Dearly beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the issue here in Acts ch. 5 is between the apostles and the temple personnel. Which side is fit to lead the people of God — and especially to teach them? The passage begins with a commission to teach (v. 20), and ends with a report that the apostles were doing exactly that. In between, it highlights and then discredits the role of the temple establishment as the teacher of Israel. Note particularly that Gamaliel is described as a "teacher of the law," and that through his advice, the teaching of the gospel is established. The upshot is clear: not the temple establishment, but rather the twelve apostles, are the legitimate, God-ordained instructors of Israel. That's because the apostles teach that Jesus is God's Messiah, while the temple authorities insist that His name be suppressed, His actions ignored, and His claims to authority be sidestepped by an appeal to pragmatism, and/or fought with personal rancor. Either Jesus is Lord or He is not; the temple establishment's struggle to hush up the name of Jesus and silence the apostles' teaching is an attack on the lordship of Christ, and thus is indeed a way of fighting against God (as Gamaliel hints). Don't fight God; recognize the apostles as the legitimate, God-ordained teachers of God's people.
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Caleb Nelson grew up in Ft. Collins, CO. Born into a Christian home, where he eventually became the eldest of 11 children, he has been a lifelong Presbyterian. He professed faith at the age of six, and was homeschooled through high school. He then attended Patrick Henry College...
