1 While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers: “Unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Paul and Barnabas disagreed with them, arguing vehemently. Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question. 3 The church sent the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers. They told them—much to everyone’s joy—that the Gentiles, too, were being converted.
4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Barnabas and Paul were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported everything God had done through them. 5 But then some of the believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and insisted, “The Gentile converts must be circumcised and required to follow the law of Moses.”
6 So the apostles and elders met together to resolve this issue. 7 At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. 8 God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. 10 So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? 11 We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.”
12 Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
13 When they had finished, James stood and said, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself. 15 And this conversion of Gentiles is exactly what the prophets predicted. As it is written:
16 ‘Afterward I will return
and restore the fallen house of David.
I will rebuild its ruins
and restore it,
17 so that the rest of humanity might seek the Lord,
including the Gentiles—
all those I have called to be mine.
The Lord has spoken—
18 he who made these things known so long ago.’
19 “And so my judgment is that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood. 21 For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations.”
Christianity is for Everyone
Apparently, there had been a debate among the early Christians regarding whether or not converts to the faith should follow the Jewish "kosher" rules found in what we now call the Old Testament. In particular, there was considerable disagreement regarding whether or not male converts to Christianity from non-Jewish backgrounds should get circumcised as Jewish men are expected to do as a ritual in their faith.
After much discussion, Paul concludes that they "should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God." In other words, if Gentiles (non-Jews) had to get circumcised and follow all of the other Jewish dietary rules, it may have been more difficult for them to actually convert to Christianity. He says it is not necessary.
This is important because the early disciples were no longer promoting Judaism but actually a new faith that was meant for everyone. Paul cites a passage from the Old Testament in which he concludes that God always intended for the entire world to know Him, not just the Jews. By not requiring converts to follow the Jewish kosher laws, the faith would be freed of its cultural weights. This would make it much easier and more attractive to people around the world to one day become Christians.
As we think about the modern spread of Christianity into places like Korea and China and India, it is in part because 2,000 years earlier Paul removed the cultural elements associated with Judaism as a prerequisite for being a Christian. Now a Korean convert to Christianity can still eat non-kosher foods and follow his or her Korean culture. In fact, one of the great aspects of Christianity is its ability to adapt to the cultures of the world. We do that in AYL too by adapting the Christian faith to the world of Asian American teenagers. We maintain the doctrines of Christianity but modify the "style" and culture. Thanks to our early Church fathers for leading the way!
- Brian Hall
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