Jennifer Felsberg 1

Paul’s Legal Briefs

Jennifer Felsberg

Grand Canyon University

BIB 123, New Testament History

October 18, 2009

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After Paul’s second missionary journey, Paul was arrested and brought before Gallio.

Paul was arrested again after his third missionary journey. He was arrested in Jerusalem. Paul

was brought in front of several different people to state his defense. The first was the proconsul,

Felix. Then Paul was brought in front of Festus, again in front of King Agrippa. He remained

in prison for several years. He continued to preach the gospel from prison and wrote most of

what is known now as the New Testament.

Paul was brought in front of Gallio and charged with persuading people to worship God

in ways contrary to the law (Acts 18:12) which in plain English means promoting a religion not

approved by Roman law. Gallio was proconsul of Achaia which is like a governor. Gallio

dismissed the case before Paul had a chance to defend himself. This all happened after his

second missionary journey.

After Paul’s third missionary journey, he was arrested in Jerusalem. There were three

charges brought against Paul: 1) trouble maker, stirring up riots among the Jews around the

world, 2) he was the ringleader of a religious cult called the Nazarene sect, which was against

Roman law, 3) he tried to desecrate the temple. He was brought in front of Felix to refute the

charges. Paul did admit to being at the temple but defended himself by telling Felix that his

accusers did not find him arguing with anyone at the temple or stirring up a crown in the

synagogues or anywhere else in the city (Acts 24:12). Paul also stated that they could not prove

the charges were true. Paul also admitted to being a follower of the Way, which his accusers

were calling a sect, but he believed everything agreed with the law. Paul told the governor that

he always strived to keep his conscience clear before God and man (Acts 24:16). Finally, Paul

once again admits to presenting offerings at the temple but said he was ceremonially clean. He

also states that there was no crowd with him nor any disturbance created. Felix adjourned the

proceedings saying he would decide the case when Lysias the commander came. However,
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Felix kept Paul under guard but gave him some freedom and let him see his friends (Acts 24:22-

23). During this time Felix met with Paul and heard about Jesus often. After two years Felix is

removed from office and replaced by Festus. Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews and left

Paul in prison (Acts 24:27) when he left.

Felix was replaced by Festus. Festus had only been in the province for three days when

the chief priests and Jewish leaders came to him and told him about the charges against Paul.

They asked Festus to please move Paul to Jerusalem; this was because they planned a sneak

attack to kill Paul on the way. Festus answered that he was going to Caesarea where Paul was

being held, and for them to come and press charges there. When he got to Caesarea ten days

later he convened court and had Paul brought before him (Acts 26:6). The Jewish leaders once

again brought up the charges against Paul which they still could not prove. Paul’s defense was

the same: he had not done anything wrong or against the laws of the Jews, against the temple, or

against Caesar. Festus wanted to do the Jews a favor and asked Paul if he would be willing to

stand trial in Jerusalem. Paul knew his rights as a Roman citizen and knew he was innocent of

the charges. Every Roman citizen had the right to appeal to Caesar which is what Paul did.

Festus saw this as a way to get Paul out of the way and make peace with the Jews. Paul saw it as

a way to get to Rome, even if he was a prisoner.

After a few days King Agrippa and his wife came to Caesarea to pay their respects to

Festus (Act 25:13). Festus told King Agrippa about Paul’s case and King Agrippa wanted to

hear from Paul himself. So he did just that the next day. King Agrippa listened to what Paul

had to say. Festus said Paul was crazy. King Agrippa felt that Paul had not done anything to

deserve imprisonment or death and told Festus that Paul could have been set free had he not

appealed to Caesar ( Acts 26:32). Paul set sail for Rome.

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Paul was sincere in his appeal and his teachings. He was willing to die for anything he

had done wrong. His main goal was to get people saved to become believers in the Way. Paul

was willing to preach from prison if that was God’s plan for his life. That is just what Paul did.
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References

Life Application Study Bible. (1997). Grand Rapids: Tyndale House Publishers.