And certain men which came down from Judæa taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
1. When Paul and Barnabas had endured many combats against the professed enemies of the gospel, Luke doth now begin to declare that they were tried by domestic war; so that it was meet that their doctrine and ministry should be proved by all means, to the end it might the better appear that they were furnished by God, and armed against all the assaults of the world and Satan.
Even the most flourishing church cannot rest secure. These Judaizers came to Antioch, the stronghold of Gentile Christianity, and insinuated themselves as friends, only to demand that new converts become Jews before they could truly be Christians. It was leaven designed to spread poison through all the Gentile churches.
AI summary
Commenting on Acts 15:1-5
CHAPTER 15 Verse 1. And certain men. These were men undoubtedly who had been Jews, but who were now converted to Christianity. The fact that they were willing to refer the matter in dispute to the apostles and elders, , shows that they had professedly embraced the Christian religion. The account which follows is a record of the first internal dissension which occurred in the Christian church.