Scripture Reading: Acts 1:8; 27:20-26, 33-37; 28:15-16, 23-31; Phil. 1:19-21a; Eph. 2:14-18; Phil. 3:2-8; Col. 3:10-11; Heb. 1:1-3; 9:12; 10:9-10, 12, 14; 13:13
In this concluding word to the Life-study of Acts, I shall cover two matters. The first concerns Paul’s living as portrayed in Acts 27-28 the second concerns the revelation in the four Epistles of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Hebrews.
Chapters twenty-seven and twenty-eight of Acts do not present anything of doctrine. Rather, in these chapters we have a record of a man living Christ to the uttermost. Paul was imprisoned, bound in chains, and surrounded by guards. The sea was very stormy, and the sailing was rough. Furthermore, Paul was away from his homeland and from most of his friends. Although he was in such a difficult situation, he lived like a reigning king.
Paul’s living as presented in these two chapters of Acts reminds us of his word written while he was imprisoned in Rome: “I know that for me this shall turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death; for to me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:19-21a). This describes Paul’s living during the voyage from Caesarea to Rome. Regardless of the situation, Paul magnified Christ in his body.
As we ponder the picture in Acts 27 and 28, we see that Paul was an outstanding witness of Christ. He was the kind of witness the Lord Jesus spoke about in 1:8: “You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the remotest part of the earth.”
In 1:6 the Lord’s disciples had asked Him if He would at that time restore the kingdom to Israel. The Lord indicated that it was not for them to know times or seasons, which the Father had placed in His own authority. Instead, after they had received power through the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them, they would be His witnesses. Paul was such a witness in Acts 27 and 28. In these chapters Paul was living among Gentiles. There were very few Jews on the ship, if any. Everything on that voyage was Gentile. The food, the environment, and the atmosphere were Gentile. Furthermore, there was nothing Jewish on the island of Malta. Paul was surrounded by Gentiles and the Gentile way of living. But in that situation Paul lived like a king in a palace. I very much appreciate the picture of Paul’s living in these chapters.
We all should live Christ in the way Paul did in Acts 27 and 28. If we live Christ only in a situation that is according to our culture, character, constitution, and disposition, our living is not genuine. Here in Acts 27 and 28 Paul lived Christ in a situation that was altogether contrary to his culture and character. Many things were disappointing and discouraging, but Paul nevertheless lived a life of the highest standard. As we have pointed out, in Paul the wonderful, excellent, and mysterious God-man, who lived in the Gospels, continued to live through one of His many members. This was Jesus living again on earth in His divinely enriched humanity. Paul’s living, therefore, was a repetition of the living of Jesus.
After Paul arrived in Rome as described in chapter twenty-eight, he wrote the Epistles of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Hebrews. Paul was imprisoned in Rome twice. The first was about A.D. 62-64, due to the Jews’ accusation (28:17-20). During that time he wrote the Epistles of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. After his release from the first imprisonment, it is likely that he visited Ephesus and Macedonia, and then Crete and Miletus, from where he probably wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews. Paul’s second imprisonment, about A.D. 65, was due to Caesar Nero’s sudden persecution of the believers.
Paul passed through many things in chapters fifteen through twenty-eight of Acts. Without his experience of the events recorded in these chapters, he could not have written Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Hebrews, or he could not have written these Epistles in such a thorough way.
In Ephesians 2:14 and 15 Paul says, “He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity, having abolished in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, making peace.” I believe that what Paul saw and experienced in Acts 15 through 28 caused him to write such a strong word. As he was writing this, Paul may have been saying to himself, “All the ordinances of the law have been abolished. Circumcision, the Nazarite vow, and even the vow I had have been abolished.”
Paul may have regretted his vow in Acts 18 and also his circumcising Timothy in Acts 16. If I had been with Paul when he wrote the Epistle to the Ephesians, I might have said, “Brother Paul, I would like to learn of you. Since Christ abolished all the ordinances, why at Lystra did you still circumcise Timothy?” It is possible that if Paul had been asked such a question, he might have said, “I did that quite a while ago, and I am sorry about it. Never again will I circumcise anyone.”
By the time Paul wrote Ephesians 2, he was much more thorough than he was when he circumcised Timothy in Acts 16. His experiences in chapters fifteen through twenty-eight of Acts caused him to be more thorough regarding circumcision. I do not believe that apart from his experience in these chapters, Paul could have written such a chapter as Ephesians 2.
It is profitable to compare Paul’s word about circumcision in Galatians to what he says concerning the abolishing of the ordinances in Ephesians 2. Probably Galatians was written before Acts 16. In Galatians 6:15 Paul said, “For neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.” Actually, this word still leaves some amount of ground for the practice of circumcision. But in Ephesians 2 Paul’s word is absolute, and not one bit of ground remains for the practice of circumcision.
Paul learned from all that happened in Acts 15 through 28. I believe that while he was in custody for two years in Caesarea, he reviewed all that had taken place. As he made such a review, Paul may have said to himself, “If there is an opportunity, I would like to write another letter and say something more thorough concerning circumcision than I said in Galatians. I shall not say simply that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything. Instead, I shall say that all the ordinances, especially the ordinances regarding circumcision, have been abolished. If I could rewrite the Epistle to the Galatians, I would tell the believers that circumcision has been abolished on the cross. I would tell them not to practice circumcision, for it is offensive to the Lord, an insult to Him. We should not continue to practice anything that the Lord has abolished on the cross.”
In studying the Bible, we may compare Ephesians and Galatians with respect to the ordinances concerning circumcision. If we make this comparison, we shall see that what Paul says in Galatians is not as strong or as thorough as what he says in Ephesians. In Ephesians 2 Paul does not leave any ground for circumcision.
In Philippians 3 Paul uses a very strong negative term for circumcision: concision. In Philippians 3:2 he says, “Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the concision.” The word “concision” here, meaning mutilation, is a term of contempt for circumcision. Since there is no conjunction used in this verse between these three clauses, they must refer to the same class of people. Dogs are unclean (Lev. 11:4-8), the workers are evil, and the concision are those deserving contempt. The “dogs” refer to the Judaizers. In nature they are unclean dogs, in behavior they are evil workers, and in religion they are the concision, people of shame. Paul certainly is very strong in charging the Philippians to beware of the dogs, the evil workers, the concision. Here Paul is saying that the Judaizers, those who promote circumcision, are dogs.
What do you think Paul would have said if, in the light of his word in Philippians 3:2, he were asked about James? Paul might have said, “James surely is not a dog, but he acted somewhat like a dog. James is my dear brother. Because I respected him, I went to see him. But when he spoke to me, I heard something that was like the barking of a dog.”
As we read Philippians 3, we see that Paul was strengthened through his experiences in Acts 15 through 28 and especially through his time in Caesarea. Because of this strengthening, he told the believers to beware of dogs, to beware of the concision. In Philippians he would not even speak about circumcision, but instead used the contemptuous term “concision.” How strong he was in writing this Epistle!
When Paul was writing Philippians 3, he was stronger than he was in writing both Galatians and Romans. In Romans 2:28 and 29 Paul said, “He is not a Jew who is one outwardly; neither the circumcision which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God.” Here Paul’s word about circumcision is actually not very strong. Once again, some ground remained for the practice of circumcision. But in Philippians 3:2 there is no ground for circumcision, which now is called concision, a practice promoted by “dogs.”
In Philippians 3:8 Paul says, “But surely I count also all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them refuse that I may gain Christ.” The word “refuse” denotes dregs, rubbish, filth, what is thrown to the dogs; hence, dog food, dung. First, Paul charges the believers to beware of dogs, and then he indicates that what these dogs, the Judaizers, minister is dog food. Once again, we see Paul’s improvement in his writings.
When Paul was in Caesarea reviewing the past, he may have regretted that he was not thorough enough in his previous writings concerning the Judaic things. He may have said to himself, “Why did I write in such a vague manner? Why was I not more clear and thorough concerning the Judaic things? These things are dog food, circumcision is actually concision, and those who promote these things are ‘dogs.’” As we have seen, in writing Philippians Paul was much stronger than he was when he wrote Galatians. In Galatians he spoke of “false brothers” (2:4), but in Philippians he told the saints to beware of the dogs. Paul seemed to be saying, “They are not brothers or even men — they are dogs!” How thorough Paul was in his later writing!
In Colossians 3:10 and 11 Paul says, “And having put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him; where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, freeman, but Christ is all and in all.” Here we see not only that there is no natural person in the new man but that there is no possibility, no room, for any natural person. In the new man there is room only for Christ. He is all the members of the new man and in all the members. He is everything in the new man. Actually, He is the new man, His Body (1 Cor. 12:13).
In writing these words, Paul may have said to himself, “I should not have spoken with the brothers in Jerusalem about Jews and Gentiles. I did not go to the Gentiles — I went to God’s chosen people. All those who have been saved through my ministry are God’s people. He chose them before the foundation of the world. There certainly was nothing wrong in going to them. In the new man there is no Jew and no Greek, only Christ.” In Colossians 3:10 and 11 Paul is clear, thorough, and absolute. This clearness, thoroughness, and absoluteness may have been the result of Paul’s two years in custody in Caesarea.
Whereas Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians were written during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome, Hebrews was written after he had been released from that imprisonment. In Hebrews Paul advanced even further. Before writing this Epistle, he may have said to himself, “Why did I say so little in Ephesians about Christ’s abolishing all the ordinances? I should have gone into much more detail. Also, my word in Philippians and Colossians was too short. I need to write a longer epistle to show that all the things of Judaism are over and that Christ is superior to these things.”
In the thirteen chapters of Hebrews Paul depreciated the things of Judaism. He even cut every crucial matter in Judaism into pieces. In Hebrews Paul indicates that the Jews have God, but the believers have the God-man, Jesus Christ. Paul goes on to point out that the angels are servants. Furthermore, he shows that Christ is superior to Moses, Aaron, and Joshua.
In Hebrews Paul also tells us that there is no longer a sin offering. According to God’s will, Christ, the all-inclusive One, is the unique offering. Therefore, in the universe there is only one offering that is according to God’s will. In Hebrews 10:9 and 10 Paul says, “Then He said, Behold, I come to do Your will. He takes away the first that He may establish the second; by which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” This indicates that all the Old Testament offerings have been taken away and replaced by Christ as the unique offering. In Hebrews 10:12 and 14 Paul says, “This One, having offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down forever on the right hand of God....For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.”
In Hebrews 13:8 Paul says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Prior to 13:8, Christ changed in that He passed through incarnation and resurrection. Through incarnation, He put on human nature. This means that He changed from being One who had only the divine nature to the One who now has both the divine nature and the human nature. Once He was merely God, but He changed to become the God-man. Furthermore, in His resurrection He, as the last Adam, changed to become a life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Since passing through the process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, Christ has not changed and will not change. Therefore, Paul had the boldness to say that Christ is the same today, yesterday, and for eternity.
In Hebrews 13:13 Paul continues, “Let us therefore go forth unto Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.” Here “the camp” signifies human organization, especially that of Judaism. Paul’s word here is based on the fact that Christ was crucified outside the city, outside the camp. Since Christ was rejected and suffered outside the camp, we should go forth unto Him outside the camp. When Paul wrote this portion of Hebrews, he may have been saying to himself, “I was wrong to go back to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the camp. There was no need to go back to Jerusalem in order to take care of Judaism, for that was to go back to the camp. We should forget Jerusalem and go out of the camp and bear Christ’s reproach.”
Paul went outside the camp and bore the Lord’s reproach. When he was making the voyage from Caesarea to Rome, he was outside of Judaism bearing reproach as one in bonds. But as he bore reproach outside the camp, he magnified Christ.
I hope that we all shall spend time to dwell on the two matters covered in this message — Paul’s living as a wonderful witness to Christ and the thoroughness of the divine revelation in the books of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Hebrews. In these books no ground is left for any kind of mixture. In these Epistles there is room only for Christ.
