What was the makeup of the church at Antioch where Paul and Barnabas ministered?
The church at Antioch in Syria had become predominantly Gentile. Paul and Barnabas labored there and from Antioch moved out into the Gentile world of Asia Minor and Greece. Their congregations were constantly troubled by Judaizers insisting converts keep the Law of Moses and practice circumcision.
Les explains that the setting is Antioch in Syria, where the church had become predominantly Gentile. Paul and Barnabas labored there and also moved out from Antioch into the Gentile world of Asia Minor and Greece. Everywhere they went, their little congregations were constantly subjected to Judaizers who tried to bring them back under the Law, claiming Paul's converts could not be saved unless they kept the Law of Moses, practiced circumcision, and so forth. Eventually this issue came to a head, and Paul and Barnabas were sent by the Lord's direction to Jerusalem to confront Peter and the hierarchy there, which Paul rehearses in Galatians chapter 2.