Page 122 - Acts Student Textbook

How does Paul begin his defense? (26:4-7)

As he did in Acts 22:1ff, Paul began by describing his Jewish background, using that to lead into his
conversion. He described how he had lived from youth as a Pharisee, the strictest Jewish sect. He
said the Jews knew this to be true of his background, if they were willing to admit it. Paul again
claimed, as he had repeatedly, that he was really on trial because he believed in and followed the
true hope that all Israel ought to share in. It was the very promise made to the fathers (patriarchs),
which hope the twelve tribes of Israel sought. Paul had found the fulfillment of the cherished Jewish
hopes! This hope included the coming of the Messiah who was the promised blessing on all nations
through Abraham’s seed. This was proved by the resurrection (v8; 23:6; 24:15).

Where does Paul place his priority of emphasis in his Testimony? (26:8)

Note that Paul emphasized the resurrection from the beginning of the speech because that was the
basic proof he planned to offer. He intended to show them that he himself had seen Jesus alive from
the dead, and that was what convinced him to believe in Jesus. Having introduced the resurrection,
Paul proceeded to describe the time when he saw Jesus alive though He had been dead. Paul had
earlier claimed that his belief in the resurrection was the focal point of controversy between himself
and other Jews (23:6). Hence, the issue was fundamentally a religious one. The very thing many of
the Jews thought God could and would do, Paul was teaching had really occurred. Then they
disbelieved and argued with him!

What was Paul’s view of Jesus before his conversion, does it connect with his accusers? (26:9)

Having stated his Jewish background, Paul then described how he had opposed the gospel of Jesus;
persecuting believers (see also Acts 8, 9, 22). As a Jew, Paul had been convinced Jesus was not from
God and should be opposed, just as the Jews were opposing Paul himself in his work now that he had
become a Christian. Paul affirmed that he really thought within himself that opposing Jesus is what
he ought to do. He had not just occasionally opposed Jesus a little bit. He was sincerely convicted this
was what ought to be done. He later realized that he had been wrong, but his statement showed the
Jewish people that his opposition to the gospel had been sincere. They could not explain away his
conversion on the grounds that he never really was a convicted Jew to begin with. Here Pratte makes
an interesting comment, “Note that Paul is a case study proving it is not enough to be sincerely
religious. Some people teach that all sincere religious people will be saved, no matter what they
believe. Paul was sincerely religious, but he was dead wrong. He later realized he had been the “chief
of sinners” (1 Tim. 1:13-15; cf. notes on Acts 23:1). It is possible to be sincerely wrong. Sincerity is
needed, but it is not enough. One must also have the truth.”
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How did Paul oppose Jesus, does it connect with his accusers? (26:10, 11)

In Jerusalem he had imprisoned many Christians, acting by the authority of the chief priests
themselves. Some Christians were killed, and he gave his vote for those deaths. Paul here calls
Christians, "the saints"(26:10), literally this is "the holy ones." Paul knew now exactly whom he had
persecuted and killed, God's people! This shows, perhaps more fully than other accounts, how deeply
Paul was really involved in this. It was not just Stephen that he favored killing (Acts 8:1), but other
people as well. He even went to synagogues and went to other cities elsewhere besides Jerusalem to
capture them. Blasphemy was the grounds on which the Jews had killed Jesus, because He claimed to
be the Son of God. Perhaps this was the approach Paul used to convict Christians. If he could compel
them to admit that they believed Jesus was the Son of God, that would be blasphemy in the Jews’
view. The only problem with this was the same one involved when they condemned Jesus: if the

80 Pratte, (p. 372).
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