Sword & Trowel 2016: Issue 1 


hostile to salvation by grace, through faith. He was well aware of the teaching of John the Baptist, that Christ was the Lamb of God, appointed to take away the sin of the world. He was also very familiar with the teaching of Christ, that neither Jewishness nor the ceremonial law could save the soul, and that individu- als must repent and be born again by the power of God. These teachings he rejected. Indeed, he rejected the idea that Jesus Christ was any more than a man. If Gamaliel had been affected by the ministry of Christ in the smallest degree, he was nevertheless among those who loved their position, and the esteem of men, far more than the praise of God. We must remember that he was one of those of whom Christ had said: ‘Ye are of your fa- ther the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.’


Gamaliel’s intervention


It is true that when furious Jewish leaders were conferring about the execution of the apostles, Gamaliel intervened to save them. The older Protestant commentators, however, were not impressed. How remark- able, they said, that God would use a proud man with foolish reasoning to blunt the fury of a murderous Sanhe- drin. The old writers gave the glory to God, and no credit to Gamaliel. Calvin expressed astonishment at the intellectual shallowness of Gama- liel, saying, ‘His opinion is not what one might expect from a man of wisdom.’ If Gamaliel had been right,


observed Calvin, ‘men must punish nobody and all crime must go uncor- rected.’


Gamaliel’s ‘do-nothing’ counsel


would certainly bring to an end all law enforcement if adopted by any State. Equally, there would be no dis- cipline in the church. God repeatedly commands in his Word that right conduct should be approved and wrongdoing should be restrained. The Sanhedrin had a duty to estab- lish the truth (using the Scriptures) and act accordingly. If the apostles were teaching


correctly, they should have been sup- ported and encouraged. If they were teaching falsehood, they should have been excluded from the Temple, and the people warned. Gamaliel and his colleagues should have sided either for or against the apostles. Gamaliel’s counsel was a total abdication of re- sponsibility. He said, in effect, ‘Time will tell. In the meantime, it does not matter who they mislead.’ It must be admitted Gamaliel made


two correct statements: fi rst, that the work of men comes to nothing, and secondly, that the work of God


page 38 Beware of the Counsel of Gamaliel!


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