Comments on Acts 11 v1-18 When word gets back to Jerusalem that the word of God was being preached to the Gentiles, the Jews are agitated. When Peter shows up they argue with him over it. To them Peter recounts all of the events that have transpired which resulted in the Gentiles receiving the Gospel. When they hear what has happened they accept it and glorify God in that repentance and eternal life is granted to the Gentiles. v19-30 Independent of this expansion of the ministry to the Gentiles which Peter oversaw, a number of Gentiles get involved in the ministry at the same time. As a number of the Jewish believers were scattered because of the persecution at the same time Stephen was killed (cf. 8:1), they continued proselyting where they were, but only to Jews. However, they came into contact with Gentiles who were believers and also powerful proselytes (v. 19-21). The church at Jerusalem hears about this, so they send off Barnabas (cp. 4:36-37), a faithful and trustworthy disciple to check up on things. What he sees pleases him and he encourages them to continue. He then goes and finds Paul, and brings him there as well. They both stay there for a year and see considerable success there. Also, the appellation "Christian" is first adopted there (v. 22-26). v20 "spake unto the Grecians", some manuscripts read "Greek- speaking Jews", or Hellenists. Whether these Gentile proselytes were proselyting Greeks or Hellenistic Jews does not really matter. The point is some Gentiles had become active and powerful in the ministry and "the hand of the Lord was with them" (v. 21). v26 "disciples were called Christians", this title "Christian" is equated with being a "disciple". It is a common practice among some denominations to create doctrinally-based definitions of who is and who is not a "Christian" in an attempt to justify attacking persons of other denominations or publicly maligning the other denominations. We as members of the LDS Church are not considered "Christian" by some because our views of Jesus are not in synch with theirs (e.g., Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers, Grace is not sufficient to "save" a person, there was no need to restore the Church, there are no more prophets, etc.). And the same type of approach is commonly applied to Jehovah's Witnesses, Roman Catholics, and others as well. However, here we have a Biblical definition of what a "Christian" is, namely a disciple. And a disciple is defined by Jesus when he says "ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (cf. John 13:35) and: I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.... If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. (John 15:5-8) So, according to Jesus a disciple, or a Christian, is one who does the will of Jesus and who loves others. Jesus' definition is behavior-based and not doctrine-based. v27-30 During the year that Barnabas and Paul spent at Antioch, some prophets came up from Jerusalem to them and warned of an impending famine in the land, which famine ultimately occurred during the reign of Claudius Caesar. The disciples at Antioch all determine to send relief to the Church in Jerusalem according to what they can afford, and they do so by the hands of Barnabas and Paul. Apparently, Barnabas and Paul took the offerings upon returning to Jerusalem at the end of the year they had spent at Antioch. The main point here is to indicate the Church in Antioch, composed mainly of Gentiles, was observing the Law of Consecration the same as was the Church at Jerusalem, which was composed of mainly Jews, cp. 4:32-37. Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.