Read: Acts 26:1-18

I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. (v. 9)

Paul never stopped hoping for his release, even as he is bounced from corrupt Felix to feckless Festus and then from Festus to visiting dignitary Agrippa. Paul’s speech of self-defense before Agrippa clearly shows the causal connection between the account of his life, conversion, and subsequent ministry. As we’ll see tomorrow, even Agrippa was not immune to its power.

What strikes me about the speech, though, is its great humility. In verses 8-11, Paul lists those features of his own past that made him almost exactly like his accusers. Out of misguided zeal he too locked Christians up in prison, voted to give them the death penalty, and attacked others in the synagogues. Paul also “persecuted them even in foreign cities”—like the city in which Paul was making this very speech.

Self-righteousness is a continuing temptation for every Christian. It’s especially tempting for the unjustly accused, as Paul was. Paul’s example reminds us how it’s best avoided: by remembering and owning up to your own personal worst. Only when we remember the criminality of our own hearts can we remember and love wrongdoers without condescension.

Prayer:

Lord, you are absolute, but human innocence is relative. Help us to remember that we have all sinned, and that you want for all the same deliverance you gave to Paul on the Damascus road.

Author: Phil Christman

https://woh.org/