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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Acts 24:14 - 24:16
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The charge of being a Nazarene:
v. 14. But this I confess unto thee that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the prophets;
v. 15, and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
v. 16. And herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men.
Paul here took up the next charge, that of being a ringleader of the Nazarenes. Without referring to the title bestowed upon him, he proudly confesses to the truth of that charge, if that be a crime, incidentally including, however, a rebuke to the Jews themselves. After the way which they were pleased to call a sect, a schismatic party, he served the God of the fathers. The thought underlying Paul's words was that Christianity was not a separation, but rather a fulfilling of the Jewish religion and belief. There is no difference in kind, but only in degree between the Old and New Testament religion; the Jewish patriarchs were saved by their faith in the coming Messiah, while the Christians are Saved by their faith in the Christ that has come and fulfilled the chief prophecies of old. In this way Paul's faith was placed in all the things that were written throughout the Law and in the prophets; only Paul knew that the Messianic hopes had been realized in Jesus of Nazareth, while his accusers were still groping about in the darkness and blindness of a hope that would never be fulfilled. And he cherished the same hope toward God as these men also accepted, namely, that a resurrection of the just as well as of the unjust would surely take place. Note that Paul here makes no distinction between the high priest, a Sadducee, and the representatives of the Sanhedrin that were Pharisees, preferring to regard them as simply Jews that held the hope of their entire nation. For that reason, since he was firm in this belief, Paul exercised himself, he earnestly endeavored also, as they did, to have a clear conscience toward God and toward all men everywhere. The strongest motive and impelling power in a Christian is his faith in the Word of God and his hope of the resurrection of the dead. Note: The defense of Paul, in this section especially, is a fine apology of Christianity and the Christian faith. Thus the opponents of the true faith are silenced, when they cannot prove their assertions against the Christians, and when, in addition, the faith and the life of the Christians can truthfully be urged in their defense. The Christians do not constitute a new sect; their religion is the true religion, as it was in the world from the beginning; they believe in the Word of God and have the hope of the resurrection of the body and of eternal life.