What issue was settled once and for all at the Jerusalem Council?
The Jerusalem Council settled the issue of whether Gentiles could be saved without keeping the Law and without practicing circumcision. Paul was summoned to Jerusalem so this matter would be decided once and for all, involving his preaching to Gentile churches in Antioch and other areas.
Les explains that Galatians 2 describes the Jerusalem Council at about 51 or 52 A.D. The Jewish people at Jerusalem—Peter, James, John, and the other members of the local Jewish congregation—had called Paul up to Jerusalem to settle the issue once and for all. The point at stake was Paul’s message to Gentiles in Antioch and other places where he had started churches: that they could be saved without keeping the Law, without practicing circumcision, and so forth. This backdrop also explains why Paul encouraged Gentile believers to bring their offerings.