Acts 23:1

Tuesday, 19 December 2023

Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” Acts 23:1

The Greek is more literally translated, “And Paul, having looked fixedly at the council, said, ‘Men, brothers, I – in all good conscience – have citizened to God until this day.’”

In the previous verse, Paul was brought by the Roman commander and set before the council. With him there, Chapter 23 begins with, “And Paul, having looked fixedly.”

Paul’s fixed look implies a staring gaze. HELPS Word Studies says it signifies “to fix one’s eyes on some object continually and intensely – ‘to look straight at, to stare at, to keep one’s eyes fixed on.’” It was used in Luke 4:20, Acts 6:15, and Acts 7:55, among other times. If his eyesight was bad, as speculated, it would be all the more relevant to show that he diligently was attempting to meet the eyes of his accusers. Therefore, he having looked fixedly “at the council, said, ‘Men, brothers.’”

In his address, he greets them as equals, “men, brothers.” This would have been the first time in a quarter of a century that he stood in this place, sometime around the stoning of Stephen. There, after all these years, he begins his defense with the words, “I – in all good conscience.”

Here, a new word is introduced into Scripture, suneidésis. It signifies “joint-knowing.” It thus signifies “conscience which joins moral and spiritual consciousness as part of being created in the divine image. Accordingly, all people have this God-given capacity to know right from wrong because each is a free moral agent” (HELPS Word Studies).

Paul is summing up all of his time during those intervening years and his ministry to the Gentiles, whom they so despised, as right and appropriate. He asserts that his moral conduct in this regard was above reproach and that it would have been approved of by the higher moral power before whom he conducted his affairs. That is next expressly stated in the words “have citizened to God until this day.”

Another new word is brought into Scripture here and is defined by a new Charlie word now gifted to the English language, politeuomai. It means to behave or live as a citizen, coming from polités, a citizen. Thus, it means to citizen oneself. As it is a perfect participle, “have citizened” fits the meaning exactly. The word is found only elsewhere in Scripture in Philippians 1:27 –

“Only let your conduct [lit: citizening (another new Charlie word)] be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”

This word is an idiom of the times to mean that he had lived properly, and his conscience was clean, even before God. This would have riled up those before him to no end, having been aware of his efforts among the Gentiles and of his walk with the Messiah they had rejected.

For some other times Paul speaks of conscience, see 2 Timothy 1:3; 1 Timothy 1:5; Romans 2:15, 13:5; 1 Corinthians 4:4, 10:25; and Acts 24:16.

Life application: As noted in previous commentaries, Paul never denied his citizenship either before God or as a citizen of the empire (Rome) or country (Israel) to which he belonged. He used each according to the rights and benefits conferred upon him because of that citizenship.

And more, he claimed his rights to a heavenly citizenship as is indicated elsewhere in the New Testament. Of this status within a society, Wikipedia defines the word politeia. It is a help in understanding one’s rights within a particular society –

According to Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon a meaning of politeia is ‘the conditions and rights of the citizen, or citizenship’, analogous to the Latin civitas.

Politeia, in Greek means the community of citizens in a city / state. ...

Politeia is derived from both the root word polis meaning ‘city’ or ‘state’, and from the verb politeuomai that means ‘I am living as an active citizen of the polis.’

People living in a Greek city/state were not necessarily citizens. A person that was ostracized from the active matrix of the city was an example of such. Another example was people who lived in the city but were not active citizens who had a say in the political processes of the community. Women, slaves and others who Greek men deemed unworthy were not in the active matrix of the political formations of that city state, making them not-citizens, so not part of politeia.

In countries of the world today, many illegal aliens are brought in. And yet, they do not possess the rights of the nation in which they live. In the visible church, there are unbelievers. They are in the church, but they are not of the church. Thus, they have no right to the citizenship of the church.

Paul held the rights of a Roman, a man of Israel, and a member of the church. He thus possessed the rights of the heavenly citizenship found in Christ. The Jews who had rejected Jesus do not possess those rights. This continues to this day.

This is an important point. Dual Covenantalism claims that Jews are saved by adherence to the law. This would be like saying that the illegals, or even legal immigrants still on visas or Green Cards, in the US have rights to citizenship because they work in jobs earning money.

Anyone with a modicum of sense can tell that such a notion is false. Only a person who is made a citizen can have the rights of a citizen. This is the false dichotomy set forth by people like John Hagee, who teach Dual Covenantalism. They claim rights for others that do not exist. The only way to possess the heavenly rights of citizenship of the New Covenant is to enter into the New Covenant through faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ.

But this also again shows the sad state of those Christians who do not participate in the political decisions of the nations in which they live. They fail to understand that God has placed them in those nations to be active members of them.

Understanding the nature of the Hebrew or Greek writings from the perspective of the people who lived during those times helps shed light on what we are being told in Scripture. Be sure to pay heed. Be sure to participate in each body of which you are a citizen. And be sure to never acknowledge others’ rights to citizenship that they do not possess, lest you lead them to a false sense of security that they do not enjoy.

Lord God Almighty, may we diligently study Your word and show ourselves approved before You by adhering to the precepts You have laid out for us there. May we carefully consider our state before You and never waffle in conducting our lives accordingly. We have been granted heavenly citizenship because of Jesus. Help us to live in accord with that truth. Amen.