Kenneth E. Lamb's Site! The Jews, the Greeks, and the Noahchide Laws

The Christian world was in crisis. It had been nearly 20 years since Jesus was crucified, and 10 since the first Gentile received the Holy Ghost at Caesara and was baptized in Jesus' Name. God was fulfilling his promise that Amos pronounced, and James repeated in Acts 15:16-17, "After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up; so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things."

While the Church rejoiced at another fulfilled prophecy, conflict raged between Christian Pharisees. Some thought baptized Gentiles left their Gentile identity buried beneath the water along with their sins; now full-fledged Jews, they must keep all 613 commandments (in Hebrew, mitzvahs) found in the first five books of the Bible known as the Torah. Other Pharisees, including the apostle Paul, said in effect, "No;" the 613 mitzvahs apply only to the Jews, a different set of mitzvahs apply to the Gentiles.

Authority to settle the dispute rested with apostles and elders in Jerusalem. Only God could give them the answer: "What is the Law for Gentile Believers?"

We know what the Holy Spirit told them. Speaking through James in Acts 15:19-20, "Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood."

Why did the Apostles and elders of the church immediately accept one set of laws for Jews, and another for Gentiles? Is there any other Scripture which proves they clearly meant to define each group differently? And if so, what are those laws and how do they affect us as Gentile Believers?

Since the beginning of time, Judaism has asserted it is a "universal " religion, that is, it's theological concepts of right and wrong are applicable to believers and non-believers alike. To cite every verse which explicitly says God will judge all humanity -- and not just those who make themselves acceptable to Him -- by the standards of His revealed Word would take nearly a complete reproduction of the Bible. But Judaism also asserts there is a difference between Gentile and Jew. Beyond their status as bondservants to the Lord, this difference is spelled out by the concept that Jews have 613 commandments to follow; the Gentiles have 7. These 7 are called "The Noahchide (no-ah-khide) Laws."

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