Beyond the decrees in Jerusalem

14-07-2025 - Posted by Geert-Jan
Originally posted on June 16, 2025 by Andre Piet

The apostolic council in Jerusalem, described in Acts 15, is a key moment in the book of Acts. It is the moment in which it is formally established that believers from the nations are not placed under the law of Moses. And that was a breakthrough, because some (especially from the Pharisees who had become believers) claimed that Gentiles had to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses (Acts 15:5). That proposal, however, was completely rejected. The outcome of the council was crystal clear: the nations are free.

no yoke upon the neck

The words of the apostle Peter during this council are unmistakable:

“Now, then, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” (Acts 15:10)

Peter explicitly refers to the law of Moses as a yoke—a heavy burden—that even the Jews themselves were unable to bear. It would therefore be inappropriate to place this yoke upon the believers from the nations. Instead, he emphasizes that Jews, just as the nations, are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus (15:11). Apart from observance of the law.

Paul and Barnabas confirm this with their report of how God was working among the nations — apart from the law (Acts 15:12).

the decision: four abstentions

Yet the decision of the council contains a remarkable addition:

“…that you (nations) abstain from what is polluted by idols, from fornication, from what is strangled, and from blood.” (Acts 15:20,29)

At first glance, this seems like a partial continuation of the law of Moses. It is even often interpreted as such, as if these four points were a concession to the Judaizers. But such an interpretation runs counter to the tone of the entire chapter and also to the ministry of Paul. Although in his letters Paul indeed speaks of abstaining from things sacrificed to idols (1 Cor. 8–10) and fornication (1 Thess. 4:3; 1 Cor. 6:18), he does not base these exhortations on the law of Moses, but on life in the Spirit and reverence for God as Creator.

back to Noah

The key to understanding the decrees from Jerusalem (Acts 16:4) does not lie in God’s covenant at Sinai, but in the much older covenant with Noah. This covenant was made after the flood, with all mankind, long before Abraham and the Sinai legislation, which applied only to Israel.

In Genesis 9, God speaks to Noah and his sons—the patriarchs of all humanity—and says:

“Every moving living thing will be food for you… Only flesh with its soul, that is, its blood, you shall not eat.” (Gen. 9:3-4)

Before the flood, humanity was vegetarian. In Genesis 1:29, God gave man only seed-bearing plants and fruit trees as food. Only after the flood was eating meat permitted—with one clear restriction: the blood belongs to God and was not to be eaten. It is this principle on which the decisions of the apostolic council are based. Abstaining from blood consumption is universal and timeless. Blood symbolizes the soul and is not considered food in Scripture (cf. Lev. 17:11). In standard slaughter practices, the rule of exsanguination -in other words, bleeding out– has applied for as long as anyone can remember (ex = out and sanguis = blood).

The other three abstentions also fit within this universal framework:

• Idol sacrifices: a direct rejection of pagan religious practices (cf. Gen. 35:2–4, where idols had to be removed).
• Fornication (Gr. porneia): refers to all sexual relations outside of marriage. Marriage dates from Adam (“a man shall … cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh”; Gen. 2:24), and belongs to the universal norms for mankind.
• What is strangled: animals that were not bled. In practice, this coincides with the abstention from blood.

no concession to Moses

Whoever believes that the apostle Paul, by passing on the decisions (Acts 16:4), was making concessions to the Judaizers, fails to recognize his sharp rejection of any attempt to place Gentile believers under the law. Paul’s commitment to the freedom of the nations allows no room for concessions (Gal. 2:5; 5:1–2).

The abstentions in Acts 15, therefore, are not derived from the Mosaic law, but from universal principles that go back to Noah and even to Adam—applicable to every human being in every culture.

from distinct calling to unity: Ephesians 2 and Colossians 2

Later, when Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus and Colossae from his imprisonment in Rome (Acts 28), he reflected on an earlier phase of his ministry. In that period—as visible in Acts 15 and 21—there was still a clear distinction between Israel and the nations, between circumcision and un-circumcision. The apostolic council in Jerusalem explicitly confirmed that the Gentile believers would not be placed under the law of Moses. The position of Jewish believers was not under discussion. The focus of the council was exclusive: Must Gentile believers be circumcised and keep the law? The answer: No.

But later, Paul revealed a deeper and more far-reaching insight. In Ephesians 2:14–15 he writes:

“For He is our peace, who makes both one and breaks down the middle wall of partition, abolishing in His flesh the enmity, the law of precepts in decrees…”

Here Paul goes beyond Acts 15. There, the distinction between Jew and nations was still functionally maintained: the nations were exempted from the law, but nothing was said about the Jews. We also see this when Paul later arrives in Jerusalem and James refers him to the earlier agreements (Acts 21:20–25). The decrees applied to the nations, not to the Jewish people. But in Ephesians 2 Paul proclaims that in Christ the dividing wall has been broken down and the law to which the decrees referred has been abolished—not only for the nations, but for both. Jew and Gentile now stand on equal ground, as one new man in Christ!

what are “the decrees”? — the meaning of the dogmata and the handwriting

In Colossians 2:14, Paul writes that God:

“…has blotted out the handwriting against us, consisting in decrees (dogmata). He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.”

The Greek word translated as handwriting is cheirographon, literally: something written by hand. In a legal sense, it referred to a confession of debt—a document proving one’s guilt. In this context, it refers to the law of Moses as a system of ordinances that placed people under guilt and condemnation (also 2 Cor. 3:7–9: the ministry of death and condemnation).

Paul says that this handwriting—which testified against us and threatened us—has been blotted out. It refers to the law of Moses, which spoke specifically to Israel, the people under the old covenant. Since the nations were not under this law, they were explicitly exempted from it in Acts 15. But for the Jews, this handwriting implicitly remained as an indictment—until the moment when Paul, from prison in Rome, fully proclaimed that the Jews, within the Body of Christ, hold no different position than the nations.

The Greek word dogmata, which in this context is connected to the handwriting, literally means: decrees or ordinances. The same word is used in Acts 16:4 for the decrees of the apostolic council. The dogmata in Colossians 2:14 (note the definite article: “the decrees”) refer—just as in Ephesians 2:15—to the decrees of Acts 15. Those decrees upheld the existing twofold division: the nations were exempted from the law, while for the Jews the handwriting implicitly remained in force. It is precisely this situation—in which one group is free and the other still bound—that Paul now declares outdated. The decrees in Acts 15 did not address the Jews, but merely affirmed the freedom of the nations.

The distinction between Jew and nations has been abolished. What in Acts 15 still applied only to the nations, now applies to all who are in Christ: both Jew and Gentile are free from the law.

one body, one calling

The decrees of Acts 15 were an important step in God’s dealings: a formal confirmation that the nations would not be placed under the law. But they were temporary guidelines within a situation where the division between Jew and nations was still acknowledged. In Christ, however, that dividing wall has been removed. The law—and thus also the distinct position of Israel—has been rendered inoperative at the cross. Paul was allowed to make this mystery known: that from two, one new man has been created, without distinction, as members of one body.

That also means there is no longer a double agenda. No dual calling, no double standard. Whoever is in Christ does not live under law, but under grace. In the ekklesia, the Body of Christ, there is “neither Jew nor Greek” (Col. 3:11).

Delen: