Devotional Acts 22: Paul's Testimony and His Citizenship Discover in Acts 22 the importance of giving your testimony in difficult moments and why knowing the laws helps you act with spiritual wisdom. Topics: Devotional, New Testament.

Devotional Acts 22: Paul’s Testimony and His Citizenship

Today’s devotional is found in the book of Acts, chapter 22, and this is what happened.

Synopsis: In this chapter, Paul goes through 3 decisive moments: his speech before the Jews, his imprisonment, and his trial before the Sanhedrin (Council). The chapter begins with Paul addressing the Jews with his testimony up to this point: his identity as a Jew, his learning of the Law under Gamaliel, his persecution of Christians, his conversion to Christianity, the prophecy regarding the rejection of the gospel by the Jews, his new mission, and his persecution. After that, the commander imprisons Paul when the Jews become enraged with Paul for stating that his ministry will focus on preaching to the Gentiles. Finally, the commander releases Paul from his chains when Paul informs him that he is a Roman citizen and cannot be bound and flogged without being tried for crimes, and he brings him before the Sanhedrin to be tried.

Observations

These were my observations:

1. The importance of giving your testimony even when the majority does not believe in Christ, especially when you are one of them. Paul asks the commander for permission to address the people while being taken to the barracks, and with his permission, he speaks to them (Acts 21:37–40 NIV). Paul could not pass up the opportunity to speak to that crowd about the gospel. For as Christians, this is what we were instructed to do by Jesus Christ (Mark 16:15 NIV). Furthermore, Paul also knew that speaking to them in their language and identifying himself as one of them (i.e., a Jew) would be the best way to calm them and gain their attention (Acts 22:1–3 NIV). I believe we have all experienced that feeling of being somewhere and meeting someone who speaks your language and/or is from your country—you automatically feel at home and identify with that person. It is just as Nelson Mandela said: if you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head, but if you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. In other words, Paul was very astute when he chose to speak to them in Aramaic/Hebrew. Furthermore, Paul demonstrates that we should never be ashamed to share the gospel, even when being persecuted for it, for it is through the gospel that everyone who believes (both Jews and Gentiles) can obtain salvation (Romans 1:16 NIV). That is, even when it seems like the worst moment to share the gospel, we must always remember never to disown Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:33 NIV).
2. The importance of knowing the laws of the place where you live, for the day will certainly come when you will need them. In this chapter, Paul shows us a clear example of the importance of knowing the law. If he had not known the law, he would have suffered unnecessarily. Being ignorant regarding the laws of a place is not good, nor is it a reason to simply shirk your responsibility and expect God to deliver you from everything. First, because we must not put God to the test, as stated in Scripture and later repeated by Jesus (Deuteronomy 6:16 NIV and Matthew 4:7 NIV). Second, we must also obey the laws of the country where we live, provided they do not contradict God’s commandments (Matthew 22:21 NIV). For the only authority that exists is from God, and the authorities that exist have been established by Him. Therefore, we must submit to authorities, obey, and be ready to do good works (Titus 3:1 NIV). That is to say, we should obey the laws of the place where we are not only because God commanded us to do so, but also so that tribulations do not turn out worse for us than they normally would.