Thoughts on Acts 15:29?

[BrokenWarrior]

Hey Brothers,

I'd like some thoughts on Acts 15:29

"29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well."

The couple problems I find with it is:

1>It seems to indicate that eating anything with blood in it is sinful which Scripture points out later,is not.

2>It seems to imply that one must keep these to be/stay saved. Which we all know is not so.

So how should we interpret this?

The only things I can think of is either:

A>It is merely saying that you'll be happier in your walk if you follow these guidelines.

Or

B>This seems to somehow pertain to Jews. Is this saying to try to live peacefully with the Jewish community by not difiling yourself (in their eyes) so you can live peaceably in their community?

I'm not sure,so any input would be welcomed.

God Bless!
-The Current Lowest Servant

 

[football5680]

1. No, it means you cannot drink blood or eat meat that is raw and bloody. You don't have too look any further than the same verse to see that it can't mean simply meat. If the apostles were forbidding meat in general they wouldn't have said meat offered to idols is forbidden. If meat in general is forbidden then it wouldn't really matter whether or not it was offered to an idol or not. The justification for this is found in Genesis 9:4 when God made a Covenant with Noah and the rest of humanity thereafter.

2. If you willfully reject the apostles who Jesus entrusted to spread his message and told us to obey, how can you call yourself a follower of Jesus? Everybody makes mistakes but willingly choosing to defy the apostles is a rejection of God.

 

[BrokenWarrior]

Nevermind,I reread it and am convinced they are just good guidelines for those turning to God. Just as it states.

I am not rejecting my Brothers my friend. But do not forget,they were charged to spread the Gospel. Not make new commandments.

I am a follower of Jesus because I Believe in Him,which is all you must do to be eternally saved.

I call them Brothers,because that's what they are.

God Bless!
-Your Brother In Christ

 

[Job8]

Hey Brothers,
I'd like some thoughts on Acts 15:29
"29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well."

There's really no problem with this whatsoever. The context makes it clear that these commandments are not for Christians to maintain their salvation, but rather for Gentile Christians to maintain fellowship with Hebrew Christians, and refuse to have fellowship with idolaters offering meats to idols. Fornication is clearly a work of the flesh, so that is not at issue.

The most important command here (relatively speaking) is to abstain from the consumption of blood (and strangulation would mean that the blood was still within the animal). This goes all the way back to the Noahic Covenant (Gen 9:3,4): Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. The life of a creature is in the blood (as is confirmed by medical science today), and the life of the creature was not to be consumed, only the flesh. God had also given the blood of animals a special significance in the Old Covenant. Therefore the Law forbad the consumption of blood, and this now carries over to the New Covenant.

The shed blood of animals represented the shed blood of the Lamb of God, therefore it was not to be used for profane purposes, nor consumed by human beings, since only the flesh of animals was provided for food. The Ark of the Covenant was sprinkled with the shed blood of animals to make it a Mercy Seat, because "without the shedding of blood there is no remission (of sins)". Similarly the Mercy Seat in Heaven (called the Throne of Grace) has been sprinkled with the shed blood of Christ. Therefore blood has a sacred connotation.

 

[GenemZ]

Hey Brothers,

I'd like some thoughts on Acts 15:29

"29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well."

The couple problems I find with it is:

1>It seems to indicate that eating anything with blood in it is sinful which Scripture points out later,is not.

2>It seems to imply that one must keep these to be/stay saved. Which we all know is not so.

So how should we interpret this?

The only things I can think of is either:

A>It is merely saying that you'll be happier in your walk if you follow these guidelines.

Or

B>This seems to somehow pertain to Jews. Is this saying to try to live peacefully with the Jewish community by not difiling yourself (in their eyes) so you can live peaceably in their community?

I'm not sure,so any input would be welcomed.

God Bless!
-The Current Lowest Servant

We first need the context of what was going on..


The church age was yet in its infancy when that decree was given by the Jerusalem Council. At that time many things were yet to be revealed and understood for the church age. It was pretty much a rushed decision because they still had no idea that both Jews and Gentiles are a new creation in Christ.

The Jerusalem Council who decreed that regulation for allowing Gentiles in were simply following the same, but slightly modified, format that had always been used for Gentiles wanting to follow the God of the Jews. Blood was always forbidden in kosher meats by Law. The other animals for food being forbidden were in association with the pagan cults that practiced great immorality. So, those two aspects were forbidden by the Jewish believers who still only knew the Jewish law. Many of the early Jewish believers treated salvation in Christ as just a modification of how Jews lived under Jewish Law.

Many of the Jewish believers in Jerusalem were later exposed as being apostate to Christianity as revealed in the writing of the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews was written to the Jerusalem church as a warning. As a warning before their upcoming judgment for their falling away from grace was to fall upon Jerusalem in 70AD.



.

 

[BrokenWarrior]

Thanks Job8,

That's kinda what I was getting at.

And thanks genez for your input.

God be with you all!
-Your Brother In Christ

 

[dragongunner]

1. No, it means you cannot drink blood or eat meat that is raw and bloody. You don't have too look any further than the same verse to see that it can't mean simply meat. If the apostles were forbidding meat in general they wouldn't have said meat offered to idols is forbidden. If meat in general is forbidden then it wouldn't really matter whether or not it was offered to an idol or not. The justification for this is found in Genesis 9:4 when God made a Covenant with Noah and the rest of humanity thereafter.

2. If you willfully reject the apostles who Jesus entrusted to spread his message and told us to obey, how can you call yourself a follower of Jesus? Everybody makes mistakes but willingly choosing to defy the apostles is a rejection of God.

How did you come to the logic that the OP was or is willfully rejecting the apostles? Oh catholic I see now…..the same Apostles who said to the early Gentile church not to eat meat sacrificed to idols also had a Apostle (Paul) later say that meat sacrificed to idols meant nothing…..So which apostles do you follow? The whole passage had to do with whether the gentiles should be circumcised or not and decided not, and so very few laws or guidelines were put in place for that early church. As church and believers mature things can change with the working of God, as shown by Paul in the scriptures. I would suggest you stick with the Catholic forums to debate your judgments on others.

 

[FanthatSpark]

family,

Brother BW, nice comment on colors and it brought a true mirth to this heart. The below link is a sermon on the verse you seek info on. First however, some background on the site. These guys are group of many that research extensively things like context, time line, original Logo's and other variables not mentioned . So, all knowledge is acquired by the many to be presented through the speaker for your reasoning not with people but God.

Be patient if you go, and give 100% of your attention to the sermon so you may pray on it for truth. I bet you will find edification of that verse if you come in a mind set to learn and how does it apply to you as you reason with God after one listens. in hopes this edifies . Scroll down to Acts 15 . ESV translation is used but not required to follow along. If the provided link does not work type it in your search engine and stop at .com. Go to media and click it. Look for "Witnesses" and click it. Scroll down to Acts 15 and push play .
http://www.cbcsavannah.com/#!witnesses/c1njg

 

[ron4shua]

I concur with Job8 , Acts 15 speaks with witness to & for it's self .
Hallelu-YAH .

 

[Xalith]

Moreover, the statement about Meats offered to Idols... some of the places that the Apostles went, were Gentile cities, and a lot of these sold meats in the marketplaces (especially in Multi-cultural Corinth). Some of these meats in the Marketplaces were meats that were either sacrificed before idols, or they were meant to be sacrificed before idols.

These meats were acceptable to eat for a Christian (as long as they were thoroughly cooked and not raw/bloody), but yet Paul later talks about "Stumblingblocks", and how a Christian should never do something that would make someone else in the faith "Stumble".

This would include eating such meats; some people who are just starting in the faith might be superstitious about eating such meats, and might be offended if you did. Therefore, if you eat such "bad" meat in front of them, they will be offended, and you would have presented a "Stumblingblock" before them, which the Bible tells you not to do.

Now, if you buy said meat, take it home, and eat it at home in private, then there was nothing wrong with this, as the idols are false gods, and God doesn't really care what anybody said over these meats, especially unbelievers. Just as long as you didn't drink any of the blood along with the meat, you were fine.

The whole point in the lesson is, "Don't do things that offend others just because you know it is OK." If you're presented with the choice of doing something offensive even though it is within the law, and avoiding offending people who think it is against the law (even if it isn't), you are to choose the latter whenever reasonably possible.

Don't unnecessarily offend people.

That's what the "Don't eat meat sacrificed unto idols" is teaching us, IMO.

EDIT: I think this lesson also ties in with why Jesus told his disciples to "shake the dust off their shoes" when their words were ignored and they were not received well. Jesus didn't say to ram the Gospel down their throats forcefully; that is obviously offensive. He wants us to present the Gospel lovingly, and if it is rejected, then we walk away and let the unbeliever do as he wills.

 

[BrokenWarrior]

Thank you all,

You really have helped. I have come to the same conclusion as all of you.

Xalith,that is a really nice way of summing it up with understandable words.

FanthatSpark,thanks for that link,I hope to read it in its entirety when I have the chance.

God be with you all!
-Your Brother In Christ