Acts 21:19

Saturday, 28 October 2023

When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.  Acts 21:19

More precisely, the Greek reads, “And having greeted them, he recounted one by each thing that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry” (CG). 

In the previous verse, Paul went with the other missionaries to see James and the other elders in Jerusalem. Now, Luke continues, saying, “And having greeted them.”

It is the same word used in Acts 21:6 and 21:7, aspazomai. It means to greet, salute, embrace, etc. The idea is that of enfolding in the arms. Being fellow believers, it is probable they met and gave hearty hugs and fraternal kisses. After this greeting, “he recounted one by each thing.”

To recount means to fully explain. Paul mentally calls forth the wonderful things that were accomplished over the past years, and then he repeats those things in detail to his audience.

This report would have included everything since his last visit which was in Acts 18:22. This would have been a long and detailed report, filled with the marvels of what had occurred throughout the various regions he had visited. These things are further described, saying, “that God had done among the Gentiles.”

The things Paul did are specifically credited to the hand of God. Paul and those with him were as emissaries going forth on behalf of God. As Paul was the active agent of what God was doing, the mentioning of what was done among the Gentiles reflects his own words of Galatians 2:8-10 –

“...(for He who worked effectively in Peter for the apostleship to the circumcised also worked effectively in me toward the Gentiles), 9 and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.”

Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles, and it is his words that set church doctrine in this context, meaning during the Gentile-led church age. Understanding this, Luke specifically says this with the words “through his ministry.”

God is doing the work among the Gentiles, but it is through Paul that this is being accomplished. There is a syncretism implied here that carries through to the doctrine of election. God uses man to carry His message forward to others. He initiates, He enables, He directs, etc. However, it is still done through man. In this case, it is through Paul and his ministry.

God is pleased to allow Paul to be recognized for his efforts which have been accomplished through him. Further, this verse is a sharp rebuke to Judaizers who have attempted to limit him in his ministry and shrivel the church into a Jewish-only sect.

God has different plans, and He used the apostle to the Gentiles to bring it about. No glory is robbed from God in the way Luke has structured his words. Rather, God is further glorified because it was He who selected Paul, and it was He who worked through Paul, to effect what had (and continues to) come about. As the Geneva Bible says, “God is to be praised, who is the author of all good sayings and deeds.”

Life application: A couple points of extremely important doctrine are focused on in the words of this verse. One of them is that of free will. Paul was fully capable and permitted to simply walk away from his ministry. But he knew that he was the one carrying the message to the Gentile for them to hear and respond to.

In other words, the doctrine of free will extends not only to Paul, who was already a believer in Christ, but to those Gentiles he would speak to. If Paul had not conveyed the message to them, they would not have heard. If they didn’t hear, they could not respond. If they did not respond, they would not be saved.

Thus, the Calvinistic idea of God electing people apart from their free will is shown to be false. One must hear the word of God. After hearing, one either has faith and believes or dismisses what he heard and doesn’t believe.

Another doctrine that is seen is that what Paul says is that which applies to the Gentiles who hear it. Paul is dismissed in varying degrees by the Judaizers of the world, be it through Sabbath day observance, not eating various foods, etc. Deferring to the Law of Moses for one’s standing before God is totally excluded from Paul’s teachings, and thus for the whole of the Gentile-led church age.

Thus, for two thousand years, the church has been a Gentile-led display of God's redemptive plans. This is so plainly evident that it is amazing how much of the church seems to miss this fact.

Lord God, help us to keep what is being relayed to us in Scripture in its proper context. May we be obedient to the calling which is made, meaning Your grace that is seen in the giving of Jesus for our sins. Help us never to attempt to earn what we have been freely given. May we not disgrace the significance of His cross in this way. Amen.