Conduct Worthy of the Gospel

Song: Beneath The Cross Of Jesus

Scripture: Acts 16:16-40

The story of Paul in the Philippian jailhouse is one of my favorites because of what it exposes in the heart of the Apostle Paul. It is the end of the story that impresses me. Paul and Silas, their legs and back just starting to scab over and bruises appear, are told that they are free to depart in peace. Paul objects and reveals their Roman citizenship to the terror of the magistrates. It was a criminal offense to scourge a Roman citizen. They came begging Paul and Silas to leave the city. Paul’s actions on this occasion were extraordinary in at least two ways.

First, the gospel was vindicated. The teaching of Paul had been misrepresented by the masters of the fortune-telling slave girl. The magistrates under the pressure of an angry mob did not inquire about Paul’s citizenship nor allow him to make a defense. But by publicly escorting Paul and Silas from the prison the humiliated judiciaries testified to the innocence of these missionaries and their message.

Secondly, Paul did not exercise his full legal right. Had he desired, Paul might have had the heads of the city’s magistrates. However his interest lay not with personal vengeance but with public vindication of the gospel. By not fully exercising his rights, he showed that this gospel was different.

“Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel” Paul later wrote to the Christians in Philippi. If you need help learning the sense of that command, look again at the conduct of Paul.

Jason Moore