Acts 26:17-18

“Delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

He had then learned that his commission was clearly to be one which would involve great dangers. For he would need to be ‘delivered' from both Jews and Gentiles, (Agrippa and Festus please note), as he fulfilled his task of opening their eyes so that they would see the truth, of turning them from darkness to light, from the darkness of ignorance and unawareness, of sin and of idolatry, to the glorious light of Christ now revealed to him, so that they might receive the light of life, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and so that they might be delivered from the power and tyranny of Satan to God.

This commission is full of Old Testament significance.

· ‘To open their eyes.' Compare Genesis 3:7 (speaking of eyes being opened to a realisation of sin); 2 Kings 6:17 (where a man's eyes were opened to see spiritual realities); Isaiah 35:5 (where in the Messianic age the eyes of the blind were to be opened both physically and spiritually); Isaiah 42:7 (where the Servant of the Lord was to open the blind eyes of His people that they might know the Lord). The idea is thus that the Messianic age is now here so that Paul as the Servant of the Lord, having been made one with His True Servant, is to open men's eyes spiritually, so that they may be opened to know and experience both their own sinfulness and the glory of the Lord and His ways.

To have the eyes closed is to be in a state of spiritual darkness (Acts 28:27 (Isaiah 6:10); compare Luke 19:42). To have them opened is to be brought into the light.

· ‘To turn them from darkness to light.' That is to bring them out of the darkness of sin and ignorance to the true God as He is, and to His Coming One. Compare 2 Samuel 22:29; Psalms 18:28 (where the Lord will be the lamp of His servant and lighten his darkness); Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 4:16 (where the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light because of the coming of the Messianic king); Isaiah 42:16 (where God will make darkness light before His true people, that they might walk in the right ways); Micah 7:8 (‘when I sit in darkness the Lord will be a light to me'); Luke 1:79 (‘The Dayspring from on high will visit us, to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace'); Luke 2:30; Luke 2:32 (Simeon says while holding Jesus in his arms, ‘my eyes have seen your salvation -- a light for the unveiling of the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel'). In each case the Lord comes as a light to His people, turning them from darkness. But the central application would appear to be Isaiah 9:2 (Matthew 4:16), as expanded in Luke 1:79; Luke 2:30. The Messianic light has shone, Jesus the Messiah has come, and men must come out of their darkness and respond to His light (compare John 3:19; John 8:12; John 12:46). Compare also John 1:4; John 1:9; John 3:18.

· ‘From the power of Satan to God.' The main Old Testament reference here is Zechariah 3 where Joshua the High Priest was turned from the power of Satan to God by having his filthy garments removed, revealing that his iniquity has been removed, so that he might be clothed by the Lord. This was then closely connected with God's servant ‘the Branch' Who would remove the iniquity of the land in one day, ushering in the time of blessing, when all men would be neighbours to each other. Thus being turned from the power of Satan to God indicates having the filth of sin removed and being clothed with righteousness and purity, and as Messiah's people finding a new oneness in Him. This last ties in with the descriptions of the early church in Acts 2:44; Acts 4:32.

However, by New Testament times the idea of Satan had expanded to the idea of world as being in Satan's control (Matthew 4:8; Luke 3:6) so that the whole world lay in the arms of the Evil One (1 John 5:19), with the result that in order to be saved men had to be delivered from the tyranny of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God's beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). This was the work that Paul was called on to accomplish, to bring men under the Kingly Rule of God. The idea was the same as in Zechariah, deliverance from Satan's power by coming under God's kingship, blessing and control; by being clothed in righteousness; and by being delivered from sin. For at the cross Jesus had broken the powers of darkness and had triumphed over them in it (Colossians 2:15 contrast Luke 22:53).

· ‘That they may receive remission (forgiveness) of sins.' The purpose of men's eyes being opened to their own sinfulness, and to God's holiness, and of them being turned from darkness to light, so that they may no longer be led astray, but see in Him the One Who is the truth and the life, the Light of the world, and of being delivered from Satan's power to God, is so that their sins might be forgiven (Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; Acts 5:31; Acts 10:43; Acts 13:38). This forgiveness is the most remarkable thing in the world, for it is not a bare ‘letting off because you could not help it', but the thorough and complete removal of sin through the cleansing of the blood of Christ (1 John 1:7), a ‘blotting out' (Acts 3:19; Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 44:22; Psalms 51:9), so that man is longer seen as sinful. His filthy garments having been removed, he is seen as clothed in the righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), and is thus able to approach the living God.

· ‘And an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' And it is because their sin has been removed that they will be able to enjoy their inheritance among God's people, enjoying His blessing of eternal life, both now (John 5:24; 1 John 5:13), as they live as citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20) and in the coming age as they share and experience the glory of God (Revelation 21:23; Revelation 22:5) at the resurrection of life (John 5:28). And all this because they are ‘made holy', separated to Him as His own, through faith in Him. Compare Acts 20:32, having ‘ an inheritance among all those who are sanctified', that is, those made holy in Christ through the cross (Hebrews 2:10).

But all this, while apparent to Paul, and intrinsic in the words, would not be apparent to Paul's listeners. Rather would they gather that light had come in the Messiah, and that men were to have their eyes opened and respond to it, and so be delivered from Satan and enjoy the certainty of the resurrection.

His Response to the Commission Which Has Resulted in His Present Dilemma .