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Acts 20:17–21

“I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (vv. 20–21).

Heading east from Macedonia toward Jerusalem, the Apostle Paul traveled near but did not enter Ephesus (Acts 20:1–16). Nevertheless, Paul wanted to meet with the leaders of the Ephesian church before continuing his journey to Jerusalem. Landing in Miletus, which was about thirty miles south of Ephesus, Paul sent for the Ephesian elders, who made the daylong journey to visit the Apostle, as Luke tells us in today’s passage (vv. 17–18a).

Luke goes on in the rest of Acts 20 to record what Paul said to the Ephesian elders on that occasion. According to verses 25 and 38, these were the final words he spoke to the Ephesian elders, and this should lead us to pay special attention to his speech here. Since Paul would not be seeing these men again, his words to them summarize the most important truths that they needed to keep in mind after he would be unable to minister to them any longer.

Paul began with a short summary of his ministry to the Ephesians. He recounted his humble service to them and how he persevered through all the trials that the Jewish opponents of the gospel brought upon him (vv. 18b–19; e.g., see 19:8–9). That Paul can refer to his own humility shows that the truly humble person can recognize when he has served in humility, though of course we should be cautious about too quickly thinking of ourselves as humble.

During his Ephesian ministry, Paul “did not shrink” from declaring what was profitable to the people both in public and in private (“from house to house”; 20:20). In other words, the Apostle proclaimed the whole counsel of God to the Ephesians (v. 27). He did not shy away from the harder truths of Scripture or give up when his audience did not grasp them the first time he taught them. This is what church elders and teachers must do: “Reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2).

The Apostle explains in Acts 20:21 the essence of the profitable teaching he delivered: “repentance toward God and . . . faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul preached the gospel and its attendant demands of faith and repentance. John Calvin notes that Paul’s conjoining of faith and repentance here shows us that while they can and should be distinguished, they “cannot be separate[d]; because God doth illuminate no man with the Spirit of faith whom he doth not also regenerate unto newness of life.” We are to have a repentant faith and a believing repentance.

Coram Deo Living before the face of God

Faith must be distinguished from repentance and has a certain kind of priority over repentance. Yet repentance always and inevitably accompanies saving faith. There is no person who truly rests in Christ alone for salvation who does not also repent of his sin.


For further study
  • 2 Chronicles 7:14
  • Mark 11:22
  • Acts 15:7–9
  • 2 Peter 3:9
The bible in a year
  • Proverbs 7–8
  • 1 Corinthians 14

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Paul Continues His Farewell Speech

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From the September 2024 Issue
Sep 2024 Issue