Video Discussion Q+A

1) What were some of the Pharisaic Christians teaching the believers at Antioch? Why was this such a big issue?

They were teaching that the gentiles couldn’t be saved by God unless they were circumcised. They were adding to the Gospel where Jesus and the Apostles did not. Salvation is by God’s grace alone through faith alone (Eph 2:8-9), it isn’t of any kind of work, even circumcision.

2) What part of the Old Testament did James quote from? What was the main point from that passage?

Quoting from Amos 9, James reminds the new believers that there was a promise made 800 years ago that a remnant from mankind (not just the Jews), all the gentiles called by God’s name would come to the Lord. This would happen after the house of David would begin to be restored through the Son of David, the Lord Jesus.

3)  What were the 4 things James wrote for the gentiles to keep themselves from? Why?

The 4 things were staying away from things polluted by idols, sexual immorality, what’s been strangled, and from blood. One of these was sinful, the others would have been a difficult thing to live in peace with Jews by doing them. The goal was that the new Jew/Gentile church could live in a way that was at peace with each other and thoughtful of the backgrounds of this new family. This did not mean that they needed to do this to be saved. Instead, because they truly were saved, now being a part of God’s family means being willing to give up your freedoms in order to love the body.

4) How do the Gentile believers respond when they hear the letter from Jerusalem?

The Gentile believers at Antioch rejoiced when they heard this news. It was an easy thing to say we want to follow Jesus and not sin by sexual immorality. It was also an easy thing to lay aside their individual freedoms if it meant that it would cause some of their Jewish Christians to stumble.

5) What does this story have to teach us about Christ and about ourselves?

This story tells us that the Gospel saves us alone. There are no good works that we can do to earn salvation. It is only because of the perfect life and the sacrifice of Christ that we can receive forgiveness. It teaches us that it’s more important to think about the needs of others before our own. It teaches us that we can lay something aside because loving our brothers and sisters in the faith is far more important than our own freedoms, even Christian freedoms. Praise God that we are all equal before the cross and that Jesus is our model and example of humbly considering others before himself (Phil 2:1-11).