Acts 13-15 (The Daily Walk Bible).

Sometimes a visual aid helps me to understand better:

How important is fellowship? At the Jerusalem council they affirmed salvation by grace, but understood that there were certain things that Jewish and Gentile believers would come in conflict about. The first three issues can be seen as ceremonial (15:29), but terribly offensive to people who were raised Jewish. The last, sexual immorality, is moral in nature, but is an emphasis because the Gentiles would not have a good understanding of sexual purity because of their background. Jewish believers would be very offended if a Gentile believer thought that they could continue to go to their guild orgies!

It’s a good reminder for us. We should try not to offend other believers. Paul talks about not offending our weaker brethren (Romans 14:1, for example). Even in non moral issues sometimes it’s better to not flaunt our freedom so that we can get along with others.