What was Paul teaching Gentiles about salvation and the Law before the Jerusalem Council?
Paul taught Gentiles that salvation did not require keeping the Law or practicing circumcision. In Antioch and other areas where he started churches, he told them they could be saved apart from Law-keeping, which prompted the Jerusalem Council around A.D. 51–52 to settle the issue.
Les explains that Galatians 2 describes the Jerusalem Council at about A.D. 51 or 52. The Jewish people at Jerusalem—Peter, James, John, and other members of the local Jewish congregation—called Paul up to Jerusalem to settle the issue once and for all. Before that council, Paul had been telling Gentiles in Antioch and in other areas where he started churches that they could be saved without keeping the Law, without practicing circumcision, and so forth. The council was meant to settle whether he could continue teaching that.
In Galatians 2, what did Peter and the eleven agree with Paul about the Jews and the Gentiles?
In Galatians 2, Peter and the eleven agreed with Paul that their ministries would be divided: Peter and the eleven would go to the Jews, and Paul would go to the Gentiles. They shook hands on this agreement, confirming Israel's apostles would minister to Israel while Paul ministered to the Gentiles.
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.