Today, I am reading and commenting on Acts 14-16.

When Paul and Barnabas got back to Antioch in Syria they got into an argument with some people who had come from Jerusalem who were teaching that the Gentile Believers needed to be baptized.  The fact that Luke refers to those who taught circumcision here as “certain people” suggests that perhaps he did not consider them Believers.  In any case, the debate got so heated that the Church in Antioch decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem for guidance from the Church there.  The first thing we see here is that the Church in Antioch chose to be held accountable to the larger Church body by seeking guidance on a disputed doctrine from those who had been Believers longer than they.  In Jerusalem the apostles and Church elders gathered to discuss this controversy.  Some initially argued that Gentiles needed to be circumcised and obey the rest of the Law of Moses.  Then Peter got up and argued against that, citing his experience at Cornelius’ house and the vision which preceded it.  After Peter spoke they listened to Paul and Barnabas relate what they had witnessed among the Gentiles.  Finally, James got up and gave his judgement on the issue that the Gentiles did not need to be circumcised.  James bases this judgement on both the testimony of Peter, Paul and Barnabas regarding the working of the Holy Spirit among the Gentiles and on the words of the prophets saying that Gentiles would bear God’s name.  The important thing about this decision is that the Church debated and prayed about it and then made a definitive decision about it.  We in the Church today need to follow this example on controversial topics.

Now I want to bring up that Luke tells us that when Paul asked Timothy to join him in his journey, he had Timothy circumcised.  Paul got Timothy to be circumcised because the Jews in that area knew that Timothy’s father was not a Jew.  Since Paul was one of the champions of the decision to not require Gentiles to follow the Law of Moses, the fact that he had Timothy circumcised is noteworthy.  It gives us insight into Paul’s desire to work with people as he found them.  Since the Jews would view Timothy, as the son of a Jewish woman, as a Jew, Paul had Timothy follow the prescription of the Law of Moses to be circumcised.  Which reflects on what Paul later writes about being all things to all people.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I have created a Patreon page for those who would like to support me in writing these blog posts every day: https://patreon.com/AttilaSoldus