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Acts 15:12–18
“With this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old’” (vv. 15–18).
In the earliest days of the new covenant church, the circumcision party declared that gentile Christians had to be circumcised and follow the ceremonial parts of the Mosaic law. This caused much strife in the Christian community, so the Apostles and elders of the church gathered in Jerusalem to deal with the problem (Acts 15:1–6). During the deliberations, the Apostle Peter spoke first, explaining how the gentiles had come to faith in Christ and had received the Holy Spirit. The gentiles’ reception of the Spirit demonstrated that God did not require them to obey all the commandments in the Jewish law to be saved (vv. 7–11). Then, as we see in today’s passage, Paul and Barnabas corroborated Peter’s account by relating their own experience among the gentiles (v. 12).
Having heard this testimony, the council had to evaluate it by Scripture. The Apostle James stood to comment on the matter. This was James the brother of Jesus, the recognized leader of the church in Jerusalem who was celebrated for his faithfulness to the Mosaic law and for his personal piety. His view would be vital for settling the issue, since he was perhaps the Apostle most likely to side with the circumcision party. James, however, was too well versed in the Scriptures to require works of the law as a condition of justification, of being declared righteous in God’s sight. Quoting from Amos 9:11–12 and adding some material from Isaiah 45:21, James reminded the council of how the prophets had foreseen the inclusion of the gentiles in the people of God in the restoration of the “tent of David.” Conversion of the gentiles to the God of Israel in large numbers was to occur when the Son of David took up the Davidic throne—which occurred in the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 1:32; Acts 2:22–36). Many Jews did not expect this conversion to happen by the work of the Holy Spirit apart from circumcision. Nevertheless, the fact that it was occurring while the prophecies about gentile inclusion were being fulfilled demonstrated that God indeed was not going to require the gentiles to take on the yoke of the Mosaic law.
To be sure, gentile Christians would not be totally exempt from God’s moral law. Jewish and gentile believers alike must obey the law of Christ (1 Cor. 9:21; Gal. 6:2), but our obedience to that law is not something that we add to faith as a grounds for our standing before God. Instead, we seek to keep the law of Christ—the moral law—because we are the new creation and love righteousness.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The Jerusalem Council did not consider only the experience that Peter, Paul, and Barnabas related concerning God’s work among the gentiles. The leaders also looked to Scripture to evaluate that experience. That is the model for how the church is to make theological judgments—everything must be tested by Scripture, and only what conforms to its teaching is to be confessed as truth.
For further study
- Psalm 67
- Zephaniah 3:9–13
- Zechariah 2
- Ephesians 3:6
The bible in a year
- Job 28–30
- Acts 12