Study Desk

So the commander went over and asked Paul, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes, I certainly am," Paul replied.

"I am, too," the commander muttered, "and it cost me plenty!" Paul answered, "But I am a citizen by birth!"

Paul realized that some members of the high council were Sadducees and some were Pharisees, so he shouted, "Brothers, I am a Pharisee, as were my ancestors! And I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead!"

except for the one time I shouted out, ‘I am on trial before you today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead!'"

Paul denied the charges. "I am not guilty of any crime against the Jewish laws or the Temple or the Roman government," he said.

But Paul replied, "No! This is the official Roman court, so I ought to be tried right here. You know very well I am not guilty of harming the Jews.

If I have done something worthy of death, I don't refuse to die. But if I am innocent, no one has a right to turn me over to these men to kill me. I appeal to Caesar!"

"I am fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense today against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders,

Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God's promise made to our ancestors.

"‘Who are you, lord?' I asked. "And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.

And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles

But Paul replied, "I am not insane, Most Excellent Festus. What I am saying is the sober truth.

And King Agrippa knows about these things. I speak boldly, for I am sure these events are all familiar to him, for they were not done in a corner!

Paul replied, "Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains."

I asked you to come here today so we could get acquainted and so I could explain to you that I am bound with this chain because I believe that the hope of Israel—the Messiah—has already come."

I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News.

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.

Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, "You must not covet."