How We Add Burdens Jesus Never Gave (Acts 15-16)

A Few Thoughts to Consider

Do you make it hard for other Christians to follow Christ?

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas are imprisoned when a miracle occurs. The jails are opened, and all the prisoners' bonds are unfastened. But the main reason for their arrest is the message they shared—the message that the good news of the gospel was for everyone.

The first part of Acts 15 describes a pivotal dispute in the early Christian church regarding the necessity of circumcision for Gentile converts. Some believers from Judea were teaching that non-Jewish converts must be circumcised according to the Mosaic law to attain salvation. This teaching led to significant debate and disagreement. To resolve the issue, Paul and Barnabas traveled to Jerusalem to consult with the apostles and elders.

As Dean Pinter remarks, “The apostolic council in Jerusalem is a crucial moment in the story of the early church. The stakes were high. The decision the early church would make here would shape who they would be (identity) and how they would be together (unity).”^[1]

Many believe this event occurred after Paul spoke up against Peter in Antioch in Galatians 2:11-12 for his hypocrisy of eating with Gentiles at one point, but then avoiding this same practice when certain influential Jewish leaders came into town. Ajith Fernando writes, “If this council met after the humiliating confrontation in Antioch where Peter was publicly rebuked by the younger Paul (Gal. 2:11–21), as we think it did, it is indeed creditable that Peter should be the first to get up and speak on behalf of Paul’s side in the controversy.”^[2]

Rather than be petty, Peter recognizes his mistake and now speaks up in defense of the very one who corrected him. In Acts 15:7-11, he says:

⁷ Brothers, you are aware that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the gospel message and believe. ⁸ And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he also did to us. ⁹ He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now then, why are you testing God by putting a yoke on the disciples’ necks that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? ¹¹ On the contrary, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way they are.

Several critical points should be noted. First, it takes a strong man of character to be corrected by another and then stand up in defense of this person.

Second, imposing an extra-Biblical standard on Christians is to test the very patience of God. “In this, the Jerusalem church may well have heard the echo of warning from the situation with Ananias and Sapphira (5:9–10) and even further back historically to the time of Israel in the wilderness (Exod 17:2; Deut 6:16; Ps 78:41).”[3]