Acts 26:28

Saturday, 13 April 2024

Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” Acts 26:28

A literal reading is much sparser in content, “And Agrippa to Paul: ‘In a little, you persuade me to become a Christian!’” (CG).

Paul just asked Agrippa if he believed the prophets. He then immediately answered his own question, acknowledging that the king did. With that, a response comes from the king, “And Agrippa to Paul: ‘In a little, you persuade me to become a Christian!’”

Agrippa’s response shows full well that he was aware of the entire situation, exactly as Paul had said. He uses the term “Christian.” So far, it has only been used once, in Acts 11:26, concerning the believers in Antioch, where the term was first used.

That term, however, had obviously become well known enough to become common, even by the king himself. It is believed by some that the term “Christian” is used in a negative sense and only later would it come into a positive one. It is assumed by some scholars that in each of the three times it is used in the Bible, it is stated as a term of derision. It is last used in 1 Peter 4:16. 

Regardless of this, though, this is one of the highly debated verses in the Book of Acts. The words are difficult for even the greatest Greek scholars to be adamant about. The KJV inserts a presupposition and says, “...almost you persuade me.” Other versions say, “Do you think in such a short time you can persuade me...?” or “In brief, you are doing your best to persuade me...” One paraphrase says, “...you are making short work of my conversion: you are persuading me to become a Christian as suddenly as you yourself did;” Another scholar, considering the negative connotation of the word “Christian,” paraphrases this, “Thou wilt soon have me one of that despised sect.”

The Pulpit Commentary gives more ideas with these words – “Another difference of opinion is whether the words of Agrippa are to be taken ironically, or sarcastically, or jestingly, or whether they are to be taken seriously, as the words of a man shaken in his convictions and seriously impressed by what he had heard. The whole turn of the narrative seems to favor the latter view. Another view, started by Chrysostom, is that Agrippa used the words in one sense, and St. Paul (mistakenly or advisedly) took them in another.”

Finally, another scholar finds the intent to be, “By your appeal to the prophets you press me hard; you have got me into a corner. I am in a στενοχωρία, a narrow room; ‘I hardly know how to get out of it.’”

Reading all of these and considering each doesn’t get us any closer to knowing exactly what he meant. This includes adding in Paul’s coming response. Normally, it would show exactly what Agrippa was thinking, but as the Pulpit Commentary said, Paul may have simply ignored the response and restated it in order to continue to impress upon him the surety of his own convictions.

I have given the most literal translation and inserted an exclamation point. This could then be the king’s note of surprised rebuke, a highly dubious sense of questioning, or even an adamant confirmation that he could actually be swayed by Paul. An exclamation point allows for any of these options and more, just as the brevity of the wording does.

Life application: The Bible shows quite clearly that when the gospel is preached and the word is believed, salvation occurs. This is evidenced in Acts 10 at the conversion of Cornelius and those with him. It is also implied in Paul’s words in the following verses –

The gospel: “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4

A response of faith: “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:13, 14

We have no idea what Agrippa’s heart accepted. If he believed with his words being a confirmation of that belief, then he was saved. If the record of his life after this is one of never living the way he should, that does not negate that he was saved, and that God sealed him with a guarantee of that salvation.

That is true for every person attending the court at that time. It is God who reads the heart of man. It is God who accepts the faith of a person. And it is God, who cannot err, who seals that person with the seal of the Holy Spirit. If you are fighting against the doctrine of eternal salvation, you are fighting against God’s decision, which He alone has the right to make.

Don’t fight against God. Straighten out your doctrine to align with His word and His will.

Lord God, how faithful You are to Your unfaithful people. May we be sound in our thinking and reasonable in our theology. What You determine is an eternal decree. Help us to understand this and accept it. Your faithfulness is in no way negated by our unfaithfulness. You are the great and covenant-keeping Lord our God. Hallelujah and Amen!