Questions
1. Why does Paul mention to Agrippa that he preached to both Jews and Gentiles that “they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance”? Acts 26:20 How can we understand, so late in Paul’s ministry, that he addresses a Gentile audience with terms that mid-Acts folks believe were spoken only to Jews?
2. Why does Paul leave out the most significant aspect of the mystery in his address to Agrippa and those present—the why of the cross?
Question 1:
Why does Paul mention to Agrippa that he preached to both Jews and Gentiles that “they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance”? How can we understand, so late in Paul’s ministry, that he addresses a Gentile audience with terms that mid-Acts folks believe were spoken only to Jews?
Response
It is my understanding that there is nothing peculiar, or strange, or wrong, about Paul saying that he preached to both Jews and Gentiles “that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.” For simply put, when Paul says that men “should repent and turn to God” this is a perfectly fitting and general description of what the effectual working of “the gospel of Christ” exhorts men to do in order to be saved from the debt and penalty of their sins. And when Paul says that he also preached that men should “do works meet for repentance” this is also a perfectly fitting and general description of what “the gospel of Christ” exhorts those who believe it to do after they have believed, seeing that God not only justifies men and saves them when they believe the gospel, but He also sanctifies them so that they can do good works and live unto Him therein.
Now as I just said, Paul’s preaching that men, (whether Jews or Gentiles), “should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” really is nothing less than a perfectly fitting and concise general description of what he as a faithful ambassador for Christ said to men as he exhorted them to respond positively and properly to what “the gospel of Christ” says. And this is true. For as the details of “the gospel of Christ” in Romans :–: set forth, all men, (whether they be Jews or Gentiles), need to “repent,” (i.e. change their minds and think differently), when it comes to their thinking about how they stand in God’s sight, and about how to be saved from the coming judgment of God. For as the first part of the gospel describes, men by nature “hold the truth in unrighteousness” and do not respond positively and/or properly to it. In addition to this the natural tendency of men is to think that the way for them to escape being worthy of God’s wrath and judgment is to justify themselves by their works. Accordingly, therefore, men need to “repent” of their erroneous thinking. They need to “repent” of their thinking regarding how they stand in God’s sight, and of their naturally mistaken thinking of how they can escape the judgment of God.
So ‘in a nutshell’ this is what Paul is referring to when in Acts : he says that he preached that men “should repent.” For just as he had said in verses 16-18, the Lord sent him out “to open (men’s) eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,…” e Lord said this because the eyes of men’s understanding are naturally blind to the truth, being darkened by their own erroneous ideas, and especially by Satan’s false teachings. Therefore men need to be given the ‘light of truth’ so that they can ‘see’ the truth, and can then “repent” of their mistaken and erroneous thinking.
Then in accordance with men ‘repenting’ of their erroneous and/or mistaken thinking, the “gospel of Christ” exhorts them to “turn to God,” just as Paul says. For as the ‘good news’ portion of “the gospel of Christ” proclaims. God Himself has provided for men’s justification and salvation. rough the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, God Himself has provided for men to receive forgiveness of sins and justification in His sight. Therefore in accordance with repenting of their faulty thinking, the final part of the ‘good news’ portion of the gospel exhorts men to abandon any idea of justifying themselves by their works, and in so doing to ‘turn to God’ trusting completely in the redemption that is in Christ Jesus for their justification and salvation.
So ‘in a nutshell’ this is what Paul is referring to when he says that he preached that men should “turn to God.” And this too is in perfect accordance with what Paul says in Acts :– about what the Lord had said to him when He commissioned him. For when men abandon any idea of justifying themselves before God and “turn to God” by completely trusting in the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation, they ‘turn from the power of
Satan unto God’ as they reject Satan’s false teachings that are designed to keep them from trusting in Christ.
So then as verses – of Acts , (along with the details of “the gospel of Christ” itself in Romans :–:), make clear, when Paul says that he preached to both Jews and Gentiles “that they should repent and turn to God” he is concisely describing, (and also fittingly describing), exactly what the effectual working of “the gospel of Christ” exhorts men to do. And in so doing he did exactly what he said that the Lord had told him to do in verses –, obeying the Lord completely, which is also exactly what he is emphasizing to King Agrippa in verses and . Now this is also the case when Paul says that he preached that men should “do works meet for repentance.” For as I said earlier, this too is simply a perfectly fitting and general description of what “the gospel of Christ” exhorts men to do after they have ‘repented and turned to God’ and thereby have become justified unto eternal life and saved from the debt and penalty of their sins. And indeed once a person is saved he should “do works meet for repentance.”
Because God not only saves us when we believe “the gospel of Christ,” but He also sanctifies us “in Christ” so that we can ‘live unto Him’ in good works. In fact in view of our sanctification, doing such good works is the only thing that is “meet for,” or fitting for, or consistent with, our “repentance.” Or in other words, it is absolutely inconsistent with, or unfitting for, or not meet for our repentance, if we continue to live like we did before we believed “the gospel of Christ”; i.e. if we continue to still live like ones who because of having an impenitent heart remain unjustified and unsaved sinners who are dead in their sins.
So this is what Paul is referring to when he says that he preached to those who do repent and turn to God that they should “do works meet for repentance.” And this too is in perfect accordance with what Paul says the Lord had told him when He commissioned him. For when those who do believe “the gospel of Christ” respond positively to their sanctification, they will “receive inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me,” just as the Lord said.
Once again, in view of what Paul relates in Acts :–; and in view of the details of “the gospel of Christ” itself; when Paul says that he preached to both Jews and Gentiles “that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” he is concisely and fittingly describing exactly what the effectual working of “the gospel of
Christ” exhorts men to do.
Question 2:
Why does Paul leave out the most significant aspect of the mystery in his address to Agrippa and those present—the why of the cross?
Response
Strictly speaking, there was no reason for Paul to specifically say anything about “the mystery of Christ” in his address to King Agrippa, given both the legal purpose of his address and what God wanted him to accomplish by it.
For simply put, given the legal purpose of Paul’s address he was given permission by King Agrippa to answer for himself “touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews.” And as Festus had previously laid out before Agrippa, those things especially concerned the Jews “own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.” Wherefore as Paul’s “answer” to the charges laid against him show, he stuck to strictly addressing and answering the specific charges that were laid against him. And he also stuck to strictly defending his actions as being perfectly consistent not only with the truth that Jesus is the Christ and that He is alive, but also consistent with what the prophets had said about Christ suffering and rising from the dead.
Therefore given the legal purpose of Paul’s address, and what he needed to say in order to answer the charges leveled against him, there was no reason for him to specifically say anything about “the mystery of Christ.”
Likewise there was no reason for him to particularly say anything about “the mystery of Christ” in view of what it was that God specifically wanted him to accomplish by his address. For simply put, in accordance with what the Lord had previously said to Paul about ‘testifying of Him in Jerusalem and then doing so also in Rome,’ God’s first purpose in Paul’s address was to take advantage of the legal situation in connection with the finalizing of His testimony to His nation concerning the reality of Jesus being the Christ, and that He has suffered and has been raised from the dead according to the law and the prophets. Wherefore Paul would naturally stick with these issues, just as he did.
But as Paul also knew, it was also God’s desire for Him to lay the groundwork to be able to function as the ambassador for Christ that He is, especially with King Agrippa, who as Paul acknowledged not only was “expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews,” but who most importantly of all also ‘believed the prophets.’
Hence in accordance with what God had previously said to Paul about how he would ‘bear the Lord’s name before kings,’ Paul not only knew what he was supposed to do before King Agrippa, but he also knew what he had to do first and foremost as he bore testimony before this king. Paul had to deal with him about who Jesus is, and about the reality of Him suffering and being raised from the dead according to the Scriptures.
Wherefore this is exactly what Paul did. In fact in view of knowing that King Agrippa believed the prophets, the inescapable truth that Jesus is the Christ and that He is alive from the dead is what Paul pointedly pressed upon him, just as is related in verses –.
So once again, given the legal purpose and obligations of Paul’s address; and given the two things that God Himself wanted to get accomplished by Paul’s address; there was no reason for him to make any specific mention of “the mystery of Christ” in his address.
This is the gist of my understanding on these matters.
Keith Blades
Enjoy The Bible Ministries
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