Pt. 5# The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:1-5) (PAUL’S CIRCUMCISION: TO SNIP, or NOT TO SNIP! (8-14-21)

(THE WRITTEN WORD VS RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS and TRADITIONS: ‘UNLESS YOU ARE CIRCUMCISED ACCORDING TO ‘THE CUSTOM OF MOSES, YOU CANNOT BE SAVED’!)

(Acts 15:1-3):
Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “UNLESS YOU ARE CIRCUMCISED ACCORDING TO ‘THE CUSTOM OF MOSES, YOU CANNOT BE SAVED”!

(THE WRITTEN WORD VS RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS and TRADITIONS):
If you’ll notice here in Acts 15, Luke says nothing about “PLACED UNDER FULL OBLIGATION TO THE TORAH (WORD) OF MOSES” when he introduces the reason for the Jerusalem Council. Luke says that the issue confronting the Jerusalem Council was whether Gentile believers had to undergo ‘RABBIBIC CONVERSION TO JUDAISM IN ORDER TO BE SAVED’. But this begs the question: ‘Why then did Luke add the phrase “ACCORDING TO THE CUSTOM OF MOSES”?

If The Torah Commandment Of Circumcision was understood to apply to Gentiles: ‘ONLY IN REGARDS TO LEGAL CONVERSION, then Luke’s use of the phrase “ACCORDING TO THE CUSTOM OF MOSES” seems completely unnecessary. It is probable, that Luke used the phrase: “ACCORDING TO THE CUSTOM OF MOSES” in order to show that the issue at hand was ‘NOT’ The Torah Commandment Itself, but ‘THE RABBINIC UNDERSTANDING OF IT AS IT PERTAINS TO GENTILE CONVERSION INTO RABBINICAL JUDAISM’.

The most natural way to understand this phrase, is that it refers to the ‘Rabbinic Halachah’ that had become The Accepted Interpretation and an ‘Added To Extension Of The Written Torah, But Not Found In The Written Word Itself’.

Therefore, showing that Luke used the word ‘ETHOS’: (CUSTOM) to refer to ‘Legal Traditions Not Found In The Written Torah, it would appear very likely that the phrase “ACCORDING TO THE CUSTOM OF MOSES” in Acts 15:1, refers to: ‘Legal Rabbinic Halachah, Not The Written Torah. Therefore, Luke warns us at the very beginning of Acts 15, that the issue before ‘The Council’ was: ‘Whether Gentile Believers Should Be Commanded To Submit To The Rabbinic Proselyte Ritual, Which Meant Submitting To The Rabbinic Legal Halachah Of Circumcision (THE CUSTOM OF MOSES) IN ORDER TO BE SAVED. But Paul answers this question in The Book Of Romans:

(Romans 11:6)
‘And if (Salvation) by Grace, then it (Salvation) is no longer of Works; otherwise Grace is no longer Grace. But if it (Salvation) is of works, it (Salvation) is no longer Grace; otherwise Work is no longer Work.’

So what was the decision of The Council concerning the demands that Gentile believers should undergo ‘Rabbinic Conversion In Order To Be Saved?’ Their decision was a clear: “No.” The Apostles affirmed that ‘Salvation Rested Upon Faith In The Person And Work Of Jesus:

(Acts 15:11)
“But we believe that We (JEWS) Are Saved Through The Grace Of The Lord Jesus, In The Same Way As They (GENTILES) Also Are”!

The theological verdict of the Council, that the Gentiles were not required to convert under ‘The Rabbinic Rulings, Was Based Upon ‘Traditions, And Not The Word Of God’!

(THE WRITTEN WORD VS RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS and TRADITIONS: ‘UNLESS YOU ARE CIRCUMCISED ACCORDING TO ‘THE CUSTOM OF MOSES, YOU CANNOT BE SAVED’!)