The Jerusalem Conference
The Jerusalem conference was primarily organized to resolve the disagreements that had arisen in the first church of Antioch. The main conflicting issue was circumcision which some of the Pharisees believed that it is only through it that the Gentiles would be saved. The reason is that circumcision was viewed as the sign of a lasting covenant given by God to Abraham. There are those who believed that the church must follow the traditions that were laid down by the Law of Moses and others believed that it was not necessary to observe the Torah for one to attain salvation (Hannah, 2001). At such a time as this where the teachers of the Law of Moses preached strict adherence, it would be hard for me to go against those traditions since it was the only existing scripture that existed. There was no Holy Spirit to teach the church.
Resolutions Made by the Judaisers
The resolutions that were made by the Judaisers would cause me to choose freedom from the Law because they put forth only four issues which Gentiles were supposed to observe which were not inclusive of the Mosaic Law. The act of leading people to salvation through coercion to observe the commandments did not amount to true obedience to God. The resolutions implied that we should overlook other commandments of God which is a false teaching because those who love God will obey His commands as they are and not to earn salvation. Therefore, the church has no freedom to select which commandments to obey but instead to love God wholeheartedly. In today's church, dressing code is one of the issues that cause a lot of debate. While the Bible teaches holy dressing that prevents lust, the traditions hold that it is foreign and ruining the culture.
References
Hannah, J. D. (2001). Charts of ancient and medieval church history. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
