A Righteous Life of Faith (Acts 22:20-23:5)

A Righteous Life of Faith

 

 

[Acts 22:30–23:5]

 

 

The world we live in is a distorted world.  It deviates from the straight and righteous path that God has commanded.  Despite deviating, it thinks that this twisted path is the right one.  This world denies God's absolute truth and considers falsehood as the truth.  Hearts are also crooked.  Because the heart is crooked, words and actions are also crooked. In such a distorted world, how should we, as Christians, live?  Paul admonishes, "so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’  Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky" (Phil. 2:15).  In this crooked and warped world, we need to live as blameless children of God, shining the light of Jesus.  To do this, we must have a correct understanding of the Bible and live a righteous life of faith.

 

In today's passage, we see the commander wanting to know why the Jews were accusing the Apostle Paul.  To find out, he ordered the release of Paul, summoned the priests and the entire council, and brought Paul before them (Acts 22:30).  When Paul, standing before the council, looks intently at them, the dispute begins (23:1).  Today, I want to focus on Acts 23:1-5 and draw three lessons on what a righteous life of faith is.  I hope and pray that we can learn from the exemplary and righteous life of Paul, living uprightly in this distorted world in a way that is pleasing to God.

 

First, a righteous life of faith involves serving God with a clear conscience in all things.

 

Look at Acts 23:1 - "Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, 'My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.'"  Boldly, Paul confessed before the assembled priests and council members that he had served God with a clear conscience in all things.  In other words, he openly declared that he had served God honestly and truthfully without any reservation of conscience before God and people.  Through Paul's exemplary life of serving God with an unburdened conscience, we are prompted to ask ourselves a crucial question: 'Am I truly serving God with a clear conscience?'  We need to regularly examine our consciences, and neglecting or discontinuing this practice would lead to our downfall.  Once our conscience begins to be contaminated by worldly influences, distinguishing between truth and falsehood becomes difficult.  A person can have a deceitful heart yet convincingly act as if it were truthful.  However, the sincerity of the heart cannot be masked by falsehood; the truthfulness of the heart cannot be feigned.

 

We must discard hidden shameful deeds (2 Cor. 4:2).  We should not conduct ourselves with cunning.  No longer should we obscure the truth but exclusively present it, allowing each person's conscience to judge us in the sight of God.  Can we truly recommend ourselves to the consciences of those around us by living a life that transparently reveals the truth?  Paul encourages us to live such a life.  He advises, "Hold on to faith and a good conscience" (1 Tim. 1:19).  If there is any hidden shame in our consciences, we must confess and repent before God.  In other words, we need to confess sins that have received the condemnation of our consciences immediately and repent, cleansing ourselves through the atoning blood, leaving no trace behind.  Like Paul, we should strive to possess a clear conscience every day.  Look at Acts 24:16 - "So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man."

 

Second, a righteous life of faith despises hypocrisy.

 

Look at Acts 23:3 – “Then Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall!  You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!’”  In this context, the expression "whitewashed wall" is explained as outwardly beautiful but filled with all sorts of dirty things (mud) (Yoo).  In other words, it refers to a disparity between the outward appearance and the inner reality—an accusation of hypocrisy.  When Paul claimed before the assembled council that he had served God with a good conscience (v. 1), Ananias, the high priest, ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.  Paul's response to Ananias is a rebuke, declaring him a hypocrite and warning of God's judgment.  Ananias' outwardly beautiful appearance as a judge in adherence to the law contrasts with his inward violation of the law through the command to strike Paul (Yoo).  Paul's words echo Jesus' rebukes against the religious leaders of his time, specifically the Pharisees.  In Luke 11:39 and 11:44, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees, stating, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness ... Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it."  Jesus uses similar language to highlight the Pharisees' hypocrisy, describing them as appearing beautiful on the outside but filled with impurity within.  He criticizes their outwardly impressive religious practices, revealing that God perceives the greed and wickedness hidden within their hearts.  Augustine, addressing the Pharisees, referred to them as whitewashed tombs, emphasizing that their external righteousness was a facade hiding the corruption within.  In conclusion, the Bible consistently condemns hypocrisy, emphasizing the importance of genuine, transparent devotion to God over outward displays of religiosity.  We must heed the words of Jesus: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Mt. 12:1).  We should not strive excessively to appear righteous outwardly to people (23:28).  Instead, we need to clean the inside first so that the outside will also be clean (v. 26).  We must purify our souls through obedience to the truth (1 Pet. 1:22).

Third and last, a righteous life of faith involves being led by God's Word.

 

Look at Acts 23:5 - "Paul replied, 'Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'"  When Paul confessed before the council that he served God with a clear conscience, the person who had ordered him to be struck was rebuked with the words, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall" (v. 4).  The people standing by questioned Paul, saying, "Would you revile God's high priest?" (v. 4).  Calvin suggests that when Paul claimed not to know Ananias was the high priest, it was a form of sarcasm. In other words, because of Ananias' abusive behavior, Paul could not recognize him as a high priest (Park).  Ananias would have been wearing the high priest's robe and seated in the chair of the council president, making it unlikely that Paul, even with poor eyesight, would not have recognized the person giving the order as the high priest (Yoo).  Rather, Paul's words indicate that he did not acknowledge Ananias as the high priest because of his unbecoming behavior (Yoo).  Therefore, Paul's rebuke, in line with the command in Exodus 22:28, not to revile the ruler of your people, was not disobedient.  His rebuke pricked the conscience of the hypocritical high priest Ananias, who, although appearing outwardly as a holy and devout figure in the high priest's attire, was inwardly filled with all kinds of greed and wickedness (Lk. 11:39).

 

To live a righteous life of faith, we need to be pierced by God's Word.  For example, just as the people in Acts 2 were cut to the heart when the Spirit-filled apostle Peter proclaimed God's Word, asking, "What shall we do?" (Acts 2:37), we, too, need to listen to God's Word and allow it to pierce our hearts.  Why is this piercing necessary?  It is so that we may recognize the evil in our conscience (Heb. 10:22), confess and repent of our sins before the holy God.  What kind of evil resides in our conscience?  Those whose hearts and consciences are defiled (Titus 1:15) acknowledge God with their lips but deny him by their actions (v. 16).  Such individuals are described as detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work (v. 16).  Do these words pierce our hearts and consciences?  To live a genuine faith life, we not only need the piercing of God's Word but also the obedience (submission) to it.  We must strive to serve God in all things with a clear conscience, keeping hypocrisy, pretense, and external show far from us.  We must also heed the guidance of God's Word.

 

In this twisted and rebellious world, you and I must live a righteous life of faith.  Like Paul, we should serve God with a clear conscience in all things.  Moreover, we must disdain hypocrisy and let ourselves be led by God's Word.

 

 

 

Sound doctrine, a righteous life of faith!

 

 

James Kim

(Living a truthful life while despising hypocrisy)