Why?

[visionary]

I have a question for all my Christian friends. In Acts 15 the non-Jewish Christians were instructed to keep FOUR peculiar laws. Do you keep any of them today? Do you know why it was required? Do you believe they are part of what is "Christian" commandments?

Why these four...and NOT the 10 commandments?
Acts 15
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
19 “It is my (James) judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to 1) abstain from food polluted by idols, 2) from sexual immorality, 3) from the meat of strangled animals and 4) from blood.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

I have a question for all my Christian friends. In Acts 15 the non-Jewish Christians were instructed to keep FOUR peculiar laws. Do you keep any of them today? Do you know why it was required? Do you believe they are part of what is "Christian" commandments?

Why these four...and NOT the 10 commandments?
Acts 15
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
19 “It is my (James) judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to 1) abstain from food polluted by idols, 2) from sexual immorality, 3) from the meat of strangled animals and 4) from blood.

IMHO:
Notice that it is James giving his "opinion "or" judgment" and not doctrine. I belive this is just a compromise. Though sexual immorality is a moral law and obviously kept by Christians, the rest are ceremonial laws which happen to be the least difficult to keep. Just an easy compromise for those who are influenced by Judaizers. Blessings.

 

[Minister Monardo]

I have a question for all my Christian friends. In Acts 15 the non-Jewish Christians were instructed to keep FOUR peculiar laws. Do you keep any of them today? Do you know why it was required? Do you believe they are part of what is "Christian" commandments?
Why these four...and NOT the 10 commandments?

This was an absolute necessity, because the church was
being established at the Lord's table, without partition.
1 Corinthians 10:21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord
and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s
table and of the table of demons.

The ten commandments remain foundational to remaining
in covenant with God. The four statutes of the Jerusalem
Council were addressing the fellowship of the saints.
While Acts 15 has always been at the center of discussion,
Acts 21 is where the intent is confirmed many years later.
20 And when they heard, they glorified the Lord.
And they said to him, You see, brother, how many myriads
of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all
zealous for the law;
21 but they have been informed about you that you teach
all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses,
saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor
to walk according to the customs....
23 Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who
have taken a vow.
24 Take them and be purified with them, and pay their
expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that
all may know that those things of which they were
informed concerning you are nothing, but that you
yourself also walk orderly and keep the law.
25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written,
deciding that they should observe no such thing,
except that they should keep themselves from things
offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from
sexual immorality.

 

[Jesus is YHWH]

No

Matthew 15
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

Matthew 22:34-40
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Colossians 2
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

 

[bling]

Paul does not repeat those commands to the gentiles.

 

[Minister Monardo]

25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written,
deciding that they should observe no such thing,
except that they should keep themselves from things
offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from
sexual immorality.

These four things are an immediate offense to Jewish
sensibilities.
1 Corinthians 10:
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,
do all to the glory of God.
32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks
or to the church of God,
33 just as I also please all in all, not seeking my own profit,
but of the many, that they may be saved.

 

[d taylor]

I have a question for all my Christian friends. In Acts 15 the non-Jewish Christians were instructed to keep FOUR peculiar laws. Do you keep any of them today? Do you know why it was required? Do you believe they are part of what is "Christian" commandments?

Why these four...and NOT the 10 commandments?
Acts 15
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
19 “It is my (James) judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to 1) abstain from food polluted by idols, 2) from sexual immorality, 3) from the meat of strangled animals and 4) from blood.

Because these Jewish leaders were trying to turn God's free gift of Eternal Life back into following The Mosaic Law and having gentiles be circumcised. Hint,hint all you repentance, baptism, obedience, confession add-ons to God's free gift of Eternal Life of faith in The Messiah.
And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

What Peter listed these gentile believers to do. Was connected to discipleship, in the life of a believer and has nothing to do with what a person. Had to do, in addition to trusting in The Messiah for God's free gift of Eternal Life.

 

[Minister Monardo]

Paul does not repeat those commands to the gentiles.

He most certainly addresses sexual immorality,
which of the four seems to be the most obvious.
He also engages in a detailed analysis of the
issue of things offered to idols, at the level
of the conscience.
Abstaining from blood was commanded since Noah.
The Lord's table, to include Jews and gentiles to
partake without offense, would require consideration
of the Jewish brethren.
How much of the Law of Moses addresses the holiness
of the land of covenant promise? What possible
application could they have to gentiles living
throughout the world? Did gentiles make pilgrimage
to Jerusalem three times a year, for example?
Certainly not applicable.
On the other hand, even a non-believing gentile would
not invite a Jewish friend to dinner and serve pork chops.

 

[Hawkins]

More likely, they are related to rites performed in other common religions among the gentiles back then. While they especially offend the Jews. Early churches are made of both gentiles and Jewish Christians. As a result, they are the rules set such that Jewish Christians can live well with the gentile believers in churches.

 

[Minister Monardo]

He also engages in a detailed analysis of the
issue of things offered to idols, at the level
of the conscience.

Eating Sacrifices Made Unto Idols: Jezebel's Deception

 

[bling]

He most certainly addresses sexual immorality,
which of the four seems to be the most obvious.
He also engages in a detailed analysis of the
issue of things offered to idols, at the level
of the conscience.
Abstaining from blood was commanded since Noah.
The Lord's table, to include Jews and gentiles to
partake without offense, would require consideration
of the Jewish brethren.
How much of the Law of Moses addresses the holiness
of the land of covenant promise? What possible
application could they have to gentiles living
throughout the world? Did gentiles make pilgrimage
to Jerusalem three times a year, for example?
Certainly not applicable.
On the other hand, even a non-believing gentile would
not invite a Jewish friend to dinner and serve pork chops.

Sexual immorality is definitely addressed, but what about food offered to idols.

 

[Minister Monardo]

what about food offered to idols.

I posted a thread on that awhile back. the link for it
is provided above in post#10

 

[Leaf473]

I have a question for all my Christian friends. In Acts 15 the non-Jewish Christians were instructed to keep FOUR peculiar laws. Do you keep any of them today? Do you know why it was required? Do you believe they are part of what is "Christian" commandments?

Why these four...and NOT the 10 commandments?
Acts 15
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
19 “It is my (James) judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to 1) abstain from food polluted by idols, 2) from sexual immorality, 3) from the meat of strangled animals and 4) from blood.

Here's how I see it:

The Old Testament laws ended. But those who had been earnestly seeking God through Judaism up to that time had deep-seated habits and associations.

Christianity brought a big wave of fresh gentiles into the church alongside those who had been practicing Judaism for years.

The four rules proposed by James were the baseline for how Jews and gentiles could get along. The Greek word translated "sexual immorality" could also mean "temple prostitution". If that's the case, then all four rules have to do with common pagan practices that were extremely offensive to Jews.

Do I keep them today? Not intentionally. But they do mostly overlap with a Christian life in our time.

 

[ViaCrucis]

I have a question for all my Christian friends. In Acts 15 the non-Jewish Christians were instructed to keep FOUR peculiar laws. Do you keep any of them today? Do you know why it was required? Do you believe they are part of what is "Christian" commandments?

Why these four...and NOT the 10 commandments?
Acts 15
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
19 “It is my (James) judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to 1) abstain from food polluted by idols, 2) from sexual immorality, 3) from the meat of strangled animals and 4) from blood.

They were specifically addressing pagan practice. St. Paul clearly says that, for example, eating food sacrificed to idols doesn't actually matter (unless it violates conscience). So these are not, strictly speaking, universal commandments, as though something like black pudding/blood sausage is sinful to eat; rather the point was that the Greek converts to Christianity were to not return to their former pagan practices. Sexual immorality, here, more precisely speaking to temple prostitution, which is consistently condemned for obvious reasons throughout the New Testament.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[fhansen]

I have a question for all my Christian friends. In Acts 15 the non-Jewish Christians were instructed to keep FOUR peculiar laws. Do you keep any of them today? Do you know why it was required? Do you believe they are part of what is "Christian" commandments?

Why these four...and NOT the 10 commandments?
Acts 15
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
19 “It is my (James) judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to 1) abstain from food polluted by idols, 2) from sexual immorality, 3) from the meat of strangled animals and 4) from blood.

James et al were addressing certain specific struggles and challenges that the gentiles faced at the time. He wasn't being exhaustive with those instructions but rather was feeding them milk as the infants they were, keeping their burden light so as not to place any more challenge on them than they could handle as babes in Christ with very different backgrounds than the Jews to begin with.

 

[Jonaitis]

I have a question for all my Christian friends. In Acts 15 the non-Jewish Christians were instructed to keep FOUR peculiar laws. Do you keep any of them today? Do you know why it was required? Do you believe they are part of what is "Christian" commandments?

Why these four...and NOT the 10 commandments?
Acts 15
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
19 “It is my (James) judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to 1) abstain from food polluted by idols, 2) from sexual immorality, 3) from the meat of strangled animals and 4) from blood.

They call these the Noahide Laws, Jewish legend states that Noah handed down these principles for all nations to obey, constituting this as the "Gentile Torah." A gentile convert to Judaism today, as was in Acts, would not be required to obey the whole Law of Moses, but only these basic commandments.

If you read the context of that passage, some of the Jewish brothers were uneasy about Paul's relaxation on torah-keeping and thinking that he was teaching non-Jewish converts they can discard it entirely, and James the Just comes to settle the matter with a well-known set of imperative that would keep the peace, that is, the tradition of the Noahide Laws.

 

[Paidiske]

I have a question for all my Christian friends. In Acts 15 the non-Jewish Christians were instructed to keep FOUR peculiar laws. Do you keep any of them today? Do you know why it was required? Do you believe they are part of what is "Christian" commandments?

Why these four...and NOT the 10 commandments?
Acts 15
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
19 “It is my (James) judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to 1) abstain from food polluted by idols, 2) from sexual immorality, 3) from the meat of strangled animals and 4) from blood.

I do not engage in idolatry or sexual immorality. I understand those to be an ongoing standard for Christians. As far as food goes, Christians have generally understood that Christ declared all foods to be clean (Mark 7:19) and while I don't go out of my way to eat blood products, I also don't scruple over the method of butchery of the meat I eat.

Why not the 10 commandments? The 10 commandments were for the Jews, and are part of their covenant with God, not binding on everyone else (although of course things like honouring parents are good to do anyway).

The focus for Christians is not on a legal framework, but on loving God and neighbour and participating in the mission of God.

 

[ViaCrucis]

James et al were addressing certain specific struggles and challenges that the gentiles faced at the time. He wasn't being exhaustive with those instructions but rather was feeding them milk as the infants they were, keeping their burden light so as not to place any more challenge on them than they could handle as babes in Christ with very different backgrounds than the Jews to begin with.

Bingo. The stipulations of the Jerusalem Council amounted to baby steps for ex-Pagans learning how to be Christians. Learning that food sacrificed to idols "is nothing" is part of maturity in the faith, because having come to accept that idols are meaningless because there is only one God and only one Lord we can recognize that food sacrificed to idols is just food. It doesn't matter whether it's meat that was made by a Jewish person, food prepared by a Pagan, or food prepared by a fellow believer: it's still just food, it's just something you eat to keep you alive.

But, for the sake of the weak of conscience, those of stronger conscience are called to compassion and not injuring the conscience of the weak. So, for example, if a brother or sister was convinced in their conscience that the consumption of any meat or animal products are wrong, it would be wrong of me to intentionally hurt their conscience and feelings by eating such things in their presence. I can, for their sake, eat like they do. And at the same time, they cannot try and condemn me because I, in the freedom of my conscience, eat meat and animal products. The chief operating principle, as always, is LOVE.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Strong in Him]

I have a question for all my Christian friends. In Acts 15 the non-Jewish Christians were instructed to keep FOUR peculiar laws. Do you keep any of them today? Do you know why it was required? Do you believe they are part of what is "Christian" commandments?

Why these four...and NOT the 10 commandments?
Acts 15
5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”
19 “It is my (James) judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to 1) abstain from food polluted by idols, 2) from sexual immorality, 3) from the meat of strangled animals and 4) from blood.

Times, and beliefs, change.
Only a few years later Paul, who was present at the Council and was one of those who delivered the letter, told people that idols meant nothing and that they could eat meat offered to idols as long as it did not offend another believer.

The early church still had to work out how to apply their beliefs against lifelong instruction in Judaism.
For example, when they were choosing Matthias, before Pentecost, they cast lots, Acts of the Apostles 1:26, which was an OT practice. But there is no record of this having been done again. It's not surprising that there were people who believed, and taught - "ok, you believe in Jesus, now be circumcised so that you are one of God's people." Not realising that nothing can add to the finished work of Jesus.

 

[ralliann]

They call these the Noahide Laws, Jewish legend states that Noah handed down these principles for all nations to obey, constituting this as the "Gentile Torah." A gentile convert to Judaism today, as was in Acts, would not be required to obey the whole Law of Moses, but only these basic commandments.

It is pretty obvious they were to keep what was taught from the synagogue. The synagogues still teach law for righteous Gentiles. Also Judaism had an exemption by Rome from Idols. I would assume "Noachides" were included as a level of religious proselyte.