Strange Story: ACTS 15 AND THE LETTER SENT TO THE GENTILES

In this passage we read about the Council of Jerusalem, a meeting of the leaders of the early church in which they decided to make things easy for the Gentiles that were coming to faith in Jesus. This silenced the claims of some Jewish influencers who were teaching that the Gentile believers needed to follow both the Law of Moses and the Gospel of Jesus. After the meeting they wrote a letter that was distributed to the churches that had been planted among the Gentiles; this letter listed a few things that they needed to keep doing.

To most modern Christians who are not from Jewish or Muslim background, two questions naturally arise from this passage: Why were the four things listed in the letter so important?  Why did James say that one reason for this letter was that the law of Moses was read and expounded on every Sabbath in every city?

Here are the four things that they should keep doing: abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from sexual immorality, from blood and from the meat of strangled animals. The last two are basically the same thing because the problem with the meat of strangled animals is that the blood was still in it, so the issue was the blood.

Today we want to react to this narrative by saying, “Either they had to follow the Law of Moses or not. Why complicate things with the requirements of this letter?”

THIS SHORT LIST FITS A RELATIONSHIP BUT NOT A RELIGION

Notice first of all, the brevity of the list. Once again, I wish to make the case that God was not establishing a religion but a relationship with Himself. This relationship needed some key teaching methods and a few guidelines, but it did not have the long list of “do’s and don’t” which man-made religions have. The New Testament never communicates the idea that if you jump through these hoops, you will be saved from the guilt of your sin, rather if you take the steps necessary to enter into and maintain a close relationship with God, you will be saved from the guilt of your sin. To maintain a relationship, one must follow principles and apply those principles to all of life’s scenarios which affect that relationship. The things which God told us were important to keep in this new system we call the New Testament were baptism, communion, and here respect for life by respecting blood, and staying away from practices which open the door for idolatry, and having a biblically accurate view of sexual activity, which was often tied to idolatry in ancient times. To that short list we should add the things mentioned at the end of Acts chapter 2: good Bible teachings, fellowship with other believers, prayer, and the breaking of bread as communion and as part of fellowship with other believers.

WHY WERE THOSE THINGS IMPORTANT FOR GENTILES?

The letter that was sent to the Gentile believers was not really about the Law; it was about the pagan cultures that surrounded them.

We must remember that the Gentiles were coming out of various pagan practices. The retention of any practices which were similar to their former practices had the potential of tempting them to mix their relationship with Jesus and their former religion. Eating food sacrificed to a false god was a way of showing commitment to that god; the Gentiles were very loose when it came to sexual activity which was a common part of all fertility cults, which were very popular in that part of the world. Also, blood represented life, so not eating meat with blood in it was a way to remind one’s self to respect life. This fits with things like baptism and communion; it was a practice or ritual which was to be kept because it had great teaching capabilities. It wasn’t about the ritual itself, but about the spiritual lessons it taught.

WHY DID JAMES GIVE THE CONSTANT READING OF MOSES AS ONE REASON FOR THE LETTER?

Various reasons have been offered but allow me to explain the one I think is most viable. It seems that James was saying something similar to what Peter had said earlier when he stated that “Neither we nor our forefathers were able to bear” the yoke of the law, meaning the Jews have not been able to fully obey the law. Indeed, it is impossible to keep it without failing and it was intended to be impossible. The law was designed to show man his need for something else – salvation through Jesus. Thus, James appears to be saying, “The Law of Moses is read and expounded on weekly all over the world, but we still need something more than Moses, we also need Jesus. So why tie them down with the Law of Moses? It has proven to be a useless endeavor.” I believe this interpretation is contextually accurate and fits best with the reason they were sending a letter.

CONCLUSION

In the end, this letter did not tie them to the Law of Moses, it freed them from it. Telling them to follow the Law would require adherence to all the Law. This letter was telling them “don’t follow the practices you formerly followed when you worshipped other gods. Make a clean and total break from all that stuff.” The break was to be made from the worship of foreign gods to what? To a relationship with Jesus, based on the principles of the Old and New Testaments, and guided by the Holy Spirit.