Act 18:1-13 Henceforth I Will Go To The Gentiles

[Study Aired June 25, 2023]

Act 18:1  After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;
Act 18:2  And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.
Act 18:3  And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.
Act 18:4  And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
Act 18:5  And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.
Act 18:6  And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.
Act 18:7  And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man’s house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.
Act 18:8  And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.
Act 18:9  Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:
Act 18:10  For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.
Act 18:11  And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Act 18:12  And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat,
Act 18:13  Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.

This is Paul’s second missionary journey. At the end of his first journey with Barnabas, he and Barnabas returned to Antioch in Syria “And there they abode long time with the disciples”:

Act 14:26  And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
Act 14:27  And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
Act 14:28  And there they abode long time with the disciples.

It was at this time that Peter came to Antioch and was there with Paul and Barnabas when some men “came from James” in Jerusalem and began teaching that the Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses, or they cannot be saved:

Act 15:1  And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.

Act 15:2  When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

In Galatians Paul adds more detail to what went down in the church at Antioch at the time that he and Barnabas and Peter were all there eating with the Gentiles, at the conclusion of Paul’s and Barnabas’ first journey:

Gal 2:11  But when Peter was come to Antioch [at the end of Paul’s first journey], I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
Gal 2:12  For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
Gal 2:13  And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

This is the “time of reformation” and the revealing of “many things [which] you cannot bear… now”:

Joh 16:12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances [circumcision and the law of Moses], imposed on them until the time of reformation.

Circumcision and all the laws of Moses were imposed on Israel “until the time of reformation.” Christ is that Great Reformer, and every time He said “Ye have heard that it has been said by them of old… but I say unto you…” He was in the process of ‘reforming the law of Moses’:

Mat 5:21  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Mat 5:27  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Mat 5:33  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:

Such changes as Christ made here in Matthew 5 took many years to implement upon the society of His day. Later in this 18^th chapter we will see that Paul himself took a Nazarite vow despite Christ’s teaching to “swear not at all.” Replacing all the “carnal ordinances” with spiritual realities requires the mighty hand of God, as it was displayed in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus into Paul the apostle (Act 9:1-18), and the conversion of Peter into a Jew who did not consider Gentiles to be “common or unclean” (Act 10:1-28).

Both conversions were a work in progress in “the time of reformation”.

Even Peter, the person chosen by the holy spirit to miraculously come to see that Gentiles are not to be called ‘common or unclean’ and was given the honor of being the first Jew to take the gospel to the Gentiles, and Barnabas who was intimately acquainted with the miraculous circumstances which brought about the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, struggled to accept this revolutionary reformation which was taking place in the heavens of all the Jews and even many Gentile proselytes at the beginning of “the time of reformation.” Let’s consider once again the stakes in this heavenly battle:

Gal 2:11  But when Peter was come to Antioch [at the end of Paul’s first journey], I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
Gal 2:12  For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.
Gal 2:13  And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

After leaving Damascus and spending “fifteen days” with Peter in Jerusalem, Paul was forced by the unbelieving Jews to flee Jerusalem for his home town of Tarsus from whence Barnabas brought him to Syrian Antioch to assist with the growth of the churches in that city. From Antioch, Paul, still known as Saul, went back to Jerusalem for the first time in fourteen years to take a gift to the saints of Jerusalem who were suffering under a severe drought. While Paul, who was at this time still called Saul, and Barnabas were there in Jerusalem, James was martyred by Herod, and Peter was placed in prison and was miraculously delivered from prison. Before Saul and Barnabas returned to Antioch, the Lord slew Herod by causing him to be eaten with worms right after giving a stirring oration. When Paul (Saul) and Barnabas went back to Antioch, they took John Mark with them, and he went with them on their first journey as far as Perga in Pamphylia. At this point, John departed from them and went back to Jerusalem.

Paul and Barnabas continued their journey and established churches in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe before returning to Syrian Antioch, where they met Peter, and Paul was forced to confront both Peter and Barnabas for their hypocrisy in eating with the Gentiles until certain men came down from James. When men came to Antioch “from James” Peter and all the other Jews of Antioch suddenly and hypocritically separated themselves from the Gentiles they had just been eating with. Even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy and separated himself from the Gentiles. Then those ‘men from James’ began teaching that Gentiles had to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses to be saved. This was a crisis situation within the church. If it had not been handled according to the Lord’s commandment, it would have divided the church at its very birth just as the church continues to be divided today because it will not submit to the Lord’s words in Matthew 18:

Mat 18:15  Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Mat 18:17  And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
Mat 18:18  Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye [the church] shall bind on earth shall be [Greek, ‘shall have been] bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye [the church] shall loose on earth shall be [Greek: ‘shall have been] loosed in heaven.

It was this confrontation at Antioch which occasioned Paul and Barnabas going back up to Jerusalem to seek the consensus of the apostles and elders concerning the question of whether the Gentiles were required to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses.

What transpired at that Jerusalem conference was that Peter, Paul and Barnabas made known to the elders that they did not believe that there was any difference whatever, in Christ, between being a natural Jew and a Gentile. Peter went as far as to say, “Neither we nor our fathers were able to keep the  laws of Moses.” Furthermore, he labeled the law of Moses “a yoke”, and he declared that the Jews would be saved “even as they”, meaning in the same manner the Gentiles were being saved which was “purifying their hearts by faith.”

Act 15:6  And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.
Act 15:7  And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
Act 15:8  And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;
Act 15:9  And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Act 15:10  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Act 15:11  But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.[the Gentiles]

The holy spirit had made clear to both Peter, at the house of Cornelius, and to Paul, while still being called ‘Saul’, that in time He would “put no difference between [the Jews and the Gentiles] purifying their hearts by faith”. However, at this conference it was made clear by “the holy spirit” that it was not yet time for that doctrine to be proclaimed. For the time being, the holy spirit decreed that all Jews, including Peter, Paul, and Barnabas were required to remain under the law of Moses for a few more years, as the letter to the Gentile converts at Antioch proclaimed:

Act 15:25  It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
Act 15:26  Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Act 15:27  We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
Act 15:28  For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
Act 15:29  That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
Act 15:30  So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle:
Act 15:31  Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.
Act 15:32  And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them [confirmed the decrees of the epistle].

Having this question settled by the holy spirit and the apostles and elders, Paul and Barnabas decided to go back and visit all the churches they had established and tell them all this good news and see how they were faring. Barnabas wanted to give his nephew, John Mark, another chance to work with him and Paul. Paul disagreed with Barnabas so strongly that they decided not to work together in their travels in the Lord’s service. Barnabas took John Mark and sailed back to Cyprus. Paul chose Silas, who had remained in Antioch after having been sent there to confirm the letter which the elders in Jerusalem had sent out to all the believing Gentiles. That letter decreed that though the Gentiles need not be circumcised nor keep the law of Moses, such was not at all the case for the Jews who were still required to keep the law. That message is not made clear in Acts 15. All that is said in Acts 15 is that ‘Moses is read in the synagogue every sabbath day’:

Act 15:19  Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
Act 15:20  But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
Act 15:21  For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

Acts 21, which chronicles the events in Jerusalem at the end of Paul’s third missionary journey, clarifies what was meant by the statement, “Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.” Here is what that meant to the believing Jews:

Act 21:17  And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.
Act 21:18  And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
Act 21:19  And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
Act 21:20  And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law [the law of Moses]:
Act 21:21  And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
Act 21:22  What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.
Act 21:23  Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Act 21:24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
Act 21:25  As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themelves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
Act 21:26  Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.

Paul, Barnabas, and Silas had been “walking orderly and keeping the law of Moses” even as they were telling the Gentiles that they should “observe no such thing.” That was the decrees of the apostles and elders which came out of that Jerusalem conference, and all the Jewish apostles lived by that decree throughout the entire book of Acts. “[Paul and Silas] delivered them the decrees for to keep… as they went through the cities” in which they had evangelized and where Paul and Barnabas had established churches:

Act 16:4  And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.

No one disagreed with those decrees, and everyone, Jews and Gentiles, accepted the fact that the Jews were expected to continue to keep the law of Moses, which included Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and Peter. They were all preaching and teaching those decrees.

If we do not believe that Paul “[him]self also [was] walking orderly and keeping the law” of Moses throughout all three of his journeys, then we do not know or understand the dynamics operating in the church throughout the book of Acts and in all of Paul’s epistles, until the writing of the epistle to the church at Ephesus. Paul was keeping the law of Moses, not out of “condescension to their weakness” as Gill states in his commentary on Act 21:21, but out of “the fear of the Lord” and out of obedience to the decrees of the holy spirit and the apostles and elders at Jerusalem as we are informed in Acts 15, which I repeat:

Act 15:28  For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
Act 15:29  That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

Act 21:21  And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
Act 21:22  What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.
Act 21:23  Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Act 21:24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.

It is the apostle Paul who tells us that ‘the manifold wisdom of God is made known only by the church’:

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

It was “the manifold wisdom of God… [made] known by the church” which decided at the Jerusalem conference that it was not yet time to “break down the middle wall of partition… [the] commandments contained in ordinances]” which distinguished a physical believing Jew from a believing Gentile. Paul being a physical Jew was walking orderly according to the law of Moses, not out of condescension, but out of a desire to remain faithful and obedient to the words of the Lord for that time.

It was also “the manifold wisdom of God [to make] known by the church” when the time came to break down that middle wall of partition and declare that the Lord puts “no difference” between the Jews and the Gentiles. There is a time to keep the law of Moses, and there is a time to refrain from keeping commandments contained in ordinances.

With this understanding that Paul agreed with the decrees of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, we will continue our study of this second missionary journey:

Act 18:1  After these things [Paul’s preaching to the Jews in the synagogue and to the Greeks at the Areopagus court in Athens] Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;
Act 18:2  And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.
Act 18:3  And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.

Working with Aquila and Priscilla, Paul met his own expenses and the expenses of those who were with him in Corinth:

1Co 4:11  Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;
1Co 4:12  And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

Paul repeats this fact when speaking to the elders of Ephesus:

Act 20:34  Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.

The fact that Paul worked with his hands to minister to his necessities and the necessities of those with him is not meant to lead us to believe that it would be wrong for him to accept help from those to whom he ministered. Paul makes clear that he did just that and even thanked those who did so while admonishing the Corinthians for believing the lies of others who were telling the Corinthians that Paul was preaching the gospel just for personal profit.

2Co 11:7  Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?
2Co 11:8  I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.
2Co 11:9  And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.

The Macedonians’ generosity in ministering to Paul’s needs was also commended by Paul in his epistle to the Philippians:

Php 4:15  Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.
Php 4:16  For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.
Php 4:17  Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.

Paul and Silas had been unlawfully beaten and jailed by the authorities at Philippi and had been asked to leave the city. When they left Philippi, they went to Thessalonica where they spent some time until the unbelieving Jews forced them to leave for Berea. While in Thessalonica, the church which had been established in Philippi was led by the Lord to send some form of support to Paul and those who accompanied him, and Paul was very grateful for that support.

The Lord blesses a “cheerful giver” much more than a begrudging tithepayer. Even those who tithe with a willing heart will be blessed because the Lord knows their heart, and they, too, will reap what they sow.

2Co 9:7  Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Gal 6:6  Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. [“communicate… with [his] necessities” (Php 4:15-16)]
Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Act 18:4  And he reasoned in the synagogue [at Corinth] every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

The Greek word for ‘reasoned’ is G1256, ‘dialegomai’ and it means to have a dialogue with someone aiming to persuade them, which is what Paul did with both the Jews and the Greeks.

Paul told the Thessalonians that he had sent both Timothy and Silas from Athens to return to minister to the churches in Macedonia including the church at Thessalonica:

1Th 3:1  Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone;
1Th 3:2  And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith:

Sometime after leaving Athens and spending time establishing a church in Corinth, Paul sends again for Silas and Timothy. It is here in Acts 18 we learn that when he sent Timothy to care for and minister to the Thessalonians, he had also sent Silas back to minister to the churches of Macedonia where both Thessalonica and Philippi were located.

Act 18:5  And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.
Act 18:6  And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

This is the second time Paul has made this resolution, because he had said the same thing when the Jews in Pisidian Antioch had refused the gospel “and expelled them from their coasts”:

Act 13:45  But when the Jews [of Pisidian Antioch] saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
Act 13:46  Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

What Paul meant by “we turn to the Gentiles” was the Gentile proselytes who were in the synagogues to whom the Lord gave a more receptive spirit toward the gospel. Paul did not leave Corinth when the Jews “opposed themselves and blasphemed” against the gospel. He simply moved his work into a house which “joined hard to the synagogue” and continued to preach the gospel to all who were given ears to hear and eyes to see The Truth.

Act 18:7  And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man’s house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

Paul’s efforts were so persuasive that “the chief ruler of the synagogue believed on the Lord with all his house” as well as many other of the Corinthians.

Act 18:8  And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.

This is the ‘Crispus’ Paul later refers to in his first epistle to the Corinthians when he was admonishing them to be of one mind and have no divisions among themselves based upon which one of the apostles had baptized them:

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
1Co 1:11  For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
1Co 1:12  Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
1Co 1:13  Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
1Co 1:14  I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
1Co 1:15  Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
1Co 1:16  And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
1Co 1:17  For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

Baptisms and sprinkling were an integral part of the law of Moses. Christ Himself was baptized by John, and He commissioned His disciples to baptize others, though He Himself baptized no one:

Joh 4:1  When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
Joh 4:2  (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)
Joh 4:3  He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.

Christ baptized with the holy spirit and with fire.

Luk 3:16  John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but there cometh he that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire: (ASV)

Water baptism was left to Christ’s disciples, who were yet unable to bear the loss of that part of the law of Moses.

Joh 16:12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. [Things like “the washing of the water by the Word” (Eph 5:26)]

Indeed, the apostles and elders at Jerusalem continued the practice of water baptism throughout the history of the book of Acts. It is in the same prison epistle of Paul, the epistle to the Ephesians where Paul reveals that the ‘wall of partition’ (meaning the necessity that the Jews must keep the law of Moses) was being torn down by the Lord, who is now in the process of “making of twain one new man” and washing us with the water of His word:

Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye [Gentile Ephesians] who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; [The decree of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem requiring the Jews to keep the laws and ordinances of Moses, in Acts 15]
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Act 18:9  Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:
Act 18:10  For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.
Act 18:11  And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

The words “no man shall set on thee to hurt thee” proved to be true, but that was by no means a promise that Paul and the gospel would not face much opposition here in Corinth as it did in every city. No man in Corinth beat Paul, stoned him, or put him in jail, but that was not because some did not want to do just that:

Act 18:12  And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat,
Act 18:13  Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is always resisted by the secular and religious establishment because it is completely contrary in spirit of both. Paul’s perseverance in the face of such constant opposition is an example for us to never become weary in well doing as Paul twice admonishes us all:

Gal 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

2Th 3:13  But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.

Any time a statement is repeated in scripture, it is because it needs to be repeated. It is because we all do become weary in well doing, and the holy spirit has seen fit to warn us against giving in to the desire to avoid the trials we are promised are a part of our calling if we aspire to be in ‘the kingdom of heaven’ at that ‘blessed and holy first resurrection’.

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

We are not told exactly how long Paul spent in each of the cities he visited on this second journey, but we are told that he visited and ministered to Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens before coming to Corinth. That is seven cities. If he spent just one month in each of those seven cities, this second evangelistic journey would have lasted well over two years, because he spent a year and six months here in Corinth alone.

In our next study we will learn how Paul was kept safe through this “insurrection”, and we will see that he “shaved his head in Cenchrea; for he had a vow”, demonstrating beyond any doubt that he was actively remaining faithful to “the decrees from the holy spirit and the apostles and elders at Jerusalem” not out of any sense of “condescension.” He was rather keeping those decrees out of the fear of the Lord and a deep desire to please Him and be obedient to His decrees, the decrees of “the holy spirit and the apostles and elders.” Paul would never have encouraged any of his Gentile converts to take a vow or shave their head. It was understood and accepted that keeping the law of Moses was only expected of the Jews, and not of the Gentiles:

Act 15:28  For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; (ASV)

The day will come when the spirit will decree that “the middle wall of partition” between the Jews and the Gentiles will be “broken down” (Eph 2:14), but that time is not yet, and that day will not be realized at any time throughout this book of Acts. It will be proclaimed only when Paul is taken to Rome as a prisoner in the epistle to the Ephesians. Throughout the book of Acts, all the apostles are living under the law of Moses, and they are all teaching that the Gentiles “observe no such thing” as James told Paul:

Act 21:23  Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Act 21:24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
Act 21:25  As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.

Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;