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Postscript to Season One of the Blessed Hope Podcast on the Book of Galatians Is Live

We’ve completed our fourteen-part series on the Book of Galatians. But one question remains unanswered. What happened after Paul sent his letter to the churches in Galatia? In Acts 15, we get our answer. The Judaizing heresy became an issue of concern far beyond Galatia. In response, the Apostles and elders of the Jerusalem church convene a church assembly–known to us as the “Jerusalem Council.” The assembled churches and their leaders wanted to hear from Paul about the great success of the Gentile mission. But they must also address the controversy in the churches which arose precisely because so many Gentiles were coming to faith in Jesus Christ. The question was being asked in many churches where there were also Jewish converts to Christianity present. Must Gentile converts live as Jews? How does the law of Moses apply to the people of God in light of the gospel? Although Paul addressed these matters in his Galatian letter, the issues raised by the Judaizers were being debated throughout Judea and especially in Antioch, where Paul and Barnabas were currently ministering. It became necessary for the collective churches to meet in Jerusalem and respond to on-going the Judaizing controversy.

In this episode I’ll also answer listener questions and offer a first-take critique of N. T. Wright’s new commentary on Galatians.

Postscript to Season One of the Blessed Hope Podcast on the Book of Galatians

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerSeptember 10, 2022Jerusalem Council, Blesed Hope Listener QuestionsComment

Three Takeaways from the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15)

There are a number of important points made by Luke in Acts 15, but three stand out for brief mention here, especially when considered in light of Paul’s recently written Letter to The Galatians (which I take to be written in A.D. 48, a year or so before the Jerusalem Council convened). Paul, Barnabas, along the with apostles (James and Peter) and the elders of the Jerusalem church (including Judas called Barsabbas and Silas) were present to debate the matter of whether circumcision was required of Gentile converts to Christianity, if they were to be saved (Acts 15:1-2).

First, despite the ethnic and cultural differences between Jew and Gentile, both groups were equal and full members in the Israel of God which is Christ’s church (cf. Galatians 6:16). As Paul made clear in his Galatian letter, the gospel is not based upon human obedience to the Law of Moses or submission to circumcision (“works of the law”—Galatians 2:16), which supposedly made the Jew superior to Gentiles. It is clear that the gospel is the preaching of Christ crucified, through which, God in his grace, calls his elect to faith in Jesus Christ, whether they be Jew or Gentile.

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