What were the Jerusalem believers still not ready to accept about Gentile salvation in Acts 15?
The Jerusalem believers were still not ready to accept that Gentiles could be saved through Paul's gospel alone, without submitting to the law and circumcision. Even some twenty years after Pentecost, they struggled to comprehend God saving Gentiles apart from Jewish legal requirements.
Les explains that in Acts 15 Paul and Barnabas were called up to Jerusalem after their missionary endeavors throughout Asia Minor. When they were back at Antioch, Gentiles were coming into that congregation, and the news reached Jerusalem. Peter, James, and John and the rest of the Jerusalem people just could not comprehend that God was doing this with Gentiles. Les points out that the Jerusalem council was in A.D. 51, twenty-some years after Pentecost, and these Jewish people of Jerusalem were still not ready to accept Gentiles being saved by Paul's gospel, aside from keeping the law and circumcision. He notes he had already gone through this material several times and did not feel right repeating it, but he had to cover what had not been covered, beginning down to verse 13.