Acts 15:1-5 1But some men who came down from Judea were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2And after Paul and Barnabas had no small disagreement and argument with them, they appointed Paul and Barnabas and some of the others to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.
With every success in the church, there seems to be some type of opposition or difficulty. After the successful mission trip, Paul and Barnabas had a new problem described in chapter 15. This chapter marks a turning point in the early church, from a focus primarily on Jews to an expansion to the Gentiles. As God does in grace, God used the challenge to move the church into mission. This chapter also comes halfway in Acts. After this chapter, Paul becomes the primary character and example of taking the gospel to the world.
Verse 1 introduces the problem. Luke distinguishes two groups: men from Judea and the brothers. The men are assumed to be Jewish Christians with a legalistic bent. What they were teaching the believers in Antioch, and we can assume in other places, is that a person must be circumcised in order to be saved. They had turned circumcision into the primary indicator of salvation. Circumcision was the mark of all Jewish males performed when a child was eight days old.
To require Gentile males to be circumcised posed several problems. Spiritually, it symbolically bound a person to obedience to the Jewish code of living by the Mosaic law. Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians to battle this wrong perspective. There is no evidence that circumcision was a requirement for any Gentile converts up to this point. It appears that the conservative Jews from Jerusalem became fearful of what was happening and imposed their ideas and convictions on others. Physically, to be circumcised as an adult would be extremely painful and life-altering. Socially, circumcision as the sign of salvation cut off all women from salvation and showed a male-biased and centered world.
Paul and Barnabas got into a heated discussion with those who came with this perspective. Paul was a powerful theologian and would not be an easy person to debate. But it can be difficult to change the minds of some people, which seemed to happen in this situation. The church in Antioch was spiritually mature and saw through the situation. They decided to seek further counsel by sending a delegation to Jerusalem to help resolve the question about how Gentiles should be brought into the faith. Paul and Barnabas had had a successful mission among the Gentiles and could testify to God’s grace and transforming power without circumcision. They would be the primary witnesses and defenders of the growing mission.