Conflict in Corinth: Acts 18:12-17
September 26, 2021 Speaker: Bob DeWaay Series: Acts of the Apostles
Scripture: Acts 18:12-17
Title: Acts 18:12-17 “Conflict in Corinth”
By Bob DeWaay
The interaction of Paul and other apostles with civil authorities provides evidence for the historicity of the Bible. We discuss the various ways that Scripture has been attacked by false teachers and show that the Bible teaches clear, objective truth. Near the end of Paul’s year and a half in Corinth, Jewish opponents of the gospel claimed that Paul was promoting worship that was “contrary to the law.” It is not completely clear which law they meant. Whatever they intended, Gallio refused to intervene and told them to deal with it themselves (Acts 18:15). He drove them from the judgment seat (be_ma in the Greek). This is a raised platform where cases are heard. We do a review of some passages in Acts 12 where persecution against the church happened under Herod Agrippa I. After James the brother of John was put to death, Peter was arrested. God supernaturally intervened through an angel to free Peter. However, when Herod gave a speech he was struck dead (Acts 12:21-23) because he refused to give God the glory. This is an exemplary judgment in as much as God does not strike every proud king dead. Later in Acts 26, Paul appeared before Agrippa II and preached the gospel. An exemplary judgment shows God’s attitude toward sin and points to the need for repentance. We discuss the implications of such judgments and why they point to the fact that there will be a final judgment and we must repent and turn to Christ.