Acts Chapter 15: The Ceremonial Law (The Annual Festivals, and their Relevance to the Christian Church.)
             The council of Jerusalem, which is recorded in Acts fifteen, is definitely an in depth research and deliberation into whether or not the Gentile Christians were under the same obligations as were the Jewish believers. Within this examination, the apostles had to ask some questions that turned them away from the traditional Jewish way of thinking. Were the Jewish believers really under the ceremonial obligations of the law?
             It appears, according to the beginning of the chapter, that a contention in regard to circumcision and the Law of Moses had arisen among the believers in Antioch. Some taught that except these rituals be adhered to, one could not be saved. This perturbed Paul, and he went to Jerusalem specifically to address this problem to the apostles there for an official decision about what must be required of the Gentiles before they were accepted as brethren. The council was attended by the apostles and elders, and representatives from the churches.
             James, as the one presiding over the council, stated the final decision of the council; that they would ask that the Gentiles not eat certain foods, and that they abstain from fornication. They weren't to be bound to keep the same traditional laws that the Jews had been given by Moses.
             The focus of this paper will be specifically the Feasts, Holy Days, and whether or not the ceremonial law should be followed by New Testament Christians today, and the different facets this involves. Various parts of these subjects have racked Christendom with contention ever since it did in apostolic times, I dare say. Should Christians keep the Holy days, should they keep the statutes and Feasts to the Lord? Wasn't the Ceremonial law done away with at the cross? What comprised the ceremonial law? Do these things matter to the present day, Bible-believing, truth-see...