Acts 24:14-15 But this I admit to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our ancestors, believing everything laid down according to the law or written in the prophets. I have a hope in God—a hope that they themselves also accept—that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.
Jesus reassured his disciples and followers that he was not intent on destroying the law or the prophets but rather had come to fulfill them. Now Paul, standing before the Roman governor, must also convince the powers that be that the Way is not a cult and he has not abandoned the God of Israel. Paul maintains that the Way is a furtherance of the law and the prophets, an expansion of what was established in the calling of Abraham and the revelation to Moses. The idea of a resurrection for both the righteous and sinners is as radical a proposition as any of the rest of Jesus’ teachings, staking the bold claim that all are equal before God and worthy of salvation.
The idea that old and new beliefs can coexist is challenging for Paul and his community, as it still is for us today. However, the Roman governor showed that he could be flexible and allowed Paul some liberty. It is better to bend than to be absolutely rigid.
MOVING FORWARD: How do you reconcile your own conflicts, spiritual or otherwise, within the context of flexibility or rigidity?
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