When I last read Acts, a story stood out to me that I had never noticed before. In all of my previous readings I somehow skimmed over this gem and missed out on the power (and humor) that this short story presents. I’ll let you read it for yourself,
“But on the next day, wishing to know for certain why he [Paul] had been accused by the Jews, he [the Roman military captain] released him and ordered the chief priests and all the council [Pharisees and Sadducees] to assemble, and brought Paul down and set him before them. Paul, looking intently at the council, said, “Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.” The high priest Ananias commanded those standing beside him to strike him on the mouth.” Acts 22:30-23:2
This excerpt may not appear to have much to it, but something about Paul’s one-line appeal to this council of Jewish-religionists was packed with offence and heresy! Paul, who by this time may have been known to this group as being a leader in a fast-growing Jewish cult, claimed to have something going for him that a room full of religious-professionals was very offended by. He dared to brag that his conscience was squeaky-clean, and he was smacked across the face for this sparkling-claim!
But why should they care?
This statement was heretical insomuch as even the best of the best religionist couldn’t attain it! Paul knew this all too well from his time as a Pharisee within the Jewish tradition. Before Christ blinded Saul (later named Paul) in the height of his career of terrorism against Christianity, this young man would have spent most of his life immersed in the Torah, given entirely over to studying, memorizing and obeying its many laws and traditions.
Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi gives a remarkable glimpse into just how dedicated and disciplined he was in those days,
“If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.” Philippians 3:4-6
In his own words, Paul followed the Jewish traditions so rigorously, that nothing could have been pinned against him – that is an enormous claim for someone that is held accountable to 600+ laws and 10 commandments. But Paul doesn’t bring up his stellar resume for any more than renouncing the very program that he excelled in. He goes on to say, “…those things I have counted as LOSS for the sake of Christ,” Because despite his fame, knowledge and impressive self-discipline, Paul’s mind was in turmoil while he lived to obey the law – his conscience was against him.
Hear his inner-agony as Paul recalls what living by the law did for him,
“For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” Romans 7:14-24
This is the only place in all of Paul’s letters where he uses ‘I’ as frequently as he does in such a short literary-span. And it’s in these I’s that we see the incompletion of what the Law of Moses had to offer mankind. The Torah caused an already self-seeking humanity to look for solutions within themselves even more than they already did, under the impression that man could better himself or find his identity by what he could accomplish separate from God – the very mindset that’s essence is the antithesis of the Gospel: God’s single-handed restoration of mankind to himself.
To clarify, The Law in and of itself was not bad, but without the knowledge of Christ (unveiled through the New Testament) it could only fuel man’s rebellion, as sparked by mankind’s misunderstanding of their relationship to God. When humanity lost sight of their nature in the Garden of Eden, the mission of making an identity for one’s self began in the heart of each of us. But God’s triumphant declaration in Christ was that He had always loved humanity, and that we had carried His nature long before we ever went to create our own.
To make an identity by living under law and tradition was fickle – an individual could only be as good or bad as their last good or bad action!
To go back to our story of Paul being smacked for his bold remark: What was so heretical about this claim? He was suggesting that he lived guilt, shame and condemnation free to a council haunted by these same loud demons. Paul knew that his salvation and life had nothing to do with his strivings, and so he didn’t let his mind and feelings define who he was!
Pastor Dan Mohler summarizes this concept very well, “Guilt says, ‘I’m not forgiven’. Condemnation says, ‘My life is worthy of judgment’. Shame says, ‘This is still who I am’. [Each is] anti-gospel.”
While I wouldn’t wish anyone be smacked in the face for any reason, I will say that if you’re going to be hit, someone striking you out of their sheer jealousy for your freedom is a pretty cool cause for the momentary abuse. But whether this freedom only exists within your own mind or it is so loud that religion expels you for your heresy, I have only to wish that you live every day in your new-found liberty from guilt, shame and condemnation because those burdens are no longer yours to carry.
The Gospel, as far as religions are concerned, is the heretical belief that God’s love was so outrageously for you that He accepted and loved you long before you even considered Him.
Beautiful feet 