SUMMARY
At a meeting in Jerusalem, the church comes to understand that the calling of Gentiles to belief without adherence to full scriptural law is the work of God.
ANALYSIS
The issue of the church’s mission to Gentiles is raised in Acts 10 and first resolved in Acts 11:1-18, when believers in Jerusalem find Peter’s story about his vision and encounter with CorneliusAn early Gentile convert to the Christian faith. More persuasive, not least because of the Spirit’s legitimation. But in Acts 15 the issue must be reconsidered. Some believers from Judea insist that adherence to the scriptural commands of God requires that baptized Gentiles be circumcised (and probably keep food laws). A council is held in which Peter’s testimony to how God had ordered things is important to the decision that is reached: not to require GentileA gentile is anyone who is not Jewish. The term, which is derived from words that the Bible uses to denote the "nations" of the world, reflects beliefs that God had designated Israel as a nation that would be distinct from others, and a blessing... More believers to receive circumcisionCircumcision is an act of cutting off part of a male (or female) sex organ for religious or health reasons. In the Bible circumcision was performed on males to indicate inclusion into the Jewish religious community. Some church calendars commemorate January 1 as the Circumcision... More or to adhere to most dietary laws. This decision appears to settle the question as to whether new communities baptized in Christ will identify themselves by the Scripture’s purity laws. The settlement claims that the activity of the HolyHoly is a term that originally meant set apart for the worship or service of God. While the term may refer to people, objects, time, or places, holiness in Judaism and Christianity primarily denotes the realm of the divine More Spirit acknowledged in Acts 10:44-47; 11:15-18; and 15:8-9, 28 represents the will of God. At the same time, suspicion about the Gentiles’ lack of adherence to scriptural commands continues to be an issue. Suspicion later dogs Paul’s footsteps, as he discovers when he returns to Jerusalem (21:20-25).
The council’s decision about God’s will and Scripture is key to the expanding mission of the young church. This story also contributes to three additional themes in Luke’s Gospel and Acts. The first has to do with mission–that is, the development of communities of believers. In all such communities behavior must be as it was in Acts 2:40-47, where people worship, pray, learn, and eat together. BaptismJesus was baptized (literally, "dipped") in the Jordan River by John the Baptizer, at which time he was acclaimed from heaven as God's Son, the Beloved. Much later baptism became one of the sacraments of the Church, the action by which a person is incorporated... More means inclusion in the community of the saved without distinction or segregation. Second, such mission involves evangelists entering the communities of those whom they would call to Christ, staying with the people, and eating with them–that is, following their customs. Finally, and perhaps most important, this passage shows a way forward in interpreting Scripture for effective witness to a living God in new circumstances and contexts.
