Acts 14:3 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

NIV: So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.

NASB: Therefore they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be performed by their hands.

CSB: So they stayed there a long time and spoke boldly for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace by enabling them to do signs and wonders.

NLT: But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders.

KJV: Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

NKJV: Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas are teaching that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah promised in Jewish Scriptures, come to offer reconciliation with God. Many Jews and Gentiles believe but others push back, contradicting their message (Acts 14:1–2). In response, the two apostles decide to stay and teach more. God validates their message by allowing them to perform miracles: the true purpose of signs gifts such as healing and tongues.

Paul has been threatened by civil and religious leaders (Acts 9:23–25; 29–30), but he has yet to suffer real persecution. At this point, preaching boldly doesn't come with immediate risks. The original apostles already understand the need for God's provision of courage to speak their message (Acts 4:29). Soon, Paul will experience the same pressure (Ephesians 6:19). "The word of his grace"—the spread of the gospel—deserves no less.

For Paul and Barnabas, staying to teach and even debate would be a natural response. Judaism included several different sects, like Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, and Zealots. Even Paul's Pharisees aligned themselves under different teachers. Each sect and each school had slightly different interpretations of Jewish theology, and rabbis spent much time debating and recording their views.

This tradition turns out to be essential for the development of Christian theology. Without conflicting assumptions about God's will, we wouldn't have the answers recorded in the book of Galatians (Galatians 1:6–7) or 2 Corinthians (2 Corinthians 11:4). We'd be without 1 John, the apostle John's response to Gnosticism. Debates about theology continued into the first few centuries of the church. It was the introduction of heresies that pushed church leaders to codify their understandings of the Trinity, the hypostatic union of Christ, and the role of the Holy Spirit. This drove the creation of terminology used to summarize Christian ideas much more efficiently. We often don't know what we believe until we're forced to compare it to something else. And sometimes teachers don't know what to teach until they're confronted with the lies their students or congregations are exposed to.

Acts 14:1–7 records how Paul and Barnabas fled persecution in Pisidian Antioch and arrived in Iconium. As becomes their habit, they share Jesus' story in the local synagogue and watch many Jews and Gentiles agree to follow Jesus. Like in Pisidian Antioch, other Jews and Gentiles reject their message. The pair stay as long as they can, teaching and starting the church, until their antagonists threaten to stone them. Paul and Barnabas leave the new believers and travel south and east to establish new churches but will return on their way back through (Acts 14:21).

Acts 14 describes the last half of Paul's first missionary journey. He and Barnabas leave Pisidian Antioch, near central modern-day Asia Minor, and travel southeast to Iconium where they establish a new church. In Lystra, Paul heals a man born crippled. The amazed people insist Barnabas is the Greek deity Zeus, and Paul is Hermes. They attempt to offer sacrifices to them, much to the horror of the two evangelists. When antagonists from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium arrive, Paul is stoned but survives. The pair travel to Derbe, then retrace their steps, encouraging the new churches before sailing back to Syrian Antioch.

Paul's first missionary journey, recorded in Acts 13—14, gives a glimpse of issues that the church will face throughout its entire existence. When presented with Jesus's story, some will accept Him while others will not. Opposition is sometimes violent. Some integrate into church life easily, but for centuries the church has struggled with how to integrate those from vastly different cultures. This raises the crucial question of which aspects of faith and worship are biblical, making them universal, and which are cultural, and therefore optional? In Acts 15, the church leadership will start a discussion on that subject which continues even today.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.