The Jerusalem Council
The minimum for new, Gentile believers.
What it was
In Acts 15, Peter and James (the brother of Jesus, not the disciple) debate on what Gentiles who are new to the faith should adhere to
They land on a few commandments:
Acts 15:29 […]that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
That is:
- Do not eat meat offered to idols
- Do not eat blood
- Do not eat animals that were strangled
- Avoid sexual immorality
Two of these come from Leviticus 17-18 and are specifically the items that result in a “cut off” status:
Lev 17:10b-11a, 12b I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood […] No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.
Lev 18:6,29 No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD. […] For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people
Additionally, the letter was sent with trusted members of the congregation and there is an expectation that recipients are a part of the assembly that meets every Sabbath:
Acts 15:19-21 “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”