Daily Thoughts from Acts: The Lingering Gentile Question (Acts 14:24-28; 15:1-5)

Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples.

  But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”  (Acts 14:24-28; 15:1-5 ESV)

Paul and Barnabas basically retrace their steps back home, skipping Cyprus for reasons we are not told.  They make their report to the church in Antioch that sent them and particularly speak about how God used them to reach Gentiles.  We don’t know how long “no little time” was but could estimate around two years.

Despite the ministry of Peter among Gentiles, which made it clear that Gentiles did not need to become Jews in order to receive the Holy Spirit and be included in the church, there are still Jewish believers who cannot accept this and are actively teaching that circumcision was essential for Gentile male converts.  And so a challenge comes to the church in Antioch when some believers from Judea visit and teach that Gentiles have to become Jews in their observance of the Law of Moses in order to be saved. 

Paul and Barnabas lead the resistance against this idea.  It is not apparent what the accepted view should be for the whole church and so the church sends these two men as representatives to Jerusalem to ask the apostles and elders for a ruling.  In Jerusalem we find converts from the Pharisees, as was Paul, teaching the same thing about Gentiles keeping the Law in order to be accepted.  If Gentiles must become Jewish in their observance of the Law the growth and spread of the gospel will be severely hindered.

It is commendable that the church at Antioch doesn’t consider itself autonomous from the rest of the church and doesn’t decide to secede from the union but rather desires to maintain the unity of the Body of Christ in this crucial doctrinal matter.  They go to great lengths to maintain this unity, sending a delegation to Jerusalem.  They were convinced of their perspective and we don’t know what might have happened if Jerusalem had sided with those teaching a contrary view.  At this time, though the Twelve Apostles are considered the authoritative voice of Jesus concerning the gospel, we will see in the council that forms to deal with this issue that apostles are not simply consulted for a dogmatic statement but rather a real dialogue is undertaken to hear all perspectives.

It is a shame that in our modern church we have not sought with the same energy to reconcile our differences in regard to the gospel.  The biggest divergence we have regarding the gospel remains the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant divergence.  Differences regarding mode of baptism, evidence of the baptism in the Spirit, form of church government, etc., are not essential to the gospel and may not require the same energy to resolve them, if any energy at all.