Act 15:20 | KingComments | STEP | Because God wants to make a great people from among the Gentiles to be His people without having to become a Jew, James judges that the Gentiles should not be brought into trouble. The difficulties consist of imposing the yoke of the law. The nations have their own place in the ways of God. The fact that the law should not be imposed on them does not mean that they have nothing to do with general statutes of the Lord. James mentions four things to which the nations must adhere. The things he mentions are not imposed by him as the four commandments of the law in order to impose commandments on the Gentiles by means of a detour. These things are not Jewish in themselves, but have to do with the rights of God as Creator. The first, the idols, attacks the true authority of God. “Things contaminated by idols” is everything connected with idolatry. That they had to keep far away from idolatry did not have to be emphasized again. They had just converted from idolatry as such. The danger, however, is in its contamination. Eating meat in an idolatry temple is such contamination ( ), for it could give others the impression that whoever does so is still an idolater. What applies to the idols also applies to the second, “fornication”. Everyone who is converted knows that fornication is sin. Fornication goes against the will of God with respect to marriage, where the woman is only bound to the man in the sacred bond of marriage. Therefore, what is meant by abstinence from fornication is mainly meant for forms of fornication that are condoned. These are all kinds of associations that God calls fornication, while in society they are generally accepted and equated with marriage. We can think of marrying someone who is divorced ( ; ; ), premarital sexual intercourse ( ) or homosexual intercourse ( ). They are all violations of the only marriage bond God has established. The third and fourth, to abstain “from what is strangled and from blood”, has to do with the fact that the blood, the life, belongs to God. He is the only One entitled to life. After the deluge, man was given the flesh for food ( ), but man must always remember that the blood was not given to him as food. The blood is the life that belongs to the Creator. Therefore, the blood of an animal that serves as food must run away into the earth, as it were, to give it back to God. James does not hold up a new law to his audience. Nor does he meet the prejudices of the Jews, as if he treats the Gentiles on the level of the Jews after all. Nevertheless, the things he mentions are not foreign to Judaism. According to their character they may not be Jewish, but they are in accordance with the law. The Jews, too, must at least abide by these things. They can all know about this, because every Sabbath in the synagogues is read from the law. In reading the law, everyone present in the synagogue listens to the preaching of Moses.

‏ Acts 15:20

The Judgment of James

Because God wants to make a great people from among the Gentiles to be His people without having to become a Jew, James judges that the Gentiles should not be brought into trouble. The difficulties consist of imposing the yoke of the law. The nations have their own place in the ways of God.

The fact that the law should not be imposed on them does not mean that they have nothing to do with general statutes of the Lord. James mentions four things to which the nations must adhere. The things he mentions are not imposed by him as the four commandments of the law in order to impose commandments on the Gentiles by means of a detour. These things are not Jewish in themselves, but have to do with the rights of God as Creator.

The first, the idols, attacks the true authority of God. “Things contaminated by idols” is everything connected with idolatry. That they had to keep far away from idolatry did not have to be emphasized again. They had just converted from idolatry as such. The danger, however, is in its contamination. Eating meat in an idolatry temple is such contamination (1Cor 8:10), for it could give others the impression that whoever does so is still an idolater.

What applies to the idols also applies to the second, “fornication”. Everyone who is converted knows that fornication is sin. Fornication goes against the will of God with respect to marriage, where the woman is only bound to the man in the sacred bond of marriage. Therefore, what is meant by abstinence from fornication is mainly meant for forms of fornication that are condoned.

These are all kinds of associations that God calls fornication, while in society they are generally accepted and equated with marriage. We can think of marrying someone who is divorced (Mt 5:31-32 ; Mt 19:9; Mk 10:11-12; Lk 16:18), premarital sexual intercourse (Mt 19:5) or homosexual intercourse (Rom 1:24-27). They are all violations of the only marriage bond God has established.

The third and fourth, to abstain “from what is strangled and from blood”, has to do with the fact that the blood, the life, belongs to God. He is the only One entitled to life. After the deluge, man was given the flesh for food (Gen 9:3-4), but man must always remember that the blood was not given to him as food. The blood is the life that belongs to the Creator. Therefore, the blood of an animal that serves as food must run away into the earth, as it were, to give it back to God.

James does not hold up a new law to his audience. Nor does he meet the prejudices of the Jews, as if he treats the Gentiles on the level of the Jews after all. Nevertheless, the things he mentions are not foreign to Judaism. According to their character they may not be Jewish, but they are in accordance with the law. The Jews, too, must at least abide by these things. They can all know about this, because every Sabbath in the synagogues is read from the law. In reading the law, everyone present in the synagogue listens to the preaching of Moses.