Paul recounts two major events from Acts 11, two years before the Jerusalem Council.
The Apostles’ Meeting, vv. 1-10
In chapter one, Paul described his trip to Jerusalem three years after Jesus met him on the Damascus road. Here, he describes God’s command to travel to Jerusalem fourteen years after his first trip. Barnabas and Titus, a Gentile convert, accompanied Paul to Jerusalem to deliver aid to the Christians who suffered famine (Acts 11:27-30).
Controversy was brewing in the Jerusalem church about the place of Gentile converts. The leaders wanted to know what Paul taught, so he explained to the leaders what he preached, v. 2. The leaders accepted Paul’s doctrine and did not require Titus to be circumcised. Yet, Judaizers rejected Titus’ uncircumcision and wanted all believers to submit to Mosaic law. (Verse 4: did these Judaizers crash Paul’s private meeting with the Apostles?) In verse 8, Paul pointed out that the same Spirit who worked in Paul worked in Peter as well. Both had the same message and the same Spirit, but were responsible for different spheres of ministry. The council endorsed Paul’s message without adding anything except that Gentiles should remember/aid the poor (verse 10). Paul had preserved the “truth of the Gospel” (verse 5) from the lies of the enemy.
This controversy continued to brew until it came to a head, resulting in the Jerusalem Council two years later (Acts 15). The conclusion of the Council was that Paul’s message and ministry were of God, and that he should minister to the Gentiles while Peter and the Twelve ministered to the Jews. The Council, however, required that Gentile Christians to “abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication” (Acts 15:29).
The Apostle’s Correction, vv. 11-21
After the Jerusalem Council, Peter visited the Gentile church at Antioch where Paul and Barnabas were ministering (Acts 15:35). In Acts 10:1-48, God revealed to Peter that no foods or peoples were unclean; but the apostle fell back into legalism just the same. When he came to Antioch, Peter mingled with the Gentiles and ate with them; but after some visitors came from Jerusalem, he withdrew himself and put up the old Jewish barriers again. Even Barnabas fell into the trap (verse 13).
Paul reminded Peter that it is faith, not circumcision, that saves Jews and Gentiles, vv. 14-18.
“The Law is not a way of life, Peter; it is a way of death. The Law kills us (Gal_2:19) that the Gospel might raise us up again. A Christian is not someone who is trying to obey an outward law. A Christian is one who has the living Christ within. By faith, I am united to Christ forever. When He died, I died; when He arose, I arose with Him. He lives out His life through me as I walk by faith — this is the Christian life! It is not a set of rules and regulations. To go back to the Law is to frustrate (make empty) the grace of God! If the Law is God’s way of salvation, then Christ died in vain!”–Warren Wiersbe