were not as literate as the Jews nor conversant with the  tenets of faith found in the Old Testament.

But the main issues that caused concern were ultimately decided upon at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15). The issues centered on two questions: Do Gentiles first have to become Jews before they can become Christians? Do Gentiles have to observe the Mosaic Law after they become Christians?

The Jerusalem Council then proceeded to give four “rules” that Gentile Christians should live by. These were not rules the Gentiles must follow in order to be saved. Rather, the rules were to build harmony between Jewish and Gentile Christians in the first century. 

These four rules the Jerusalem Council decided upon were that Gentile Christians should abstain from food polluted by idols, sexual immorality, the meat of strangled animals, and the drinking of blood. These instructions were not intended to guarantee salvation but to promote peace within the early church.

ABBA FATHER, for the sake of melding the Jewish and Gentile cultures within the Antioch church, the Jerusalem Council said that the Gentiles should eschew their former pagan practices and abominations associated with idolatry. Thus the Jerusalem Council gave them four guidelines to follow that were observed among the Jews. Furthermore, the Jerusalem Council made it abundantly clear that these rules were not requirements for salvation by reaffirming that salvation is by grace for both Jews and Gentiles (Acts 15:11). The principle set by the Jerusalem Council was wise in retrospect—limit your liberty for the sake of love and unity in the body of Christ.

Popular Posts