Acts 15:28

The Holy Spirit and also we decided that you should not be required {that we should not require you} to obey a lot of burdensome Jewish laws. Instead, we only require you to obey the following instructions,

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

In Context

27We (exc) have also chosen Judas and Silas to go to you. They will tell you the same things that we are writing.

29You should not eat food that people have sacrificed to idols. You should not eat blood from animals, and you should not eat meat from animals that people have killed by strangling them. Also, you should not have sex with someone to whom you are not married. Those things especially offend Jewish believers. So if you avoid doing them, you will be doing what is right. That is all.”

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Cross References

Matthew 23:4They require you to obey many rules that are difficult to obey. But they themselves do not help anyone obey those rules. It is as if they are tying up loads that are hard to carry and putting them on your shoulders [MET] for you to carry. But they themselves do not desire to help anyone obey those laws. They are like people who do not want to lift even the slightest load that they could lift [MET]

Acts 5:32We (exc) tell people about these things that we know happened to Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, whom God has sent to us who obey him, is also confirming that these things are true.”

Acts 15:19James continued by saying, “Therefore I have decided that we(inc) should stop bothering the non-Jewish people who are turning away from their sins and turning to God. That is, we should stop demanding that they obey all our laws and rituals.

1 Corinthians 7:25Now I will answer your question about women who have never married. There is nothing that the Lord has commanded me to write about them, but I am writing this to tell you what I think is best, because the Lord Jesus has mercifully enabled me to say what is reliable.

1 Corinthians 14:37Those of you who think that you have the ability to speak messages that come directly from God, or think that you have some other ability that God’s Spirit gives, should realize that the things that I have written about in this letter are things that the Lord has commanded.

1 Peter 1:12It was revealed to { God told} them that it was not for their own sake that he was revealing these things to them, but that it was for your sake. It was these things that were proclaimed to you by those who told you the message about Christ {that those who told you the message about Christ proclaimed to you}. They proclaimed these things to you because the Holy Spirit whom God sent from heaven enabled them to do that. And even angels would like to know more about these truths about how God saves us.

Matthew Henry on Acts 15:23-36

Decision of the Council at Jerusalem; The Publication of the Decree. 22 Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: 23 And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: 24 Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which… Read the whole commentary →

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