Council of Jerusalem

Case - Some Jews against Gentile Christians: Some Jews insisting that Gentiles be circumcised in order to be saved. (See my commentary: ON CIRCUMCISION).

Defendants: The Gentile Christians

Attorneys for the accused: Paul, Barnabas and Peter

Prosecutors: Certain men from Judea and Pharisees of Jerusalem

Law: Mosaic Law

Demand (Indictment of the defendants): That the Law be kept by Gentiles

Judges: Apostles and elders at Jerusalem

Court decorum: All of one accord (they sought an agreeable solution without animosity)

Opening for the defense: Peter

Defense: That the Gentiles have the same Holy Ghost as the Gentiles. That Jew and Gentile hearts alike have been purified. God made no difference in either. That the Jews are putting a needless burden ofnthe Gentiles.

Presiding Judge: James

Rational for judgment: New Tabernacle of David. That the old has fallen down. (Implying that the focus now is on Jesus as the Tabernacle of David and the Jewish Temple has fallen).

Decision of the Court: Trouble them (Gentiles) not. That they are not be required to be circumcised.

What law the defendants must obey: Acts 15:20 "But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood."

Document: An Epistle (letter)

Who inspired the decision: The Holy Ghost

Delivery: Antioch

Outcome: Rejoicing!

Let's look at what the Gentiles are required to do:

Acts 15:28 "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. 30 So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle: 31 Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation."

The council, with judgment from James, laid down four requirements which the council rejoiced in:

•  abstain from meats offered to idols
• abstain from blood
• abstain from things strangled
• abstain from fornication

Food offered to idols: This was a practice of paganism at the time. It was totally anathema to the Jews. By eating of the meat, not inherently wrong, but it would offend the Jews. Christians were not to be stumbling blocks and the eating of food offered to idols would be quite a stumbling block. Of course, as Paul pointed out, that idols are nothing, so eating food presented to them was nothing. As such, the eating of that food would create obstacles for Jews just as circumcision would be an obstacle to Gentiles. This ruling is such that as Christians, we show understanding of what is important to our brothers in Christ. 

Eating of Blood: Theologians disagree in this. It is part of Mosaic Law and is under the topic of dietary: 

Genesis 9:4 "But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat."
Leviticus 17:14 "For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off."
Deuteronomy 12:23 "Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh."

 It SEEMS dietary, but since the Abrahamic Covenant has already been fulfilled, it must be something different! It must be a spiritual issues of extreme importance!

Blood represents "life". Blood is the path which leads to eternal life. Blood was shed by Jesus Christ so that even the Gentiles have the hope of salvation.  Salvation can only be by the blood!

Ephesians 1:7 "In whom we have redemption through his (Jesus) blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;..."

As such I believe the consumption of blood trivializes what Jesus did for us. It was his blood which was shed to redeem us! Partaking of the blood of animals is irreverent to Jesus. Note that the Council of Jerusalem issued commands, but interpretation:  "from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well." (Acts 15:29). As such, partaking of blood even in the  meat  (Deuteronomy 12:23) is not something which Christians should choose to do, although it's not damning!

Jews drain the blood from their meat and with salt and a blessing, it's kosher! For my part, I only eat meat with no pink at all. For some reason God made rare steak unappetizing to me. It repulses me! Even if I liked it, I would not eat rare steak. You may think this is overboard, but not for me! It's the least that I can do out of reverence, but it gains me nothing other than obedience.

Pagan worship includes drinking of the blood. Some Satanic rituals require the mixing of blood and urine (preferably from a virgin) to denigrate what Jesus did to redeem mankind. That's the extreme, but Gentiles of the Apostolic age had many Satanic gods with all types of heretical practices. In effect, the Council said "Quit doing things pagans do!"

Leviticus 19:26 "Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times. 27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. 28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord. 29 Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness. 30 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord. 31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God."

All these "thou shalt nots" are Mosaic Law.  When Jesus came it was to rid the Jews of their bondage, and that same bondage must not become commands to enslave the Gentiles. It's "good" to keep these regulations to please God, but it's to be of one's own volition! Being a Christian is freedom. We have liberty to do things, but not all things are prudent (or reverent).  (I make it a point to abide by all these that the Lord leads me to. My liberty is to not, but my desire is to please).

Strangled Animals:

Killing animals by strangulation has multi-faceted problems. It's a slow death and is cruel to the gift that God has give us! It's much like the command not to "boil a kid in it's mother's milk". It's animal cruelty and cruelty isn't of God!

This method of killing the animal entraps the blood and it's contained within the flesh. For the same reason that blood is not to be consumed, neither shall animals be strangled.

For me, one of the most important reasons, is how Jesus died. Because of the method of his death, he was strangled! Not only did his blood contribute to his death with a loss of the air of life, but his position on the cross made it hard to breath, cramping his diaphragm. Gentiles were not to eat the flesh of strangled animals because that is disrespectful of Jesus!

Hardly anyone does that today as far as I know. It seems a moot issue for us, but not apparently for those of pagan religions!

Fornication:

Without fanfare that is a bad thing! Leviticus 19:29 says "Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness."

That's not a mere suggestion! It's still a command. Fornication is a sin against our own bodies.

1 Corinthians 6:18 "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body."

We need to look at what Adam and Eve did for this one! They fornicated with "other gods". Fornication is infidelity against God! The Jews did this often just copying their pagan neighbors:

2 Chronicles 21:11 "Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah thereto."

Sexual activity was a mainstay of paganism all throughout history. It's associated with pleasing our own god (the Self).   It's the pursuit of self-gratification over God's will! It's hurtful to God because its abuse of his love and grace. Pagans even have priests and priestesses of sex!

As such the Gentiles were to quit being like the pagans they have been! They need to change, but their change must be from the heart,  not from coercion nor threats via commands. They have the liberty to do these things, but by choice, their desire must be to please God!

Fornication is still a sin! We can do it, and not be damned. However, just as with all sins, repentance is required. It can't be "God forgive me for what I'm about to do!", but in contrition "Forgive this weak sinner from disappointing you!" God doesn't force us to be Christians, It's our choice to please God or not! However, we have help; God sets us apart. It's called sanctification. We do it with the assistance of the Holy Ghost. That's his purpose; so that we're not alone!

In these passages of Acts, the Holy Ghost sanctified the Gentiles. The Council of Jerusalem, led buy the Holy Spirit, set them apart! Sanctification isn't a jail... it's freedom to roam. It's not a jail if we put our self there; it's the kingdom of God where new creatures roam freely!