Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.
The chief captain came to Paul himself and put the direct question whether he was a Roman, and Paul answered that he was. That Roman citizenship carried legal privileges and protection with it. It shielded him from the debasing violence of unbelievers.
His affirmation stopped the scourging that had been planned and kept him from punishment before a lawful inquiry. As a citizen he could not be subjected to torture. Because torture was forbidden in his case, the sentence imposed upon him at the last was beheading instead.
In his trials Roman officials became his deliverers when the Jewish authorities sought to condemn him. His citizenship kept him from being handed over to his enemies through the privilege it gave him of appealing to Caesar. Yet with all the protection of citizenship, together with Hebrew education learned at the feet of Gamaliel at Jerusalem and advanced education in literary science, he was still in complete darkness until Christ was revealed to him, for citizenship and learning could not give power to convict and convert sinners nor bring him to the highest standard without the Spirit sanctifying his work.
The chief captain came to Paul himself and put the direct question whether he was a Roman, and Paul answered that he was. That Roman citizenship carried legal privileges and protection with it. It shielded him from the debasing violence of unbelievers.
His affirmation stopped the scourging that had been planned and kept him from punishment before a lawful inquiry. As a citizen he could not be subjected to torture. Because torture was forbidden in his case, the sentence imposed upon him at the last was beheading instead.
In his trials Roman officials became his deliverers when the Jewish authorities sought to condemn him. His citizenship kept him from being handed over to his enemies through the privilege it gave him of appealing to Caesar. Yet with all the protection of citizenship, together with Hebrew education learned at the feet of Gamaliel at Jerusalem and advanced education in literary science, he was still in complete darkness until Christ was revealed to him, for citizenship and learning could not give power to convict and convert sinners nor bring him to the highest standard without the Spirit sanctifying his work.