BAMIGBOLA ADEGBOLABO

CRS
1) It came to pass, one day, that the High Priest and the party of the Sadducees put
the Apostles in a common prison because they continued to preach in the name of
Jesus. At night, an angel of the Lord came and opened the prison doors and
released them. The angel instructed them to go into the temple and preach to the
people about life. In the morning, the Apostles entered the Temple and preached to
the people they found there. That same morning, the High Priest had called
together his Council. He had sent that the Apostles be brought to appear before
them. When the officers went to the prison to bring the Apostles out, they did not
find them there so they came back to report to the High Priest and his Council.
When the High Priest and the Captain of the Temple, heard this, they were
confused and did not know how this was going to turn out. As they were still
thinking about the matter, somebody came from the town and told them that the
people they were looking for were in the Temple preaching to the people. The
Captain of the Temple and the officers went to bring them, but without any violence
because they feared that they might be pelted with stones if they used force. The
Apostles were set before the Council and the High Priest asked them whether they
had not warned them not to preach in the name of Jesus. They asked them why
they had filled the whole of Jerusalem with their teachings and blaming they the
leaders for the death of Jesus?

Peter and the Apostles told them that they could not obey men; the only person
they obeyed was God. They accused the Council of killing Jesus by hanging him on a
cross and they spoke about how God had exalted Jesus and raised him to be on
God's right hand side in paradise. When the Council members heard this, they
became very angry, especially the Sadducees who did not believe in the
resurrection of the body. They wanted the Apostles to be killed. Then arose
Gamaliel, a teacher of the law and an expert in the Jewish traditions. He was also a
member of the Council of Jerusalem and also a Pharisee. He ordered the Apostles
to be put outside for a while. Then he told his fellow Council members to be careful
what they did with the Apostles. He drew the attention of the Council to one
Theudas who started a movement sometime earlier and drew a following of four
hundred men. He spoke about how Theudas was killed and all his followers were
dispersed. He also spoke about how Judas the Galillean, also arose during the
census and also drew a large following. Gamaliel said this man was also killed and
all his followers were scattered.

Gamaliel advised the Council to leave the Apostles alone in the present case. He
said if what the Apostles were doing was a human undertaking, it was surely going
to fail but that if it was of God there is nothing they, the Council, can do about it.
Rather they would be found to be opposing God. The Council took his advice. They
called the Apostle back into the Council and beat flogged them. They then charge
them not to preach about Jesus again and allowed them to go. The Apostles were
happy that they had to suffer indignity for the sake of Jesus. After this, they went
into the Temple everyday and in the homes and preached about the gospel of Jesus
Christ.
B)He was courageous
One would have thought that Gamaliel would be frightened by the number he was
against but he was not. That shows courage.

He was kind
Another quality of Gamaliel was that he was kind. He did not support the taking of
innocent lives, even the lives of people perceived to be against his religion.

2) After the death of Stephen, many Christians ran to Damascus for their dear lives.
Saul was happy at the death of Stephen. He went from house to house persecuting
those who belonged to the faith. Saul went to the high priest in Jerusalem to
demand for a written permission to travel to Damascus and bring down to
Jerusalem in chains those who proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus Christ. On his
way, near Damascus. he met with Jesus Christ in a transforming vision. A light from
heaven shone on him and he fell down as he heard a voice saying: " Saul, Saul, why
do you persecute me?" When he asked whom he was persecuting, the voice said: "I
am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but rise and enter the city, and you would be
told what to do". In the city, there was a disciple by name Ananias who lived in a
street named Straight, whom God had commissioned to restore Saul's sight.
(Before this time, Saul had lived for three days without food). But Ananias told God
that he had heard of Saul how he had caused havoc to those who belonged to the
way and that the man, Saul was a dangerous person.

God assured him that He had made him a chosen instrument to preach and
propagate the gospel, death and the resurrection of Jesus to the Jews and Gentiles
and that since he had persecuted the church of God, he too would not go without
being persecuted by Jesus. Ananias went as commanded by God and laid his hands
on Saul. Something like scale fell from his eyes and he regained his sight and was
baptised immediately. He was then given food to eat.

 The effect of this conversion on the growth of the church can be seen as

(i) Saul who persecuted the Christians (disciples) now became a major soul winner
for the church.

(ii) It led to the expansion of the church.

3)Justification can be explained as a process of being acquitted from sin by God. It is

a process by which man's sin is forgiven and over-looked by God as a saving grace
for eternal life. The conditions for the achievement of justification can be stated as
follows: Justification is a gift of God's grace. It cannot be attained by man's effort or
his perfection. It was the wish of Jesus to carry man's sin on the cross, therefore,
man has the choice of rejecting it, but the consequence of rejection is destruction.

A Christian, therefore, has to believe in the resurrection of Jesus as a first step to

justification. It is the confession of a man's faith with his mouth that can earn him
salvation. Those who are trusting in the righteousness of the law (Jews and
Gentiles) have fallen short of the Grace of God. Those who would be accepted by
Jesus when he comes back are those who accept him in faith.