Acts 15:13-21 meaning

In Acts 15:13-21, James gives his decision concerning whether or not Gentiles should become circumcised.

The gospel has spread beyond the Middle East. Paul and Barnabas successfully brought Gentiles to faith in Jesus and planted churches in Cyprus and the region of Galatia (a part of modern-day Turkey). A false teaching has emerged in response to Gentiles believing in Jesus. Pharisee believers are claiming that the Gentiles are not saved until they practice Jewish laws. A council of believers, elders, and the apostles has gathered in Jerusalem. The believing Pharisees claim: 

“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved,” 

“It is necessary to circumcise the Gentile believers and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”
(Acts 15:2, 5)

Peter responded by saying that he was the first to see Gentiles believe, and that God gave them the Holy Spirit the same way He gave the Spirit to Jewish believers, through their faith in the Son of God (Acts 15:7-9, 10:44-45). Peter describes the Pharisees’ position as “putting God to the test” and putting a pointless burden on the Gentiles which the Jews have never been able to uphold (Acts 15:10). Peter asserts that all men are saved through Jesus’s favor upon belief. This silences the assembly at this Council.

Paul and Barnabas then reiterate their missionary journey and explain all the works God did among the Gentiles.

After they (Paul and Barnabas) had stopped speaking about their missionary journey, James answered, saying, “Brethren, listen to me (v. 13).

Here James will give his response to the claim that Gentiles should be circumcised and keep the Mosaic Law in order to be saved. James is the “brother of our Lord” (Galatians 1:19). He was Jesus’s half-brother; his mother was Mary and his father was Joseph (Matthew 13:55). As a virgin, Mary bore Jesus, but Jesus was the Son of God conceived of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). Eventually Mary and Joseph had their own family together, all being the younger half-siblings of Jesus (Mark 6:3). 

James did not believe in Jesus during Jesus’s ministry (John 7:5), and he does not seem to have been present with his mother Mary at the foot of the cross when Jesus died (John 19:25-27). It appears that James believed his half-brother was the Messiah after His resurrection. Paul specifically mentions that Jesus appeared to James in the days after His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:7). 

James and his brothers were present in Jerusalem with a large group of disciples and their mother Mary, praying while they waited for the Holy Spirit to come just after Jesus returned to Heaven (Acts 1:14). James, his brothers, and mother were probably still there in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit arrived ten days after Jesus’s ascension into Heaven (Acts 2:1-4). 

In the years since, James has become a “pillar” of the church in Jerusalem, one of the foremost leaders and elders (Galatians 2:9, Acts 21:17-18). As an elder, his role was to ensure that false teaching did not come into the church and lead believers away from the truth (Titus 1:9). 

James begins, calling for unity, addressing everyone as Brethren, conveying that all gathered there are brothers in Christ and serve the same Lord. He calls for their attention, listen to me (v. 13). James begins:

Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name (v. 14). 

James refers to Peter as Simeon, another version of the name Peter’s parents gave him: Simon. It was Jesus who named Simon Peter (John 1:42). James restates part of Peter’s rebuttal against the claim that it is necessary to keep the law in order to be saved. James notes that Peter has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. (v. 14). 

The faith of Cornelius, his family, and friends, was the moment when God first concerned Himself with Gentiles coming to faith in His Son (Acts 10:44-48). Prior to that, only Jews and Samaritans (half-Jews) were believing in Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit. When Peter was called by the Holy Spirit to go to Cornelius’s house and preach the gospel to him, he witnessed these Roman Gentiles speak in tongues. By that, he knew they believed in Jesus as Messiah and had received the Holy Spirit. 

This was God taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. That they had His name means that these Gentiles were now a part of God’s family, a part of His people. They were spiritual children of Abraham, grafted into the olive tree that is Israel (Galatians 3:7-9, Romans 11:17). 

James’s point is that Peter’s account of Gentiles coming to faith is backed up by the Hebrew scriptures: With this the words of the Prophets agree. Our Prophets have foretold that God would reconcile with Gentiles as well as the Jews.

James quotes the Prophets he means:

just as it is written,

'After these things I will return,
And I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen,
And I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will restore it.
(vs. 15-16)

James is quoting from Amos 9:11-12, a passage everyone in that room would know by heart, or at the very least the Pharisees would, since Jews were taught the scripture from childhood. In that passage God is speaking of restoring Israel.

After these things probably refers to an exile of judgment Israel would experience, and God is promising to rebuild Israel after these events. He will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen. The tabernacle (or tent, house) of David which has fallen will be built up again, through Jesus’s return. 

Jesus is the Son of David, the fulfilment of the Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7:8-29). An heir of David’s will rule over Israel forever, and that heir is Jesus (Matthew 1:1). He will rebuild the house of David. He will rebuild its ruins. He will restore it. Israel will one day be physically restored as a kingdom with a forever king ruling over it. Jesus came to offer Israel that opportunity, but it declined upon His first visit (Luke 19:44). 

The first generation after Jesus’s resurrection was given another chance to receive Jesus, but they also declined (Acts 3:19). But in this rejection was salvation for the world (Romans 11:11-12). 

James concludes the quotation,

So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name (v. 17).

In this process of restoration, the Gentiles are included. This is James’s point in quoting the prophet Amos. James is saying that God always planned to bring in people from the nations outside of Israel into His family. Into His kingdom. God predicted this in His original covenant with Abraham, telling him that “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). 

God’s plan includes the opportunity for the rest of mankind to seek the Lord. Among the rest of mankind are all the Gentiles who are called by name. God is calling all peoples to Him, and all of humanity has the chance to seek the Lord. This prophecy of Amos was made hundreds of years before Jesus lived, died, and resurrected. Now Jesus has fulfilled this prophecy in part. He has restored the kingdom to Israel spiritually, for all who believe. And He has included all the Gentiles who are called by My name. The Gentiles who would be called by My name would be those who believe in Jesus and receive Him by faith.

The Gentiles are welcomed into the coming kingdom. The kingdom of God is not just the Jewish people; they are the vehicle through which the Gentiles are to be called. It was predicted by Amos and many other prophets (Isaiah 60:3, Zechariah 2:11, Psalm 22:27). David’s son, Jesus the Messiah, has come and has opened the door wide for all peoples—the rest of mankind— through His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. 

The apostles and elders are witnessing it happen. Gentiles from all over the Roman world are believing in the Jewish Messiah, Jesus. People from the rest of mankind have taken advantage of the opportunity to seek the Lord, because Paul and Barnabas have brought the Lord’s good news to them. Peter started this ministry to the Gentiles, taking the gospel (good news) to Cornelius the Roman centurion. Paul and Barnabas are continuing it, having completed their first missionary journey. Everyone at this Jerusalem Council has heard the testimony of the Gentiles who are called by the Lord’s name and who have believed in Him. 

James cites God as the authority on this matter, Says the Lord, who makes these things known from long ago (v. 18).

James is demonstrating that this grafting in of the Gentiles to be people that bear God’s name has always been in the works. The Lord has told us about these things, about the Gentiles being gathered to Him. He has made these things known to us from long ago; hundreds of years in the past the Lord told us about this day through His prophets. And now all present are witnessing it come to pass as a reality. 

Earlier, Peter had expressed skepticism and condemnation toward the idea that Gentiles should become circumcised. He made the point that the Gentiles believed, just as the Jews did, and received the Spirit, just as the Jews had. It did not follow that the Gentiles should become Jewish. How would that help them? They are saved by the same grace from Jesus and have the same Spirit living within them. Why add the Law? (Acts 15:7-11).

James, by quoting the Hebrew scripture, seems to be making a larger point to these believing Pharisees who claimed that Gentiles must be circumcised in order to be saved. The Gentiles are already acceptable to God. There does not need to be an attitude of rejection or ostracization toward them. God has told us from long ago that the Gentiles would be called by the Lord’s name. 

The Pharisee believers need to recognize that this was always the will of God, and that there is no reason to treat Gentiles as second-class until they have fulfilled the Pharisees’ requirements. 

James makes his point known:

“Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles” (v. 19).

Based on the fact that God has called the Gentiles to seek Him, that they may know Him, Therefore, given the testimony of Peter and the foretelling of the scriptures, James reasons with his own personal judgment that there is no cause to bother the Gentiles with something God did not command. We should not trouble those who are turning to God. The Gentiles are already turning to God! That is the whole goal and hope of preaching the good news of Jesus the Messiah. 

We should not trouble the Gentiles turning to God by imposing our rituals and culture upon them. That is not the point. That will not turn them to God—they are already turning to God through faith in Jesus Christ. What will the rituals add? Let us let them be and encourage them to follow Jesus, rather than obey our cultural rules. 

James proposes a practical idea, perhaps to console the Pharisee believers and pursue harmony between the two vastly different cultures who are united in their faith in Jesus. The proposal is to write a letter explaining a few practices that the Gentiles should avoid. It is not that the Gentiles should become circumcised, keep kosher, keep the Jewish holy days, practice ritualistic cleansing, make sacrifices in the Temple, and so on. Rather, there are a few practices which would harm them and their fellowship with Jewish believers; thus, the Gentiles should be advised to shun such harmful activities.

There are two reasons for this. First, it would benefit the Gentiles to stay away from the specific things James notes, which are in contrast to their former pagan lifestyle. Second, we can deduce that by keeping these requirements, the believing Gentiles will avoid creating a stumbling block for Jews to fellowship with them, given that Jews would not be allowed to interact with Gentiles who are defiled by the practices James asks them to avoid. 

James proposes,

but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood (v. 20).

James is not saying that abstaining from these things will “save” the Gentiles from eternal separation from God. The elders and apostles are agreement that the Gentiles are saved in the same manner as the Jews are. As Peter put it earlier, “But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are” (Acts 15:11). 

James is moving from being justified in the sight of God, which only happens through faith in Jesus (John 3:14-15), to being sanctified, living a life that grows us into mature sons of God, which is all about our choices. James’s own church letter, which he writes to Jewish believers (James 1:1), focuses on living a sanctified life in step with God, which benefits each believer and the church as a whole. 

From his writings and this letter which he proposes here in Acts 15, it is evident that James was concerned with the practical applications of our faith in God. 

The things which James thinks the Gentiles should abstain from are all practical ways to live out our faith and keep us from the world’s corruption. The letter will describe these things as “essentials” which, if the Gentiles abstain from them, they “will do well.” (Acts 15:28, 29). 

Further, James will state that For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath (v 21). 

We can infer from James’s inclusion of this observation that avoiding these practices would allow fellowship between Jew and Gentile, since these moral requirements apply to all peoples, having been a part of God’s covenant with Noah. Thus, the Jews could accept other peoples who kept the Noahic covenant. 

Of course, as with all of God’s covenants, He gave the Noahic covenant for the benefit of humanity. It will be of benefit to them to avoid these fundamentally harmful practices. Taken together, all four items seem to have to do with the worship of idols. James is emphasizing that the Gentile believers need to keep themselves from things associated with the idolatry of the day. 

The Gentiles should abstain from:

• things contaminated by idols
• fornication
• what is strangled 
• from blood

The second two bans are to avoid what is strangled and to keep away from blood, meaning not to ingest blood. The Mosaic Law required the preparation of meat to involve first draining all the blood from the animal (Deuteronomy 12:24), but this avoidance of blood actually predates the Mosaic Law. This was something God told Noah to avoid in what is known as the Noahic Covenant:

“Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.”
(Genesis 9:3-4)

Thus, this was a commandment given to all men, not just the Israelites. Noah was the second father of the human race after Adam, since the rest of humankind drowned in the flood outside of Noah’s family. All peoples descended from him, Jews and Gentiles.

Meat should not be eaten raw and bloody. The life is in the blood and that life comes from God. To abstain from the blood is to honor life and God as the author of life. 

Another practical reason for this rule is that it is generally dangerous to eat blood, which could carry disease and bacteria. Later, God expounded on avoiding the consumption of bloody meat: blood is the symbol of life, it belongs to God: “For the life of every creature is in its blood” (Leviticus 17:11a). It should not be part of a meal. 

But perhaps the most salient reason this would help guide the Gentiles toward living a holy life was because their former pagan ways of worship sometimes involved consuming blood. 

Throughout history, many pagan cultures practiced consumption of blood because they believed it would give them strength. They would drink blood to take on the properties of the soul whose blood they were drinking.

That which is strangled also hints at animals sacrificed on an altar to pagan gods. The practice of paganism was twisted in many ways. It gave a false illusion of control, selling the idea that people could get what they wanted by transacting with the idol. It promised control, but actually delivered slavery. Further, it gave moral justification for sexual immorality, such as fornication. As scripture states, sexual sin is particularly damaging because it is a sin against our own bodies (1 Corinthians 6:18). 

Accordingly, the Gentiles were to abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication. The things contaminated by idols covers the final two items, blood and what is strangled—stay away from anything mingled with idol worship. The prohibition against fornication is also a warning against engaging in temple prostitution, which involved having sex with a prostitute as a form of worship to the Greek gods. 

The underlying message here is that these are the core things in sanctification, that we are to love God with all our heart rather than idols. In order to love God, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). Paganism breeds a culture of exploitation. Paganism offers the promise that we can satisfy our guilt by appeasing the god (whom we control). We can thus claim to be justified in seeking fulfillment at the expense of others. By falling into such exploitation, we lose our humanity and our community slumps into violence. 

God seeks to spare us from this way of destruction. The foundation for seeking life rather than death begins with this: We are not to worship anything apart from God. These four items James lists are all reflective of the way idolatry contaminates and corrupts us, leading us to behavior that is destructive to ourselves as well as to one another.

Fornication is any form of sexual activity outside of a marriage between a husband and wife. All sexual immorality occurs when an individual exploits someone or something else for their own pleasure. It is God’s will that we be set apart from the world, that we be sanctified from such vile practices. Avoiding sexual immorality is one of the keys to sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3). 

The sum of the Law and the Prophets, as stated by Jesus, was to love God with all that we are and to love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). That means serving others, serving their best interest. We cannot exploit other people and serve their best interests at the same time. The starting point of sanctification that James is trying to establish for these Gentiles is to abstain from these trappings of pagan idolatry and its culture of exploitation. 

It is not necessary for the Gentile believers to circumcise their bodies or submit themselves to the entire Law of Moses. They do not have to completely conform to Jewish culture. But the part of their culture that they do need to cut themselves off from is anything resembling idol worship—engaging in sexual immorality or partaking of idolatrous food or fellowship. This is for their own sanctification. But it is also to allow them to fellowship with the Jewish believers among them who have read to them the writings of Moses in their synagogues every Sabbath. 

The synagogue was a meeting place for Jews to gather to honor God’s command to abstain from working each seventh day (the sabbath). The first five books of the Bible were ascribed to Moses and are often referred to as the Law. The requirement God gave to the Gentiles in the Noahic Covenant would be contained in the writings of Moses. In Genesis 9:4-5, God requires that animals, which He had then given for food, not be eaten with their blood, which is their life. And in Genesis 9:21-25 an episode is given that shows God’s displeasure with sexual immorality. 

By honoring this instruction from the writings of Moses, the Gentiles make themselves acceptable to fellowship with the Jews. Further, they improve their sanctification. In particular, Paul emphasizes in his writings the great importance of abstaining from sexual immorality. For example, in 1 Thessalonians 4:3, he writes, 

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality.”

And a few verses later, he writes, 

“For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification”
(1 Thessalonians 4:7).

Then in a letter to the church at Corinth, Paul writes:

“Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body”
(1 Corinthians 6:18). 

A starting place for anyone’s spiritual growth is to avoid behaviors that are self-destructive. According to this verse, sexual sin is the most destructive sin to our bodies. Among other things, pursuing sexual pleasure at the expense of another trains our heart to exploit. This tarnishes our design. God made us to connect with others for mutual benefit. We can see the difference between the law of Moses and pagan practice by comparing Leviticus 19:18, where God commands His people to love others as themselves, with Leviticus 18, which lists sexual exploitative behaviors that were common among the pagan nations. 

James concludes his statement on the matter:

“For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath” (v. 21).

When the Jews read the law of Moses and preach him, they would preach a perspective that Jesus summed up as follows, when asked what were the greatest commandments:

“And He [Jesus] said to him, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
(Matthew 22:37-40) 

In citing these two commands, Jesus quotes Moses in both cases. The greatest command to love God with all our heart comes from Deuteronomy 6:5. The second greatest command comes from Leviticus 19:18. Both fit within the readings of Moses. By encouraging the Gentile believers to avoid blood and sexual immorality, James and the other leaders of the Jerusalem church are removing a stumbling block to fellowship between Jew and Gentile, by exhorting the Gentiles to follow the Noahic covenant. Further, this exhortation also helps the Gentiles pursue their own sanctification, which is their true self interest.

The question appears to be settled. Luke does not tell us of any backlash or rebuttal from the sect of the Pharisees in this meeting. They were either persuaded by Peter and James, or they yielded for the moment. However, notwithstanding this proclamation by the Jerusalem elders and apostles, this crusade by certain Jews to circumcise the Gentiles and obligate them to adopt Judaism continued for the next decade at least, during which Paul went on other missionary journeys and wrote most (if not all) of his epistles. 

Much of the content of Paul’s letters was geared toward leading his readers away from the lies being told by competing Jewish “authorities,” especially the lie that Gentiles needed to be circumcised and become proselyte Jews. Paul counters this false teaching by exhorting the Gentile believers to walk in the Spirit and see a good report that will yield rewards at the judgment seat of Christ. 

In his letters, Paul gave his followers many spiritual instructions and descriptions of what following the Holy Spirit looks like, and urged them to live by the Spirit’s leading. Paul encourages them to follow the truth and avoid false teaching by any rival teachers whose only message was for Gentiles to stop being Gentiles and become Jewish (Galatians 3:28, 6:14-15, Romans 2:29, Philippians 3:1-11, )

Thus, Paul emphasized that true sanctification comes through walking in the Spirit, living by faith. It does not come through following religious rules. This teaching is consistent with that of Jesus, who chastised the Pharisees for turning commands God intended for the benefit and blessing of His people into a harmful burden, such as their treatment of laws regarding the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). 

Thus, this pronouncement by the Jerusalem Council provided an important supporting authority for the subsequent teaching of Paul. However, it did not put the controversy to rest, as Paul will combat this same basic dispute throughout his time of ministry on earth.