Acts 15:1-5
The gospel of grace must be guarded against additions that condition salvation on adherence to the Mosaic law.
1 Some men came down from Judea and taught the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised after the custom of Moses, you can’t be saved.”
2 Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small discord and discussion with them, they appointed Paul and Barnabas, and some others of them, to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question.
3 They, being sent on their way by the assembly, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles. They caused great joy to all the brothers.
4 When they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the assembly and the apostles and the elders, and they reported everything that God had done with them.
5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”
The gospel of grace must be guarded against additions that condition salvation on adherence to the Mosaic law.
To introduce the doctrinal crisis regarding circumcision and to frame the Jerusalem council as a necessary clarification of the gospel.
This passage introduces the Jerusalem Council, a decisive turning point in early church history. The missionary expansion of Acts 13-14 now faces theological challenge. Luke frames the issue not as minor practice but as a question of salvation itself.
After the first missionary journey, Gentile conversions raise questions about covenant identity. Some Jewish believers from Judea insist on circumcision as necessary for salvation. Paul and Barnabas dispute this teaching. The Antioch church sends representatives to Jerusalem to consult apostolic leadership, initiating what becomes known as the Jerusalem Council.
The Gospel of Grace Clarified and the Gentiles Received
Acts 15 shows that the church must guard salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus, receive Gentile believers whom God has cleansed, and strengthen the churches in gospel truth and fellowship.