“Acts 21:15-26”

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

“After these days we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem. Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of Cyprus, a disciple of long standing with whom we were to lodge. After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, ‘You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law. But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.’ Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.”
---End of Scripture verses---

When Paul and his companions left Caesarea, some of the brethren from that city escorted them to Jerusalem and brought them to a brother named Mnason who provided lodging during their stay (verse 15-16). We are not given much information about this good brother but these few verses tell us a lot about the man. He was given to hospitality, willingly accepting a rather large group of travel-weary Christians into his home, which is very commendable. And also, verse 16 tells us that he was “a disciple of long standing.” He was a consistently faithful and righteous fellow and he had proven himself to be a man of high character through the testing of time. Like Timothy, Mnason had demonstrated himself to be a person of “proven worth” (Philippians 2:22). Proverbs 22:1 tells us, “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” The Holy Spirit chose to grant honor to Mnason in the annals of inspiration because he possessed a good name, even though I’m not certain how to pronounce it.

When Paul met with the leaders of the church in Jerusalem, they were all delighted by the news that numerous Gentiles had converted to Christ, but their excitement was mingled with concern (verses 19-20). There were also thousands of Jewish converts and many of them had heard that Paul possessed a hostile attitude toward the Law of Moses. The specific accusation against Paul was that he had been “teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs” (verse 21). The brethren devised a plan that Paul would “purify himself” according to the Law of Moses, and pay the expenses for four men who had been keeping a vow, so as to prove that Paul was not at odds with his Jewish and proselyte brethren or the customs of the Law (verses 22-26).

As we’ve pointed out before, Paul never encouraged people to abandon the long established and heavily engrained customs of his people that found their roots in the Law of Moses. He had actually made and kept a vow associated with the Law on his second preaching trip (Acts 18:18), and he even took Timothy and had him circumcised in order to not impede his influence among his Jewish brethren (Acts 16:3). But he did heavily oppose anyone who tried to make keeping any part of the Law of Moses a matter of salvation (Acts 15:1-2), and also anyone who used the Law as a pretense for hypocrisy (Galatians 2:11-21). Unfortunately there was just a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation circulating about Paul’s teaching and actions.

Let’s remind ourselves of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23: “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.”

Unfortunately there is still much misinformation and misunderstanding in circulation about the teaching of the Apostle Paul. Some people insist, because of what is written in Bible passages such as the one that we read today, that God has two different sets of standards for Jewish and Gentile Christians. They maintain that the Gospel that Paul taught the Gentiles Christians is quite a bit different than the Gospel that the Apostle Peter taught the Jewish Christians. If this were true, which of course it is not, then Paul’s entire letter to the Ephesians would be meaningless. Paul, through the Holy Spirit, taught in that epistle that God tore down the dividing barrier that once existed between the Jews and Gentiles (the Law of Moses), and has made both groups into one new, united body. No Jew (or Gentile for that matter) is bound by law to keep any of the Law of Moses, but he has the right to keep any part of it that does not conflict with the Law of Christ.

Ephesians 2:11-22 – “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

Paul’s teaching is a message of unity, of “the summing up of all things in Christ” (Ephesians 1:10). This truth taught by all the inspired teachers and writers of the New Testament era. Please ignore, and even oppose, any teaching that promotes doctrinal division. Division and confusion are not the works of the Lord but of the enemy.

Please read Acts 21:27-40 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

-Louie Taylor

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