Acts 15:25 - Printer Friendly

ESV: it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

NIV: So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul—

NASB: it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

CSB: we have unanimously decided to select men and send them to you along with our dearly loved Barnabas and Paul,

NLT: So we decided, having come to complete agreement, to send you official representatives, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

KJV: It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

NKJV: it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

When Christian Pharisees come to Syrian Antioch from Judea and tell the Gentile Jesus-followers they need to be circumcised, Paul, Barnabas, and the elders of the church in Antioch vehemently disagree. They know Jesus chose the Gentiles as Gentiles, not as converts to Judaism (Acts 15:1–2).

The apostles and the church elders in Jerusalem—including James, half-brother of Jesus and pastor of the church—agree with the Antiochenes. They disavow the Pharisees' claims. The salvation of the Gentiles is secure. But they cannot send such affirmation with Paul and Barnabas alone; they need to send their own messengers, namely Judas Barsabbas and Silas, to validate the letter (Acts 15:6–22).

"One accord" is from the Greek root word homothymadon. It suggests many notes in harmony or several beings moving forward gracefully. Both Greek and Hebrew culture valued discussion as a way of discovering the truth, so the fact that several Christian leaders agree on such a serious topic is significant.

To that end, although the leaders in Jerusalem do not want the Gentile Christians to be troubled or burdened, James does want the Gentiles to make certain concessions. These are to ensure the harmony with their Jewish brothers and sisters is complete. He tells them to refrain from sexual immorality, blood, and food that has been sacrificed to idols (Acts 15:29).

The Pharisees wanted the Gentiles to convert to Judaism so they could fellowship in the church and still maintain their high reputation among the non-Christian Jews (Galatians 6:12). James doesn't care about their reputation. He knows true unity from Christ is far more important than worldly praise (James 2:1–13).

Acts 15:22–29 records probably the first or second letter sent by a Christian leader with instructions as to how the church should live. A possibly earlier message is what we now call the book of James. The council in Jerusalem has decided: Gentiles do not need to convert to Judaism to receive salvation from Jesus. They are, however, asked to make a few alterations to their dietary and sexual practices. This is not for salvation, but to maintain unity and community in the Jewish-Gentile church.

Paul and Barnabas are in Syrian Antioch, home from their first missionary journey. Legalistic Christians from Jerusalem arrive and insist Gentiles must convert to Judaism. When negotiations fail, a delegation travels to Jerusalem to request clarification from Jesus' closest students. The leadership in Jerusalem agree with Paul and Barnabas. They write a letter that Gentiles should only make concessions, mostly dietary, which will ensure unity with the Jews in their congregation. After delivering the letter to Antioch, Paul takes Silas and Barnabas takes John Mark to share the letter to other churches they have planted.

Acts chapter 15 resembles Acts 11:1–18, where Peter testified before the leadership of the church in Jerusalem. His subject was how the Holy Spirit had fallen on uncircumcised and unbaptized Gentiles. Here Paul and Barnabas also testify that Gentiles are coming to faith in Jesus without being circumcised. The issue the leadership must decide is the extent Gentiles must be responsible to follow the Mosaic law. Their decision is that the Law is in no way required to be saved, but Gentiles should graciously make concessions so their Jewish brothers and sisters feel free to live in community. This forms a partial background to the rest of Paul's missionary journeys as explained in Acts.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.