Calming Corinthians

Introduction

Good morning! We’re continuing in the book of Acts today, and we’ll be just breaking into chapter eighteen, which follows Paul as he continues on his second major missionary journey recorded in Acts.

Last week, Mike wrapped up chapter seventeen, which is just such an awesome chapter. I know I say that all the time, but it really is, and in the second half has one of the most epic and unique sermons sermons of the Old Testament, which is just brilliantly in dialogue with similar and competing thoughts and philosophies of the day.

In it, Paul addresses the Corinthians’ impressive piety, and works to redirect and redefine all of their well-intended worship of “the gods” to worship of THE Creator God, the God of Gods. Paul acknowledges the threads of truth and wisdom in what they’ve been doing, and even uses their own art, poetry, and idolatry as teaching tools in reshaping their understanding of who God is.

Those things, the things we do and the things we make are often driven by good and natural motives, that themselves are not wrong, though may at times be misguided or corrupted by sinful desires.

Our desire for creativity, our art, our passions, ultimately the fact that we have desires and passions, they are a reflection of the God who made us. Our desire for order comes from a God of order. Our desire for beauty, art, creation, nature, science, knowledge, pleasure - these are reflections of the very nature and nurture of the God who made us. They are not meant to drive us away from God, but to point us TO God.

In fact, a key sticking point that Paul was making is the radical knowability of God, a concept that sharply contrasts with popular portraits of a removed, retired, or apathetic God who has little or no presence or activity amongst people on the Earth.

To the contrary, and Mike brought this out beautifully last week, that Paul’s theology is of a vibrantly living, intimately present, and powerfully active creator God. That alone is a major claim. To go even further, to say that not only is he present and active, but he actually loves and cares for us, and wants us to know him so dearly that he gave Christ to us, that through Jesus we can have a real relationship with God.

Wow!

It’s an amazing passage, an amazing story, and if you missed Mike’s message I encourage you to catch up with it online, but we’re going to keep moving forward today into the next chapter.

Verse 1

We’ll see them continue to move across the map, to some new locations, meeting some new people, making new friends, and of course some new enemies as well. In some ways it’s a lot more of the same, but with just enough different nuances to still make it feel just as unique and rich as all the other missionary visits.

Let’s start with just verse one, which will help us catch our bearings and orient ourselves on the map again.

Acts 18:1–17 (LSB)

1 After these things he departed Athens and went to Corinth.

So, a simple transition verse that takes us out of the previous story, away from Athens, on to the next city.

The Journey

[Map]

This leg of the journey, overall, is a tiny one. Corinth is just fifty miles from Athens. But even though they were close geographically, they were actually very different culturally.

Corinth

The city of Corinth is considered ancient now, but was young then, compared to Athens, impressive and influential, and was enjoying an era of prosperity and affluence when Paul visited.

Archaeological and literary evidence about Corinth paints a rich picture of the city that Paul knew and provides an indispensable backdrop for understanding his writings to the Corinthians.

In other words, out of all the cities and places in the New Testament, Corinth is the one place we still know the most about…we have a lot of information and artifacts that have been preserved from this era, and a lot can be learned from the ruins that remain.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary What Do We Know about Ancient Corinth?

Corinth was a large and significant city of the Greek empire that was conquered by the Romans and later became the provincial capital of Greece for Roman Empire.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary What Do We Know about Ancient Corinth?

First-century Corinth was a city rich in both history and wealth due to its geographic advantages. It was a city of cultural diversity, a hub of Roman paganism, and a hotbed for immorality. It also hosted the biannual Isthmian games, which drew throngs from across Greece. As an astute missionary, Paul likely chose Corinth for its importance as a busy center of culture and commerce and its ability to receive large crowds, which would serve as audience to the gospel before returning to their diverse homelands (see Aelius Aristides, Orations, 46.24). Thus, Corinth became a city of Christian witness, and the study of Corinth in its historical-cultural setting provides a vital background for New Testament interpretation.

So, because of how representative this city is of Paul’s target demographic and of his cultural setting, the more you understand about the culture and setting of Corinth, the more you’ll understand the context of Paul’s New Testament letters in general.

Geography

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The Lexham Bible Dictionary The Geography and Archaeology of Ancient Corinth

The Geography and Archaeology of Ancient Corinth

Corinth’s isthmus location made it the “master of two harbors” and gateway to the Peloponnesian lands. The north—south land route came down from Macedonia and branched out from Corinth toward all other areas of Peloponnesus. Its east—west axis linked it to the Aegean Sea on the East and the Adriatic Sea on the West. This position enabled it to levy taxes on both land and sea trade routes, contributing to its wealth

The Lexham Bible Dictionary The Geography and Archaeology of Ancient Corinth

As Paul entered Corinth from the northeast, he could not have failed to notice the rugged outline of Acrocorinth dominating the city’s southern backdrop. The path up its 1886 feet flank rose past many shrines and smaller temples, and on its summit was the temple of Aphrodite. At the foot of the mountain to the north lay Corinth. The original city walls, destroyed in 146 BC, were never repaired. Their rubble served as a quarry for the settlers of 44 BC.

The city had water supplies sufficient for numerous baths and fountains (Pausanias, Description of Greece, Description, 2.3.5; see also Wiseman, Corinth and Rome, 510–12). One of the primary water sources was the spring fed Fountain of Peirene, which flowed at a rate of over 600 cubic feet per hour, providing by itself water sufficient for the entire city (Engels, Roman Corinth, 10). Additionally, the coastal plain just north of the city was “among the most productive regions of Roman Greece,” despite low precipitation (Salmon, Wealthy Corinth, 7). Excavations there uncovered a wine press and a tank for olive oil, indicating that the lack of rainfall did not prevent agricultural prosperity (Engels, Roman Corinth, 11). The city proper was unusually spacious, offering ample room for trade, housing, entertainment, temples, and public baths. It also encompassed a theater that could seat 14,000, to which Paul may have alluded in 1 Cor 4:9 when he wrote about being a spectacle to the world (Murphy-O’Connor, The Corinth that Paul Saw, 155).

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Culture, Class, and Religion in Ancient Corinth

Culture, Class, and Religion in Ancient Corinth

Corinth’s population has been variously estimated anywhere from 150,000 to over 300,000, “plus 460,000 slaves” (McRay, Corinth, 228). The city was recolonized primarily “by those belonging to the freedmen class” who proceeded to make their initial living by robbing ancient graves and selling their finds (see Strabo, Geography, 8.6.23c). The resettlement provided a fresh beginning in a land rich with potential. Murphy-O’Connor likened the great population influx to San Francisco in the gold rush era (Murphy-O’Connor, The Corinth that Paul Saw, 147). By the time Paul arrived, Corinth had a reputation for its banking industry and was known as a wealthy region (Plutarch, De Vitando, 831a). Its inhabitants represented every tier of society—Alciphron mentions the “nauseating behavior of the rich and the misery of the poor” (Alciphron, Letters, 3:60). Paul addressed this disparity in 1 Cor 11:17–34. He then reminds the church of the importance of generosity, and compares their apparent procrastination to the eager liberality of the relatively impoverished Macedonian Churches (1 Cor 16:1–2; 2 Cor 6:10; 8:1–2, 9; 9:9).

The resettled city was culturally Roman and was “established to foster the majesty of Roman culture, religion, and values” (Garland, 1 Corinthians, 3). As such, it was a cultic center for the worship of Roman deities. Paul addressed the resulting social and ethical ramifications of eating meat in a city which had little meat available other than what came from animals slaughtered in cultic sacrifice (1 Cor 8:1–13).

Corinth had also developed a reputation for sexual license—a reputation that was fueled primarily by Athenian propaganda (Murphy-O’Connor, The Corinth that Paul Saw, 152, 56). Strabo’s oft-cited report that Corinth was home to 1,000 cult prostitutes is unrealistic, and has been thoroughly disproven (Strabo, Geography, 8.6.20c; Murphy-O’Connor, The Corinth that Paul Saw, 152; compare Conzelmann, Korinth und die Madchen). Nevertheless, sexual immorality was at least as much of a problem in Corinth as it was in any other part of the Mediterranean as indicated by ancient sources and Paul’s numerous references to sexual immorality, prostitution, and incest (1 Cor 5:1, 9, 11; 6:9, 13, 15–16, 18; 7:2; 10:8; 2 Cor 12:21).

Corinth was host to the biennial Isthmian Games. One of the city’s important civic positions, the superintendent of the games, was named primarily for that limited aspect of the role’s broader responsibilities (Thiselton, First Epistle, 11). In Paul’s day, the crown of victory was made of plant material, a detail that corresponds with the “perishable crown” Paul mentions in 1 Cor 9:25

Verses 2-3

Alright, now moving on from the where to the who, let’s finally move on to verse two, where we are introduced to some new friends:

2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, and his wife Priscilla, who recently came from Italy because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them,

No Jews Allowed

Just take note here that the Jews were apparently not enjoying any hospitality from Rome.

They weren’t welcome there, an indication instead of hostility; a generalized mistrust, resentment, or just plain disdain for the Jewish people coming from the core of the Roman empire.

So, just realize that Christianity, as unpopular as it is with the Romans so far, is being layered on top of, or rather is a somewhat radicalized offshoot of, an already unpopular minority group in the context of the Roman empire.

The resistance they’ve gotten from the cultural majority is not at all surprising.

What’s astounding is that they, and, more precisely, their message, cannot be squelched.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul and the other apostles and missionaries have actually been overcoming basically every conceivable barrier, including the continued internal resistance from the Jews, to break through with the truth of the gospel.

People keep deciding to follow Jesus Against all odds, and yet in overwhelming numbers, and with socially transcendent consistency. Jesus is bringing people together from all walks of life, including highly respected Jews, prominent Greeks and Romans, people of wealth and prominence, as well as the poor and lowly, the sick and needy.

It’s because Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, no matter who you are, and no matter how popular it is or isn’t at any given time. Nobody has a relationship with God the Father except through a relationship with God the Son, Jesus Christ.

Having said all this, and picturing Corinth as this melting pot of potential new Jesus followers, where does Paul start?

A Jew Named Aquila

He finds a Jew named Aquila, and his wife Priscilla. An outstanding Jewish Christian couple in the church.

Everywhere Paul has gone, the very first thing he’s done is to seek out brothers and sisters in the faith, God-fearers to whatever degree they can be found. He goes straight for the Jewish synagogue, unless there isn’t one, then he finds the local prayer group. And although we know he’s encountered some backlash at each place, we can see him seeking out the people who should, of all people, be most likely to welcome him and receive his news with gladness.

He looks for “his people,” both literally and figuratively, and to a certain degree that’s actually a healthy thing! It’s not because he’s avoiding “other” people, or even wanting to reinforce their “otherness,” but because he wants to stir them to join him in reaching the others, in mobilizing and reaching the masses.

I see this as strategic, not only from a theological perspective, but practically, for Paul to go to the most likely place to garner support and recruit more followers, in his mind, must be to go to his fellow Jews. He recognizes the need to join arms with people already working alongside him rather than trying to do everything and be everything all by himself!

I think that’s also part of why he’s so exasperated with some of them later who oppose and insult him instead. It hurts so much worse to be insulted by a brother than by a stranger, wouldn’t you agree?

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Who is this Jewish couple who takes Paul in?

Now, we know that there is an influx of Jews coming in from Rome, to a city where they are apparently more welcome. Their presence is at least tolerated, but just bear in mind that they are still part of a somewhat displaced population…

Aquila is a native of Pontus, but moved with Priscilla to Corinth from Italy, because they were Jews. Notice that being Jewish has nothing to do with the location of one’s birth, rather the lineage of one’s ancestry. So, even though they are natives of a different land, that’s not the most important part of their identity to them.

In other words, they have chosen to remain faithful to that God-given identity, to live as God’s people, no matter where they have to go.

A Jew Named Aquila, along with his wife Priscilla, from a place where no Jews were allowed.

It makes sense that Paul would have been drawn to these fellow Jewish outcasts, but verse three reveals more specifically why Paul was drawn to this couple in particular.

3 and because he was of the same trade, he was staying with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers.

Aha! They have even more in common than being Christian Jews in Corinth. They’re Christian Jews in Corinth with tent-making and leather-working skills? Not only do they share cultural and religious backgrounds and beliefs, but they were brought up with the same trade skills to the point where they can just instantly set up shop together?

Tent-making

Out of all the Jewish Christians living in Corinth, there just so happened to be a nice hospitable couple who were of the same occupation as Paul. You can just imagine the kinship they must have felt, having been brought together for a season to live, work, and worship together.

It’s an early and clear example of an idea that’s so simple, so obvious, that it’s worth reminding ourselves of it:

People with similar interests and occupations can cooperate together to forward the progress of the gospel.

We talk a lot about how the gospel crosses boundaries, and breaks down barriers, and brings together people of disparate backgrounds, against all odds, despite overwhelming differences.

But there are also times when God just lets us work and worship with the people who you just know are “your people,” things come easily and naturally because of shared background and experiences, and that can be a wonderful thing, and just as much of a gift!

As much as we should be willing to join arms with people very unlike us, we can also appreciate the immense value of having kindred spirits alongside whom our work can be more efficiently amplified.

But, aside from the warm fuzziness of this friendship, this casual reference to their occupation brings up the practical value of having a trade, which is something every Jew valued, and which we may take for granted. They “just so happened” to have the same occupation, but having an occupation in the first place is something Jews were very intentional about, whether they occupied themselves with manual labor or other professions, they planned to be productive, contributing members of society essentially as long as they lived.

Later rabbinic tradition confirmed the importance of teachers having a trade to help support themselves. Paul would have been trained as a tentmaker as a young man; it was Jewish custom to provide all sons with a manual trade, a physical method of making a living, even young men who intended to later become rabbis or other types of more intellectual professions.

Consequently, Paul could effectively seek gainful employment even though he’s no longer a part of the mainstream religious institution that was previously his primary occupation.

Even today sometimes you might hear the term “tentmaking” used as a general term to refer to a vocation someone uses to support themselves when otherwise occupied by ministry.

And we can see from this passage that Paul gladly supported himself and his team through manual labor rather than expecting to be fully supported by those he served, though he gratefully received donations from established churches, and commended them for the sake of further outreach.

For all his preaching and explaining and wisdom, he was also able to put his hands to work, and I have no doubt he did so not just willingly but with all the same Pauline passion with which he wrote and taught.

It brings to mind the wisdom of Ecclesiastes, which says:

Ecclesiastes 9:10 LSB

10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no working or explaining or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

The preacher advises people to live life to the fullest as they are able. What is implied, of course, is that this is exercised within the boundaries of God’s Word, but it extends to every aspect of life. And in the context of Paul’s story here, I think it’s cool to think how God can use trades and skills of all kinds to benefit his kingdom, even those that seem unrelated to the kingdom at the time that we are learning it.

Whether it’s using that skill directly in service to some ministry, or simply to help pay your own bills, or to help support and host other people in their ministries, like Aquila and Priscilla did for Paul.

No matter what our professions, vocations, or ministries, however we occupy our time, let us do so as intentionally and excellently as we can.

Paul must have done his tentmaking work heartily, if he followed his own instructions to the Colossians:

Colossians 3:23 LSB

23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,

Again, given what we know of Paul’s personality I don’t have a hard time imagining Paul giving it his all no matter what he was doing.

What else was Paul doing, by the way?

Well, he was trying to give them that eternal perspective of Ecclesiastes, because life is fleeting and we’re all headed for the grave, there is some urgency to the message of the gospel which transcends even the urgency of earthly survival.

So, beyond simply occupying himself to exist and thrive within a bubble of approval, Paul also continues to occupy himself with persuading people to follow Jesus, and that continues to be his primary priority.

Even when he was making tents full time, he was also spending every Sabbath at the synagogue spitting truth.

Verses 4-6

4 And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

So, here in verse 4 we’re to assume he’s essentially working “full-time” during the week with Priscilla and Aquila, and only ministering at the synagogue on the Sabbath.

This actually shifts then in verse five, when his friends rejoin him with enough funds from Philippi that he’s able to devote himself full-time to the gospel ministry:

5 But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly bearing witness to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

What a blessing on top of a blessing, it seems! Now, Paul is among friends

So far, this is a very encouraging season in Paul’s travels, I would say. At least, if you stop reading there.

God certainly did bless them in Corinth, but, as always, there were people who actively resisted and worked against them.

If we keep reading to verse six, we come back to that idea of sustaining insults from a brother. In this case, the opposition seems to bother Paul especially deeply.

6 But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

Now, to clarify, this isn’t saying that Silas and Timothy, or Priscilla or Aquila were blaspheming, but “they” refers to other Jews, others who would have been at the synagogue resisting and opposing them.

Shaking Out His Garments

He “shakes out his garments” at them.

As far as the gesture itself, it’s kind of a strange and enigmatic gesture, as it’s not really a gesture that’s known to have been commonly used, but it’s also not hard to imagine the significance behind it.

It may be a reference to Nehemiah, who did something similar, and explained it like this:

Nehemiah 5:13 LSB

13 I also shook out the front of my garment and said, “Thus may God shake out every man from his house and from his possessions who does not establish this word; even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen!” And they praised Yahweh. Then the people did according to this word.

So, in that context it’s used as a warning, like “don’t let this happen to you!” “Don’t be the people who get shaken off the corner of a garment, like crumbs!”

Remember, too, how Jesus referred to shaking the dust of their sandals, when his disciples were rejected by one town, to shake the dust off their feet and move on. It’s as if the people are being allowed to fall away, he’s letting go of them. Washing his hands of them.

This is a personal gesture of riddance, and it marks Paul’s official turn to gentiles as his number one target demographic.

Of course, he’ll still interact with and debate with the Jews too, but he’s no longer committed to going to them first.

It’s kind of sad, in a way, it’s like he’s having to disown his own people.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not that he’s actually disowning the Jews or Judaism, he doesn’t do that, but you could say, perhaps, that he’s washing his hands of his responsibility to them. They’ve had their opportunity, and he’s moving on, but it’s clear that he takes no pleasure in it.

Blood on Their Heads

What’s with this rather graphic image of having blood on their heads? What does it mean for their blood to be on their heads?

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Seventeen: It’s Always Too Soon to Quit (Acts 18:1–22)

To have blood on your hands means that you bear the responsibility for another’s death because you were not faithful to warn him. The image comes from the watchman on the city walls whose task it was to stay alert and warn of coming danger (see Ezek. 3:17–21; 33:1–9). But to have blood on your head means that you are to blame for your own judgment. You had the opportunity to be saved, but you turned it down (see Josh. 2:19). Paul’s hands were clean (Acts 20:26) because he had been faithful to declare the message of the Gospel. The Jews had their own blood on their own heads because they rejected God’s truth.

They had nobody to blame but themselves; again, this is just Paul absolving himself of any further responsibility for presenting the truth to them.

How does the saying go? “You can lead a horse to water, but...”

…You can’t make him drink it.

To beat one more analogy to death: Paul led them to the water, threw them in the water and then stood on his head underwater to demonstrate commitment. The ones who still refuse to drink have no right to complain about being thirsty.

Ezekiel 33:8 NLT

8 If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to tell them to change their ways, then they will die in their sins, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths.

Paul is making it very clear that he’s claiming innocence of just such responsibility.

Moving On

So, moving on, in the last three verses we got kind of a big jump, from being kind of settled in to a routine while living in Corinth, to suddenly being on the move again, let’s read what happens:

7 Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a God-fearer, whose house was next to the synagogue.

8 And Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.

So, he doesn’t go very far, does he?

He leaves the synagogue and…goes right next door! To use a gentile’s house as his preaching station. And it worked! Even the chief ruler of the synagogue was converted, along with his entire family! How that must have stirred the Jewish population in Corinth, we can only imagine!

It surely must have caused enough of a stir as to cause Paul to legitimately be concerned for his safety, warranting some divine reassurance for the mission at hand, as we read in the next few verses:

9 And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent;

10 for I am with you, and no man will lay a hand on you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

11 And he stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Now, as far as visions go, this one is pretty straightforward. It’s an encouragement from God, to Paul, telling him to keep doing what he’s doing. But it’s a pretty significant theological statement, being made by God himself, that he already “has many people” in that city. Whether this refers to people who already fear God or who are soon to come to know him, it speaks to God’s sovereignty and election of said people, without negating Paul’s role in their election, unbeknownst even to him perhaps.

Please note that divine sovereignty in election is not a deterrent to human responsibility in evangelism. Quite the opposite is true! Divine election is one of the greatest encouragements to the preaching of the Gospel. Because Paul knew that God already had people set apart for salvation, he stayed where he was and preached the Gospel with faith and courage. Paul’s responsibility was to obey the commission; God’s responsibility was to save sinners. If salvation depends on sinful man, then all of our efforts are futile; but if “salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9), then we can expect Him to bless His Word and save souls.

“Scripture nowhere dispels the mystery of election,” writes John Stott in God’s New Society (InterVarsity, p. 37), “and we should beware of any who try to systematize it too precisely or rigidly. It is not likely that we shall discover a simple solution to a problem which has baffled the best brains of Christendom for centuries.”

The important thing is that we accept God’s truth and act on it. Paul did not spend his time speculating about divine sovereignty and human responsibility, the way some ivory-tower Christians do today. He got busy and tried to win souls to Christ! You and I do not know who God’s elect are, so we take the Gospel to every creature and let God do the rest.

I think that’s a fairly pragmatic approach. Though I will say, Paul did dedicate quite a bit of writing to exploring some of the finer nuances of this topic, and certainly seemed never to shy away from intellectual debate.

Verse 11 says he was there for a year and six months, teaching. Eighteen months! That’s a pretty good extended chunk of time!

But…there’s always a but.

12 But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,

13 saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.”

Here we go again, right? Same old song and dance Paul is used to, and he’s ready to defend himself!

Gallio, by the way, was the older brother of the Roman philosopher Seneca (which should ring a bell from last week), and Seneca was a tutor to Emperor Nero.

Gallio is the proconsul of Achaia, of which Corinth was the capital. It’s like he’s the governor of New York, and Paul’s in Albany.

But, Paul’s not going to even need to bother with a defense.

14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you;

15 but if there are questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am not willing to be a judge of these matters.”

16 And he drove them away from the judgment seat.

17 And they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

Think about this. First, we had Paul say to the Jews “You know what, I’m done with you…moving on.” Then, we have the Jews trying to take Paul to Roman court to try to get him in trouble, and the Roman court refusing to take any part in their squabble. This leaves Paul wide open, with the Jews basically having nothing to use against him.

It’s not all good news I suppose, poor Sosthenes gets beaten up in front of everyone, but it could have been worse, right? The Jews against Paul do not succeed in their attempts to stop him. All they accomplish is to physically bully and abuse one of their own leaders.

I was saying earlier how sad it must have been, but on the other hand it must have also been freeing in some ways to see this play out. Paul didn’t even have to defend himself! And moving forward, it’s as if the Jews have done all they can to free Paul from the burden of even “putting up with them,” as Gallio put it, let alone of preaching to them, and he’s pretty well validated in shaking them from his garments.

Of course, that’s not the end of the story, there’s much more action to come in the book of Acts, and more to come in this chapter, but that’s where we’re going to leave it for today.

Conclusion

As we reflect on Paul’s journey and experiences in Corinth, we see the continued pattern of God's providence and purpose at work. Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit, found kinship and support in Aquila and Priscilla, highlighting the beauty of Christian fellowship and the importance of shared labor in advancing the gospel. This story reminds us that God uses our unique skills, professions, and passions not only to sustain us but also to further His kingdom.

Paul's persistent efforts to reach both Jews and Gentiles underscore a critical lesson for us today. His shift to focus more on the Gentiles after facing resistance from his fellow Jews was not an act of abandonment but a strategic move to ensure that the message of Christ reached as many people as possible. This teaches us the value of perseverance and adaptability in our own ministry efforts. When faced with rejection or hardship, we must trust in God's guidance, knowing that He has a plan for us, just as He had for Paul.

The incident with Gallio further illustrates that God’s plans cannot be thwarted by human opposition. Despite the hostility Paul faced, God provided protection and continued to grow the church in Corinth. This reassures us that when we are aligned with God's will, no obstacle is too great, and no opposition too strong to hinder His purposes, and sometimes help comes from unexpected sources.

As we go about our own lives and ministries, let us be encouraged by Paul’s example. Let us seek to build strong relationships, support one another in our work, and remain faithful to our calling, trusting that God is with us. Let us also be adaptable, knowing when to shift our focus and embrace new opportunities for spreading the gospel.

Let us pray for strength, wisdom, and perseverance as we continue our journey of faith, always seeking to glorify God in all that we do.