What was the makeup of the church at Antioch and what did Paul and Barnabas do from there?
The church at Antioch in Syria had become predominantly Gentile. Paul and Barnabas labored there and moved out from Antioch into the Gentile world of Asia Minor and Greece. Eventually, by the Lord’s direction, they were sent up to Jerusalem to confront Peter and the Jerusalem hierarchy.
Les explains that the church up in Antioch, which is in Syria, had become predominantly Gentile. Paul and Barnabas had been laboring there, and they also moved out from Antioch into the Gentile world of Asia Minor and Greece. As they went, their congregations were constantly subjected to Judaizers who claimed Paul’s converts could not be saved unless they kept the Law of Moses, practiced circumcision, and so forth. After many years, the issue came to a head, and Paul and Barnabas, by the Lord’s direction, were sent up to Jerusalem to confront Peter and the hierarchy there. Paul rehearses this in Galatians chapter 2, and Luke’s account of the same meeting is found in Acts chapter 15.