New Testament in Context

The Jerusalem Council

By Jared Ludlow

Professor of Ancient Scripture, Brigham Young University

Learn what the council described in Acts 15 teaches us today.

Acts 15 recounts one of the earliest Christian councils, the Jerusalem Council, and teaches principles still applicable to the Church today.

This council met to discuss the issue of what Gentiles (non-Jews) should do when converting to Christianity. While the first believers had been Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah, Gentiles came from a different religious and ethnic background, so their inclusion into the emerging Christian Church became an issue.

Normally, Jews and Gentiles did not interact closely because of differences in beliefs, culture, and language, as well as the dietary (kosher) laws the Jews followed. The early Christians wondered if Jewish customs and traditions should continue, since Jesus and all the early Apostles had grown up doing these things.

Different Views among Early Church Members

Early Church members held different positions on this issue. Some taught that males who wanted to be saved and accept Jesus needed to be circumcised, as was customary under the law of Moses (see Acts 15:1).¹

Paul and Barnabas represented another position. They had been teaching Gentiles and felt that the Holy Spirit had helped convert them. Paul and Barnabas saw this as a witness that the work they were doing was true (see Acts 15:2–4). They were not requiring circumcision or adherence to Jewish dietary laws for baptism.

These opposing views required a council among Church leaders in Jerusalem to settle the matter.

Peter’s Statement

Peter, the chief Apostle, spoke at the council. He reminded them of his experiences in which he had learned that the Gentiles should hear the gospel and that the Holy Spirit witnessed truth to them just as to Jews who had accepted Jesus as the Messiah (see Acts 15:7–8; see also Acts 10).

He stated that God had “put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:9). The Gentiles’ experiences with the Holy Ghost were proof that their conversion to Christ was accepted by God. And they experienced this without keeping the requirements of the law of Moses.

Peter concluded with his hope that “through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they” (Acts 15:11).

James’s Compromise

James, the brother of Jesus and an important early Church leader in Jerusalem, also addressed the council. He acknowledged Peter’s experiences that led him to know that God would make a covenant people out of the Gentiles. (See Acts 15:13–17; see also Amos 9:11.)

Then he proposed a middle-ground solution. He suggested the Gentiles should abstain from at least four things related to keeping the law of Moses (see Acts 15:20, 29):

• Meats offered to idols

• Fornication (sexual immorality)

• Strangled meat (the animal’s blood had not been drained)

• Blood (related to avoiding strangled meat)

These prohibitions would differentiate converted Gentiles from other Gentiles since these actions were sometimes part of Gentile worship of gods and goddesses.

A Message to the Saints

All at the council agreed to James’s proposal, so they sent letters and representatives to Antioch and other Christian congregations to inform them of this policy (see Acts 15:23–29). They also acknowledged in the letter the Holy Ghost’s role in witnessing that this policy was good.

Now all Christians, from both Jewish and Gentile backgrounds, could eat meals together. The policy also indirectly emphasized that faith and covenants in Jesus Christ were the path to salvation, not the law of Moses.²

Lessons from the Jerusalem Council

At least five principles from the Jerusalem Council are applicable in the Church today:

1. Sharing different ideas in a council can help members as they seek the Lord’s will and can lead to an agreement that all can follow.

2. The final agreement or decision carries the authority of its leaders; council members and wider Church membership can support and trust in these authoritative decisions.

3. The Church can incorporate various cultures into one body, and members can learn which cultural practices are contrary to gospel culture and need to be abandoned.

4. The Holy Spirit will give a strong witness of what God’s will is and that one is following it.

5. Accepting Jesus Christ through baptism and other covenants is the key to conversion and joining the Church.

Following these principles in Church councils today will lead to respect for others’ viewpoints. We can also demonstrate humility by accepting and supporting the decisions of councils.

The Lord’s Church Is Organized with Councils

“God called a grand council in the premortal world to present His glorious plan for our eternal welfare. The Lord’s church is organized with councils at every level, beginning with the Council of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and extending to stake, ward, quorum, auxiliary, and family councils. …

“When a council leader reaches a decision, the council members should sustain it wholeheartedly.”

President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Strength in Counsel,” Ensign, Nov. 1993, 76, 78.

Notes

1. Acts 15:5 uses the title “sect of the Pharisees which believed” in Christ to describe some “Jewish Christians” who persisted in their desire to maintain Jewish practices as part of the Christian covenant. These were not the Pharisees frequently mentioned in the Gospels. They were Christian converts who strongly desired to maintain their Jewishness and who were probably of the Pharisaic sect before their conversion and may have maintained some connections with the Pharisees.

2. The takeaways from the council continued to guide the early Church. For instance, Paul later taught that circumcision and following the law of Moses were not necessary to accept Jesus Christ, even though others continued teaching these things (see Acts 21:20–21), and he repeated the four basic demands for converted Gentiles from the Jerusalem Council (see Acts 21:25).