² . . . the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue. ³Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. ⁴When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. ⁵But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”

Some interpret this passage as implying that Jerusalem was the de facto denominational headquarters of the Christian movement. But judging from the book of Galatians, Paul had no thought of the Antiochean church being under the authority of the Jerusalem church. More likely, the Antiochean church was simply sending Paul and Barnabas to the source of the problem, for it was men who came from Jerusalem who were stirring up the conflict over circumcision. The apostles were still in Jerusalem at this time (though by the time of Paul’s visit to the city in Acts 21, there is no sign of the original twelve there any longer).

The issue of the Gentiles being accepted into the Christian movement as legitimate believers had already been dealt with to some degree in the episode of Peter and the Roman centurion Cornelius (told by Luke in Acts 10 and retold by Peter in Jerusalem in Acts 11). At that time, there was rejoicing:

When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:18)

But the issue of circumcision had not been specifically addressed in that episode, and now it became the lightning rod. The amount of space Luke gives this issue in the book of Acts proves it is a major concern. The hostility of what many scholars call the Judaizers keeps cropping up. Were they believers or pseudo-believers? Only the Lord knows, but Paul spoke of them in very harsh terms as preaching a different gospel (Galatians 1) and calls them accursed!

Now, as Paul and Barnabas travel to Jerusalem, their report of what God had been doing among the Gentiles is received with “great joy.” And they are “received by the church” in Jerusalem, and by the other apostles and elders. But we finally see the taint of Phariseeism coming through the opposition to Paul and Barnabas. The issue is clearly stated, and now the time has come to deal definitively with the issue: must believers become Jewish to be saved?

Lord, thank You for salvation that comes without legalistic requirements.