What does disciples mean in Acts 15:10?
In Acts 15:10, disciples means the believers in Antioch, not the twelve apostles. These had become believers of Paul's gospel, were not under Law or legalism, and were the ones the Judaizers were trying to bring under circumcision and the Law.
Les teaches that in Acts 15:10 the word "disciples" does not mean the twelve apostles. It means the believers up in Antioch, those who had become believers of Paul's gospel and were not under Law or legalism. The setting is the dispute in chapter 15, where the Judaizers and Jewish leaders, including Peter and the eleven, were coming down hard on Paul for teaching grace to the Gentiles. They tried to convince him that Gentile believers had to practice circumcision and keep the Law, but Paul adamantly refused. Peter later realizes how God had used him years earlier to take the Word to Cornelius and witness a Gentile's salvation. So when Peter asks why they should test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples, Les explains he is speaking of the Antioch believers whom the Judaizers were trying to put under Law.
Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
More Questions
Who are the 'disciples' in Acts 15:10?
In Acts 15:10 the word 'disciples' does not refer to the twelve apostles but to the believers in Antioch.