If you’ve been following along for the past few weeks, you’ll remember that the imperative (the command) in 1 Peter 3:15 is to “sanctify Christ as Lord in [our] hearts.” Here’s how the ESV renders Peter’s admonition:

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, — 1 Peter 3:15 ESV

You’ll note that instead of “sanctify”, the ESV (and a couple of other less popular translations), use the word “honor” instead of sanctify.

Of Ends and Means: Details Matter to God

The question I posed to the class was “Is it possible to get the right results but to dishonor God in the process?” One sharp student immediately responded with something along the lines of “Of course! Because the ends don’t justify the means!”

Bingo. I couldn’t have said it better myself. But, to make sure that we were all on the same page, I explained what “ends” and “means” are and came up with the following summary:

Just because you get the desired result, that doesn’t mean that God is pleased with the way you did it.”

When I asked for a biblical example, one of the students offered the Hebrew midwives of Exodus 1, who, not only defied Pharaoh’s edict to murder every male Hebrew at his birth (Exodus 1:16, 17) but they also lied to him when he demanded an accounting for their actions (Exodus 1:19). Time would not allow me to spend much time on this in class, but I did cover this in some depth back in May of last year, which is summarized in my post “Is It Ever Okay for a Christian to Lie?” So, I asked for another example…and someone offered “water from the rock!”

Yahtzee®! Exactly what I was thinking.

We turned to Exodus 17:6 wherein we see that God commanded Moses to strike the rock at Horeb so that water would come out so the people could drink. The text doesn’t explicitly say that water came out, but since Moses was obedient to God’s command, God always keeps His word, and since there’s no record of the people continuing to complain about water afterwards, we can safely assume that water did indeed come from the rock.

Things get more interesting, however, in Numbers 20:8–12. In verse 8, God tells Moses to speak to the rock; but in his anger, Moses struck the rock…not once, but twice! But notice what the text says in verse 11: “…and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank.” (emphasis mine) Did you catch that? Here, we have Moses being disobedient to the explicit command of God, and the text explicitly tells us that not only did the people and their animals drink, but that the water came forth abundantly!

Now, if you stop reading there, you may very well be inclined to think, “See? The ends do justify the means after all; God isn’t concerned about the piddly details of how we do things.” But you have to keep reading. Check out the very next verse:

But Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” — Numbers 20:12

See how I have bolded “treat me as hold” in the verse above? Does that sound familiar to you? It should; if it doesn’t, go back and re-read 1 Peter 3:15.

Following Paul’s Example

So, what does this have to do with Paul’s apologias in Acts 22ff? Good question, but we need to remember a few more things:

1. Paul’s apologias appear in the book of Acts

2. Acts is the only New Testament book in the genre of history

3. We study history because it turns out that learning from other people’s mistakes is a lot easier than making and learning from our own. This is born out in 1 Corinthians 10:6, 11, 12 wherein we learn that the things (particularly God’s judgment of their disobedience) that happened to Israel as examples for us, and they were written for our instructions. Of particular note is the reason given in verse 12 “Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”

4. The Holy Spirit commands us to “follow Paul as he follow[ed] Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)

So, if we’re going to be obedient and “follow Paul as he followed Christ,” and if the history books are given to as “as examples,” then it behooves us to examine closely how and what Paul did…as recorded in the book of Acts.

Acts 22:1–21

Here, Paul gives his apologia before the Jews (a mob, really) in Jerusalem. His “defense” doesn’t look at all like a courtroom defense; but rather looks like this:

1. He gives his testimony in vv. 1–16

2. He told of direct revelation from Jesus Christ in vv. 7, 18. I see this as an implicit testimony of the resurrection of Jesus Christ since it was Jesus Himself who was speaking to Paul…and as the old saying goes, “dead men tell no tales.”

3. He related how Ananias told him to “get up, be baptized and wash away your sins (i.e., repent)” in v. 16. It seems to me that Paul is indirectly challenging his hearers to do the same by telling them this.

4. He said that Christ commanded him to go to the gentiles in v. 21…which just about started another riot.

Acts 23:1–11

Paul, here, delivers a one-sentence sermon: “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!” (Acts 23:6)

That’s all he needed to say to throw the entire Sanhedrin into utter chaos!

Acts 24:1–25

Now, Paul is before the Roman governor Felix, and the broad outline of his apologia before him looked like this:

1. “I believe in God” in v. 11

2. “I believe in the Scriptures” in v. 14

3. “My hope is in the resurrection” in v. 15

4. He spoke of faith in Jesus Christ in v. 24, and finally

5. He discussed righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come in v. 25. Paul started hitting a little too close to home with those topics, and it frightened Felix to the point where he sent Paul away.

Acts 25:7–11

In this short account, Paul:

1. Asserted his faithfulness to the Old Testament Scriptures in v. 8

2. Expressed faith in the resurrection of Christ in v. 19

Acts 26:1–29

Before King Agrippa, after a brief greeting and an even briefer explanation of his background, Paul’s apologia touches on the following:

1. The resurrection of the dead in vv. 6–8

2. His testimony in vv. 9–18

3. A proclamation of the suffereings and resurrection of the dead in vv. 22, 23, and

4. A calling of Agrippa to belief, reminding him that he knows (and apparently believes!) the Old Testament prophets in vv. 27–29

The Big Take-away

Paul never really saw a need to prove that God exists, or that YHWH is the only true and living God. Paul never tried to prove that the Bible is the inspired word of this living God. While he did speak of direct revelation from Jesus Christ, Paul did not otherwise appeal to his authority as an apostle, nor did he mention the miraculous signs and wonders that he had performed prior to these encounters (Acts 13:9–11; 14:9–11; 16:16–18; 19:11–12; 20:9–12). Rather, Paul was fixed like a laser on the gospel of Jesus Christ—His death, burial, resurrection, and the coming judgment (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:1–5)—and he wasn’t afraid to make his message personal and call his audience to repentance. Why? Because his desire was not to beat down opponents and win arguments; his aim was to preach the gospel of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:16) because it is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16).

We should, therefore, do likewise.

Homework

The homework for next Sunday is to come prepared with a question or two you’d like me to address. If I can’t answer to our mutual satisfaction, you’ll have given me homework.