To understand the implication of Acts 15:29, the verse must be examined in the context of the entire chapter and not as a stand-alone mandate.
Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. (Acts 15:1-2 NIV)
"Certain people" are likely to be the new Christian believers who were previously Pharisees about to be discussed in verse 5. They are Jewish Christians, not Gentiles. They have a belief that the Gentiles must first be converted to the laws of Judaism and only then will they be eligible to become Christians that are saved by faith. It is incredibly disturbing to former Jews that Gentiles are now next to them and worshiping along with them. Repeatedly through the Old Testament, mandates are given to set Jews apart from others. Now let us look at what they are telling the new Gentile Christians.
Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.” (Acts 15:5 NIV)
In the Old Testament, the Jewish people comprehend that they must follow all the laws of Moses because they are the chosen people and special to God. It is a requirement that sets them apart. In their hearts and minds, they feel that the Gentiles are unclean. Because we are talking about people from Judea, it must be understood that the majority of new Christians in this area were previously Jewish. Gentiles could not marry Jewish people without converting to Judaism first and meeting all the strict requirements which that conversion entailed. So to suddenly accept these Gentile Christians without any requirements first would have felt very wrong to Jewish Christians. Peter admonishes them that the requirements they are demanding of the Gentiles are testing God.
Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” (Acts 15:10-12 NIV)
By yolk, Peter is referring to the law. He is declaring to the Jewish Christians that they are not saved by the law nor are the Gentile Christians. If you read the verses that follow Peter's declaration, the assembly becomes quiet and they are listening. However one can sense in these verses that the Jewish Christians are still disturbed by what they are being told. I reiterate that they had always held themselves separate from other people and one can certainly speculate based on several Gospel stories that former Pharisees still clung to the belief that they were “better” because they adhered to the law.
Then James steps in and he speaks to the assembly. His words are to assure the Jewish Christians that salvation is indeed to include the Gentiles and that they should accept Gentile Christians as brothers. He then tells the assembly:
“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.” (Acts 15:19-21 NIV)
So James is making it clear to the assembly that the church is not going to insist that Gentiles must become circumcised. James says they should instead write a letter that itemizes a list of things the Gentiles should abstain from. These items are in keeping with what is being taught in the synagogues on Sabbath and every Jew knows them. James is specifically itemizing points that are all connected to pagan worship. In a way, these Jewish Christians can be accused of stereotyping all Gentiles as pagan worshipers who had not truly come to Christianity through the Holy Spirit. One could also conclude that a Gentile Christian touched by the Holy Spirit would not associate any of these things as part of worship anyway because now they were worshiping Christ. These “requirements” should be easy. However, putting it in a letter directed at the Gentiles makes the Jewish Christians more accepting of the Gentile Christians in their midst. It is also the purpose of the letter to reassure the Gentile Christians, who are upset about wrongly being told that circumcision was required for salvation.
We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. (Acts 15:24 NIV )
And finally, the letter goes on to say:
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. Farewell. (Acts 15:28 NIV)
Everything in that list is about pagan worship and the final sentence is “You will do well to avoid these things.” Honestly, that statement is rather soft if you intend to tell people that these are requirements to be followed or you will not be granted salvation. Rather, these are requirements that are necessary to state because the Jewish Christians whom you worship among need these requirements so that their faith will not be shaken and potentially lost.
It should also be noted that Paul had Timothy circumcised. This is a similar situation where it is not a requirement of salvation, but rather a requirement for the Jewish people in order for them not to be offended. The intent is to keep a requirement even though you are not actually under the law because it allows you to share the gospel with those who would otherwise reject you.
To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. (1Cor 9:20 NIV)
A reoccurring debate regarding Acts 15:29 is the issue of blood and blood within food. The question is raised that if adultery is not okay, why then is blood in food like blood sausage okay? Again, if you take this verse in context, sexual immorality is on this list specifically due to its association with pagan worship. There were things commonly practiced in biblical times that we would consider immoral and adulterous today. To say it is okay to have blood sausage is not saying you can freely commit adultery. Adultery is not okay, but the instruction to abstain from sexual immorality in this list is clearly understood by the Jewish Christians to be a specific reference to sex committed as worship practice in pagan rituals.
Finally, I would like to bring up a quote from Romans.
I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. (Romans 14:14-15 NIV)
Paul has a clear message that we are saved by faith alone. We have been made clean and pure by the Lord Jesus Christ. However, once more there is the instruction that you should not shake someone else's faith by your actions. Therefore going back to the question of “What does Acts 15:29 imply?” I must conclude that the intent is to instruct the Gentile Christians not to destroy the faith of the Jewish Christians who had a clear need for certain “requirements” in order not to be offended by the perceived uncleanliness of not having any restrictions set.
