Sun 9:30a Class; 10:30a Worship; 11:35a Communion
Church Blog
“Acts 26: Paul Before Agrippa”
Categories: Christian Living, NT Chapter Summaries, The Bible, The Church“You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” Only those who have tried to teach others and who have heard those or similar words can truly understand Paul’s response. “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am.”
This chapter begins with Paul once again relating the events surrounding his past life in Judaism and his subsequent conversion to Christ. (The original event was recorded in Acts 9 and he retells the story in Acts 22 and here.)
Paul first tells Agrippa that he had been a faithful Jew his entire life. His zeal for God had led him to “do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.” On his way to Damascus to persecute even more Christians, however, Jesus had personally appeared to him. The Lord told Paul that he would be sent to preach the gospel to the lost, “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me,” that is, faith in Jesus. And that is what Paul has been doing ever since, preaching the good news of the resurrected Christ.
Do you realize how important the resurrection is to the gospel story? It was the crucifixion death of Jesus that gives us the remission of our sins. But it is the Lord’s resurrection from the dead, never to die again, that gives us hope beyond the grave. If the resurrection is true, then all of Christianity is true – sin, grace, mercy, forgiveness, heaven, hell. If the resurrection is false, nothing else really matters. But because Jesus is the Son of God and not only died for our sins, but was raised from death, we have every reason to believe in Him and obey the gospel. He is the Lord, Jesus Christ our Savior.
Both Festus and Agrippa understand the point. Festus accuses Paul of being mad (insane). Paul focuses on Agrippa and challenges him to trust and obey. Agrippa refuses to submit to God’s will. It is so sad to see a believer who will not obey the Lord. As the song says, “Almost, but lost.”
--Roger Hillis
