Acts 26:12 - Meaning and Application

Everyone who believes in God and respects his rule must admit this: those who speak and act under his direction should not be resisted, because that is fighting against God. Here Paul, by a clear and honest account of the facts, shows this whole honored assembly that he had received a direct call from heaven to preach the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles, which was the very thing that had angered the Jews against him.

He first shows that he became a Christian by God’s power, even though he had strong prejudice against that way. He was brought into it suddenly by heaven’s hand, not forced to confess Christ by outward pressure, as he had forced others to speak against him, but by a divine and spiritual power, through a revelation of Christ from above and within him. This happened while he was fully engaged in sin, on his way to Damascus to crush Christianity by persecuting the believers there. He was still as zealous as ever, and his anger had not worn out or weakened. He was not tempted to stop by losing support from his friends, because at that time he still had as much authority and commission from the chief priests to persecute Christians as ever. Then a higher power forced him to give up that mission and accept another, to preach Christ instead.

Two things brought about this amazing change, a vision from heaven and a voice from heaven. Through seeing and hearing, the two main ways we learn, Christ made himself known to Paul.

First, he saw a heavenly vision, and its details show that it could not have been a trick or a mistake. He saw a great light, a light from heaven that no human skill could produce. It was not night, but midday. It was not inside a house, where deception might have been arranged, but on the road, in the open air. It was brighter than the sun, outshining it completely (Isaiah 24:23). This could not have come from Paul’s imagination, because it shone around everyone traveling with him. They all felt themselves surrounded by this flood of light, which made the sun seem dim by comparison. The power of this light was seen in its effect, because they all fell to the ground when they saw it, so great was the fear it put into them. It flashed like lightning in its power, yet it did not vanish like lightning, but kept shining around them.

In Old Testament times, God usually revealed himself in deep darkness and made that his covering (2 Chronicles 6:1). He spoke to Abraham in a great darkness (Genesis 15:12), because that was an earlier age of darkness. But now, since life and immortality have been brought to light through the gospel, Christ appeared in a great light. In the work of grace, as in the creation of the world, the first thing created is light (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Christ himself appeared to Paul (Acts 26:16): “I have appeared to you for this purpose.” Christ was present in that light, though the men with Paul saw only the light and not Christ himself in it. It is not every kind of knowledge that can make us Christians. We must know Christ.

Second, Paul heard a heavenly voice, speaking clearly to him. Here it is said to be in the Hebrew language, his native tongue and the language of his religion. This reminds him that, though he was being sent among the Gentiles, he must not forget he was a Hebrew, or become a stranger to the Hebrew language. In what Christ said, we can notice several things. He called Paul by name, and repeated it, “Saul, Saul,” which would have startled him, especially since he was in a place where he thought no one knew him. He convicted him of sin, especially the sin he was then committing, persecuting Christians, and showed how foolish it was. He showed personal concern for the suffering of his followers: “You are persecuting me” (Acts 26:14), and again, “It is Jesus whom you are persecuting” (Acts 26:15). Paul little imagined, when he was crushing those he thought were the burdens and shame of the earth, that he was attacking the glory of heaven.

Christ also warned him about resisting the convictions already pressing on him: “It is hard for you to kick against the goads,” like an ox fighting the sharp stick that drives it forward. At first, Paul’s spirit may have started to rise up, but he was told it was dangerous to keep resisting, and then he gave in. Or these words may have been meant as a warning: take care not to resist these convictions, because they are meant to move you, not insult you.

When Paul asked, Christ made himself known to him. Paul said, “Who are you, Lord? Let me know who is speaking to me from heaven, so I may answer properly.” Christ replied, “I am Jesus,” the one Paul had despised, hated, and spoken against. He bore the very name Paul had made so hateful, and the very name Paul had treated as criminal. Paul had thought Jesus was buried in the earth, perhaps stolen from his own tomb and put somewhere else. The Jews had been taught to say that, and so Paul was astonished to hear him speak from heaven and to see him surrounded with such glory, after he had been loaded with every kind of shame. This convinced him that Jesus’ teaching was from God and from heaven, and that it should not only be left alone, but warmly embraced. Jesus is the Messiah, because he has not only risen from the dead, but has also received honor and glory from God the Father. That was enough to make Paul a Christian at once, to leave the company of the persecutors, against whom the Lord from heaven appeared, and join the company of the persecuted, for whom the Lord from heaven appeared.

He also shows that he was made a minister by divine authority. The same Jesus who appeared to him in that glorious light ordered him to go and preach the gospel to the Gentiles. He did not run without being sent, and he was not sent by men like himself, but by the one whom the Father had sent (John 20:21). What is said here about his becoming an apostle is joined at once to what was said to him on the road, though from Acts 9:15 and Acts 22:15, 17 and following, it appears that some of it was spoken later. He puts the two together for the sake of brevity: “Rise, and stand on your feet.” Those whom Christ brings low through the light of his gospel, humbling them for sin, will find that it is to lift them up again, so they may stand in spiritual grace, strength, and comfort. If Christ wounds, it is so he may heal. If he brings low, it is so he may raise up. Rise, then, and shake off the dust (Isaiah 52:2). Help yourself, and Christ will help you.

He must stand up because Christ has work for him to do, a message, and a very great message, to send him with: “I have appeared to you to make you a minister.”

Christ himself makes his own ministers. They receive both their gifts and their commission from him. Paul thanks Christ Jesus, who “put him into the ministry” (1 Timothy 1:12). Christ appeared to him in order to make him a minister.

In one way or another, Christ will make himself known to all whom he calls to serve him. How can people preach Christ if they do not know him? And how can they know him unless his Spirit makes him known to them? Paul is appointed to the office of a minister, one who serves Christ and acts for him as a witness. He is to give evidence for Christ’s cause and confirm the truth of his teaching. He must testify to the gospel of God’s grace. Christ appeared to him so that he might speak for Christ before others.

Paul’s testimony had a clear subject. First, he had to tell what he had seen, especially Christ’s appearing to him on the road and what Christ said to him. He saw these things so that he could make them known, and he did so whenever he had the chance, here and earlier too (Acts 22). Second, he had to speak of the things Christ would later show him. Christ set up an ongoing relationship with Paul and meant to keep teaching him. Paul first had only a hazy understanding of the gospel, until Christ appeared and gave him fuller instruction. He received the gospel he preached directly from Christ (Galatians 1:12), but he received it little by little, as each new need arose. Christ likely appeared to Paul many times that are not recorded, still teaching him so that he could keep teaching others.

While Paul served as Christ’s witness, Christ also kept him under special protection. The powers of darkness could not defeat him until he had finished his testimony (Acts 26:17), “delivering you from the people of the Jews and from the Gentiles.” Christ’s witnesses are under his special care. They may fall into the hands of enemies, but he knows how to free them. Christ had already shown Paul that he would suffer greatly (Acts 9:16), yet here he says he will deliver him from the people. Great suffering does fit with God’s promise to deliver his people, because he does not promise to keep them from trouble, but to bring them through it. Sometimes God allows his people to fall into persecutors’ hands so that he can be honored by rescuing them.

Paul also receives a special commission to go to the Gentiles, that is, the non-Jewish nations. It was years after his conversion before he was sent to them, or even knew clearly that he had been chosen for that work (see Acts 22:21). At last he is told to set his course in that direction. There was great work to do among the Gentiles, and Paul was to help do it.

Two things especially needed to be done. First, a world sitting in darkness had to be given light. People who did not know the things that lead to everlasting peace had to be taught them. They needed to know God as their end, and Christ as their way, when they knew neither. Paul is sent to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light. His preaching would not only tell them things they had never heard before, but would also be the means by which God gives them understanding to receive the truth. In this way, he would open eyes that had been closed to the light, and people would become willing to understand themselves and their true condition. Christ opens the heart by opening the eyes. He does not lead people blindfolded, but lets them see the path ahead.

Paul is sent not only to open their eyes for the moment, but to keep them open, to turn them from darkness to light. That means turning them away from false and blind guides, from oracles, divination, and superstitious practices handed down from their fathers, and from the false ideas they had about their gods. He was to lead them to a divine revelation that could be trusted completely. This is what it means to turn from darkness to light, from ways of darkness to ways where light shines. The great purpose of the gospel is to teach the ignorant and correct the errors of those who are wrong, so that things may be seen in the right light.

Second, a world lying in wickedness, under the evil one, had to be changed and made holy. It is not enough for people to have their eyes opened. Their hearts must also be renewed. It is not enough to be turned from darkness to light. They must also be turned from the power of Satan to God, and that will naturally follow, because Satan rules through darkness, and God rules through the convincing light of truth. Sinners are under Satan’s power, and idolaters were especially so, since they paid honor to demons. All sinners feel his influence, give in to his temptations, and make themselves his captives. Converting grace turns people from Satan’s rule and brings them under God’s rule, so that they live by his word and follow the guidance of his Spirit. It transfers them from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. When holy desires grow strong in the soul, where sinful desires once ruled, that soul has been turned from Satan’s power to God.

This work brings great happiness to the Gentiles. They are to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are made holy by faith. They are turned from the darkness of sin to the light of holiness, and from slavery to Satan to the service of God, not so God may gain from them, but so they may gain from him. They are restored to God’s favor, which sin had cost them. They are to receive forgiveness of sins. They are freed from sin’s power so they may be saved from the death that sin earns. They do not earn forgiveness as a reward. They receive it as a free gift, and that gift prepares them to enjoy its comfort. They lay down their rebellion and return to loyalty, so they may benefit from God’s pardon and use it when judgment comes against them.

They are also made happy by sharing in God himself. They do not only have their sins forgiven. They also receive an inheritance among those who are made holy by faith in Christ. Heaven is an inheritance, because it comes down to all God’s children. If we are children, then we are heirs. It may also be read as “a lot,” pointing to the inheritances in Canaan, which were assigned by lot, and that too was God’s doing, since the result is determined by the Lord.

Some read this as meaning that believers are given a right, not because they deserve it, but by grace alone. All who are truly turned from sin to God are not only forgiven, but also given a place of honor and a rich inheritance. Forgiveness of sins clears the way for that inheritance by removing the one thing that kept it from us.

All who will be saved in the future are being made holy now. Those who are to receive the heavenly inheritance must first be prepared for it and made fit for it. No one can be truly happy unless they are holy, and no one will be a saint in heaven who was not first a saint on earth. If we want happiness, we need no more than to have our lot with those who are made holy, to share their portion and their way.

That is the same as having our lot among the chosen, because they are chosen to salvation through holiness. Those who are made holy will also be glorified. So let us now cast in our lot with them by joining the fellowship of saints, and be willing to share their lot, even in their sufferings. However hard that may be, our share with them in the inheritance will more than make up for it.

We are made holy and saved by faith in Christ. Some connect this with the words just before, “sanctified by faith,” because faith makes the heart clean and applies God’s precious promises to the soul. It also brings the soul under the power of that grace by which we become partakers of the divine nature, that is, we share in God’s holy life. Others connect it with receiving both pardon and the inheritance, since it is by faith that we accept the gift. In either case, the point is the same: by faith we are justified, sanctified, and glorified.

“By faith in me” is given with emphasis. This is the faith that does not only believe God’s revelation in general, but fastens on Jesus Christ and his mediation, that is, his work as the go-between who brings us to God. By this faith, we trust Christ as the Lord who is our righteousness, and we surrender ourselves to him as the Lord who rules us. This is how we receive forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and eternal life.

Paul now turns to show that he fulfilled his ministry according to his commission, with God’s help and under his direction and protection. God, who called him to be an apostle, approved his apostolic work and carried him through it with growth and success.

God gave him a willing heart to obey the call. “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). Any reasonable person would agree that he ought to obey it. Heavenly visions have more authority than earthly plans, and it is dangerous to refuse them. If Paul had listened to his own fleshly desires and his worldly interests, he would have done as Jonah did and gone anywhere except on that mission. But God opened his ear, and he did not rebel. He accepted the commission, received his instructions, and set himself to carry them out.

God also enabled him to do a great deal of work, even though it brought great trouble, as in Acts 26:20. He devoted himself to preaching the gospel with full energy. He began in Damascus, where he had been converted, and lost no time in serving Christ (Acts 9:20). When he came to Jerusalem, where he had been trained, he witnessed for Christ there, in the very place where he had once fought against him most fiercely (Acts 9:29). He preached through all the regions of Judea, in towns and villages, as Christ had done. He offered the gospel first to the Jews, as Christ had commanded, and did not turn away until they had willingly rejected it. He labored for their good with great earnestness, working more than any of the apostles, perhaps more than all of them together.

His preaching was always practical. He did not try to fill people’s minds with empty ideas, amuse them with clever theories, or stir up fights over doubtful questions. Instead, he showed and proved that people ought to repent of their sins, turn to God, and do works that fit repentance. To repent means to think again, to change one’s mind, and to change one’s way. It means being sorry for sin, confessing it, and entering a new agreement against it. It also means turning away from what is evil and turning toward what is good, in love, obedience, and duty. This is what God requires of the whole fallen human race, both Jews and Gentiles.

They must turn back to God himself, as their highest good, their ruler, and their portion. They must turn their eyes to him, their hearts to him, and their steps toward his commands. They must also do deeds that match repentance. John preached this first, since he was the first gospel preacher (Matthew 3:8). Those who say they repent must live repentant lives. It is not enough to speak words of sorrow. We must do the works that fit such words. As true faith acts, so true repentance also works. What fault could anyone find in preaching like this? It aimed directly at reforming the world, easing its troubles, and reviving true religion.

The Jews had no real complaint against Paul except that he did all he could to persuade people to be religious and to come to God through Christ (Acts 26:21). That was why they seized him in the temple and tried to kill him. Let anyone judge whether these were crimes worth death or imprisonment. He suffered, not only for doing what was right himself, but for doing good to others. They tried to take his life, because it was a useful life that they hated. They seized him while he was in the temple worshiping God, and there they attacked him, as if the better the place, the better the wrong.

He had no support except from heaven, and by that support he kept going in this great work (Acts 26:22). “Having therefore obtained help from God, I continue to this day.” The words mean, “I have stood firm. My life has been preserved, and my work has gone on. I have held my ground, and no one has driven me back. I have stood by what I said, and I have not been afraid or ashamed to keep saying it.” It had been more than twenty years since Paul was converted, and all that time he had been busy preaching the gospel in the middle of danger. What kept him up? Not his own strong resolve, but the help he received from God. Because the work was so great and the opposition so strong, he could not have continued without God’s help.

Those who are used in God’s work will also receive help from God. He will not fail his servants when they need support. Our very survival to this day should be traced back to his help. We would have sunk if he had not held us up, and fallen away if he had not carried us along. We should say this with gratitude, to his praise.

Paul points to this as proof that his commission came from God, because God gave him the power to carry it out. The preachers of the gospel could never have done, suffered, and succeeded as they did unless they had direct help from heaven. And that help would not have been given if they had not been defending God’s own cause.

Paul also taught nothing that did not agree with the Old Testament Scriptures. He testified to both small and great, young and old, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, ordinary people and famous ones. This showed the gospel’s graciousness, because even the lowest people were welcome to hear it. It also showed the truth and power of the gospel, because it was not afraid or ashamed to speak to the greatest.

Paul’s enemies said he taught more than that people should repent, turn to God, and do deeds that fit repentance. Those things were indeed taught by the prophets of the Old Testament. But Paul also preached Christ, his death, and his resurrection, and that was what they objected to, as Acts 25:19 shows, where he said that Jesus was alive. Paul answers, in effect, “Yes, I said that, and I still say it. But in saying that, I am saying nothing other than what Moses and the prophets said would happen. What greater honor can be given to them than to show that what they foretold has now been fulfilled, right on time?”

The prophets foretold three things, and Paul preached the same three. First, that Christ would suffer, meaning the Messiah would be a suffering Savior. He would not only be a man who could suffer, but as Messiah he was appointed to suffering. His shameful death was not only consistent with his mission, it was part of it. The cross was a stumbling block to the Jews, and Paul’s preaching of the cross was one main reason they were angered. But Paul insists that, by preaching this, he was preaching the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. So they should not have been offended, but should have accepted it.

Second, the Messiah would be the first to rise from the dead. This does not mean he was first in time, since others had been raised before him. It means he was first in rank and importance, the chief one in resurrection. He is called the firstborn from the dead and the firstfruits of those who have died (Revelation 1:5; Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:20). He opened the grave as the firstborn opens the womb, and he made the way for our own resurrection. He was the first to rise and never die again. And to show that believers’ resurrection comes through him, many saints rose when he did and went into the holy city (Matthew 27:52-53).

Third, he would bring light to the people and to the Gentiles. First to the Jewish people, because he was to be the glory of Israel. He gave light to them by his own ministry, and then to the Gentiles through his apostles, because he was to be a light for those sitting in darkness. Paul is referring here to his commission, that he was sent to turn people from darkness to light (Acts 26:18). Christ rose from the dead in order to bring this light, to prove his doctrine true, and to send it out with greater power among both Jews and Gentiles. The Old Testament prophets had also said that the Gentiles would be brought to know God through the Messiah. So what reason was there for the Jews to be angry at this?