NOTES for Act 15:1-35
What do we use as our guide when we consider what a person should or should not do for salvation, when we discuss questions of Church order, or when we ask such questions as: “How and what should one believe?” “Which decision will be pleasing to God?” “What does He expect from me personally?” We usually recall one passage or another from Scripture, the rules of the Church, or the experience of other people. At worst, we do whatever we please. But the Book of Acts presents us with an astonishing example of apostolic faith, when the Holy Spirit clearly enables the apostles to see whether Gentile believers need to be circumcised (for the apostle Peter the answer is simple: since the Spirit descended upon Cornelius, they are Christians in the full sense). That is why the council of the apostles uses such a candid and bold formula: “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us...” Only one question remains. If the apostles' experience differs greatly from ours, what does that give us—a reason for discouragement and despair, or a reason to plead for the Spirit?