Peter's argument was unanswerable. The law as a means of salvation was obsolete.

The Jews themselves, who had the law by nature, were saved by grace, through faith.

The emphasis on there being "no difference"--the central feature of the structure--must

have rejoiced the heart of the Apostle of the Gentiles (see Rom. 3: 22; 10: 12).

This noble testimony to salvation by grace coming from the leading Apostle of the

Circumcision, silenced the disputants and prepared an audience for Barnabas and Paul. It

should be noticed that the order in naming these apostles changes in the narrative. While

they are at Antioch it is "Paul and Barnabas", but when they arrive at Jerusalem, the order

is reversed. This reversed order is maintained in the actual letter drafted by the Council,

but it should be noted that where Luke is recording the facts himself, he reverts to the old

order (Acts 15: 22). It seems clear that Barnabas spoke first.

The obvious parallel between the miracles and experiences of Peter and of Paul would

not fail to make an impression. For example:

To the Jew, confirmation by miracle would be a stronger argument than almost

anything else, and it would seem, judging from the interval of silence that followed

"After they had held their peace" (Acts 15: 13), that the multitude as a whole were

From Gal. 2: we gather that the Apostle, knowing only too well how easily a

multitude can be swayed, and knowing that there were false brethren secretly at work,

communicated the gospel which he preached among the Gentiles privately to them that

were of reputation.  Peter, James and John, therefore, were convinced that Paul's

apostleship and gospel were of the Lord, and took their stand for the truth at the public

We must now pass on to the testimony of James, and before examining his words in

detail, we give the structure of the passage.