Martin Luther famously nailed his 95 Theses to the door of a church in Germany, thus lighting the flame of the Reformation, resulting in the split between the Catholic and Protestant churches. In the first century, the church was intended to be split. It was part of Jesus’ mission; to split the old covenant church between the faithful and the unfaithful Jews. He said as much Himself. He came to divide the Jews between the believers and the unbelievers, before AD 70 arrived. He then warned the faithful Jews to be out of old covenant Jerusalem, in order to avoid the destructive ending of that unfaithful church environment. There should be no faithful Jews in the land when Jesus returns. The Jewish church in Jerusalem was on the lookout.

But before the covenant transition was complete their arose an unwanted division in the church. It concerned the keeping of the law in the mean time. The law still had standing, especially for those still in old covenant Jerusalem. Martin Luther would have been a very bad candidate to send with Paul to the church in Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas didn’t post their grievances on the church door and wait to get arrested for it. It was the old covenant Jews doing most of the persecuting, not the new covenant Jews who were associated with James. But the faithful judaizers from the church in Jerusalem were not teaching God’s people properly so Paul, Barnabas and many others openly met with the church in Jerusalem. These shepherds, along with the multitude of people present, seemingly arrived at an openly aired agreement that actually unified the churches. They noted the one essential and then James advised on 4 more rules to live by, in order to be less offensive to the faithful Jews still living by law in Jerusalem.

Acts 15:1-5

YLT ¹ And certain having come down from Judea, were teaching the brethren—`If ye be not circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye are not able to be saved;’ <sup>2</sup> there having been, therefore, not a little dissension and disputation to Paul and Barnabas with them, they [the assembly] arranged for Paul and Barnabas, and certain others of them, to go up unto the apostles and elders to Jerusalem about this question, <sup>3</sup> they indeed, then, having been sent forward by the assembly, were passing through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the nations, and they were causing great joy to all the brethren. <sup>4</sup> And having come to Jerusalem, they were received by the assembly, and the apostles, and the elders, they declared also as many things as God did with them; <sup>5</sup> and there rose up certain of those of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying —`It behoveth to circumcise them, to command them also to keep the law of Moses.’ [notice the assembly is repeatedly put first in the body of decision makers. The assembly did not submit to the false teaching of Pharisees who had recently joined them.]

Sacrifices were ongoing in Jerusalem where the meat markets were kosher. Strangled animals weren’t sold in Jerusalem. The blood had to be drained before death because the animal soul was in the blood. The most offensive parts of old covenant types were to be avoided by the Gentiles in the church for the sake of church unity. At least until the Jewish law was all fulfilled and the old covenant ended.

Paul and Barnabas were not teaching circumcision to their Gentile converts and there was to be no concession on that one. Gentiles were not required to join the old covenant that was about to be fulfilled. They joined the new covenant that was about to be consummated. At the same time, the church in Jerusalem took circumcision for granted. These opposing views required a meeting of the minds. The Church shepherds met in order to settle the matter. A lot of scripture was quoted and explained in the process of the open air debate. Unity was achieved because everyone involved had the Holy Spirit, including the Pharisees who were causing the trouble. Typical holiness of the body was honored by all. The Holy Spirit caused agreement.

God wasn’t making a separate covenant body out of the Gentiles. That was the whole problem for the Jews. The Gentiles were being added to their new covenant body not their old covenant body. Gentiles were being added just as the Jews were being added, by way of the Holy Spirit. That is why circumcision was obviously not an essential. Gentiles came out of their false religions in the flesh straight into the new Jewish covenant. They did not have to pass through the old covenant first. You don’t have to be born into the one true religion to be born again into it. Jews and Gentiles were both being born again into the same body of Christ by way of the same Holy Spirit, therefore unity was to be expected, while holiness was protected.

The Jerusalem council actually visited and reasoned with James, rather then just calling his views ‘strawy’ from a distance, like Martin Luther did. James served alongside the church in old covenant Jerusalem. Martin Luther famously rejected James as a real straw-like dude due to his close affiliation with the old covenant law in Jerusalem. Jacob’s name has been changed to James to protect those who are guilty of Jewphobia. The name change disguises the Jewish covenant transition and makes the new covenant appear to be a replacement of the old covenant rather than a fulfillment of the old covenant. Jacob addressed the 12 tribes about to get their inheritance as a type of Jacob not a type of James. There is no typical old covenant James any more than there is a new covenant James. Everything in the new came out of the old.

Martin Luther should have recognized that the law still had standing in Jerusalem when Jacob wrote to the 12 tribes who were about to receive their new covenant inheritance. The death of the one who held the Jewish inheritance was the death of Jesus. Jesus only addressed the Jews. His brother in rebirth addressed the 12 tribes for Him. They were all about to receive the inheritance because He lives. The unbelievers received whet was due to them under law. You don’t collect the life insurance if you murder the insured one. He was put to death as the old covenant man who lost the inheritance. He gave up His old covenant will in the Garden of Gethsemane. His Father’s will became His new will. “Not My old covenant will but Your new covenant will be done”. Jesus willed His old covenant life to the new covenant Jews because of His Father. It became His new will and testament for His chosen people. Some people don’t want to see these church-planting-Jews as the permanent new covenant foundation. The Father’s will was done by His Son.

The temple complex is no longer standing in Jerusalem today. We can’t go to church in Jerusalem and have a reasonable debate with the born again Jews who were about to complete their old covenant in the Holy Spirit. We can hardly even have a debate in any church today. Tyranny is returning to the politically ruled churches. Another reformation isn’t essential but it sure would be nice. Tyranny is not nice.

Our modern church squabbles aren’t usually concerned with typical things like circumcision or food laws. Both Paul and Martin Luther were most concerned with the one essential, because both the first century Pharisees and the 16th century church were teaching more than one essential for salvation. James was more concerned with the old covenant types, just as Martin Luther suspected. The modern day so called ‘Jews’ actually teach another way to salvation, as do some believers. They are actually teaching a second resurrection back into the flesh and blood covenant. A future resurrection would actually be a 3rd flesh and blood bodily resurrection of the Jews. The Jews were in their second bodily reformation when Jesus arrived.

Unlike the first century generation of Jews, both the ‘Catholic’ church and the 16th century ‘Jews’ were in name only. They were using God’s name in vain to claim His people. Catholic means unified and Jew means Judaean from the tribe of Judah. The ‘catholic’ church was being ‘unified’ by way of tyranny rather than the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. And the true ‘Jews’ are all in the new covenant. There are no true old covenant people of God anymore. The one and only way to be God’s people is to have His Holy Spirit. Martin Luther’s goal was certainly not to unite the Jewish believers with the Gentile believers. Their were no old covenant Jews fulfilling their old covenant types in Luther’s day. Martin Luther’s concern was salvation through church tyranny.

The Holy Spirit was proof that God was accepting Gentiles into the heretofore Jewish only church, without getting circumcised. Gentiles did not join the old covenant church coming out of the law mode of Moses (Acts 15:9). Gentiles joined the new covenant only, not the old covenant. The faithful Jews were coming out of the old covenant into the new covenant. Gentiles came out of false religions into the new covenant, hence the Jews feared contamination. But there was no good reason to drink blood in front of a born again Jew or to eat unclean meat in his presence. If Jews were going to eat (have communion) with the Gentiles during their transition out of law, then the Gentiles should respect their most basic food and body laws.

Even with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, old Jewish customs remained entrenched in their consciousness. Not many meat markets in my world are selling kosher meat offered to the one true God or non-kosher meat offered to the many false religion gods. Hence, not many churches are teaching the Jerusalem Creed. We’ve come up with new creeds to unify the church over new contentious matters. Catfish dinners aren’t offending anybody still in the old covenant. There are no believers in the old covenant anymore. That could only happen during the transition of covenants. Creeds often offend the false religions but that is not the concern of the creeds. By necessity the unifying church creeds blatantly offend false religions. Whoredom with the false religions of our world is still a real thing. Judaizers of today usually represent one of the false religions being taught today, unless they are believers who have fallen into Judaizing under the influence. There is only one true religion. All the true old covenant Jews are now in their new covenant. Old covenant Jews became extinct in AD 70. All the born again Jews and their born again proselytes lived on never to die again. Being born again was and is the one essential to be part of the one body.

The Jews were to typically love the aliens among them without being corrupted by their gods. They were to rid the land of the wicked people and apply the law of the one true God to foreign visitors. The law of their land applied equally to the aliens among them. But now by way of the Holy Spirit, the 12 tribes in diaspora and the Gentiles they were among were both joining their new covenant without entering their typical land. Their covenant of types was becoming antitypical. How would their laws be applied to the Gentiles outside of their land of types? What would be required of the Gentiles coming into the heretofore Jewish only body? Should Gentiles be required to live like old covenant Jews still in the land?

Deuteronomy 12:30-31

KJV ³⁰ Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. ³¹ Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

The Four most obvious bodily offenses as seen in the first century Gentile religions were covered by James’ advice to the churches living outside Jerusalem, specifically to the Gentiles in those churches. Martin Luther would have been thrilled to live in the first century with the true Jews. He would have been taught the gospel accurately. The 16th century catholic so called ‘priests’ were not teaching the same gospel that the 1st century Jews had taught. They were making up new rules to be saved by. Their was only one gospel. The four rules from James were to protect the believing Jews in Jerusalem from unnecessary offenses. The Jews were given the one true religion. People from all the false religions of the world were joining them by way of the gospel as they consummated their beliefs into their new covenant. It’s no wonder the Jews were concerned with the purity of their church body. These believing Jews weren’t claiming any new beliefs. They were fulfilling their God-given beliefs in their Christ. So called modern ‘Jews’ have since claimed a multitude of new beliefs. Neither the 16th century ‘priests’ not the 16th century ‘Jews’ were proclaiming the good news. They were proclaiming themselves. Martin Luther was rightly offended by their made-up rules. Martin Luther was wrongly offended by James. James served the new covenant church in Jerusalem before their old covenant ended.

1. abstain from the pollutions of the idols – Meats offered to idols is pictured as communion with false gods.
2. and the whoredom – Whoredom with the false gods of the nations was and still is family disloyalty.
3. and the strangled thing – Strangled meat typically contained the animal’s soul.
4. and the blood – Animal blood was certainly not sold in the meat markets in Jerusalem.

What would the true church of today list as the most obvious offenses coming out of a world full of false religions? The true first century church came up with an agreement everyone could follow. James at the Jerusalem council advised the church body to stay clear of the most offensive practices of the Gentile nations. These four advisements actually curtailed the Judaizers too. The judaizers came out of Jerusalem to enforce their ‘essential’ list of rules onto the Gentile churches. The Pharisees were naming circumcision as one of the essentials for salvation. This was no small matter! Circumcision was the sign of their old covenant not the sign of their new covenant. We aren’t generally looking for typical signs of cleanliness anymore because the one true religion is no longer in the typical old covenant. These four rules from James were not essentials that were required to believe. They were advisements specifically directed toward the Gentiles so they would be less offensive to the faithful Jews on their way out of the types. These four rules also curtailed the Judaizers from teaching a longer list. These rules were unifying. The church did not split over them.

Rather than get circumcised to appease the Judaizers, the Gentile churches were advised to avoid their most outwardly apparent offenses. They were real offenses because some of God’s people were really in the old covenant. The only essential was still the Holy Spirit. Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem to discuss circumcision because the Judaizers from Jerusalem came into the church where Paul and Barnabas were teaching the Gentile converts. The believing Pharisees from the church in Jerusalem disagreed with Paul. Paul knew where they were coming from. He had been a Pharisee of Pharisees himself. He once believed what they still believed. Amazingly the churches came to an agreement, even with Pharisees present. Circumcision was not essential after all.

The believing Pharisees were wrong! Paul used to be wrong but Paul was now right. The Pharisees who were pushing for circumcision came from a church full of faithful Jews. Their church body was in Jerusalem where the law still had standing until AD 70. One of the laws of the land was that the laws applied equally to anybody in that land. The Pharisees came down from Jerusalem to teach the Gentile converts; Gentiles who had never been in the old covenant nor did they live in Jerusalem. Gentiles were coming out of the false religions of the world. They could learn a thing or two from the believing Jews, but audience relevance came into perspective. So named ‘Jews’ who get saved today are coming out of a false religion. Nobody is coming out of the old covenant of the one true religion. Nor did Paul preach to Gentiles as if they were becoming old covenant Jews. Gentiles were joining the body of the new covenant Jews. Hence the faithful first century Jews feared the contamination of their body by the Gentiles. The resurrection of the dead and dying old covenant body of Jews was into the never ending living body of the new covenant Jews. Nobody was being resurrected by the Holy Spirit into the old covenant.

Acts 15:7-12

YLT ⁷ and there having been much disputing, Peter having risen up said unto them, `Men, brethren, ye know that from former days, God among us did make choice, through my mouth, for the nations to hear the word of the good news, and to believe; ⁸ and the heart-knowing God did bare them testimony, having given to them the Holy Spirit, even as also to us, ⁹ and did put no difference also between us and them, by the faith [the one and only true belief as truly kept by the One and only True Jew] having purified their hearts; ¹⁰ now, therefore, why do ye tempt God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ¹¹ but, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we believe to be saved, even as also they.‘ ¹² And all the multitude [this was apparently a talkative town hall meeting] did keep silence, and were hearkening to Barnabas and Paul, declaring as many signs and wonders as God did among the nations through them;

These prohibitions as advised by James would differentiate converted Gentiles from pagan Gentiles, since these prohibited actions were all part of the Gentile worship of gods and goddesses. The Jerusalem creed was given to the people of God who were coming out of the false religions. Believing Jews were coming out of the one true old covenant religion. They had the right to advise the Gentiles how to act in their new covenant church. The Word of God was entrusted to them.

After Peter, Paul and Barnabas convinced the Jews that the born again Gentiles were already part of their body, James tells the Gentiles how to act, so as not to offend the Jews in their transition to their new covenant. These prohibitions would differentiate converted Gentiles from the highly offensive Gentiles in the flesh, since these actions were part of the Gentile worship of gods and goddesses. These rules would alleviate the minds of the faithful Judaizers who were rightly concerned with the purity of their church body. The old covenant was still in operation.

Acts 15:13-21

YLT ¹³ and after they are silent, James answered, saying, `Men, brethren, hearken to me; <sup>14</sup> Simeon did declare how at first God did look after to take out of the nations a people for His name, <sup>15</sup> and to this agree the words of the prophets, as it hath been written: <sup>16</sup> After these things I will turn back, and I will build again the tabernacle of David, that is fallen down, and its ruins I will build again, and will set it upright— <sup>17</sup> that the residue of men may seek after the Lord, and all the nations, upon whom My name hath been called, saith the Lord, who is doing all these things. <sup>18</sup> `Known from the ages to God are all His works; ¹⁹ wherefore I judge: not to trouble those who from the nations do turn back to God, [“back” is not in the text or the context. The Gentiles were turning to God not turning back to God.] ²⁰ but to write to them to abstain from the pollutions of the idols, and the whoredom, and the strangled thing; and the blood; ²¹ for Moses from former generations in every city hath those preaching him—in the synagogues every sabbath being read.’

Acts 15:19

LITV ¹⁹ For this reason I judge not to trouble those from the nations turning to God,

Peter famously displayed his Jewish fear of the contamination of his Jewish body by way of the sanctified Gentiles. He was told 3 times to bring the heretofore unclean animals into his body. Gentiles with the Holy Spirit are essentially as holy as a Jew with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10:9-15

LITV ⁹ And on the morrow, these passing along on the road, and drawing near to the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray about the sixth hour. ¹⁰ And he became hungry and wished to taste food . But as they were preparing, an ecstasy fell on him. ¹¹ And he saw the heaven being opened and a certain vessel like a great sheet coming down on him, being bound by four corners, and let down onto the earth; ¹² in which were all the four-footed animals of the earth, and the wild beasts, and the creeping things, and the birds of the heaven. ¹³ And a voice came to him, Rise up, Peter, slay and eat. ¹⁴ But Peter said, Not at all, Lord, because I never did eat anything common or unclean. ¹⁵ And again a voice came to him a second time, What things God made clean, you do not make common.

Acts 10:28

CLV ²⁸ Besides, he averred to them, “You are versed in the fact how illicit it is for a man [Andri is a male] who is a Jew to join or come to another tribe [another race, a foreigner], and God shows me not to say that any man [Anthropon is a man of humanity indicating a covenant man] is contaminating or unclean.”

The 12 tribes were not forbidden to intermarry between tribes unless the man died and left the woman to carry the tribal inheritance.

Hebrews 12:14-15

LITV ¹⁴ Eagerly pursue peace and holiness with all, without which no one will see the Lord, ¹⁵ watching diligently that not any lack from the grace of God, that “no root of bitterness growing up” may crowd “in on you “, and through this many be defiled; Deut. 29:18

Lack of grace and bitterness held a deeper concern for contaminating the body of Hebrews then did non kosher foods. This Hebrew shepherd wrote to the Hebrews about the fulfillment of their types, not the perpetuity or the restoration of their types. The typically holy Hebrews are no more. The Hebrew audience who received this text was experiencing the first century re-generation. These Hebrews were inwardly holy by way of the Holy Spirit. From Jesus’ old covenant baptism to the start of the Roman siege was 40 years. A complete 40-year re-generation of the Jewish body took place before the old unregenerate body of Jews was put to second death. Jesus reversed the curses for those who received the Holy Spirit rebirth. Second death and destruction came upon the unregenerate Jewish covenant.

John 3:1-3

LITV ¹ But there was a man from the Pharisees, Nicodemus his name, a ruler of the Jews. ² This one came to Jesus by night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know that You have come as a teacher from God. For no one is able to do these miracles which You do, except God be with Him. ³ Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, if one does not receive birth from above, he is not able to see the kingdom of God.