No. 8. >> Josh asked an important question. And I appreciate the information you've shared. If I've understood you correctly the Apostolic Council in Jerusalem in 49 AD was a watershed event in the life of the church. What were the precipitating events that led to the Council? >>DR. ARTHUR A. JUST, JR.: Thank you, Nick. This is a very important question. Especially for understanding the book of Galatians. When we get to Galatians, we're going to see Chapter 2 there's a Council that's referred to. And one of the things we'll discuss when we get to that point is which Council is it referring to? I'll tell you right up front here that I do not believe -- and I'm going to argue -- that Galatians 2 is not the Apostolic Council, that it comes after the meeting in Galatians 2. But it's important for us to put the letter to the Galatians and all the precipitating events that led up to the Council in perspective so that we understand what's happening. This may be a long question because this is such an important event. It is a watershed event. That's a great way of speaking of it. Because the church is never the same again after Acts 15. There were a lot of forces that came into play in Acts 15. And I think we have to get a handle on it. I've already given you some indication of that. But let's walk our way through this very, very slowly and very -- as briefly as we can. Here is the picture I think of what happened up until the Apostolic Council. Paul and Barnabas in the years 46 and 47 take their first missionary journey to the southern part of Asia Minor near Cilicia and there probably near the Galatian area. This is where they go to synagogues first and then they go to the Gentiles and this is really in a sense the beginning of the Gentile mission. And if you read about that, you'll see that they had great success. There was however one incident where Paul is certainly very much persecuted to the point of almost death. Where he is beaten and left to the side of the road. But other than that, Paul really rejoices in what happened in his first missionary journey to the Gentiles. I think Paul was a wise man and understood that there were going to be some tensions that were taking place in the Jerusalem church over this mission to the Gentiles. Even though Peter started it, there's a strong group of Jewish Christians in Jerusalem that would be opposed to this. Now, this is an important point. And if you don't understand this, I think it's very hard to read the epistle to the Galatians. The way in which the churches were made up is very significant. The Jerusalem church is made up of all Jews. That means there is no Gentile influence in Jerusalem at all. And therefore, they have a unique setting, obviously near the temple, led by James. And even though they confess the true faith, namely, that salvation comes by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ, as Jews, they lived a life that was consistent to Judaism. In other words, they kept the law. They followed circumcision. They followed the dietary laws. They followed probably the Jewish calendar. They still went to the temple to pray. They didn't do this as a matter of their Val sayings but because this is who they were and where they were. And the Jerusalem church is very, very Jewish in everything. I've already mentioned that Antioch is a mix of Jews and Gentiles. In some cases this is the most difficult type of situation. But there you have certainly a church that starts with Jews and then begins to reach out to Gentiles. So you've got this group of two different kinds of people. And that's going to create tensions. When Paul opens up missions like in Galatia, I believe -- and I'm going to argue for this in Galatia, that the Galatian church may have started with a few Jews, but the Galatian church is overwhelmingly Gentile. It is in fact the first totally Gentile church. So they are not interested in things Jewish. And Paul doesn't really acquaint them with those things that have to do with keeping the law. Because they are not Jews. They have no interest in that. Within the Jerusalem church there was clearly a group that felt that it was important to keep the law as a matter of salvation. And this is a critical, critical point. That these are people like Paul, grew up probably like Pharisees. Maybe even went to school with Paul. And they were going around to places like Antioch and Galatia following behind Paul and Barnabas. And they were saying something like this: That Paul is a great preacher of the Gospel. He's a great student of the Scripture. In fact, he was No. 1 in the class. There's nobody who was smarter or a better interpreter of Scripture than Paul. But he didn't tell you the whole truth. He didn't tell you that it's not simply by grace through faith. That is important. And with Paul we confess that Jesus died and rose again. But Paul didn't tell you that you have to do something. That it's the Gospel plus something. You have to do some works of the law in order to show that you're a true Christian. And in fact, the way to become a Christian is to first become a Jew. And the means that is most excellent in becoming a Jew is to submit yourself to circumcision, to keep the dietary laws and to keep the calendar. So we're here to tell you what Paul just simply didn't tell you. That in order to be a Christian, you first must become a Jew by being circumcised and living like a Jew. Now, they went to Antioch when Peter was there with Barnabas. Paul was probably there, too. And they were such powerful presence and maybe they represented these terrorists that I called before, the Sacarii, the ones with the knives. But they were so afraid that as Peter and Barnabas and the Christians are in Antioch that they actually broke the church in two. Now here is the situation with Peter: Peter is very, very clear on the Gospel. And in fact, it became even more clear when after the first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas go to Jerusalem and lay before the apostles the Gospel they are preaching. Now, this is Galatians 2. This is a private meeting between Peter, James and John. This is James the brother of our Lord, the bishop of Jerusalem. Peter and John the son of Zebedee. And Paul and Barnabas. Two churches. Jerusalem and Antioch. Coming together and agreeing that Peter is to the Jews, Paul to the Gentiles. Peter is thrilled about this. He obviously had the vision. And went to Cornelius. So he understands that the Gospel is for the Gentiles. And so he goes to Antioch and he enters into this church of Jews and Gentiles. And he's loving being part of this group of both Jews and Gentiles. In fact, one of the things that he does for the first time in his life probably as a Jew is he begins to eat the foods of the Gentiles. Now, we don't want to make too much of it. But I think it is an important point that the Jewish dietary laws were very restrictive. So the Jewish diet was very bland. Gentiles had access to the greatest foods and they came from temples. They came from idol worship. Meat sacrifice to idols. It's like the difference between French cuisine and English cuisine. And Peter must have just had taste buds open up to him in Antioch that had never happened before. And he was loving it. But then these what we are going to see in Galatians are called men from James these very strict Jews who say you have to keep the law. And they come up to Antioch. And Peter is so afraid of them he withdrawals -- he not only withdraws from eating with Gentiles, he withdraws from receiving the Lord's Supper with them. And this is where the Antioch incident, it's in Galatians 2:11 to 14 where Paul just absolutely goes mad to Peter about the fact that he has broken and really betrayed the Gospel. Now, this same group goes to Galatia. And we're going to see that Paul has this extraordinary love affair with these Galatians. That he loves them to death. And they love him. It's an incredible relationship of pastor and people. And yet these Judaizers come into this Gentile community and actually causes them to wonder if Paul is telling them the truth of the Gospel. So that's why Paul writes his letter to the Galatians. He writes that letter to the Galatians to help them see what the truth of the Gospel is. And it has reached such an extraordinary extent that Paul feels it's necessary to have a public Council, not a private meeting, but a public meeting in Jerusalem. And so he and Barnabas go from Antioch to Jerusalem for what is what we call in Acts 15, the Apostolic Council.