In 48 AD, a council of Christian leaders came together to discuss whether Gentile converts should be circumcised. This was a contentious issue. Jewish Christians from Judea journeyed to Antioch and we’re preaching that Gentile Christian men must be circumcised to be saved. Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem to raise this with the Apostles and elders.
After much discussion, Peter stood up and said:
Acts 15 v 7-11
“Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”
After this, Barnabas and Paul told them of all the signs and wonders they had seen amongst the Gentiles.
James spoke and quoted the prophet Amos.
Amos 9 v 11 - 12 (Septuagint version).
‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things, things known from long ago.’
James finished by saying the Gentiles should follow Noah’s Covenant with God.
This was agreed with the Council and a letter was sent to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia (an area of modern Southern Turkey).
God’s Covenant with Noah
The Mosiac Covenant was between God and the Children of Israel. The Abrahamic Covenant was between God and Abraham’s children, which included the Israelites, the Moabites and the Ishmaelites.
Only the Noachian Covenant (Gen 9) could be applied to all peoples as Noah was the father of all the nations.
By the time of Christ, the Noachian Covenant had developed to include the following elements:
Not to worship idols.
Not to curse God.
Not to commit murder.
Not to commit adultery or sexual immorality.
Not to steal.
Not to eat flesh turn from a living animal.
To establish courts of justice.
This Covenant was already applied to a group in 2nd Temple Judaism called the God-Fearers.
God-Fearers aligned themselves with the Hellenistic Jews, but did not want to be full converts. One of the main stumbling issues for Gentile men was circumcision. In the Greco-Roman world circumcision was seen as abhorrent.
By allowing the Gentile Christians to follow the Noachian rules, it opened the door for the God-Fearers to become full members of the religious community.
Circumcision and Water Baptism
This change in the importance of circumcision in the early Church meant water baptism came to fulfil a similar function.
Being circumcised meant a Jewish male became part of the community, and could then participate in its life.
Similarly with water baptism in the Church. It was a sign that showed a person participates in the life of the local church community.
Baptism developed out of Jewish washing rituals and by the 1st Century BC, it was used in a similar way to circumcision, but only for women. Jews did not practice female circumcision.
As circumcision only applied to males, for a woman to show she was part of the community, she would either have a circumcised father or marry a circumcised man.
With baptism replacing circumcision, women did not need a Christian husband to participate in the Church.
The role of baptism is more complex than I’ve intimated here, but I think the comparison with circumcision is interesting.
Gentiles in the Church
With the acceptance of the Gentiles into the Church, it reminds me of the mixed multitude joining the Children of Israel as they left Egypt.
In that case, the multitude were circumcised. And later in the Book of Numbers (Num 11), they caused dissent to occur amongst the Children of Israel.
In the New Testament, the Gentiles come into the Church. But instead of causing the Church to fall into dissent, it means the Good News could be carried to the ends of the Earth, on the lips of those previously excluded.
Ahh, but the Gentiles DID cause a problem, like the rabble…Acts 6:1. What do think?