Can we learn from the actions of Bible characters; without our needing to judge if those actions were good or wicked? [The Bible does of course, give us the ability to judge certain actions as bad: But only as the Bible clearly and specifically defines an action to be wicked. As we read the Bible, we may not sometimes know if the actions of imperfect men are good or bad. The realization [and consideration] that we may not always be able to know whether an act is bad forms the basis of this meditation.]
We are no doubt familiar with the term "peer pressure." We send our little children off to school realizing there will be other little children there who have been misinformed. Some of them will absolutely believe that things which are bad for them are actually good. Likely some will want our little children to join them in taking drugs, because being "high" is just a wonderful thing in their confused little mind. They may be as sincere as they can be. They may be true believers! Those trained by the Bible know better of course, and we warn our children about the dangers of listening to their peers. That remains true for wise parents, whether their little children are 6 or 60. [When you are 6 years old, a wise 8 year old seems a genius - because the days of his years are 1/3 more. When you are 60 years old, a wise 80 year old may seem a genius - because the 60 year old has only lived 75% as long.] If you realize you are wiser than your little 6 year old child, try to imagine how much wiser our Creator is than we are. Additionally, we should realize He loves us far more than we can love even our own children. (1 John 4:19 ; 1 John 3:16) If we want to give our children instructions to protect them from their peers, don't you imagine your Heavenly Father wants to do the same for you. That is what the Bible is! As we read the Bible, it is as if our Father is whispering in our ear: Don't take your direction from your little peers, no matter how sincere and well meaning they may be. God really does have your back [as people are so fond of saying about those who protect them]. (Isaiah 30:21 ; Jeremiah 7:23) All we have to do to have God's help is listen to his instructions: Read your Bible! The warning from our Father against being led astray by well meaning [or sometimes wicked] men comes glaring out of the Bible over and over. Become noble minded by listening to me, our Father tells us, and don't become a Doeg by listening to your peers. That seems an important lesson we can take away from this Bible consideration: Your survival as a Christian depends on your being able to recognize the truth of the Bible for yourself. We all must recognize from the actions by those individuals who rob and kill without reservation, there are many who would freely kill you as well: Either physically, or spiritually. As to spiritual enlightenment, many who are well meaning and sincere individuals are very confused. Jehovah gave you the Bible to keep you safe from being misled and killed by such persons: Whether those individuals are wicked, or they are well meaning but confused. (John 8:31-32)
To start this consideration then, you should have read the webpage consideration of whether Paul's actions were righteously motivated at Acts 21:23-27. You need to understand our point made on that webpage: That we may not always be able to know if the specific recorded actions by the apostle Paul [or other faithful men] were good or wicked. [You don't have to agree with us that we are not able to judge Paul's actions, but to follow our reasoning for this scriptural consideration, you must understand our supposition.]
The second thing this should lead all to understand, and that you should keep in mind during this consideration, is that we do not assert our reasoning [or meditating] on this [or any other] matter makes it a Bible teaching. You must learn that distinction: We entertain a reasoning process; so as to try and arrive at an opinion on some matter, which opinion we then hope is based in the Bible. Even then though, we must always remember, what we arrive at will still be just an opinion and not necessarily Bible truth. If the Bible does not clearly say a thing, it must not be considered Bible truth. If we must reason it out, it then becomes our opinion. We must all recognize that distinction at all times, so as to keep it clear in our own mind: On the one hand there is Bible truth based on clear Bible teachings, and then there are our own opinions which we form based on our own personal knowledge of that Bible truth. We all want to believe of course, that our own personal opinions [which in turn become a part of our personal faith] and Bible truth, are one and the same thing. Sincere Bible students are actually trying to make their opinion and Bible teaching one and the same thing. They are not the same though, and that is the danger for all! There are many people out there who actually believe their opinion is Bible truth. Such people are very dangerous. [It will take a perfect man or woman to have an opinion (or personal faith) fully in harmony with the Bible. Some day the earth will be filled with people whose actions are in harmony with the Bible, but not today. (Isaiah 11:1-12)] Most of the harm being done in the earth is done by pious individuals who imagine their opinion is truth. They may be sincere, but when they allow their formed opinions to become the same in their mind as Bible truth, they become apostate. They are then ready to judge as wicked any who do not conform to their opinion. (John 7:47-49) Maintaining humility will help you realize and respect the difference between your own opinions and Bible truth. What good then, could come from scriptural considerations which lead to the forming of such personal opinions? Reasoning on the scriptures should be done only for the purpose of attaining a better understanding of our Heavenly Father and what he is teaching: It should be an effort made by us to know Jehovah better so as to become his friends. Our desire should never be to glorify or extol our own knowledge. Remembering everything we have and know comes from our Father should help us remain humble. (1 Corinthians 4:7) Humility should then help us be determined to always maintain a separation in our own mind between our personal faith, and clear Bible truth. It should help us mature so as to teach only Bible truth! It should warn us against others who want to go beyond the things written in God's word. (1 Corinthians 4:7) We believe the Bible is alive to exert power, (Hebrews 4:12) so as to give us knowledge and thinking ability. (Proverbs 1:4) The only way the Bible can have that effect on us is by our "putting on the mind of Christ" *1 (1 Corinthians 2:16) as it were. The only way we put on the mind of our Lord is by immersing ourselves in his teachings. [You should read, and re-read, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, until you are very familiar with those Bible books.] We must build faith the Bible is truth! We thereby strive not to seek our own glory, but to seek our Heavenly Father's glory, by doing our best to imitate God's son: That by promoting only what Jesus taught and never our own teachings. We can know Jesus intimately only by our knowing [being familiar with] his teachings. In our imitating Christ, we follow the pattern and example given by Jesus himself as he always imitated his Father. (John 7:14-18 ; John 7:28-29 ; Luke 20:21) We believe reasoning [meditating] on Jesus's teachings, and reasoning on the Bible recorded actions of those who claimed to be his followers, is the way we can come to understand how Jesus thought: So as to be able to think like and/or to imitate Jesus. [As much as it is possible for imperfect humans to do so.] One excellent way of understanding Jesus is to read about, and then imagine ourselves in the place of, his imperfect followers. To those ends then, we arrive at this consideration to these recorded actions by Paul.
As we consider Paul's actions, we can know from the Bible Paul was a zealous follower of Christ Jesus. Paul knew Jesus came to fulfill the law code, and take it out of the way by setting us free of the curse of law. [Since no imperfect man could keep God's perfect law, that perfect law became a curse; (Matthew 5:17 ; Galatians 3:10-13) It was a curse however, which led men to the Christ. (Galatians 3:24)] Paul was thus well aware Jesus's followers were no longer under law. (Galatians 2:18) Paul was also a Jew however, and had been a prominent Jew at that. He grew up studying at the feet of Gamaliel. (Acts 21:40-22:5) Before becoming a zealous Christian, Paul had persecuted Christians as a zealous Jew. (Acts 26:9-11)
We understand then that Christianity was relatively new to Paul, and that he had grown up as a Jew. We also understand those Jewish customs and laws had been the center of Paul's life from his youth up. It is with that knowledge we arrive at these actions by Paul in Acts 21, actions about which we now wonder:
Just after Paul recounted God's work among the nations to some Christians in Jerusalem, [men and women who had converted from Judaism - possibly some of them were new Christians] in verse 20 of Acts 21, we find a Jewish convert asking Paul if he had noted how many thousands of Jewish Christians there were: "All of them zealous for the law," he then added. He went on to warn Paul those converted Jews had heard Paul was teaching an apostasy from the law given through Moses, telling them neither to circumcise their children nor to walk in the solemn customs of their forefathers. Paul was not of course teaching an apostasy from the Law of Moses; but he was teaching that Jesus was the fulfillment of the law, and that hope no longer existed through the keeping of the law but through faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 5:6 ; Acts 13:38-39) Those Jewish converts had a solution prepared for the problem they perceived however, as they told Paul: (Acts 21:23-24) 23 "Therefore do this which we tell you: We have four men with a vow upon themselves. 24 Take these men along and cleanse yourself ceremonially with them and take care of their expenses, that they may have their heads shaved. And so everybody will know that there is nothing to the rumors they were told about you, but that you are walking orderly, you yourself also keeping the Law." They even went on to explain in Acts 21, verse 25, what they had judged proper for the Gentile Christians. It appears they were making a distinction between Jews and Gentiles, and thereby showing partiality. It seems they were suggesting Paul go beyond what was "right" for Gentile Christians, and pretend to be one keeping the Jewish Law, or even suggesting he actually become one keeping it. If so, they were encouraging Paul to turn back toward Jewish Law, which would mean abandoning Christianity. (Galatians 2:18) Was Paul's response in going along with them good or bad? Did Paul briefly give in to his peers, by following after or listening to what had been familiar to him all his life? If so, what did it cost him?
That then, is the focus of this webpage consideration: Was Paul upright in his support of these Jewish men; and if not, did his brief turn toward Judaism temporarily cost him God's protection? Paul and his contemporaries certainly lived in perilous times. There in Jerusalem, Paul was in the midst of the Jewish nation, most of whom did not want to leave the teachings and traditions of their forefathers. (John 11:47-48) Many of them considered Jesus's teachings a personal assault on their faith, (John 7:47-49) and they had put Jesus to death because of those teachings. They next turned to persecuting Jesus's followers, so Paul and his [Christian] brothers were in grave danger. (Acts 8:1) Paul certainly needed Jehovah's protection, extended through his faith in Christ Jesus. Christians must maintain their clean standing before God if God is to be able to help them. God can not assist anyone practicing badness, lest he help one who then does harm to another. We must remain clean through our faith in Christ Jesus to retain God's protection. (Isaiah 52:10-12) Any return to Judaism would therefore have been a quick way for them to have lost God's protection and blessing. (Galatians 2:18) We must note in this instance, we do not get any further scriptural insight as to what Paul was doing or why he did it. He seemed to be going along with those trying to keep Jewish Law. What we can know is that almost immediately after this account, Paul found himself being beaten in the center of a turmoil created by Jews. We must really wonder how he had avoided them as long as he had. Had he been protected by God until then? Being there in the center of Judaism, he must have had Jehovah's protection to have avoided being harmed even before. If Paul had not been going along with those four men in their seven day program under Jewish Law, he might not have even been in the temple. The Bible gives no indication Paul was present in the temple to teach about Jesus. Apart from teaching those Jews about Jesus, Paul likely had no business being in the temple. If he was indeed there to follow Jewish Law, could he really have thought he could retain God's favor and protection as he did so? Did Paul loose God's protection by temporarily going along with or encouraging a return to faith in Jewish Law? Did he allow himself to be misled by his peers? [We do know from Paul's further activity as recorded for us in the Bible, that if he did temporarily loose his way, he quickly returned to preaching about the need for faith in Christ Jesus. We certainly have no reason to doubt Paul was a faithful Christian.]
As mentioned in the previous consideration of whether we can depend on the actions of faithful men as always good, we simply don't know why Paul did what he did. We can still learn from what we observe though, without needing to judge this particular action as good or wicked. One thing we can clearly be reminded of by this account is never to place the teachings and reasonings of imperfect men above the Bible. Never make the teachings of men equal with the Bible. We can reinforce that we should build our faith only on Bible truth, and know not to be led along by any man or group, no matter how special they seem or believe that they are. No matter what history or credentials such men might have, the Bible is the only inspired word of God, and the only reliable source of spiritual food. (John 4:34)
God's peace to all! (Luke 10:5-6)
1* Putting on the mind of Christ is one of the most valuable gifts we obtain from a study of the Bible. In the book of Isaiah, the Bible compares men to grasshoppers. (Isaiah 40:22-23) Jehovah and Christ look down and observe us from the heavens, much as we might look upon an ant farm. [Actually, they are far higher above us than we are above ants. We didn't create ants!] Without their help, [that help including our very knowledge of them,] we just view our life from what we perceive as we live among those other ants. Perhaps the adoration of other ants is the most we could hope to achieve. Putting on the mind of Christ however, we start to gain an ability to sort of look down from above, as Christ does: We start to see all mankind's activity, our world history, mankind's current problems [including our own], and the anguish of nations not knowing the way out of the terrible problems of these last days; (Luke 21:26) we start to see all of them from Christ's perspective. We can also look down from above in the sense that we don't have be consumed by fear of what is happing around us, or even to us. (Hebrews 2:14-15) We start to comprehend all we see in relation to how it is actually part of the outworking of God's purpose for the earth; and for all creation. We come to realize we can either join with our Creator, or we can fight against him. There is no other choice. Satan declared war, and we are caught in the middle. (Ecclesiastes 8:8) We must reach out to Jehovah for his protection. Even if we refuse his help, we are still caught up in the outworking of his purpose. As this old world system continues to fall apart we will be destroyed by or with it, or we will accept the help of our Father for the preservation of life. (1 John 2:17 ; Matthew 24:37 ; 1 Peter 3:20) Knowledge of that truth can help us realize: Having the adoration of our peers [of the other ants] is not the important thing. If you have such adoration, truth can help you realize it is of little or no value. You can be protected from being led to seek your own glory among men. You can realize being friends with our Creator is the only thing of real substance. (James 2:23 ; Galatians 3:29) King Solomon spent most of his life pursuing wisdom and it's works, and then wrote much of Ecclesiastes about his doing so. He did all any man might hope to do! (Ecclesiastes 2:12) After listing some of his many wonderful accomplishments [wonderful from mankind's perspective], wise King Solomon said: Everything [besides friendship with God] "is vanity and striving after the wind." (Ecclesiastes 1:12-14) Solomon then summed it all up by saying: "The conclusion of the matter, everything having been heard is, fear the true God and give him glory." He went on to say: "This is the whole obligation of man." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) The Bible helps us to see things through the mind of Christ [to see them as Christ sees them] and to thus arrive at the same conclusion as wise King Solomon: The only thing of any real importance is to fear the true God and give him glory. (Ecclesiastes 2:1-12 ; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) Everything else is vanity and striving after the wind. Any and all hopes and dreams we might have, are absolutely dependant on God breaking up the works of the devil, and on our surviving into that resultant paradise: Not through any personal power or godly devotion of our own, but through our personal faith in Christ Jesus. (Acts 3:11-12-21) The conclusion of the matter, everything having been heard is, fear the true God and give him glory.
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