Why did Paul and Barnabas have to go to Jerusalem in Acts 15?
Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem because a dispute arose at Antioch: believing Jews insisted Gentiles had to be circumcised and keep the Mosaic Law to be saved. Paul and Barnabas strongly opposed this, but the question could not be settled locally, so they went to Jerusalem to have the apostles and elders decide.
Les explains that around 51 A.D., 23 years after Pentecost, believing Jews at Antioch were still telling Gentile believers, “except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension—an argument—and literally dug in, saying the Gentiles could not have circumcision and legalism put on them. Because they could not settle the question locally, they were told to come up to Jerusalem and deal with the leadership there: the twelve and the other elders of the believing element called the church at Jerusalem. The church at Antioch brought them on their way, and as they passed through Phenis and Samaria they declared the conversion of the Gentiles.
More Questions
Whom did Paul and Barnabas go to Jerusalem to deal with?
By 'the wheels up there,' Les means the Twelve apostles and the other elders of the congregation called the church at Jerusalem, and he says he is not saying it with malice.