The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

106 and of God's response of giving them the Holy Spirit 141 and "cleansing their hearts by faith " (15: 8-9). The import of these verses is fairly clear, that God has set the precedent through Cornelius that Gentiles are blessed with salvation apart from the Law. What is not so clear , however, is the flow of thought from 15 :7-9 to 15: 10. As Nolland asks, "Is v. 10 a new argument addressed to the disputed matter or does it lack independent status and depend on what has already been established in the preceding verses?" 142 If the point in verse ten is independent from the flow of thought in the speech then it may be an argument from the impossibility of the keeping of the law. The logic would run, "We have found through experience that the Law is an oppressive , impossible burden and we can not therefore force it upon the Gentiles." Thus since the law is impossible to fulfill, it is not necessary to keep. This view has several problems, however. If impossibiltiy of fulfillment leads to abrogation then why was the Law not cancelled long before the ..,. council? Further, this understanding hardly harmonizes with Luke 's view elsewhere where he sees the Jewish people gladly keeping the Law? Nolland asks: Can this be true of Luke , who is not only aware that Jewish Christians kept the Mo aic law, but is able to portray with considerable perceptiveness a positive Jewi h experience of the law (cf. especially the infancy narratives)? As a hellenistic Christian hi own feelings about the Jewish law may well be negative , but he is too aware of a different experience of the law to consider it a priori inconceivable that the keeping of the Mosaic law could be required of anybody. The awarene of thi other e perien e of the law is too pervasive in his work to argue that for the moment he forgot that it wa possible. 143 urthermore , the grammar of ver e 10 and 11 indicate that v r 10 i not an ind p nd nt thi 142 1 hn 1 0 10 rn liu incid nt (10 :47 ; 11 :17) and in Paul' id nee f alvati n . rgum nt in 11 nd "A r h ' k t t 1 . 10," w Te lament tudi 14 11 nd " I-< r h L ' t t 1 . 10," 1 7. lati n ( . ' 7 (