The complete analysis of this passage would occupy considerably more than a full page of this book, and we

shall therefore only give the above skeleton outline, and then fill in each section as it comes before us. Those who

are keen students of the Word will be more than compensated for their pains, if they will take the trouble to

reproduce the structure as a whole after the details have been set out.

The first member of the structure, in this epoch-making fight of faith, is comprised in the first two verses:

`And certain men which came down from Judæa taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after

the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and

disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to

Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question' (Acts 15:1,2).

A 15:1,2.Antioch. The Question. Paul, Barnabas, and the men of Judæa.

a Certain men come down from Jerusalem.

b Their teaching.

b The dissension.

a Paul and Barnabas go up to Jerusalem.

The glorious doctrine of justification by faith apart from legal works of any kind, had been the central feature of

Paul's gospel on this wonderful journey through the cities of Galatia:

`Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness

of sins: and by Him all that believe are JUSTIFIED from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law

of Moses' (Acts 13:38,39).

After such a gospel had been preached it was obviously nothing less than diametric opposition for anyone to say:

`Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved'. On such an issue compromise was

utterly impossible, for essentials were at stake. When it was a matter of conscience with regard to the keeping of

certain days, or of eating certain meats, Paul was most willing to meet the troubled believer more than half-way, but

to suggest that the glorious doctrine of justification by faith should be dethroned from its place, and replaced by a

legal ceremonial, was a call to arms that no follower of the Lord could fail to answer without shame.

`Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them'. - Apart from the Acts, stasis,

`dissension' occurs only in the Gospels and in the Epistle to the Hebrews. In the Gospels the three references relate

to Barabbas, and are translated `insurrection' and `sedition', the word in each case being associated with `murder'

(Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19,25). In Hebrews 9:8, the same word is translated `standing' in the passage: `While as the

first tabernacle was yet standing'. It is obvious, of course, that this passage has nothing to do with sedition or

insurrection, but it is useful in drawing attention to the basic meaning of the word. Stasis is derived from the verb

istemi, `to stand'. The underlying idea is that of `making a stand', but like most things human, the word deteriorated

and came to mean in most cases `uproar' (Acts 19:40), `dissension' (Acts 23:7,10), or `sedition' (Acts 24:5).

We can verily believe that the apostle would most gladly have lived `peaceably with all men' (Rom. 12:18), but

the sacred cause of truth outweighed all personal considerations, and the apostle of grace and peace earned for his

faithfulness the unenviable titles:

`A pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect

of the Nazarenes' (Acts 24:5).

The `dissension' at Antioch was two-fold. On the part of the apostles, it arose out of their stand for the truth of

the gospel, while on the part of their opponents, it was due to their subversive views in connection with the law.

The word,'disputation' - suzetesis derived from zeteo, to seek - is also of mixed meaning. While every `Berean'

must necessarily be a `seeker' after truth, and must certainly `question' any proposition put before him, the tendency

of human nature is to abuse this attitude, and genealogies which minister questions' (1 Tim. 1:4); and of the ignorant

pride `doting about questions' (1 Tim. 6:4). In 2 Timothy we read of `foolish and unlearned questions', that gender