The Jerusalem Council is the name generally given to the meeting between the delegates from the church in Antioch, led by Paul and Barnabas, and the apostles and elders of Jerusalem to resolve the conflict caused by "some men [who] came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: 'Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved'" (Acts 15:1-33). It is generally dated to some time in 49 AD.
The decision of the council, after some deliberation, was to issue a letter in which the apostles declared (Acts 15: 24, 28-29):
We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said . . . It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
The record of the Council holds the answers to questions of great theological and practical significance, and we encourage you to spend some time working through the exposition on this portion of Scripture to acquaint yourself with them.
Resources:
Park, Hyung Dae. "Drawing Ethical Principles from the Process of the Jerusalem Council: A New Approach to Acts 15:4-29," Tyndale Bulletin 61 (2010): 271-293.☰
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