The Strand Study Bible

ACTS ACTS Here in Acts 15, the Church was about to experience a schism. A schism, according to Webster’s New World Dictionary , is a split, as in a church, because of difference of opinion, doctrine, etc. 1 In every schism in life, be it within a church or a business or at home, there is someone who causes the schism and someone who is called upon to correct the schism. According to verse 5, the Pharisees which believed were the ones who caused the schism, and Paul and Barnabas were called upon to correct the schism. Because some of the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem ( the Pharisees which believed - vs 5) felt that there should be more to their salvation than just being saved, they pushed for a “grace” plus “works” type salvation. They felt like there must be more to salvation than what Christ did for us on the cross. So they added to their salvation a portion of Judaism , called “circumcision.” It was during this time that the false teachings of Gnosticism began to sneak its way into the early Church ( Colo 2:16 ). Thankfully, early defenders of Christianity, like Irenaeus (c. AD 130-200) who wrote a treatises against Gnosticism called Against Heresies (Refutation and Overthrow of the Gnosis Falsely So Called ), Tertullian (c. AD 155-220), Hippolytus (c. AD 170-236), who wrote a treatises against Gnosticism called The Refutation of All Heresies (sometimes cited as Philosophumena ), and Epiphanius (c. AD 315-403), all regarded Gnosticism as heresy. NOTE – According to the New Testament Scriptures, there are several reasons for schisms within the Church: 1. Christians try and add “works” to their salvation (Acts 15:1 and Gal 3:1-3 ) 2. Christians become prejudice by becoming “cliquish” and playing favorites (Gal 2:11-16) 3. Christians live in “open sin” within the church (I Cor 5:1-5) 4. Christians cause other Christians to “lose hope” (I Tim 1:18-20 and II Tim 2: 17- 18 ) 5. Christians want to “fight” the man of God just because they don’t like men of God (I Tim 1:18-20 and II Tim 4: 14- 15 ) 6. Christians love what they do for God “more” than what God has done for them (Rev 2:1-4) 7. Christians become “openly” complacent and worldly (Rev 3:15-17) 15:3 a Interestingly enough, the church in Jerusalem (vs 4) had no jurisdiction over the church at Antioch. Each local church ( by the church ) was autonomous and was to run independently of all other local churches. That way there was no “domino” effect if one of the local churches failed. 15:3 b Doctrinal controversy (vs 1-2) is a ploy of Satan. Nevertheless, it should never be allowed to kill the great joy that we have in Christ and His salvation. 15:12 According to the Bible, miracles and wonders (signs) were always performed by a Jew for the sole purpose of confirming the Word to the unbelieving Jews (Mk 16:15-20 and I Cor 1:22 & 14:21-22). While it is true that many of the Gentiles witnessed these “ signs ” ( among the Gentiles ) performed by the Jews (Gal 3:5 and II Cor 12:12), these “ signs ” (like the ones performed in view of the Egyptians - Exo 4:1-9,21), were never intended for the Gentiles. They were intended for the Jews. 15:13 James here was one of Joseph and Mary’s sons (Mk 6:3), thus a half brother to Christ (Jms 1:1). 15:19 Paul attempted to promote peace between Jewish and Gentile believers by asking the Gentile believers to avoid three areas of behavior that were offensive to Jewish believers ( that we trouble not them ): 1. Refrain from offending weaker Christians (due to personal preferences – abstain from meats offered to idols - vs 20, 29, I Cor 8:9-13 & 10:28-33, Gal 5:13, I Pet 2:16, Rom 14:1 a,b -16, Gal 4:9 and I Cor 6:12 ) 2. Refrain from offending God (due to the deemphasizing of the blood – abstain from blood and from things strangled - vs 20, 29 and Lev 17:12 ) 3. Refrain from offending self (due to immorality – abstain from fornication from marriage contracts between too-near relatives - vs 20, 2 9, Lev 18:1-19 and Heb 13:4) 1810

1 Webster’s New World Dictionary. New York: Warner Books. 1984. Print.