act 21v18 26 Why Did He Do It

WHY DID HE DO IT?

Acts 21:18-26

James and the elders at Jerusalem persuaded Paul that in order to conciliate the Jews and put an end to the scandalous reports they had heard about him, he should give public approval to the observance of ceremonial law of Moses. They compelled Paul to go with four men who had taken a Nazarite vow (Num. 6:2, 13) into the temple and offer a sacrifice of purification. And Paul did it! Without question, this was contrary to Paul's own doctrine (Rom. 6,14-15; 7:4; l0:4; Gal. 2:3, 11; 3:1-3, 24-25; 5:1-2; Col. 2:16-23; I Tim. l-9). Why, then, did he submit to this legal ceremony? Such action could only encourage others to continue in their legalism, confuse and dishearten the Gentile believers, and give the legalists of future generations an excuse for holding God's people in bondage to the law. We must understand that the Jewish believers of that day had not yet seen the destruction of the temple. They were still living in a period of transition. Most continued to observe the customs of the law and still worshipped in the temple. God virtually had to break their hands to get them to let go of Moses. But why did Paul, who knew better, submit to this legal ceremony? I am sure there are two reasons:

(1) HE WAS TRYING TO BE CONCILIATORY TO THE JEWS WHO WERE YET WEAK IN THE FAITH (I Cor. 9:19-23). This is commendable. We should patiently bear with weak believers. We must do nothing to offend them. We should refrain from any action that would cause a weak brother to stumble. But we must not, even for the sake of nurturing the weak, do that which is contrary to the gospel and contrary to our own consciences. If we join with others in committing evil and compromise the gospel in the name of charity, we will not help the weak, and we are likely to hinder others. Paul's action here is strikingly similar to the action for which he strongly upbraided Peter (Gal. 2:11-16).

(2) The other reason for Paul's action was that HE WAS SIMPLY TIRED OF FIGHTING WITH HIS BRETHREN OVER THE LAW. He finally gave in. Yes, even the great apostle Paul was just a man. He had already been through this battle before (Acts 15); and it seemed that his Jewish brethren just would not give up their legal practices.