BibleTools
Acts 26:19
Compare all
17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, ato whom I now send you,  
18 ato open their eyes, in order bto turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, cthat they may receive forgiveness of sins and dan inheritance among those who are esanctified by faith in Me.’  

Paul’s Post-Conversion Life

19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
20 but adeclared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do bworks befitting repentance.  
21 For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
22 Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those awhich the prophets and bMoses said would come—  
23 athat the Christ would suffer, bthat He would be the first to rise from the dead, and cwould proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”  
Commentaries:
Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?
<< Acts 26:18   Acts 26:20 >>

What Does Acts 26:19 Mean?



Acts 26:12-19

This passage provides us with an example of how misled a sincerely wrong person can be. Paul, despite his zeal, did not know the true God even though he was sincerely religious. He was sincerely deceived. Jesus basically asked him, "Paul, why do you continue to beat your head against the wall by following the path you are on?"

Can we hear in that question His expectation even of the unconverted? There is in the unconverted some minimal level of understanding and repentance that enables them to see that their values are wrong and to change to those coming from a different, far better Source—Him. If He expects that of them, what does He expect of us whose minds have been opened?

Paul's conversion led to many being given the opportunity to change their values more fully. However, the fact remains to this day what king David wrote and that Paul later quoted in Romans 3:11, "There is none who seeks after God." Carnal people are so imbued with their own systems that they will not change unless essentially forced to.

Satan has the world so deceived (Revelation 12:9) that God is veiled from the eyes of their understanding, so Satan is the ruler of this world and the source of its ways of living. He is worshipped and responded to by all of mankind. Unless God moves to change our values (John 6:44), we rarely change for the better. When God does move, He demands repentance of us and then loyalty to Him in our lives from then on.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The First Commandment

Related Topics: Clash of Values | Deception | First Commandment | Paul's Conversion | Religious Deception | Repentance | Repentance as Change | Satan as god of this World | Source of Values | The First Commandment | The Unconverted | Uncalled and Unconverted Answerable to God | Values, Source of | Zeal without Knowledge


 
<< Acts 26:18   Acts 26:20 >>

Join 137,228+ readers

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning

Consistent Bible study is hard to start.

The Berean gives you the starting point: one scripture and a focused commentary in your inbox each morning — read it in minutes, or go as deep as you like.

Free, daily, and spam-free. We never share your address. Unsubscribe anytime.

Close
E-mail This Page