Read Acts 15 here
This chapter explores how a council was held in Jerusalem to discuss whether the new believers should be circumcised.
It’s amazing how much was still up for discussion. It’s so easy to think of the early church as idyllic untainted times, but there were weight issues that still needed to be dealt with.
This passage still somewhat bothers me. The fact that they can know that it is ‘through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are”, remove the need for circumcision and yet somewhat ‘compromise’ and still have several rules in place (v19-21), doesn’t quite jive with me.
They sound like decent rules, especially in their given context, but still…
v35 – Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord. – the ‘many others’ bit is a good reminder that there can be a community of teachers and guides.
Your thoughts?
