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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Acts 26
Paul, who adamantly taught that salvation is by faith and not by works, was telling people to, “repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.” (Acts 26:20b). If works don’t save, what did he mean by this? I have a couple of thoughts about that.
Interestingly, John the Baptist preached the same message. While baptizing in the Jordan, he told the Jewish religious leaders to, “produce fruit consistent with (or worthy of) repentance.” (Matt. 3:8). The most obvious thing I see in John and Paul’s statement is that true repentance should change us. That is, after all, what repentance is – to turn and follow another path. Which means that repentance should lead us to do different things. So our works, or fruit – the way we live – should look different than it did before.
Another thing I see in the comment, however, is that repentance does not only mean that we do different things, but also that we do things differently. And that means that we no longer do things in an effort to make ourselves righteous. Instead, we do them in grateful service to the God who saves us. This is because repentance acknowledges what the Law seeks to teach us – that we have no righteousness without faith in Christ. Thus, our works should not only demonstrate that we are on a new path, but also that God is the One who changed us. These are works worthy of repentance.
Acts 27-28
When their hope was at its lowest point, Paul made a statement to the people on the ship. There were three things in that statement that struck me this morning.
- Paul referred to God as, “the God I belong to and serve”. I like that. Unlike saying, “my God”, Paul’s statement leaves no doubt about the proper order of things.
- Paul noted that the angel said, “God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.” (Acts 27:24b). Given – as if they were a gift to Paul. Which leads me to believe that Paul asked for their lives in prayer. He was surrounded by men who disregarded him and some who would just as soon have killed him, and he asked for their lives. That’s what I call works worthy of repentance!
- Paul’s last comment in his statement was, “But we have to run aground on some island.” (Acts 27:26). That reminded me of an instance when Jesus traveled from Judea to Galilee. John wrote, “He had to travel through Samaria” (Jn. 4:4). He “had to”? There were ways around. But when He did, He encountered a woman at a well. As a result, an entire town met their Savior. So perhaps Jesus had to travel through Samaria because He had a divine appointment there. So, maybe, was the case with Paul. They had to land on “some island”, which turned out to be Malta, where Paul was then able to bring life and truth to an out of the way place that may well have otherwise been forgotten. Divine appointment, because nobody is too insignificant for God.