It is true that I worship the God of our people as a follower of the Way of Jesus. They call it a cult, but everything I believe agrees with the Law and the Prophets.
and asked him to write letters to the synagogues in Damascus. If he found any men and women there who belonged to the Way of Jesus, the letters would allow him to take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
They arranged to meet with Paul on a certain day. When it came, even more of the Jewish leaders went to the place where he was staying. From morning until evening, he told them about the kingdom of God. He used the Law of Moses and the Prophets to try to convince them about Jesus.
The God of our fathers—of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has done this, to bring glory to his servant Jesus. But you handed Jesus over to be killed. You spoke against him when he was in Pilate’s court, even though Pilate had decided to let him go.
But God has helped me right up until this very moment. So I’m standing here and speaking about him to everyone, whether they’re kings or just ordinary people. I’ve been saying nothing different from what the prophets and Moses said would happen.
“We’ve found that this Paul is a troublemaker. Everywhere he goes in the world, riots break out among the Jews. He’s the leader of a cult called the Nazarenes.
When I heard this, I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I’m God’s servant, just like you and your brothers and sisters who hold firmly to what Jesus taught. Worship God! The Spirit of prophecy tells the truth about Jesus.”
The Spirit of Christ in them was telling about the sufferings of the Messiah and the glory that would follow. They wanted to find out when and how this salvation would come.
Felix, who knew a lot about the Way of Jesus, said he wouldn’t make a decision right away. “When Lysias the commander over 1,000 soldiers comes,” he told Paul, “I will settle your case.”
“Then he said, ‘The God of our people has chosen you, and he wants you to know the plans he has for you, to see the Blameless One, and to hear his voice.
But some there wouldn’t listen, and they refused to believe. They said insulting things in public about the Way of Jesus. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and talked with people each day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
After someone read aloud from the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to Paul and his group. They said, “Brothers, do you have any words of instruction for the people? If you do, please speak.”
Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We’ve found the one Moses wrote about in the Law. The prophets wrote about him too. It’s Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Jesus said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you. Everything that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must come true.”
“The Law and the Prophets were preached until John the Baptist came. Since then, the good news of God’s kingdom is being preached, and everyone is trying hard to enter the kingdom.
Then Paul spoke up for himself. He said, “I haven’t done anything wrong against the law of the Jews or their temple, and I haven’t done anything wrong against Caesar.”