Resistance is Futile

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE

Acts 21:26-29

26 The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them. 27 When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, 28 shouting, "Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place." 29(They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)

NIV

After some examination of the scholars of old and finding no common agreement among them regarding this act of purification, we are inclined to listen to the Spirit. It is good to check with those scholars of old, and even a few of our newer scholars to see how they handle this situation. What is interesting is that this whole act of purification by Paul with the four men was a plan devised by James. His intent was to show that Paul was not against the law of the Nazirite, and the act of making a sacrifice, in essence, showing respect for the law of Moses. We are not sure if Paul was completely comfortable with all this, as he certainly did not teach the law of Moses in any of the synagogues he visited in his travels, as well as when he was among the Gentiles. Paul preached Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected. Paul preached repentance, believe in the Lord Jesus and be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Yet here he is either taking the vow himself with the four, or just paying the expenses of the four. But we are told that he took the men and purified himself along with them. However, the plan of James backfires and Paul is accused of preaching against the law of Moses, all the while he is showing himself as following their customs. It is not uncommon for Paul to act in accordance with the custom. He testifies regarding himself:

1 Cor 9:19-23

19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

NIV

We would have to say that Paul is not acting counter to his own beliefs regarding Jesus Christ and the gospel. However, with this plan backfiring, the Jews in Jerusalem are all up in arms against Paul, declaring he teaches against the law of Moses. There are always going to be those who hate the truth, and these Jews are no different. It would seem times have not changed in that there will always be those who have closed their minds to anything they do not like, or that would require a change in their belief system, including their laws and customs they have put their trust in. Nevertheless, there is a lesson for us as well. We need to always remain open-minded, or rather open-spirited, to hear the truth and make the changes in our lives that are needed. We must remember that we are always being, the is in a constant state of being transformed into his likeness, with ever-increasing glory. This must mean that we cannot be the same, with the same mindset, doing the same thing, acting in the same manner as we did yesterday or last week, because we are in the act of transforming. Those who remain closed-minded, like those Jews who struck out at Paul by stirring up others to have the same hatred, seized Paul, will strike out at us. Perhaps not like those Jews, seizing us, but they will resist change, and may even speak out against the truth because of their customary thinking. We must stay strong and always speak for the truth no matter what men may say. However, we know that resistance to the truth is futile.