And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”  (2) Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. (22) Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren.  (23) They wrote this, letter by them:  The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:  Greetings.  (24) Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the Law” – to whom we gave no such commandment – (25) it seems good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, (26) men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (27) We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth.  (28) For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things:  (29) that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.  If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.  Farewell.

The Acts of the Apostles was written by Luke; physician, historian and frequent companion of the apostle Paul.  Paul and Barnabas were sent by the church on their first missionary journey to preach the gospel in Asia Minor – Paul’s strategy was to first preach at the synagogue until they were rejected by the Jews and then they turned to the Gentiles.  When they departed a city after planting a church, false teachers would follow them and inform the Christian Gentiles that Christ was not enough; the Gentiles were told by these judaizers that they must also be circumcised and follow the law of Moses to be saved. The foundational doctrine Paul preached was that salvation is by Gods undeserved grace alone through faith in Christ alone and the contrary message of the false teachers undermined the gospel itself.

The Gentiles are included in God’s plan of salvation. Man doesn’t earn salvation; we are all sinners and we all need to be justified in Christ through faith alone; not faith plus good works.  Our verses tell us that Paul and Barnabas had “no small dissension and dispute with them”  and there was no room for compromise over how man is saved. This issue was the occasion for Paul and Barnabas to be sent to the elders and apostles of the church in Jerusalem for resolution. James, the half brother of Jesus was the presiding elder of the church there and James along with the council agreed with Paul and Barnabas that Gentiles need not be circumcised – faith alone in Christ alone is the only way of salvation for both Jew and Gentiles.   Led by the Spirit – supported by scripture and St, Peter – the decision preserved the essential truth of the gospel.

The council made some concession where the issues were non doctrinal and relating to Jewish ceremonial law and cultural moral issues.  Our lives should reflect this kind of compromise BUT NEVER in biblically essential matters. We should beware of legalism and unbiblical standards and seek to live in good conscience before God.  We should never do things forbidden by God’s Word but culturally permissible.