And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. 4 And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. 5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”
Commentary
Vs. 1 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Now these men who came from Judea where Jerusalem and the Temple was no doubt were Jews, who claiming authority in the faith, now come to Antioch trying to teach the brethren that, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” This then was a direct assault on the Gospel of the grace of God. For in commanding the brethren to be circumcised according to the custom of Moses, they were in effect trying to turn those Gentiles who believed, not only into Jews, but also trying to put them back under the Law of Moses, by which no one can be saved in trying to keep it themselves (Rom. 4:4-5; Gal. 2:16, 19-21; James 2:10 etc.). Getting circumcised then is a very serious matter for it makes one a debtor to keep the whole law themselves (Gal. 5:1-5), something which Christ has already done for us all who believe in Him (). And so, no Gentile should ever feel that they need to be circumcised to be saved, all they need to do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, it will be that this will be the ongoing battle ground for the church, with circumcision according to Moses, just being a pretext for trying to put believers back under the Law.
Vs. 2 “Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.”
Now the Apostles Paul and Barnabas immediately recognized the danger in trying to command the Gentiles to be circumcised, and so they vigorously disputed with those false teachers. Therefore, the church in Antioch wanting an absolute clarification on the matter, will now send the Apostles Paul and Barnabas, with certain others from amongst them, to Jerusalem, to the Apostles and elders there.
Vs. 3 “So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren.”
Now while on their journey to Jerusalem “they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren.” Theirs then, when not preaching the Gospel, or refuting false brethren and their false doctrines, was a ministry of encouraging and strengthening the disciples wherever they found them in the faith!
Vs. 4 “And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them.”
When the Apostles Paul and Barnabas and those with them arrived at Jerusalem they were received by the church and the apostles and elders there, and so there would’ve been a time of great fellowship and joy, as they reported all the things that God had done with them in preaching the Gospel. However, they were not there for that reason, they were sent there to bring a unified Apostolic clarification to this pressing issue, since left unaddressed it could’ve very well been the end of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone as the only way to eternal salvation.
Vs. 5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”
Sadly, though even there, there would be opposition to the grace of God, as some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” In them (and those likeminded with them) then we see the fulfillment of Jesus’ Words when He foresaw this hesitancy towards God’s grace and the New Covenant when He said, “And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.” Luke 5:39
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.
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