Acts 15:26-30
Acts 15:26 (KJB)
Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Have hazarded - To deliver up or hand over
 
Further in the letter, the church had given a recommendation of Paul and Barnabas that they were true disciples of Christ, in that they were willing to die for Him as evidenced in the persecution they encountered, especially the stoning in Lystra. The word in Greek for “have hazarded” literally means to hand over or deliver up, and that is what Paul and Barnabas did by continuing the preaching of the Gospel in light of strong persecution. The KJV translators did a good job choosing the word “hazarded” because they placed their lives in a hazardous condition in preaching the Gospel to those who strongly oppose it and would even have killed them to stop it. There are many Christians who hazard their lives every day in different countries just to bring the Gospel of Christ to others.
 
Acts 15:27 (KJB)
We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
 
The two men who accompanied Paul and Barnabas will give personal confirmation to the things which were written in the letter. According to the law of Moses, two or three witnesses were required to bring an accusation against someone. Here two witnesses are being dispatched to give confirmation and approbation of the ministry of Paul and Barnabas. They would also confirm what the letter contained concerning the conclusion the church came to about one having to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses to be saved.
 
Acts 15:28 (KJB)
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
 
The Holy Spirit gave the words to James concerning the contents of the letter and he laid no other or greater burden on the church than what was the things of necessity. It is man that has added works to Christianity and has turned the Gospel of Grace into a complex religion. If Christians would only stick to what the Bible teaches and not feel the urge to add things or make it more difficult to understand, then Christianity would have a much bigger impact. Christianity is not a religion, it is salvation being applied to the Elect of God who go out and preach the Gospel so the other Elect becomes saved and we duplicate it until the last day when the last one is saved.
 
Acts 15:29 (KJB)
That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
 
The explanations of these are back in verse 20 and if they just follow these four simple guidelines, they will do well in their Christian walk. It will create the distance between true Christianity and the pagan religions which is abhorred by God. (Hab 2:19 KJV) Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it. Whenever a woe is pronounced, it is a synonym for judgment and that is why God does not want His children anywhere near false religion.
 
Acts 15:30 (KJB)
So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle:
 
The Jerusalem church had then dismissed the group and they went to Antioch. Once they had arrived, they had gathered the people together because no doubt, they were all waiting for the answer from Jerusalem. Then after they were all gathered, the letter was given to the leaders of the Antioch church.

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