Acts 15 Study Notes

15:20 Despite the common basis of salvation for Jews and Gentiles, a number of restrictions were required (v. 29; 21:25). Some scholars think these may have been introduced as a way for Jews and Gentiles within the church to have a common basis for contact. But it is more likely that these were designed to elevate the moral standards of the Gentiles by prohibiting them from engaging in a number of the practices that were associated with pagan temple rites such as animal sacrifice, sexual immorality, and idolatry.

15:21 James’s reason for invoking Moses and the widespread proclamation of the law is not entirely clear. He may have meant that Jewish people who spread throughout the world via the Diaspora had made Moses’s law known among Gentiles through their public reading of Scripture. Alternatively, he may have been saying that the standards he demanded of Gentiles in v. 20 reflected universal moral laws that were enshrined in the law of Moses.

15:22-23a Judas and Silas, both leading men among the brothers in Jerusalem, accompanied Paul and Barnabas back to Antioch in order to vouch (personally and via hand-delivered letter) for the results of the Jerusalem Council.

15:23b-27 The letter not only conveyed the findings of the council but also commended the ministry of Barnabas and Paul. A letter in the ancient world was a substitute for the personal presence of the author. It was often carried by a trusted person who would validate and expand upon its contents, which Judas and Silas as emissaries of the leaders of the Jerusalem church would do.

15:28 James names both the Holy Spirit and human initiative (ours) as factors in the Council’s decision. Throughout the NT, there is interplay between divine guidance and human actions that accomplish God’s purpose (e.g., Php 2:12-13).

15:29 The four things to avoid are repeated from v. 20 but in a different order.

15:30-31 The letter was an encouragement to the church at Antioch because it endorsed the strategy of Paul and Barnabas in evangelizing Gentiles and did not impose unnecessary burdens on new converts.

15:32-35 Judas and Silas, who were prophets in addition to being leading figures from the Jerusalem church, encouraged and strengthened the believers in Antioch with a long message that Scripture nowhere records. We are reminded yet again that many great speeches and vital events went unreported by the Bible’s authors (Jn 20:30; see note at Jn 21:25). Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, each author had to choose which events and sayings to include or exclude. In many cases this leaves readers wanting more or even grappling with unanswered questions. Nevertheless, enough information is given that the reader “may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God” (Jn 20:31).

15:36 This verse marks the beginning of Paul’s second missionary journey. Out of a sense of responsibility, Paul wanted to visit the converts in every town they had evangelized to see how they were progressing in the faith.

15:37-40 That Paul and Barnabas parted company over John Mark shows that even within the apostolic fellowship, perfect unity was not always obtainable. Sometimes God’s workers have to agree to go separate ways, but there is always hope for reunion (Col 4:10; 2Tm 4:11; Phm 24). Paul took with him Silas, one of the men who had carried the Jerusalem letter to Antioch (vv. 23-34). Barnabas is not mentioned in the book of Acts after this incident.

15:41 Rather than going to Cyprus to strengthen the believers there, Paul and Silas went to Syria and the region of Cilicia, entering the province of Asia Minor.