The Book of Acts Chapter 18

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The Book of Acts Chapter 18

Text from https://www.bible.com/bible/111/ACT.18.NIV

The Second Mission Journey (3); Corinth & Ephesus

In Corinth

1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth(1). (Paul came from Athens to Corinth.)

2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus(2), who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. (Paul met Aquila and Priscilla who were expelled from Puntus in Corinth. Since they all were tentmaker, they worked together; Business in Mission.)

4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. (Here also the synagogue was the Paul's place to share the Gospel with Jews and Greek converts.)

5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. (Paul was alone in Athens but as Silas and Timothy came from Berea, Paul devoted to preaching. Effective ministry with partners.)

6 But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” (But the Jewish dominating congregation of the synagogue rejected the message of Messiah, Paul decided to focus on the Gentiles. Advantage and disadvantage of the synagogue.)

7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. (Now a house of God-worshiper became a gathering place. Adaptation of Mission Strategy due to the given situation.)

8 Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized. (But the leader of the synagogue, Crispus, and his household followed Paul and were baptized with many other Corinthians.)

9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.

10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” (The Lord encouraged Paul to continue the ministry in Corinth.)

11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. (Paul committed himself for the ministry with Aquila, Priscilla, and Timothy for quite a time. Ecc. 4:12)

12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia (AD. 51-52), the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment.

13 “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.” (Jews accused Paul to the proconsul for preaching the Messiahship of Jesus whom Romans were not recognizing.)

14 Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to them, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you.

15 But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.”

16 So he drove them off. (But Gallio, Proconsul rejected to get involved since the issue was ethnic rather than legal.)

17 Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever. (So the anger of Jews for Paul redirected to the synagogue leader Sosthenes, and lynched him unlawfully, maybe because he let Paul to speak in the synagogue.)

Priscilla, Aquila and Apollos

18 Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria (Ephesus), accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. (Maybe the Vow of Nazarite. Num. 6:(3))

19 They arrived at Ephesus (Minor Asia), where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. (They were separated.) He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. (Paul shared the Gospel in the Ephesian synagogue.)

20 When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined.

21 But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. (The stay in Ephesus was short in spite of the invitation of the locals with an expectation of future revisit.)

22 When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch. (The End of the Second Mission Journey.)

The Beginning of the Third Mission Journey: Galatia & Phrygia

23 After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Apollos in Ephesus & Achaia (Greece)

24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.

25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. (Apollos who learned the Scriptures (OT) well came to Ephesus shared the way of the Lord, but only knew the baptism of John yet.)

26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him (v19, they were in Ephesus.), they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. (Apollos was upgraded on the new happenings of Jesus by Priscilla and Aquila.)

27 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia(4), the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. (The endorsing letter of the Ephesian church helped Apollos to get into Achaia. The local churches have unity as the Church of the Lord.)

28 For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. (Apollos was able to prove the Messiahship of Jesus according to the Scripture, which is Old Testament. Legitimacy of the Old Testament.)

(1)Corinth

Biblical Corinth was a wealthy, strategic port city in ancient Greece, crucial for the Apostle Paul's missionary work, where he established a major church and wrote his famous letters (1 & 2 Corinthians) addressing issues like division, immorality, and Christian conduct in a cosmopolitan, polytheistic culture. Its location on the Isthmus of Corinth made it a vital trade hub and a melting pot of cultures, influencing the church's unique challenges and Paul's teachings on love, discipline, and resurrection.

(2)Pontus

Pontus was a large Roman province in northern Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) along the Black Sea, known for its significant Jewish population, mentioned in the Bible as home to devout Jews present at Pentecost (Acts 2:9) and the birthplace of Paul's companion Aquila (Acts 18:2), and as a region where the Apostle Peter addressed his first epistle to scattered Christians (1 Peter 1:1).

(3)Nazarite

Nazarites in the Bible were Israelites (men or women) who took a voluntary vow of special dedication to God, outlined in Numbers 6, involving abstaining from wine/grape products, not cutting their hair, and avoiding contact with dead bodies, symbolizing total consecration for a period or, in Samson's case, for life, with key examples being Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist (from birth).

(4)Achaia

In the Bible, Achaia refers to a Roman province that covered most of Greece, with Corinth as its capital, significant for the spread of Christianity, where figures like Paul ministered, establishing churches and facing challenges, making it a key location in the early church's growth beyond Jewish lands. It's often mentioned alongside Macedonia to encompass all of Greece, highlighting the Gospel's reach into the culturally rich, intellectual Gentile world.