Acts 15:1-2
What is written? (ESV)
But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.
What does it say?
Some men from Judea taught that salvation required circumcision according to Moses' custom. Paul and Barnabas strongly disputed this, and they and others were appointed to consult the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about the question.
What is its immediate context?
Following Paul’s first missionary journey where he established churches throughout Galatia, a controversy arises within the church, particularly among Jewish Christians concentrated in Jerusalem. The issue is whether or not these Gentiles being converted by Paul need to first become Jewish by being circumcised. Here, Peter is giving his testimony before the apostles and elders in Jerusalem (vs 6) and recalling the events surrounding the conversion of Cornelius (Acts 10) and the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2).
