Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 15:14

"Symeon hath rehearsed how first God visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name." — Acts 15:14 (ASV)

In summing up, James made no reference to Paul and Barnabas’s report, probably more for political reasons than any of principle. After all, it was the work of Paul and Barnabas that was on trial, and James wanted to win his entire audience to the position he believed to be right without causing needless offense. Therefore, he began by reminding the council of Peter’s testimony and went on to show how he felt about the question at issue by speaking of believing Gentiles as a “people” (GK 3295) whom God had taken “for himself”—thus (1) applying to Gentile Christians a designation formerly used of Israel alone, and (2) agreeing with Peter that in the conversion of Cornelius God himself had taken the initiative for a direct Gentile ministry.