The Council of Jerusalem & the Ruling for the Former-Gentiles
Dr. Don Meecha

The Newer Covenant[1] was, at first, a local Israeli/Judean/Galilee phenomena which eventually spread into the surrounding districts of Samaria[2] and then into the territories of the Gentiles[3].  By the time of Acts 10, the Ruach HaKodesh, or the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and his household bringing a serious historical Jewish religious issue to the forefront of this new Messianic Jewish movement.  The question finally to be dealt with was, “What are we (Jews) going to do with the Gentiles?”  The first assembly was forced to deal with the problem because there were many Gentiles who now said they believed in Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah and they wanted to join the Jews in fellowship.  The Apostles were wrestling with the commandments and the traditions attempting to answer this question.  The Gentiles may or may not know the basics of the Word of God!  If they did, how much should they know and keep?  If they knew little or nothing could they even fellowship with the Apostles?  As the issue mounted, it was necessary to deal with it through what has become known as the “Jerusalem Council.”  In Acts 15, this council is convened to settle once and for all on, “How to deal with and have fellowship with the newly Spirit-filled former-Gentiles.”[4]  

The Jerusalem Council consisted of Peter, James, John and a myriad others who formed the plurality of Elders, or the leadership of this new Messianic community.  Its headquarters was at Jerusalem and from there they led and served the growing Messianic and former-Gentile assembly.  This went on for decades until the Jewish Wars with Rome (66 -70 C.E.) and the destruction of the Temple. 

If certain facts of this event are overlooked it can lead to a diminishing of its importance.  Therefore, one must not overlook: the venue for this Council, those who attended, the purpose and most importantly the Apostolic Ruling in reference to the criteria former-Gentiles are to follow.  The Council met in Jerusalem, Israel with the upper-most level of Apostolic Authority.  The purpose was to resolve what it would take to have fellowship between Jews and former-Gentiles as Spirit filled individuals and as part of God’s people.[5]  By not solving this dilemma the Apostles would surely bring serious injury to the new assembly and eventually, if they continued, these troubles could cause the complete destruction of this fledgling movement of God.[6]  In order to keep the Good News spreading into the world of the Gentiles, God literally forced the Apostles to create a “path of approach” for these new “former-Gentile” believers.  This path of approach would allow the new believers to follow some simple commands, at a minimum, as they grew in their new faith while being discipled and taught all that Yeshua commanded.[7]

The apostles wanted to have unity and fellowship, but it was necessary that these former-Gentiles understood God and the Bible, which held His commands concerning how to live a godly life.  These new believers may have known of the commands of the rabbis but many more knew very little of Biblical Judaism.  Now this new Messianic Jewish Community was forced to solve an issue even Rabbinic Judaism has not really solved.   This problem continues to this day.  The assembly of Messiah was being transformed again with the Gentile issue just as it had been in fluctuation when a great many of the priest who served in the Temple became believers.[8]  And now, in the midst of pain and growth the Apostolic Decree of the Jerusalem Council from Acts 15:20 summarizes the result of the meeting.  This inspired list of requirements seemed good to the Holy Spirit and the Apostles[9] so Gentiles could fit into the people of God and the Commonwealth of Israel.[10]

The council needed to systematize and codify the content of the teaching and the commands necessary for “former-Gentiles” to follow if they were to be a unified community.  While it is apparent that some Jewish believers were teaching that gentile believers had to be circumcised as part of the salvation process or they couldn’t be saved, we see that the Apostles knew that uncircumcised people had been given the Holy Spirit and had been immersed by His Spirit alone and baptized into the Body.[11]  No one could deny that God had called gentiles to repentance and salvation, but a formal policy about food commands and circumcision had not yet been made, nor had any guidelines been created to deal with the issue.

Peter reminds the group of the precedent set by God in the household of Cornelius and that He alone is the One Who chose the Gentiles to hear the message of salvation and believe.  This was done first through Peter’s own preaching[13] and God did not discriminate; He treated Jew and Gentile alike.[14]  Peter had experienced the entrance of the Gentiles earlier in the Book of Acts while he had stayed in Joffa:

On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky. Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be…                                                                                                                                Acts 10:9-17a

It was only by the means of this vision, which at first perplexed Peter; he had no clue prior to the vision that God wanted the Gentiles to received the Ruach/Spirit and be entered into the community of believers.  By the time Peter gets to the home of Cornelius he had figured out the meaning of the vision from God:

And Peter said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean!”                                                                             Acts 10:28

Yes, Peter figured out that the vision was about men and not food.  The main issue for Jews was that the Gentiles had contact with many “unclean” things and most had no Biblical definition of what God defines as food.  These eating habits had kept the Jews from fellowshipping with the Gentiles and yet, God allowed Peter to come to terms with that the vision of the unclean animals represented men eating unclean food, not unclean food.  These former-Gentiles were cleansed by faith and that God would purify their hearts.  God would make them clean and He had made the disciples of clean.[15]

After Peter’s involvement with Cornelius there was criticism from within the Jewish contingency in Jerusalem[16], but remember it was not all focused on what must be done to keep our salvation, but rather on how do Jews and former-Gentiles were to fellowship with the food issue and the issue of circumcision.  Rabbinic Judaism forbids certain forms of association with Gentiles due to the issue of purity and the food issue is the main issue always has been the issue and always will be the issue, but the issue of circumcision runs a close second.  In Peter’s vision purity was a major concern. He tells the Council at Jerusalem that God made the Gentile clean and acceptable to Him even in their uncircumcised state.  He condemned the advocates of circumcision by putting forth the question, “Why do you put God to the test?”[1]  If the former-Gentile believers are acceptable to God in an uncircumcised state, they ought to be acceptable to Jewish believers in an uncircumcised state. But, they were about to lay 4 commands on these former-Gentiles as basic requirements for fellowship.

Today, Christianity views Acts 15 and its 4 basic requirements as a yoke and burden.  Anything to do with a commandment of God becomes a derogatory phrase.  The Apostles were not criticizing the Torah or Moses; they spoke of an obligation to which one should gladly commit himself.  Peter said that the Torah is not an effective means of gaining acceptance with God and the Jews knew it was a yoke they struggled with did not say that Law-keeping saved anyone.  They said Jews are saved by grace and faith just as the Gentiles.

The Jerusalem Council’s Decree stated that Gentiles did not need to be circumcised and they did not have to become Jews first by becoming proselytes. The Apostolic Assembly accepted this in silence and in agreement. James then steps forward and states that God has initiated the taking of a new people out of the Gentiles, a people for His Name,[17] just as God was taking Jews and since both gentiles and Jews are saved in the same way, the implication is that they are the same people of God. Nevertheless, he believed that Gentiles could be saved without circumcision.  Therefore, James said, “We should not put obstacles in the way of the gentiles who are turning to God.”[18]

James tells the Council that the former-Gentiles must abstain from four things.  These four prohibitions/restrictions were and are the minimum required.  They were considered easy enough for them to comply and, we can not be so sure that the Gentiles were not entirely unaware of the prohibitions prior to this decree.  These commands do not rise out of a vacuum and they are not viewed by the Apostles as a burden.[19]  There is also no doubt that many of these former-Gentiles were sufficiently ready to conform to Jewish practices in order to make possible normal social contact, including friendship and eating in fellowship.

The Jerusalem Council’s decree was addressed only to the former-Gentiles,[20] since these four requirements were not designated for Jewish believers, as they kept a stricter code.[21] These four requirements were necessary, but not burdensome.[22] The decree was not a heavy-handed demand for obedience as they considered these former-Gentiles would learn as they grew.[23]  They makes no reference to salvation it is accepted and there is no mention of penalties for any infraction. Rather, the letter ends with the mild words: “You will do well to avoid these things.”[24]

Today, the decree of the Jerusalem Council is not emphasized within Christianity and yet it is the most important judgment made by the early apostolic assembly and the Ruach HaKodesh.  Its judgment has been all but lost.  The decree is clear, concise and incontestable.  Yet, in the face of numerous and comprehensive arguments, sermons, papers and books the Jerusalem Council’s Decree, inspired directly by the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, remains unheeded and sadly, even mentioning it is divisive.  Why would “Spirit-filled” individuals reject a “Spirit-filled” set of minimum requirements or, commands?  To this, there is no acceptable answer. 

If we concentrate on the context and the purpose of the Jerusalem Decree, as contained in Acts 15, we can deduct the following:

·       The decree was not written as a formula for salvation, or to keep salvation

·       Former-Gentiles were already born-again and part of the people of God

·       Four requirements were advised by the Spirit of God and written by the Apostles

·       The Apostles had/have the authority to bind individuals/peoples to decrees

·       The council did not use the Rabbinic or the Pharisaic commands

·       The council appealed to the sign of creation (the Shabbat), Biblical commands given to Noah[25] and commands from the Torah given to Moses,[26] outlining the definition of food[2] for man and how to live an undefiled life

·       Four requirements were given to be the basics for former-Gentiles who were strangers/aliens to the Biblical community and in need of guidance

·       Acts 15:21 implies the decree given was in cooperation with synagogue preaching “because Moses is taught every Shabbat”

·       The four prohibitions were to help former-Gentiles overcome idolatrous practices

·       The Decree simply lists what former-Gentiles should avoid, that it “…be well for them.”

What are the Prohibitions outlined by the Apostolic Council for former-Gentiles? They are to:

2.     Abstain from blood

3.     Abstain from things strangled

4.     Abstain from fornication

The background for these commands can be found in the Mosaic Covenant, yet they are eternal and can be discovered in Genesis prior to the giving of the Torah.  Of these commands three of them deal with the Kashrut/Food Commands and one is of a sexual nature.  The one sexual prohibition is easy to understand, it would be pollution and defilement to the body, corruption.  So, why are there three food commands?  Most former-Gentiles, today, fail to recognize that the Temple system and the Alter of sacrifice is a place where “food” for God is prepared as an offering from His people:

You are presenting defiled food upon My altar But you say, “How have we defiled You? In that you say, the table of the LORD is to be despised.”                                      Malachi 1:7

Believers, then and today are reminded that God’s alter is His table before them that believers set in His presence.  Believers are to be holy to God, both the Jew and the former-Gentile.  Romans 12:1-2 clearly states that each one is to be a holy and living sacrifice before God, offering up sacrifices that are acceptable, not defiled.  One is to renew their mind with the Word of God and not be conformed to this world, in old ways.  The Mosaic Covenant and the Law, the Torah, were given to man that he might know what God wants from him in a covenant relationship,[27] how we are to treat our neighbors and how we are to conduct ourselves.  Therefore, for the former-Gentiles, the Council’s ruling was an official edict and James’ statement, “Therefore I judge[28]…,” means James had the highest position of authority and the final word in the Assembly overall.  In the Greek text, James’ words come across even stronger and in addition, his decision was written in a letter and it was presented as the mutual decision of all present.[29]  Beyond the shadow of a doubt this judgment was supported by all present. But, what did James really decide?  When he said, “We should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God…,” and in effect he said, “Let them do these basic things as they are turning to God, and we should not trouble them.”   Why, not trouble them?  Because as he said earlier in Acts 15:20: “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” 

This meaning, that if they the former-Gentiles do this, they will also be learning in the synagogue as they worship on the Shabbat and James had decided that Peter, Barnabas, and Sha’ul were correct and that the Pharisees who believed were wrong about the issue of Gentile circumcision and the necessity for them to keep all of Torah.  But, what he did write in the Decree was that the former-Gentiles: 

1. Abstain from things polluted by idols
2. Abstain from sexual immorality
3. Abstain from things strangled
4. Abstain from blood

1. Eat meat sacrificed to idols, because those animals which were in the pagan markets had been offered to the local god(s) and not slaughtered according to Biblical prescription.  Many markets in the Roman-Greco world included a temple to a pagan god; many were to the god Cerus, the god of grain.  Others were to local gods and goddesses, or the major regional deity and later to the Roman emperors themselves depicted as gods.  Also, much of the meat sacrificed was not according to the Biblical definition of food[30] and many sacrifices were of pigs and other animals not considered Biblically edible.
2. Continue in fornication and the sexual practices of the local pagan community by participating in the temple cults and carousing through the prostitutes.  Also, marriage practices were extremely permissible, promiscuous and some very obscure.  Therefore, it must be remembered that homosexuality and sexual interaction with male and female prostitutes ran amuck and at times was expected behavior.
3. Eat things strangled; pagan temples had many strange practices in their sacrificial systems before the gods and animals were at times tortured, strangled, etc.  The butchers and those who worked in the slaughtering industry were not aware of Biblical commands concerning blood and the proper draining of it from the animal’s body.  This in essence could lead to serious health issues if the blood was not drained properly.
4. Eat blood or food without a kosher bleeding because these aspects of the Mosaic Law kept the people safe from sickness, disease and other things that could cause serious damage to the health of the believing community.  However, the Council refrained from inflammatory language and encouraged the former-Gentiles to lay down their former eating practices and come n line with God’s definition of food as found in the Torah. 

All four of these commands are related to the sexual and the dietary commands found in Leviticus, chapters 11, 17 and 18.  The majority of them are entirely concerned with dietary matters, which if not followed would cause personal Biblical defilement and therefore, inhibit Jewish-Gentile relations and common fellowship meals.”[31]  However, it must again be noted that these commands were Spirit-filled and binding with the promise of a blessing that things would be well for those who kept “these things.”

In conclusion, it seemed good to the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit in the days of the first assembly that these things be so, and more than likely, it still seems good to Him today.  Why?  Because Yeshua is the same yesterday, today and forever[32] and therefore, it would be good for former-Gentiles to review these things and consider what God wants them to do with them.  If God is calling you into a deeper relationship with Him, this is a good place to start.