Acts 15:1-5
The Problem
A continuous stream of Gentiles being added to the church would inevitably be a problem for the early church. The Jews were still in firm belief that they were God's chosen people and felt they had certain rights and privileges associated with their ancestry. The Jewish sense of national identity was based on being the chose people of God.
The problem then is this. Since the gospel of Christ was sent first to the Jews, do the Gentiles have to become Jews first to be added to the church? There were Jewish preachers of the word that taught the Gentiles must become Jews first and undergo circumcision in order to complete their conversion to Christianity. Paul comes onto the scene now and is confronted with this problem.
What hoops to we require the newly converted to jump through today? Are these requirements based on the Bible or on the wishes of man?
The Problem Becomes Acute
The statement reported in Acts 15:1 being spread by some men was that Gentiles must be circumcised to be saved. Paul and Barnabas became involved in a huge dispute over this. Things had been going well in Antioch between Jews and Gentiles but the problem was inevitable to arise. They were not able to resolve the dispute, so there was only one thing to do. They went to the leadership of the church in Jerusalem creating the meeting known to us as the Jerusalem Conference.
The principle in question was quite simple and basic to Christianity. Was the gift of God for the select few, or for all of the world? Are we to look at this gift as a privilege or a responsibility?
The basic premise of question is a division or a preference between people. Our problem with division today is not necessarily between Jew and Gentile, but we do still have divisions in our world between people. There are people divided because of income level, race, location, etc. What can we do about them?
Next week we will dive into the question more and see what the arguments presented by the church leadership gives. Read Peter's argument in Acts 15:6-12 for next week.
