Bible Verse of the Day Saturday April 1st 2023

Acts 23:6-7 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

Paul appeared before the ruling council of Sadducees and Pharisees because he was preaching about Christ's crucifixion. He addressed the council directly from the scripture. He explains how we experience salvation through faith, our old nature crucified with Christ. Therefore, we have risen again with Christ because of His resurrection, and through the sovereignty of God, we walk with Jesus through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Christ's resurrection proves Jesus is correct in His claim to be God in the flesh.  

Paul knew that the ones he was standing in front of were not favorable towards the Gospel; the high priest's procedures, behaviors, and positions of those present made this clear. So, Paul was dispelled to talk about the Gospel of Christ Jesus and did what he could to maintain his freedom in front of a council that wanted him dead. A portion of the sitting council were Sadducees and the other Pharisees; Paul's objective was to cause a division among the Sanhedrin along their party lines, to cause the Pharisees to be sympathetic to his cause instead of having them united against him with the Sadducees.

I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees, and being familiar with his audience Paul referred to his heritage as a Pharisee and declared, I am on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead. Paul understood the subject of the resurrection was very controversial between the two parties. But this was an essentially valid claim. The center of Paul's Gospel was a resurrected Jesus, and He was on trial over the resurrection of the dead.

Today, we know what Paul was preaching that day to be the truth; we have the guarantee of heaven and eternal life in the presence of our Savior, Christ Jesus. Through his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us that the cross is foolishness to the lost, but to the saved, it is God's power (1 Corinthians 1:18). Some rebel against God and reject Jesus and the salvation he alone can provide. To the perishing, the resurrection seems foolish because they surrender their hearts to a world of enmity against God. Their hearts have turned against God, and they do not accept the resurrection of Jesus. Because if they did, they would have to admit Jesus is Lord and Savior. Salvation would mean turning control of their lives over to Jesus and becoming bondservants of Christ.

And because they thrive on their wickedness, they remain in their sins. For this reason, they deny Chris's resurrection and the power it brings into the lives of those who follow Him by faith. Acknowledging the truth of Christ as our Savior, a believer recognizes God's control, and the wicked heart rejects it. The wicked do not want to answer to a morality that stems from God's love and holiness. Instead, they are children of the one the Apostle Paul calls" the ruler of the kingdom of the air" (Ephesians 2:2), who is Satan. Therefore, they reject the Gospel, the resurrection, and the salvation only Jesus can provide. They, the ones in rebellion against God, do this because they are more comfortable in their sins and in their continued rebellion against the only one that can bring them eternal life, our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus.