KLEROS: “A Place Among Those Who Are Sanctified” – Acts 26:18

“I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

In the original Greek text of the New Testament, the word translated here as “a place” is “kleros.” The King James Version translated it “inheritance,” which is one of its meanings. Kleros is a very important word in both the New Testament and in the Greek version of the Old Testament that the Apostles used in the early church (called the “Septuagint”).  This is the first in a series of lessons exploring the meaning of this term.

Reference books list the main definitions of kleros as “lot, portion, or share.”  It is the word used for casting lots to inquire of the Lord in Acts 1:26.  Peter told the money-loving Simon Magus that he had “no share in this ministry” in Acts 8:21 (“neither part nor lot in this matter”), using the same word “kleros” for “lot” or “share.”  In Colossians 1:12 Paul uses the word for the “inheritance” of the saints, and in 1 Peter 5:3 it uses the same word to call the faithful church the Lord’s “heritage” that has been entrusted to the pastors.  The common theme is our allotted portion or share, designated and revealed by God’s grace to us.

Here, kleros is a place among the true saints. When we experience salvation through Christ, we receive a place at His table, at the eternal wedding feast of the Lamb.  “He brought me to his banquet table, and his banner over me is love.”  (Song of Songs 2:4; see also Isaiah 25:6).  There is a place with your name, designated and reserved for you.

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The Mission of the Apostle – Acts 26:18

Acts 26:16-18 – “‘Now get up and stand on your feet.  I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.  I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles.  I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

In this passage, Paul recounts for a few royal officials (unbelievers) how he became a messenger for Jesus Christ.  He quotes the very words that the Lord spoke to him on the day of his conversion, many years before.  The Apostle Paul had nothing to impress the worldly dignitaries.  His call was to be a mere “servant and witness,” (Acts 26:17), rather than to “be somebody important.”  Interestingly, the Lord’s only promise in this passage was to “rescue” Paul from unbelievers – there was no promise to make Paul rich, prosperous, successful, or famous.  The Lord values the things of eternity, not the things of this world.

“Now get up and stand on your feet.” (Acts 26:16) – The Lord gave the same command to Old Testament prophets when He spoke to them (see Jeremiah 1:17; Ezekiel 2:1; Daniel 10:11; Micah 6:1).  In all these passages, standing before the Lord signals both reverence and readiness to act.   Continue reading The Mission of the Apostle – Acts 26:18 »

Learning from Acts – Salvation of the Philippian Jailer

Acts 16:25-28 - About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

Paul was on his second extended missionary journey.  Originally, he planned to revisit the churches in planted on his first tour and assess their progress (Acts 15:36-41).  The churches back then had no means of communicating with each other regularly, and there was no centralized management or control.  Each church had to learn to follow the Holy Spirit’s direction, receiving only occasional visits or letters from Apostles or other leaders.

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Acts 20:7-12: Eutychus & Paul

Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” Acts 20:10 (NIV)

Paul was delivering a message to the church at Troas. The meeting was taking place on the first day of the week, and the disciples were celebrating the Lord’s supper together. The Bible says that Paul kept talking until midnight: it was a long message because he was going to leave the next day. Continue reading Acts 20:7-12: Eutychus & Paul »