Acts 15:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

How much power these words contain! He says the same thing that Paul stated more fully in the Epistle to the Romans: If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God (Rom. 4:2).

Do you see that this serves more for the instruction of the Jews than for the justification of the Gentiles?

If he had spoken of this without a special occasion, perhaps he would not have expressed such an observation. But once he had received the occasion, he spoke without fear.

And see how everywhere the actions of enemies turn to the benefit of the apostles. If they had not given the occasion, neither this nor what follows would have been spoken.

From this they learn that even if the Gentiles had not wished to convert, they still should not be despised.

There is another passage similar to this: “By grace you have been saved.” Thus formerly the law saved those who observed everything written in the law. But now the grace of the Lord saves through faith, even without the observance of the law.

You, enemies of this grace, do not want it to be thought that the ancient men were healed by this same grace of Jesus Christ. You have divided the times according to Pelagius, in whose books one may read about this. You say that before the law men were saved by nature, then by the law, and then by Christ. It is as though the blood of Christ were not necessary for men of the two former times, before the law and after the law. Thus you destroy what was said: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5).

“Therefore, if even they, that is, the fathers, being unable to bear the burden of the ancient law, considered themselves saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus, it is evident that this grace gives life even to the ancient righteous. For the righteous man lives by faith.” Therefore different mysteries could exist at different times, while returning in harmony to the unity of the same faith. Augustine of Hippo, Epistulae 190.2.6; cf. Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11.

Finally, the Apostle Peter came forward with his proposal, which he based on his own experience. You know, he said to those assembled, that long before this God Himself chose me to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles for the first time. And when God, Who looks upon the heart, gave them His Holy Spirit just as He gave Him to believers from the Jews, He thereby bore witness that the Gentiles no longer had any impurity in His sight. Having purified their hearts by faith in the Redeemer, they became as pure as the believing Jews. How, then, can one be so bold as to doubt the almighty power and goodness of God? How can one maintain that God cannot admit the Gentiles to a share in the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven without the law?

At the general Church assembly that then opened, agreement was not reached for a long time. Unreasonable zealots of the law of Moses disputed much with the defenders of Christian freedom from the legal yoke.

At last the chief Apostle Peter rose and offered his judgment on the matter. First he reminded those assembled of the event known to them all: the conversion of the Gentiles to Christ in Caesarea, in the house of Cornelius.

At the same time, he disclosed to them the inward meaning of this event. He showed that in this whole event, which began the conversion of the Gentiles, it was not he, Peter, who acted, but God Himself.

God Himself chose him, Peter, from among the other apostles, so that he would be the first to bring the word of the Gospel to the Gentiles.

This argument was too strong, and it came from a person of too great authority for anyone to resist it. The whole assembly fell silent and “listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.”

No, the apostle concludes his speech, salvation in the Kingdom of Christ is not attained by the law or by the works of the law of Moses. We believe that we shall be saved only through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

A man's salvation does not depend on man, nor on his works according to the law of Moses. It depends solely on the grace of the Lord, active in the law of Christ, the law of faith.

The same holy Apostle Paul explains this in detail, especially in Rom. 5:15; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 13:13; Eph. 1:2, and many other places.

Even as they are means Christians from the Gentiles. Not only they, who do not know the law of Moses, but even we, who know it, are saved not by it and not by its works.

Salvation is prepared and accomplished by the grace of Jesus Christ, that is, by the gifts of the Spirit of God. He is given to believers not according to their merits, but according to the mercy of God.

For receiving this mercy, faith joined with hope is needed. For its strengthening and perfection, love for Christ is needed, such as the apostles had, and all who, like them, were graced and saved.

How much power these words contain! He says the same thing that Paul stated more fully in the Epistle to the Romans: If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God (Rom. 4:2).