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To the Jew he became a Jew, and led up through Biblical history to David, and from
David to Christ, "Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel
a SAVIOUR, JESUS" (Acts 13: 23).
To the Greek he became a Greek, and by reference to their "superstition", their
"unknown God", the testimony of their philosophers and poets, led on, equally with his
address to the Jews, to the inevitable Christ:
"He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by
that man Whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that
He hath raised Him from the dead" (Acts 17: 31).
Paul's conception of the gospel was the preaching of "Christ" (Rom. 1: 1-4;
I Cor. 1: 23; Gal. 1: 16; Phil. 1: 18). That his equipment for the work had already been
going on before his conversion is made evident by the fact, that he only needed the
saving revelation on the road to Damascus, to vitalize all he had previously acquired, for
we read that, after only a few days' respite, "straightway he preached Christ in the
synagogues, that He is the Son of God" (Acts 9: 20), "and confounded the Jews . . . . .
proving that this is the very Christ" (Acts 9: 22), the church in Judæa learning with
wonder, "that he which persecuted them in times past now preacheth that faith which
once he destroyed" (Gal. 1: 23).
As a survey of all his references to them will show, Paul's acquaintance with the O.T.
Scriptures was very wide and very thorough. Furthermore, he spoke both "Greek" and
"Hebrew" (Acts 21: 37-40), which enabled him to quote sometimes the Greek
Septuagint, and sometimes the O.T. as it is in the original, a great asset in his equipment.
This must not be misrepresented as indicating that no one can exercise the vocation of
preacher or teacher to-day without a knowledge of Hebrew and Greek, but it does
indicate the extreme value of all such aids as the Concordance and Lexicon to enable the
man of God to verify his references and so build upon a sound foundation.
We have already referred to the fact that a thorough furnishing of the man of God
includes, not only the supply of all necessary material, but the intelligent use of that
material. We shall therefore not be fully equipped if our "manner" spoils our "matter".
A good housekeeper not only provides wholesome food, but sees to it that it is not
spoiled in the cooking.
"As his manner was, Paul went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with
them out of the Scriptures. Opening and alleging . . . . ." (Acts 27: 2, 3).
Dialegomai, "reasoning", indicates an argument in which two or more speakers take
part, or in which one speaker argues out the "pros and cons" of his subject. A good
example of this method is exhibited in Rom. 6: and 7: where (four times) the Apostle
interposes a possible objection, and (four times) gives a reasonable refutation and
positive reply. The word translated "opening" is dianoigo, and is used of opening the
scriptures, opening the heart, and opening the understanding (Acts 16: 14; Luke 24: 32
and 45). "Alleging" is paratithemi, "to place beside". Its first occurrence in the N.T. is