Chapter XCV.
THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM (about A. D. 50).
[Acts 15.]
SOME disciples[1] who came from Jerusalem to Antioch said to the Christians[2] there: “Unless[3] you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Paul and Barnabas opposed this doctrine; but in order to settle the question, they went up to Jerusalem, to consult[4] with Peter and the other apostles.
When Paul and Barnabas arrived in Jerusalem, the apostles and elders or priests [5] assembled in council to consider the matter. After much discussion, Peter[6] rose up and said:
“Men, brethren, you know that in former days[7] God made choice among us, that the Gentiles[8], by my mouth, should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. And God, who knoweth the hearts, gave them testimony, giving to them the Holy Ghost as well as to us, and made no difference between us [9] and them [10], purifying their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why tempt -you [11] God to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear. But by the grace [12] of the Lord Jesus Christ we believe to be saved, even as they.” When
- ↑ Some disciples. Who had belonged to the sect of the Pharisees.
- ↑ The Christians. Who had been Gentiles.
- ↑ Unless. You observe the law of Moses, generally, in all its regulations as to food, purifications &c.
- ↑ To consult. The matter in dispute being a very important one, it was decided to submit it to the apostles as a body. It is easy for us to see the importance of the subject in question. If the opinion held by these Jewish Christians had been generally accepted, the admission of Gentiles into her fold would have been complicated to an extraordinary degree, and her growth would have been much fettered, and the Old Testament itself would have lost its real character as “a mere preparation and introduction" to Christianity. The matter was therefore a vital question for the welfare of the Church.
- ↑ Priests. All those whom the apostles had ordained.
- ↑ Peter. Peter had left Rome a short time before and returned to Jerusalem.
- ↑ In former cays. About nine years previously.
- ↑ The Gentiles. Cornelius and his companions.
- ↑ Us. Who were circumcised Jews.
- ↑ Them. The uncircumcised Gentiles.
- ↑ Why tempt you. God has already decided the question through me both theoretically and practically. He has bidden the shadows that lay so heavily upon us, to depart from the new Israel. Why then do you tempt Him to alter His decree?
- ↑ By the grace. And not by circumcision.
