The Three Laws for Gentile Believers
Acts 15:5-29 “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." (6) Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. (7) And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: "Men and brethren … (13) and after they had become silent, James answered, saying, "Men and brethren, listen to me: … (24) Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law"--to whom we gave no such commandment--… (28) For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: (29) that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
Before we discuss the above quoted passage of scripture it is important to note that there are a total of 613 laws listed in the Old Testament, which can be divided into two main categories i.e. moral laws and judicial (ceremonial) laws. The moral laws of the Old Testament are summed up in the Ten Commandments, which in turn can be summed up in the New Testament with our Lord’s commandment to love one another (Romans 13:10). And so it is self evident that Gentile believers who keep the New Testament commandment of love, in effect keep all of the moral laws listed in the Old Testament. It was therefore the judicial (ceremonial) laws of the Old Covenant that were debated at the council meeting on this occasion. As revealed in this passage of scripture, it was because of the false teaching of keeping the law, which surfaced for the first time in the church at Antioch, that a council meeting was called in Jerusalem by all the Lord’s leading apostles to address the issue. The outcome of this meeting is very important for gentile believers, because it clarifies just what, from the Law of Moses, is acceptable for gentile believers to observe and what is not acceptable. In other words, these are the laws that the Lord has given grace to His gentile believers to observe, and therefore they do not sin when they observe them. There are several points that we can pick up from this passage of scripture. Many people spoke at this conference, including Paul and all the apostles. But it is interesting to note that the Holy Spirit only records, by name, the words of two of His apostles, i.e. Peter and James. The reason the Holy Spirit does this, is because it was Peter and James that initially got it wrong. James (in ignorance) had sent the false brethren down to Antioch, and Peter had messed up by not standing up for what the Lord had already revealed to him. And so it is only fitting that the Holy Spirit shows us that Peter and James now got it right. Something else we can pick up from this passage is that the false brethren had by that time already influenced several the Jewish believers. We see that, because the sect of the Pharisees that spoke in favour of gentile believers keeping the law, were themselves believers. There were no gentile believers at this conference, and they had no input in it. This conference was made up entirely of Jewish believers. And many of them, including Paul, were extremely knowledgeable regarding the Law of Moses. What then transpired is that they went through the whole Law of Moses, to determine what was acceptable for gentile believers to observe and what was not acceptable. In the end, they could only come up with three laws. In other words, there is absolutely nothing else from the Law of Moses, that gentile believers are allowed to observe. To observe any other part of the Law of Moses, other than these three laws, is sinful for gentile believers, because God has instructed us not to do it. Before we discuss the three laws, it is very important that we recognize just who has given this instruction to the gentile believers. It was every apostle of the Lamb, including Paul and Barnabas, and all the elders. In other words, this instruction is given to us, by all the writers of the New Testament. And then finally this instruction is given to the gentile believers by the Holy Spirit Himself. Therefore any gentile believers who choose to ignore this instruction by trying to observe the Law of Moses, do so to their own detriment, because taking that path leads the believer away from grace. As an aside, although walking in disobedience to these three laws does not impact the believers’ salvation in any way, it nevertheless does have the effect of both bringing the believer into the bondage of sin and thus negatively impacting the believer’s fellowship with the Lord.
So, what about the three laws that they came up with? The three laws that they decided on are as follows; firstly, that we abstain from things offered to idols, secondly, that we abstain from blood and from things strangled, and then thirdly, that we abstain from sexual immorality. There reason I say three laws, is because abstaining from blood and things strangled, falls under the same law i.e. eating kosher meat. All three laws involve the physical body of the believer. Although under the old covenant, these laws were put in place for different reasons, these laws are also applicable under the new covenant. The reason for that is because under the new covenant, the bodies of believers are the temple of the Holy Spirit and our bodies are members of Christ. This was not the case under the old covenant. Nevertheless, because our bodies belong to Christ under the new covenant, we are to treat them in a manner that is worthy of that calling.
Acts 16:4-5 “And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. (5) So, the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.”
The above passage of scripture reveals to us that after the decision was taken in the council meeting, Paul and his team then went to all the gentile churches to teach them about the decrees determined by the council. And so, we see that the apostle Paul took those three laws and taught them to the gentile churches, explaining to the churches in a manner that we can more clearly understand, why and how we should observe these laws.
1 Corinthians 6:18-19 “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. (19) Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?”
The first law which we will discuss is abstaining from sexual immorality. As quoted above, we see that when Paul taught the church in Corinth about abstaining from sexual immorality, he explained to them that because the body of the believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit that committing sexual immorality is in fact committing sin against the body of Christ. And so it is for the reason of not sinning against Christ’s body that gentile believers are to observe this particular law.
1 Corinthians 10:19-22 “What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? (20) Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. (21) You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's Table and of the table of demons. (22) Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?”
The second law which we will discuss is abstaining from things offered to idols. Partaking of the Lord’s Table is the only ordinance that the Lord Jesus has instructed His church to observe under the New Covenant. And so we see in the passage quoted above that in the same manner, when Paul taught the church at Corinth about eating foods offered to idols, he explained to them that foods offered to idols are in fact foods that are being offered to demons. Paul then admonished them, by telling them that they could not partake of the Lord’s Table (when they had communion), and the table of demons, because that act would be the same as trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy. And so it is for the reason of not attempting to provoke the Lord’s jealousy that gentile believers are to observe this particular law.
1 Corinthians 10:25-26 “Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience' sake; (26) for "the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”
And then finally, the third law which we will discuss is abstaining from blood and things strangled. So why did the council decide to include this law in their communication to the Gentile believers? The reason is because God originally gave this instruction to Noah directly after the flood, which was long before the Law of Moses was introduced into the earth (Genesis 9:4). Noah was a Gentile and so in effect God gave that instruction to everyone, including Gentiles, and He reinforced that instruction by including it in the Law of Moses given to the Jews. This law is practical to observe if believers slaughter their own meat, as in the days of Noah, but because most believers today purchase meat that is slaughtered by others, this law becomes almost impossible to observe. And so Paul in his wisdom taught the church at Corinth how to deal with this particular law, by telling the saints to not ask questions regarding how the meat was prepared when it was sold at the meat market. The reason Paul instructs the saints not to ask questions, is because of our conscience. The conscience of the saint is negatively impacted when they knowingly commit sin. And so not knowing how the meat was prepared allows the saint to eat it without negatively impacting their conscience through sin.
Acts 21:25 “But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.”
Scripture teaches us that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established (2 Corinthians 13:1). The Holy Spirit has recorded three times in scripture, the decision taken by the council, regarding the gentile believers’ observance of the law. I have quoted the first two earlier, and in the above passage of scripture I now quote the third time He mentions it. And so again I say that gentile believers, who choose to ignore His admonition by attempting to keep the Law of Moses, do so to their own detriment. So what about the law of love? Why did the council not make any comment regarding the royal law of loving one’s neighbour as oneself? The reason for that is because the law of love was always a part of the new covenant. For you will recall that under the new covenant our Lord Jesus had given us a new law. For He said “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). And in fact Paul teaches us that love is the fulfilment of the laws of the old covenant (Romans 13:10). The commandment of love had always been part of the gospel that Paul had preached to the gentile believers, and so there was no necessity for the council to mention that law. For they were only looking to see if there were any further laws from the law of Moses, that were applicable to the gentile believers under the new covenant.
Michael E.B. Maher
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