Acts

Chapter 15
1~~And certain men which came down from the ultimate source of Judea {See Galatians Chapter 2} kept on teaching the brethren, and said, "Except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved." {Legalistic Jews wrong opinion}

2~~ When therefore Paul and Barnabas had much strife and cross-examination with them {they really had a brawl}, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

{Note: Jerusalem is where the false teachers came from - Paul and Barnabas should go there to talk to the Church at Jerusalem}

3~~And being brought on their way {in the Greek means to be given an honor guard} by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.

4~~And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church with intimacy and respect, and of the apostles and elders, and they narrated in detail {all the Grace doctrinal teachings given to the Gentiles} all things that God had done with them.

{Note: VERY important to note here. Paul was teaching the
gentiles GRACE! Salvation is by faith alone in Christ Alone. Down
with human good, up with divine good. No 'working' to be spiritual, instead divine good is produced by being in the filling of the spirit! The legalistic Jews will be so upset they can not wait for Paul to
stop reporting . . . they interrupt his report. }

5~~ But there rudely broke in certain of the sect of the Pharisees which were saved in the past with the result that they are saved forever and ever, saying that it was needed to circumcise them,
and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

{Note the Pharisees were very religious Jews. They now have accepted Christ as their savior, but are in apostasy. They believe you must add to faith to be 'really' saved and then you must keep the Mosaic Law to be spiritual - wrong! The Mosaic Law is a code of morality for ALL mankind to keep - believers and unbelievers alike. Christians should be moral but that is NOT what makes them spiritual - the filling of the Holy Spirit makes us spiritual.}

{Now is the 'Private meeting' of the church leaders verses 6:21}
6~~ And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

{Note: 'Elder' means the old man. Like the captain of a ship in the navy is called 'the old man' though he may be 30 years old. It means the one in charge. So this was a meeting of the men with the spiritual gift of apostle and the heads of the local churches - i.e. the men with the gift of pastor-teacher in each of the local churches.}

7~~ And when there had been much disputing {again the points were argued}, Peter JUMPED up, and said unto them, "Men and brethren, you know how that a good while ago {a few years back - at the Centurion's house} God made choice among us {it was God's will!}, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe."

8~~ "And God knows the {the thoughts and intents of our}
hearts . . . bare them witness . . . giving them the Holy Spirit . . . even as He did unto us {the Jews in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost}."

{Note: 'Hearts' represents the soul . . . the part that processes mental thoughts . . . our 'minds'.}

9~~ "And put no difference between us and them {no difference between Jewish believers and Gentile believers}, purifying their hearts by faith."

10~~ "Now therefore why do you tempt {Greek word used for an assayer testing gold ore for its quality - good or bad} The God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?"

{Note: Peter is saying the Jews were never able to keep the Mosaic Law either - legalism is a joke.}

11~~ "But we keep on believing that through the instrumentality of grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we {saved Jews} shall be saved, even as they {saved Gentiles}."

{Note: Salvation is by Grace - it is a Gift of God not of works.}

12~~ Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.

13~~ And after having become silent after great applause, James {he was the leader of the Jerusalem Church and the chairman of this conference} answered saying, "Men and brethren, hearken unto
me."

14~~ "Simeon has narrated in detail how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to receive of them a people {believers} for His name."

{Note: Simeon is Aramaic for Peter's Jewish name Simon. Also called Cephus. James is catering a little to the Jewish legalists who lost the discussion.}

15-17~~ "And to this {principal that Gentiles will be saved} agree the words of the prophets. As it is written in the past with results that go on forever {Amos 9: 11-12} . . . 16~~ "After this {tribulation} I {Christ} will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down. And I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up {restore to straightness} 17~~ that the remnant of the people {born again Jews of the day} might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom My name is called . . . said the Lord Who {the Lord} does all these things."

18~~"Known from the ultimate source of Eternity are all His works."

19~~"Wherefore my judgment is {James is rendering a decision as the head of the Church}, that we trouble not them, who from among the Gentiles are turned to God."

20~~"But that we write unto them, that they abstain from idolatry {worshiping false gods}, and from fornication {having sex in connection with false religions}, and from things strangled {eating meat where the blood was not drained - which taints the meat but was a practice of the Gentiles of the day to strangle the animal and not drain the blood}, and from bloods."

{Note: 'Bloods' here is plural. It refers to murder. In this day, if you killed a member of a family, that family killed a member of your family in retaliation and murder was prohibited.}

{Note: In this day, we now have a situation where the gentiles will now be evangelizing unbelieving Jews. In order for the Jews to listen to them, certain things will distract from their listening to the gospel. So for the benefit of the unbelievers, believers are to 'give up' certain things under the Law of Expediency.}

21~~"For Moses of old time has in every city those that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day."

22~~Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas . . . namely, Judas, surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren.

{The written policy of the Jerusalem Meeting- verses 23-29}
23~~And they wrote letters by them after this manner {means a quote or the gist of the letter}, "The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia."

24~~"Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain {Legalistic Jews} who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, 'you must be circumcised, and keep the law' . . . to whom we gave no such commandment!"

{Note: The teaching of legalism is refuted.}

25~~"It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one
accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul."

26~~"Men that have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ {introducing Judas and Silas}."

27~~"We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth."

28~~"For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit {keeping Grace
in mind . . . confirming this was God's will}, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things."

29~~"That you abstain from meats offered to idols, and from bloods {murder}, and from things strangled {impure foods - tainted with blood}, and from fornication {sex in connection with idolatry} from which if you keep yourselves . . . you shall BE STRONG {in the Lord}. Fare you well."

30~~ So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch. And when they had gathered the multitude together they delivered the epistle.

31~~Which when they had read and publicly explained, they rejoiced for the encouragement.

32~~And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, encouraged the brethren with many words, and strengthened and stabilized them.

{Note: The spiritual gift of 'prophet' was first of all a teacher orienting the people of his day to doctrine and secondarily a foreteller of events.}

33~~Having done time there, they released them in peace from the brethren unto the apostles. {No antagonism}

34~~{Note: Was added to text. There was no sentence here in the original manuscripts. Silas did not go far from Paul and they got together later.}

35~~ Paul and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching even preaching {communicating well} the word of the Lord with many others also.

{Paul's failure starts}
36~~ And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, "Let us go again and inspect our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they have it."

{Note: Paul is not interested in what they DO, but is interested in what they KNOW!}

37~~And Barnabas determined from his intellect to take with them John, whose surname was Mark.

{Note: The Greeks had two words for 'determined' one meant 'determined from the emotions'. This determined meant to 'determine from the intellect'.}

38~~ But Paul thought not good to take him with them {Paul objected}, who deserted from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.

{Note: John Mark {future writer of the book of Mark} had failed on Paul's first missionary journey - he deserted when they hit the land of the Pirates - Pamphylia. Paul lacked the grace here to forgive him his failure and admits his mistake later.}

39~~And the contention was so sharp between them that they completely separated one from the other. And so Barnabas took Mark {Grace Attitude}, and sailed unto Cyprus.

{Note: The argument went back and forth here. Barnabas is bracing Paul here for his lack of forgiveness saying if Mark rebounded and God forgives Mark why shouldn't we? An example that even Paul is human and can fall from the Grace attitude, later Mark becomes one of the greatest witnesses for Christ in the first century - he has a long and marvelous career! Paul admits he was wrong later in Colossians 4:10 and II Timothy 4:11. And, as another side note, Barnabas had his own failure of grace in Galatians 2:13! Both two of the greatest Grace believers of all time, yet they also failed. But they rebound, and move on . . . as should we.}

40~~ And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being delivered, from the immediate source of oneself, over to the Grace of God by the brethren.

{Note: Fairly innocuous verse, but one of the GREATEST doctrinal issues in ACTS. The church members did not take sides in the disagreement - they put Paul in the Hands of the Lord . . . turned him over to grace. A very great virtue is shown here . . . a group of people with their leaders split and they could stay out of it and not take sides! No fight, no division!}

41~~ And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

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