“Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Once again, the enemy was on the warpath…introducing a far more subtle strategy than persecution. If he could not destroy the church from outside, he would attack from within…mess with their minds…subtly introduce religion…one of his favourite weapons to confuse and capture people through fear. 

What does religion do? Religion introduces the very thing that destroys faith…fear. Why fear? Fear is the fruit of uncertainty. Religion demands performance. I must do what the deity demands.  Have I done enough to satisfy God? This is the exact opposite of faith because faith rests on the finished work of Jesus while fear is the insecurity of not knowing, based on what I do. 

This line of attack came straight out of Judaism…and the demands of the law. To be sure of your salvation, and to gain entry into  God’s kingdom, you were obliged to submit to the rite of circumcision as well as to keep the laws God gave as the terms of His covenant.  The trouble was, as Paul later pointed out to the Galatian church which was also assaulted by the Judaisers, you could not single out one law and ignore the rest. To obey one law as a means of satisfying God’s requirements was not enough. Which one would you choose…and what about the rest? You had to keep the whole law… and that meant cancelling faith as a way of salvation. 

This intervention was so troublesome that it almost split the church in Antioch. So, go sort this out, once and for all, in Jerusalem where the big shots were presiding. 

“This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad.”

Of course, Paul and Barnabas, experienced as they were in preaching to the Gentiles and winning them to faith in Jesus without circumcision, told their story along the way as they proceeded to Jerusalem. 

“When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭15‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

They did the same in Jerusalem, as a preparation for the debate. Who could argue for circumcision when a whole new phase of the church had opened up in Asia Minor among the Gentiles without their first being circumcised. 

“Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.” The apostles and elders met to consider this question.”

The debate began…the issues carefully discussed. Good old Peter…the one who had disappeared after he was almost assassinated…the one who had almost fallen, due to the same error, in Antioch…the one whom Paul had to rebuke for hypocrisy…he put the cherry on the top. 

“After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe…”

Peter repeated his story about Cornelius and his household, a case study about Gentiles who had believed when he, Peter, had preached the gospel to them. That finally settled the matter. God did not require obedience to circumcision or any other law for Gentiles or Jews to be saved. The gospel of Jesus was enough. 

“Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭15‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Jews had tried this way to be saved and had failed dismally, as their history had recorded, so why should the Gentiles be expected to do any better? Grace that bypassed works was God‘s infallible way of salvation. 

On the strength of Old Testament prophecy, which confirmed what God was doing, the company decided to make an official declaration to the Gentile churches…that circumcision was out. 

“Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: …’that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’—”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭15‬:‭14‬-‭15‬, ‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, the matter was finally and officially settled and communicated in a letter to the churches. 

“Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings… It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭15‬:‭22‬-‭23‬, ‭28‬-‭29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Defeated again! In partnership with God the Holy Spirit, the door was closed to another onslaught on the fragile church, strengthening their commitment to Jesus as the Lord and only Saviour of sinners. Once again, the gap between the church and the devotees of Judaism was widening…and with it, the protection the Jews enjoyed from the Roman government.

Before long, the full might of Roman opposition, under the rule of Nero, would rain down on the believers…opening the door to a season of cruel and ruthless persecution…but the devil still could not win. 

The two dauntless missionaries would soon be on the road again, soldiering on against Jewish and Roman aggression, to sow the seeds of truth into fertile fields in Europe, and finally reaching the centre of the empire, Rome itself. 

To be continued