Acts 15

Acts 15 is the fifteenth chapter of the Book of Acts. It continues the narrative of chapter 14, in which Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch after completing their first missionary journey. The chapter records the Council of Jerusalem, which addressed the question of circumcision for Gentile believers, and the beginning of Paul's second missionary journey.

Outline

• Verses 1–5: Certain men who had come down from Judea teach that those who are not circumcised cannot be saved, and a dispute arises. Paul and Barnabas are therefore sent to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, some believers from the party of the Pharisees make the same claim.
• Verses 6–11: Peter says that God has given the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles as well and testifies that Jews and Gentiles alike are saved by grace.
• Verses 12–21: Barnabas and Paul report the miracles and wonders God had done among the Gentiles. James then cites the words of the prophets (Amos 9:11–12) and proposes that the church not trouble the Gentile believers but write to them, asking them to abstain from only four things.
• Verses 22–29: The apostles, the elders, and the whole church choose Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas and send them with a letter. The letter instructs the believers to abstain from meats offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication.
• Verses 30–35: The church in Antioch reads the letter and rejoices. Judas and Silas, who are prophets, exhort the brethren, while Paul and Barnabas remain in Antioch, teaching.
• Verses 36–41: Paul and Barnabas have a sharp disagreement over whether to take John, whose surname was Mark, and they part ways. Barnabas sails with Mark to Cyprus, while Paul departs with Silas through Syria and Cilicia.

Key Verses

• Acts 15:11 "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." This is the central point of the council: salvation comes by grace, not by circumcision.
• Acts 15:28 "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things." This verse presents the church's decision as one made together with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

People and Places

• Paul and Barnabas: the delegates sent by the church in Antioch.
• Peter: called Simeon in verse 14. He bases his argument on what happened at the house of Cornelius (Acts 10).
• James: the one who proposes the council's conclusion. The text gives only his name, but he is generally identified as James the brother of the Lord.
• Judas surnamed Barsabas: a leader in the Jerusalem church and a prophet.
• Silas: delivered the letter and later became Paul's co-worker.
• Mark: the cause of the dispute, because he had left the mission in Pamphylia during the first missionary journey.
• Jerusalem, Antioch, Samaria, Phoenicia, Cyprus (an island in the Mediterranean), and Syria and Cilicia (regions surrounding Antioch).

Points for Reflection

• Relationship to Galatians 2: Scholars are divided over whether Galatians 2:1–10 refers to this council or to the famine-relief visit of Acts 11.
• The nature of the four prohibitions: Many Protestants regard this decision as a measure for its own time, designed to enable table fellowship between Jewish and Gentile believers. On this view, the food regulations are not observed as such today, while the prohibition of fornication is read as an enduring moral standard. Jehovah's Witnesses are known to cite the command to abstain from blood as a basis for refusing blood transfusions.
• Church polity: Presbyterians point to this council as the biblical basis for church courts above the local congregation, namely the governing bodies known as the presbytery and the general assembly. Congregationalists and Baptists emphasize congregational participation, noting that "the whole church" (verse 22) took part in the decision.
• Verse 34: Because verse 34 is absent from older manuscripts, the Korean Revised Version leaves this verse blank. Some manuscripts and the King James Version include a statement that Silas remained in Antioch.
• The text does not say whether Paul or Barnabas was in the right. In later letters Paul mentions Mark again (Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11).