“But they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God in me.”
1:23
But they were hearing only, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.”
Churches in Judea kept hearing about Paul but never met him personally. There is one thing they knew about him – his conversion to Christ. God radically transformed Paul’s conviction from salvation by works to salvation by faith.
1:24
And they glorified God in me.
The Judean churches kept on giving God the glory, as the Greek word puts it, for the transformation that took place in Paul’s life. These well-established churches approved of Paul’s testimony. His testimony was an occasion for glorifying God. The persecutor became the preacher. This was a decisive blow to the legalists’ accusations against Paul.
Principle:
We must remember that God does the transforming, not human beings.
Application:
It is proper to glorify God for a person’s testimony; however, we should not mix the praise of God with praise for our fellow humans. It is God who does the transforming, not us.
