The apostles and elders met to consider this
question. After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them:
"Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among
you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the
gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he
accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to
us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified
their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by
putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our
fathers have been able to bear?
No! We believe it is through the grace of our
Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.
Verse 12
The whole assembly became
silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the
miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through
them.
Verses 13-21
When they finished, James spoke up: "Brothers, listen to
me. Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by
taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the
prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
'After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen
tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the
remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my
name, says the Lord, who does these things that have been known for
ages.'
It is my judgment, therefore, that we
should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to
God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from
food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of
strangled animals and from blood. For Moses has been preached in
every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on
every Sabbath.
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