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The fact that James could give such hearty support to the position taken by Paul and
subsequently by Peter, was a shattering blow to the Judaizing party in the Jerusalem
church. A little man might have been content with this victory and have ignored the
susceptibilities of the Jewish believers. Not so, however, the apostle James. He realizes
the feelings of shock and abhorrence which would almost inevitably result from the
Jewish Christians coming into contact with the revolting customs of the Gentiles, and he
therefore gives a double sentence:
(1)
With regard to the immediate question, as to whether believing Gentiles must submit to
circumcision and the law of Moses before they can be sure of salvation, my answer
is "No". `My sentence is, that we trouble not them which from among the Gentiles
are turned to God.'
In the body of the letter sent to the Gentiles it is categorically stated that such teaching
was a `subverting of souls' and that no such commandment had been given by the leaders
at Jerusalem (Acts 15: 24).
(2)
My sentence is not, however, harsh or mechanical. I am by nature and upbringing a
Jew, and I know the horror that seizes the mind at the bare possibility of contact
with those who have partaken of meat offered to idols, or with those who have not
been particular about the question of blood. While we yield no ground with regard
to justification by faith, we must not forget that we are called upon to walk in love,
to remember the weaker brethren, and to be willing to yield our rights if need be.
My sentence therefore is that we write to the Gentiles that believe "that they abstain
from pollutions of idols and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from
blood" (Acts 15: 20).
Three of these items we can readily understand as being offensive to a Jewish
believer, though inoffensive to a Gentile. One, however, is a grossly immoral act and
cannot be classed as in the same category. The reason for its inclusion here is not that
James meant for a moment to suggest that sexual immorality was a matter of
indifference, but rather that, knowing how the Gentile throughout his unregenerate days
looked upon this sin as of no consequence, James realized that he was likely even after
conversion to offend by taking too lenient a view. This is brought out most vividly in
I Corinthians, an epistle that deals with the application of the decrees sent from
Jerusalem, and which we must examine before this study is complete.
James follows his counsel of abstinence by a reference to Moses:
"For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the
synagogues every sabbath day" (Acts 15: 21).
This meaning appears to be that there was no need to fear that, by reducing the appeal
to only four points, the scruples of the more rigid Jewish believer would be invaded.
Moses was preached every sabbath day in the synagogue, and the synagogue was the
nursery of the Church. If we will but put ourselves in the position of the early Church we
shall see the wisdom of this decision. The coming into the synagogue of the men whose