Acts 15
BSASBSome teachers insist that Gentile believers must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be saved. The apostles and elders meet in Jerusalem, hear Peter, Barnabas, Paul and James, and agree that salvation is by the grace of the Lord Jesus alone. They send a letter to the Gentile churches. The chapter ends with Paul and Barnabas parting over John Mark, and the work going out in two directions.
Acts 15:1
Men from Judea arrive in Antioch with a serious claim: Gentiles must become Jews through circumcision to be saved. This turns a ritual into a requirement for salvation. It would add something to Christ’s work, and the whole gospel is at stake.
BSA: circumcised (“cut around, to circumcise”): This was the physical sign of Israel’s covenant, and these men made it a condition for entering God’s people. saved (“delivered from harm, rescued”): Salvation is rescue, and the teachers claimed rescue depended on a human act.
See also: Galatians 5:2-4.
Acts 15:2
Paul and Barnabas do not let the claim pass. After fierce argument, the church sends them with others to Jerusalem to settle it with the apostles and elders. The matter is handled openly, together, and before the church’s recognized leaders.
Greek: στάσεως (staseōs, G4714) — “discord, dissension.” The word describes real conflict, not a polite difference of opinion. The issue was heated because the gospel itself was in question.
Acts 15:3
On the road south, Paul and Barnabas tell churches in Phoenicia and Samaria how Gentiles are turning to God. The believers rejoice. Many of them were of Jewish or Samaritan background, and they welcomed the news that the gospel was reaching the nations.
BSA: conversion (“turning point, change of heart”): The Gentiles had truly turned around inwardly, not merely joined a new group.
Acts 15:4
In Jerusalem the whole church and its leaders welcome the delegation. Paul and Barnabas begin with what God had done through them, not with their own arguments. Their report puts God’s work at the center of the debate.
See also: Acts 14:27.
Acts 15:5
Some believers who had been Pharisees now press the same demand: circumcise the Gentiles and make them keep Moses’ law. They sincerely wanted to protect obedience to God. But they mistook the sign of the old covenant for the way into the new.
BSA: Pharisees (“a Jewish sect that followed strict religious rules”): Their background explains their zeal for the law, even after they had come to believe in Jesus.
Acts 15:6
The apostles and elders gather to examine the question carefully. The church does not answer by force or by quick decree. Leaders sit down together and look at the matter in light of what God has actually done.
Acts 15:7
After long discussion Peter reminds them of Cornelius’s household. God had chosen him, years earlier, to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. They heard, believed, and were accepted. The question was already answered by what God had done.
See also: Acts 10:34-48.
Acts 15:8
God knows what is truly in a person, and He gave the Holy Spirit to Gentiles exactly as He had to the Jewish believers. No human could give a clearer sign. God Himself had testified that these people were His.
BSA: approval (“witness, testimony”): The gift of the Spirit was God’s own public testimony in favor of the Gentile believers.
Greek: καρδιογνώστης (kardiognōstēs, G2589) — “heart-knower.” This rare word names God as the One who knows the heart. He did not judge by outward marks like circumcision, but by what He saw within.
See also: Acts 11:15-17.
Acts 15:9
God made no distinction between Jew and Gentile. He cleansed Gentile hearts by faith, not by ritual or by keeping the law. Faith is how the heart is made clean for everyone.
BSA: cleansed (“purified, made clean”): The Gentiles were made clean inwardly, which was the cleansing the law’s rituals only pointed toward.
Greek: καθαρίσας (katharisas, G2511) — “having cleansed.” The word was used for ritual cleansing, but here God cleanses the heart itself. What the law’s washings pictured, faith received.
Acts 15:10
Peter speaks sharply. To demand circumcision and the law of Gentile believers is to put God to the test, after He has already shown His will. It also loads them with a burden that not even Israel, with all its history, could carry.
BSA: yoke (“a wooden beam, a burden”): A yoke was a heavy beam laid on a working animal, so Peter pictures the law as a crushing weight on new disciples.
Greek: πειράζετε (peirazete, G3985) — “you are testing.” To test God here means to push Him to see how far He will tolerate resistance. Peter says that opposing what God plainly did is a dangerous thing.
See also: Matthew 11:28-30; Galatians 5:1.
Acts 15:11
Peter turns the question around. Jewish believers themselves are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus, not by keeping the law. If that is true for them, it is true for the Gentiles too. All are saved the same way.
BSA: grace (“unmerited favor, divine influence”): Salvation is a gift that cannot be earned, and that is why nothing needs to be added to it.
See also: Ephesians 2:8-9.
Acts 15:12
The crowd falls silent. Barnabas and Paul then tell of the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles. Once more the church is asked to look at what God has done, and the assembly listens quietly.
BSA: signs (“miraculous tokens, wonders”): These were pointers showing that God Himself stood behind the mission to the Gentiles.
Acts 15:13
James, who led the Jerusalem church and was respected by those who loved the law, now speaks. He asks for a hearing. After Peter, Barnabas and Paul have spoken, the leader of the more law-minded believers gives the final word.
Acts 15:14
James calls Peter by his Hebrew name, Simeon. He sums up Peter’s report: God Himself took the first step toward the Gentiles, and from them He is gathering a people for His own name. The word for people is the one used of Israel.
BSA: visited (“cared for, looked after”): God’s visit was an act of loving concern, not merely a call at the door.
Greek: ἐπεσκέψατο (episkepsato, G1980) — “looked upon, visited with care.” The word means to look in on someone with concern. It is used of God coming to help His people.
Acts 15:15
James now turns to Scripture. What Peter described agrees with the words of the prophets. The experience of the church is not left on its own. It is tested against God’s written word, and the two agree.
Acts 15:16-18
James quotes Amos. God will rebuild David’s fallen house, and the result is that the rest of mankind, including Gentiles called by His name, will seek the Lord. The Gentiles’ coming in was not an accident. It was part of God’s plan from long ago.
BSA: tent (“tabernacle, dwelling place”): David’s house had collapsed like a ruined shelter, and God promises to raise it again. called (“invoked, appealed to”): God’s name is named over the Gentiles as their own, marking them as belonging to Him.
See also: Amos 9:11-12.
Acts 15:19-20
James gives his judgment: do not make it hard for Gentiles who turn to God. Ask only that they keep away from idol-polluted food, sexual immorality, strangled meat and blood. These touch worship, purity and respect for life, and help Jews and Gentiles live together.
BSA: polluted (“defiled, made unclean”): Food offered to idols carried the stain of pagan worship, which believers were to avoid.
Greek: παρενοχλεῖν (parenochlein, G3926) — “to trouble, to harass.” The word means to pile on extra annoyance or difficulty. James says no needless obstacle should stand between the Gentiles and God.
See also: Genesis 9:4.
Acts 15:21
James adds a practical reason. Moses is read aloud in synagogues in every city every Sabbath, so Jewish neighbors know these practices well. Respecting them would help Gentile believers live in peace with Jewish believers and not offend them needlessly.
Acts 15:22
The whole church agrees with the decision. They send chosen men with Paul and Barnabas, so that the answer comes with living witnesses and not as a paper alone. Judas and Silas are respected leaders who can vouch for it.
BSA: leaders (“chief men, governing authorities”): These were trusted men whose word would carry weight in Antioch.
Acts 15:23
The letter comes from the apostles and elders as brothers, not as masters. It is addressed to Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia, and begins with a simple greeting. It shows the tone of Christian leadership: warm, equal and kind.
BSA: Greetings (“a wish for joy and peace, to rejoice”): The greeting carries a hope for gladness, matching the joy the letter was meant to bring.
Acts 15:24
The letter admits that men from Jerusalem had caused trouble, but says they had no authority from the apostles. The false teaching had unsettled the believers’ minds. The leaders correct it plainly so that the Gentiles will be at peace.
Greek: ἀνασκευάζοντες (anaskeuazontes, G384) — “overturning, upsetting.” The word pictures packing up and carrying off the furniture of a house. The false teachers were stripping the believers’ settled confidence.
Acts 15:25-26
The church speaks warmly of Barnabas and Paul. They are beloved, and they have put their lives at risk for the name of Jesus. This tells the Gentile churches that their teachers are trusted and valued by the apostles.
BSA: name (“character, authority”): They risked everything for who Jesus is and for His rule, not for a mere title.
Acts 15:27
Judas and Silas are sent to say face to face what the letter says in writing. The message is thus confirmed by two voices. The Gentile believers can be sure that the letter is real and means what it says.
Acts 15:28
The decision is said to seem good to the Holy Spirit and to the church. The leaders do not claim to have invented it. They believe the Spirit guided them as they listened to Scripture and to God’s work among the Gentiles.
BSA: burden (“place a weighty load”): The aim was to keep Gentile believers from carrying a heavy load that God had not placed on them.
Greek: ἔδοξεν (edoxen, G1380) — “it seemed good.” This was the language of a formal decision. It joins the Spirit’s leading and the church’s united judgment in a single verdict.
Acts 15:29
The few requirements are repeated: no food offered to idols, no blood, no strangled meat, and no sexual immorality. These keep believers clear of idolatry and impurity. The letter ends with a hopeful word that they will do well, and with a farewell.
Greek: ἔρρωσθε (errōsthe, G4517) — “be strong, farewell.” This common closing wished the readers good health and strength. It leaves a kind and personal ending to the letter.
Acts 15:30-31
In Antioch the congregation gathers and the letter is read. The people are glad, because it frees them from a burden. The word of Christ’s leaders brings comfort, and the gospel is kept free of added conditions.
BSA: encouraging (“consolation, comfort, exhortation”): The letter brought comfort as well as instruction, easing the fears that the false teaching had stirred up.
Greek: παρακλήσει (paraklēsei, G3874) — “encouragement, comfort.” It comes from the same word family as the Comforter, a name given to the Spirit. It means a helping word that stands beside someone.
Acts 15:32-33
Judas and Silas are prophets, and they do more than deliver a letter. They speak at length to encourage and strengthen the believers. After some time they are sent back to Jerusalem in peace. Good ministry builds up the church and is received well.
BSA: peace (“harmony, prosperity, freedom from war”): They left with the church’s full blessing, with nothing broken between the two churches.
Acts 15:35
Paul and Barnabas stay in Antioch, working together with many others. They teach and preach the word of the Lord. The church grows through ordinary faithful ministry, shared among many people, and not by a few alone.
Acts 15:36
After a time Paul proposes a return visit to the churches they had planted. He does not only want to start new work. He wants to see how the believers are doing, because new believers need care.
Greek: ἐπισκεψώμεθα (episkepsōmetha, G1980) — “let us visit, look in on.” This is the same word family used of God’s visit to the Gentiles in verse 14. Paul’s concern for the churches mirrors God’s care.
Acts 15:37-38
Barnabas wants to take his cousin John Mark again. Paul refuses, because Mark had left them in Pamphylia and not gone on with the work. Both men have reasons. Barnabas hopes for a second chance and Paul worries about reliability.
BSA: deserted (“withdrawn, left”): Mark had pulled back from the mission, and that earlier failure troubled Paul.
See also: Acts 13:13.
Acts 15:39
The disagreement grows so sharp that the two part company. Barnabas takes Mark to Cyprus. Scripture is honest about the conflicts of good people. God works through both journeys, and later Paul speaks well of Mark.
Greek: παροξυσμός (paroxysmos, G3948) — “sharp irritation, heated quarrel.” Our word paroxysm comes from this. It describes a sudden flare of strong feeling, not a calm difference of opinion.
See also: 2 Timothy 4:11.
Acts 15:40-41
Paul chooses Silas, and the church commends him to the Lord’s grace. He travels through Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches. Even after a painful split, the mission goes on, now carried by two teams.
BSA: commended (“delivered, entrusted”): The church handed Paul over to God’s care, trusting grace to keep him. strengthening (“confirming, making stronger”): Paul’s visits made the young churches steadier in the faith.