«　WEEK 3　DAY 5　»

　　2 Cor. 11:2 For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

　　Acts 27:24 ...Do not fear, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.

　　Throughout the voyage and now on the island of Malta [cf. Acts 27—28] Paul certainly was walking in the Spirit. He surely lived a life that was the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ. Paul’s living was actually the expression of the life-giving Spirit. In every situation of his daily living, Paul was the expression of the very Christ he preached. He preached the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ as the life-giving Spirit, and on the island of Malta he lived such a Christ as the all-inclusive Spirit. This is indicated by Paul’s word, written later, in Philippians 1:20 and 21a: “According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death. For to me, to live is Christ... “Paul cared only to live Christ and to magnify Him... Paul lived Christ and magnified Him as the life-giving Spirit. As we read Luke’s account of Paul’s living, we see that his living was the all-inclusive Spirit as the consummation of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and God-exalted Christ. (Life-study of Acts, p. 616)

　　On the sea in the storm, the Lord had already made the apostle not only the owner of his fellow voyagers (Acts 27:24), but also their life-guarantee and comforter (vv. 22-25). Now on the land in peace, the Lord made him further not only a magical attraction in the eyes of the superstitious people (28:3-6), but also a healer and joy to the native people (vv. 8-9).

　　All during his long and unfortunate imprisonment-voyage, the Lord kept the apostle in His ascendancy and enabled him to live a life far beyond the realm of anxiety, but fully dignified with the highest standard of human virtues expressing the most excellent divine attributes, a life that resembled the one that He Himself had lived on earth years before. This was Jesus living again on the earth in His divinely enriched humanity! This was the wonderful, excellent, and mysterious God-man, who lived in the Gospels, continuing to live in Acts through one of His many members! This was a living witness of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and God-exalted Christ. Paul in his voyage lived and magnified Christ.

　　The warm welcome of the brothers from Rome and the loving care of those in Puteoli (vv. 13-14) show the beautiful Body life in the early days among the churches and the apostles. This life was a part of the heavenly kingdom life on the Satan-darkened and man-inhabited earth. Apparently, the apostle, as a prisoner in bonds, had entered the area of the dark capital of the Satan-usurped empire. Actually, as the ambassador of Christ with His authority (Eph. 6:20; Matt. 28:18-19), he had come into another part of the participation in His church’s Body life in the kingdom of God on earth. While he was suffering the persecution of religion in the empire of Satan, he was enjoying the church life in the kingdom of God, which was a comfort and an encouragement to him. (Life-study of Acts, pp. 617-619)

　　Paul was not only absolute for the Lord, but he was also absolutely one with God. Because Paul was one with God, he answered the questions in such a way that the Corinthians would be helped to be one with Him in every circumstance, condition, and situation... In answering certain questions [related to marriage], Paul followed the principle of not initiating anything or changing anything. If we like to be one with God and are actually one with Him, we shall not initiate any change, especially change related to married life. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, p. 371)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Acts, msg. 71; Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msg. 43