The Jerusalem Council

 The First Crisis: Inside the Jerusalem Council

It is easy to romanticize the early church. We often imagine a utopia of perfect harmony, where the apostles held hands and everyone agreed on everything. But if we peel back the pages of Acts 15, we find something very different. We find a church on the brink of a civil war.

Roughly 15 to 20 years after the resurrection of Jesus (around 48–50 AD), the Christian movement faced an identity crisis that threatened to tear it apart before it truly began. The issue wasn't about money or power; it was about the very definition of salvation.

The resolution of this crisis is known as the Jerusalem Council. It is arguably the most important administrative meeting in the history of Christianity. If this meeting had gone differently, the faith we know today might have remained a small, obscure sect of Judaism.

The drama began in Antioch, a bustling city in modern-day Turkey where the term "Christian" was first coined. The church there was thriving and diverse, filled with Gentile (non-Jewish) converts. Paul and Barnabas were leading this explosion of faith.

Then, visitors arrived from Judea. Acts 15:1 introduces the conflict bluntly:

"But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, 'Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.'"

These men (often called "Judaizers" by later theologians) were not trying to be villains. They were devout believers who viewed Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. To them, it seemed logical: Jesus is the King of the Jews; therefore, to follow Him, you must become a Jew. That meant keeping the Law of Moses, eating kosher, and—most painfully for grown men—undergoing circumcision.

Paul and Barnabas vehemently disagreed. They saw this as a direct attack on the Gospel of grace. If you have to do something (like surgery) to be saved, then Jesus’ death wasn't enough.

The contention was so "sharp" (Acts 15:2) that the church in Antioch decided to send a delegation to Jerusalem to settle the matter once and for all with the apostles and elders.

The Council took place in Jerusalem, the mother church. The room was packed with the heavyweights of the faith.

The "Defense" (Paul and Barnabas) Fresh off their first missionary journey, they arrived with stories of miracles. They weren't arguing theory; they were arguing reality. They had seen the Holy Spirit descend on Gentiles who had never followed the Mosaic Law.

The "Prosecution" (The Party of the Pharisees) Acts 15:5 notes that some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up. These were men who loved the Law. Their argument was traditional and textual: God gave us the Law forever. We cannot just discard it.

The Witnesses (Peter) Peter (Cephas) was the wild card. As the leader of the Twelve, his voice carried immense weight. Years earlier, he had a supernatural vision that led him to the house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion.

The Judge (James) As discussed in previous posts, James, the brother of Jesus, was the presiding leader of the Jerusalem church. He was the most culturally conservative apostle, highly respected by the Jewish believers. If anyone could convince the Pharisees to back down, it was him.

The Proceedings

The debate was likely heated. After "much discussion," Peter stood up. His testimony was the turning point. He reminded the room of the Cornelius event:

"God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them [the Gentiles], by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith." — Acts 15:8-9

Peter’s argument was experiential and theological. He essentially asked: If God didn't require them to be circumcised to give them the Holy Spirit, why are we requiring it now? Why test God by putting a yoke on their necks that neither we nor our fathers could bear?

Then, the room fell silent as Barnabas and Paul narrated the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles. The evidence was piling up: God was moving outside the boundaries of the Law.

The Verdict

Finally, James stood. He began by citing the prophet Amos, showing that God’s plan had always included the Gentiles seeking the Lord. This was crucial—he anchored the new experience in the old Scriptures.

Then, he delivered the ruling (the "Jerusalem Decree"):

"Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God..." — Acts 15:19

It was a victory for liberty. James declared that circumcision was not required for salvation. The Gentiles did not need to become Jews to be Christians.

However, James added a "but." To maintain unity and fellowship between Jewish and Gentile believers (who often ate together), he asked the Gentiles to abstain from four things:

1. Things polluted by idols.
2. Sexual immorality.
3. Things that have been strangled (meat with the blood still in it).
4. Blood.

These restrictions (aside from sexual immorality, which is a moral universal) were primarily dietary concessions. James was essentially saying: You don't need to keep the Law to be saved, but please respect the sensibilities of your Jewish brothers so we can sit at the same table.

The Jerusalem Council is more than just ancient meeting minutes. It established three pillars that sustain the church today.

• Salvation by Grace Alone: This is the most critical theological outcome. The Council drew a hard line in the sand: Jesus + Nothing = Salvation. If they had ruled that circumcision was necessary, Christianity would have become a works-based religion. They preserved the core of the Gospel—that we are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus, not by cultural assimilation.
• Unity in Diversity: The solution was a masterclass in compromise. They didn't force the Jews to stop being Jewish, and they didn't force the Gentiles to start. They found a way for two radically different cultures to coexist in one church. It taught us that we can have different cultural practices while holding to the same Lord.
• The Model for Conflict: The early church didn't split when they disagreed; they met. They debated. They listened to testimony, they looked at Scripture, and they sought the Holy Spirit together. As the letter they sent out famously stated: "It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us..." (Acts 15:28).

The Jerusalem Council saved the church from fracturing and paved the way for the Gospel to travel to Rome, Greece, and eventually, to the ends of the earth.

Special Study Edition