Acts 15
AEKActs 15:18-39
18 James does not refer to the report of Barnabas and Paul, when he quotes Amos 9:11-12, but to Peter’s address. The prophet, speaking of the time when the kingdom will be set up, refers to those among the nations, who, like Cornelius, invoked the name of the Lord, and are blessed with His people Israel. It has no reference to the present economy of God’s grace.
19 Notice the emphatic I. This was James’ own solution. The object of the decrees seems to have been to make it possible for the Jews to have social intercourse with the believers among the nations without offending Jewish prejudices. A Jew, even if a believer, could not eat at the same table with a gentile if he should serve an idol sacrifice, or strangled meat, or blood. Had Peter’s advice been followed, they would have cast off the yoke of the law, which they never were able to bear, and so could have had free and joyful fellowship with the Uncircumcision. James’ plan keeps the Jews under the divine law and puts the nations under a human law. Instead of loosing all from bondage, he binds both.
24 The great object of the conference was definitely settled, and never again do we hear that circumcision and law keeping are essential to salvation. The Judaisers now change to the teaching that, though these may not be necessary for salvation, they are essential to progress and perfection. Paul refutes this in Galatians.
29 Strictly speaking, these decrees were binding only on the believers in Syria and Cilicia, though they must have influenced all the saints among the nations. Paul practically repeals them when he makes the eating of meats offered to idols a matter of individual conscience (1Co.8) The revelation of the new humanity (Ephesians 2:15) in which all physical distinctions disappear, so that there is no Jew or Greek, nullifies this “law of precepts in decrees.” They were based on a distinction which no longer exists for those who are in Christ Jesus. Speaking of this to the Colossians, the apostle boldly cancels them by “erasing the handwriting of the decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and has taken it away out of the midst. . .” How far has Jerusalem fallen! Instead of bringing blessing to the nations, they use this opportunity of burdening them with a law of their own devising; No wonder, when Paul comes again, he finds James in full charge, and all the tens of thousands of believing Jews zealous of the law and hostile to him and his ministry.
35 It was during this period that Peter came to Antioch and lived at first in unrestrained intercourse with the gentiles, eating with them in consistency with his speech at the conference and with the decrees, also with his own conduct in the case of Cornelius. In the presence of “certain from James” Peter began to vacillate and complied with their prejudices. If Peter, through consideration for the weak conscience, had been yielding a non-essential point, Paul would approve. But his motive was the fear of man. His example not only sanctioned the heresies of the Judaizers but also carried away such believers as Barnabas, and well merited Paul’s rebuke.
37 Barnabas had already provoked Paul’s indignation by weakly yielding to the influence of Peter and the Judaizers. Possibly he was still smarting under Paul’s public rebuke. Paul, on the other hand, always revolted against anything that looked like compromise and weakness. Though it was impossible for them to longer work together, they evidently make amicable arrangement to divide between them the territory of their former journey.
Acts 15:40-16
40 Silas was almost necessary as a companion for Paul. The decrees provided that they should be delivered by both Barnabas and Paul, while Judas and Silas were to confirm them by word of mouth. Now that Barnabas is gone, Paul could hardly deliver the decrees without a second witness, and Silas was the very one for the purpose, for he had the recommendation of Jerusalem.
40 Paul seems to have had the sympathy of the brethren in Antioch. Nothing is said of their interest in Barnabas and Mark. But when Paul and Silas go, the brethren commend them to God’s grace.
1 Paul did not retrace the steps of his first missionary journey. He did not go to Cyprus at all. He went by land through Syria and Cilicia, and crossed the Taurus mountains more to the east, coming out upon the high inland plain near Lystra and Derbe.
1 Timothy was Paul’s son in the faith, being one of those who believed when Paul was there before. He was a witness of his sufferings and now becomes a companion of his trials. Hitherto Paul’s associates have been a Levite, Barnabas, and Silas, a Jew, but now he takes one whose father was a Greek. Thus there is a gradual tendency away from the physical to spiritual relations.
3 The circumcision of Timothy, at first sight, seems strange and inconsistent. Had Paul not refused to circumcise Titus? Had not the council at Jerusalem decided that circumcision was not essential to salvation? But Timothy’s case is an entirely different matter. Paul is still going among the synagogues proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah of the Jews. To have an associate who was uncircumcised would be a great hindrance and give the Jews the occasion which they sought to denounce and persecute him. He still maintains that circumcision is nothing. Yet he has no hesitancy in using it if it will mollify the prejudice of those whom he desires to reach with the evangel.
6 Paul’s sickness in Galatia and the evangelization of that region is almost completely passed over because his course there was not in line with the testimony of Acts.
9 Paul’s commission is as broad as humanity, yet the guidance of God decides matters of time and place for testimony.
9 Up to this time Paul was guided by hindrances. Trying to go through Galatia to the regions beyond, he is taken sick. He then seeks to enter the populous province of Asia, but the time had not yet come. Finally, at Troas, he receives the first intimation that his work lay in Europe. Without stopping to preach in Troas he immediately sets sail for Macedonia, which he reached in two days-a remarkably swift journey. It took five days on a later occasion (Acts 20:6).
10 Luke seems to have joined the party of Paul at Troas, for now the narrative is continued in the first person. “They . . . descended into Troas,” but “we . . . seek to come away to Macedonia.”
11 Neapolis is the harbor of Philippi. It was about ten miles from the city.
12 Philippi was a Roman colony in the special sense that it enjoyed many of the privileges of Rome itself. It was free from the control of the governor of the province. It regulated its own internal affairs by its own magistrates.
13 There seem to have been few Jews in the city. There was no synagogue. As it was the custom of the Jews to retire to the sea shore or some stream, which they esteemed a pure place, for prayer, Paul and his company resorted to such a spot and spoke to the women who came. Here it was that the Lord, who had led them from afar, manifested His presence and power by opening the heart of Lydia, the first fruit of the evangel in Europe. Strangely enough, however, she was from Asia, and from the very regions which they were forbidden to evangelize.
16 Python is the name of Apollo in his character as an oracle. Those who were ventriloquists, speaking with their mouths closed, were called Pythons. It was a kind of demon possession, not at all uncommon in ancient Greece. Their ravings were highly esteemed by the superstitious idolaters. Hence this slave girl was able to earn much money for her masters. It was probably the enemy’s plan to discredit Paul’s message by a questionable commendation.