Commentary - Acts 16:1-5

Bird's-eye view

In this brief but potent narrative, Luke shows us the gospel on the march, and he does so by highlighting the profound wisdom that must accompany missional zeal. Fresh from the monumental Jerusalem Council, where the liberty of Gentile believers was secured, Paul immediately demonstrates what that liberty looks like in practice. It is not a rigid, doctrinaire stubbornness, but a flexible, servant-hearted wisdom that knows when to stand firm and when to yield for the sake of the gospel. The recruitment of Timothy, a man of mixed heritage, is a living embodiment of the bridge being built between Jew and Gentile in the church. Paul's decision to circumcise him is a master class in distinguishing between a principle (salvation is by grace through faith alone) and a practice (cultural sensitivity for missionary effectiveness). This is not a contradiction, but a glorious application of gospel freedom. The result of this wise leadership and faithful proclamation is exactly what we should expect: the churches are strengthened, and they grow. This passage is a crucial link, showing how the doctrinal clarity of Acts 15 is immediately translated into practical, fruitful ministry on the ground.

At its heart, this text is about the intersection of principle and prudence. The principle, settled in Jerusalem, was that Gentiles did not need to become Jews to be saved. The prudence, exercised by Paul in Lystra, was to remove an unnecessary stumbling block for the sake of reaching Jews. Paul was no pragmatist in the modern sense; he was a strategist whose every move was governed by the law of love and the goal of gospel advancement. He fought tooth and nail against making circumcision a requirement for salvation, but he willingly employed it as a tool for mission. This is the mature wisdom that the church must always seek to cultivate: unyielding on the what of the gospel, but wise and flexible on the how of its presentation.

Outline

Context In Acts

This passage immediately follows two significant events. The first is the sharp disagreement and separation between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark (Acts 15:36-41). This reminds us that the work of the gospel is carried out by fallible men, yet God's purposes are not thwarted. The second, and more theologically significant, event is the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. The council decisively ruled that Gentile converts are not required to be circumcised or to keep the Mosaic law in order to be saved. This was a watershed moment, a victory for the gospel of grace that Paul had championed. Our text, then, shows Paul, with his new partner Silas, beginning his second missionary journey. His first action is to implement the council's decision, but his second is to circumcise Timothy. This juxtaposition is intentional and brilliant. Luke is showing us that the apostolic decree was not about abolishing Jewish identity or customs, but about refusing to make them a basis for salvation. The events of Acts 16:1-5 are the first practical application of the doctrine hammered out in Acts 15, demonstrating that freedom from the law is not lawlessness, but rather a higher law of love that seeks the salvation of all.

Key Issues

Gospel Jiu-Jitsu

What Paul does here with Timothy is a beautiful example of what we might call gospel jiu-jitsu. His opponents, the Judaizers, wanted to use circumcision as a weapon to put Gentile believers into a theological headlock, forcing them under the yoke of the law. Paul had just defeated that move decisively at the Jerusalem Council. But then, in his very next move, he picks up the very thing his enemies had tried to use as a weapon and employs it with disarming wisdom for the sake of his mission.

This was not a wavering or a moment of weakness, as though he won the great victory at Jerusalem only to immediately buckle under pressure from local Jews. Not at all. This was the action of a man who was utterly secure in the gospel. He knew that circumcision meant nothing for his justification (Gal 5:6). Because it was nothing, he was free to treat it as nothing, or as something, depending entirely on what would best serve the gospel. To the Judaizers who said, "You must be circumcised to be saved," Paul said, "Absolutely not." To the Jews in Lystra who might be hindered from hearing the gospel from an uncircumcised man who had a Jewish mother, Paul said, "Then let's remove that obstacle." He refused to let circumcision be a stumbling block into the kingdom, and he refused to let it be a stumbling block to hearing about the kingdom. This is the freedom of a man whose conscience is bound to Christ alone, not to regulations, and not even to anti-regulations.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Now Paul also arrived at Derbe and at Lystra. And behold, a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,

Paul revisits the ground of his first missionary journey, the place where he had been stoned and left for dead (Acts 14:19). His return is a testimony to his courage and his pastoral heart for these young churches. And there, fruit is waiting for him. He finds Timothy, already a "disciple." The gospel had taken root. Luke immediately introduces us to the central tension of Timothy's situation: his mixed parentage. His mother, Eunice, was a Jewess and a believer, and we know from Paul's later letter that his grandmother Lois was also a woman of sincere faith (2 Tim 1:5). He was raised in the Scriptures. But his father was a Greek, a Gentile. Timothy was a walking, talking embodiment of the very issue the Jerusalem Council had just addressed. He lived on the seam between the Jewish and Gentile worlds, which made him uniquely qualified for the ministry Paul was undertaking.

2 and he was well spoken of by the brothers who were in Lystra and Iconium.

Before Paul enlists Timothy, we are told of his reputation. He was not just a believer, but a respected one. The testimony of the local church is crucial. Leadership in the broader church begins with faithfulness in the local church. The brothers in his hometown and in the neighboring town of Iconium all vouched for his character. This is a qualification for ministry that is not flashy but is absolutely essential (cf. 1 Tim 3:7). A man's doctrine can be straight as a gun barrel, but if his life is crooked, he is of no use. Timothy had a good report, which meant his faith was not just a private opinion but had a tangible, observable effect on his life.

3 Paul wanted this man to go with him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

Here is the crux of the passage. Paul sees the potential in Timothy and wants him on the mission team. But before they go, he performs a surgery. Why? Luke is explicit: "because of the Jews who were in those parts." This was not a theological requirement but a missionary strategy. According to Jewish law, the status of a child followed the mother. Timothy, having a Jewish mother, was considered a Jew. For a Jew to be uncircumcised was a profound offense, a sign of apostasy from the covenant. And everyone in the region knew the family situation, "for they all knew that his father was a Greek." They knew why he was uncircumcised. For Paul to travel with this uncircumcised "Jew" would have been to slam the synagogue door in their own faces before they even had a chance to preach. Paul had fought furiously to keep from compelling Titus, a full Gentile, to be circumcised (Gal 2:3). That would have been to concede that Gentiles must become Jews to be saved. But Timothy was a different case. Circumcising him conceded nothing of the principle and gained everything in terms of access to the very people they were trying to reach. It was an act of love, removing a stumbling block.

4 Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to keep.

This verse must be read in the tightest possible connection with the previous one. As they traveled, what were they doing? They were delivering the official letter from the Jerusalem Council, the very decree that said circumcision was not necessary for salvation. Luke places these two actions side-by-side to shout the point at us. They are handing out a letter that says "Circumcision is not required!" while Timothy is still sore from being circumcised. There is no contradiction here. The decree was about what is necessary for salvation. The circumcision of Timothy was about what is helpful for mission. They were strengthening the churches in their freedom from the law, while at the same time modeling a use of that freedom that stoops to serve and win the lost. They were teaching the principle and demonstrating the prudent application of it simultaneously.

5 So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were abounding in number daily.

And here is the result. When the church is clear on the gospel (the decrees) and wise in its mission (the circumcision of Timothy), God grants two things: strengthening and growth. The churches "were being strengthened in the faith." Doctrinal clarity and pastoral wisdom bring stability. The believers understood the grace of God more deeply and were established in it. And second, they "were abounding in number daily." Healthy things grow. When a church is strong in faith, it becomes attractive to the outside world. The gospel is proclaimed, people are saved, and the church increases. This is the divine pattern. Stability in the truth leads to expansion in numbers. It is not one or the other; it is both, and in that order.

Application

The central lesson for us in this passage is the difference between principle and policy, between dogma and discretion. We live in an age that loves to flatten everything. On the one side, you have legalists who want to turn every application into a binding, universal law. On the other, you have antinomians who want to use their freedom as a club to beat everyone who has different cultural sensibilities. Paul walks the narrow road between these two ditches.

We must be absolutely bulldog-stubborn on the central tenets of the gospel. On the truth that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, we must not give an inch. Like Paul with Titus, we must refuse to allow any human work, rite, or ceremony to be added as a requirement for salvation. But once that principle is secure, we must be incredibly flexible, humble, and accommodating in our methods and cultural forms for the sake of winning people to that gospel. We are free in Christ, which means we are free to not use our freedom. We are free to eat meat, and we are free to not eat meat if it causes a brother to stumble. We are free from the law, which means we are free to get circumcised if it will help us reach Jews for Jesus.

Ask yourself: where in your life are you turning a personal preference into a biblical principle and judging others for it? And where are you refusing to lay down a personal freedom for the sake of love and for the advancement of the gospel? Paul's example calls us to be the most doctrinally rigorous and the most culturally flexible people on the planet. We must hold the line on truth, but we must do so with a wisdom that knows how to build bridges to the lost, even if it means picking up the stones our enemies were throwing at us and using them to build the foundation.