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Acts 15 General Notes
Structure and formatting
Some translations set each line of poetry farther to the right than the rest of the text to make it easier to read. The ULB does this with the poetry that is quoted from the Old Testament in 15:16-17.
The events of this chapter are commonly called the "Jerusalem Council." This was a time when many church leaders got together to discuss the relationship between the Gentiles and the law of Moses. The council affirmed that Gentiles did not need to follow the law. In fact, no one within the church should follow this law. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/lawofmoses)
Special concepts in this chapter
Brothers
Brothers is now being used to reference fellow Christians instead of fellow Jews.
"You cannot be saved"
This is obviously a false idea. Even during the Old Testament times, a person was saved by their faith and not by their obedience to the law of Moses. Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem to discuss this issue so that the church could have unity. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/save and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/faith)
"Turn away from things sacrificed to idols, blood, things strangled, and from sexual immorality"
It is possible that these actions were necessary for harmony between the Jews and Gentiles.