A Succinct Summary of Acts 15

If you want to get in depth with Acts 15, engaging in textual criticism (i.e. assessing textual variants), exploring the historical context (which is extremely helpful for unpacking the Fourfold Decree), then you really should make the sacrifice of spending $9.99 for the instant download of McKee's "Acts 15 for the Practical Messianic".

If you just don't have time or haven't had your coffee yet, here is the briefest possible summary of Acts 15 from the One-Law perspective:

The issue before the Jerusalem Council was: from whence does covenantal salvation come? Some Pharisees said from circumcision (15:1), Peter said from grace and faith (15:9,11).  Peter also posited that Gentiles had joined Israel, becoming “a People for His Name”(15:14, Note:  only Israel is called by His name, Deut. 14:2; Isaiah 63:19). The council concluded that Peter’s argument was correct (15:14) because it agreed with the Prophets (Amos 9:11-12 (LXX); Zechariah 2:11; Isaiah 2:2-3; Isaiah 45; Isaiah 56:3; Isaiah 45:21-22 (LXX), Isaiah 56:6-7 (MT); Micah 4:1-2; Jeremiah 31:31-33 (LXX); Ezekiel 36:25-27) . Given that Peter, the Prophets, and the Council deemed Messianic Gentiles to be saved by grace (contra the Pharisees of 15:1) and "turned" from paganism to join the G-d and People of Israel, James used this newly-established jurisdictional authority over the Messianic Gentiles to order them to desist from contextually-linked, pagan practices (i.e. the Fourfold Decree) that they might now cling to a Judaic sphere of influence (15:21, “law of Moses”).