“Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.”
My Notes
What Does Acts 13:43 Mean?
"Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God." After Paul's first major synagogue sermon in Pisidian Antioch, the congregation disperses — but many follow Paul and Barnabas. The followers include both Jews and proselytes (Gentile converts to Judaism). Paul and Barnabas don't deliver a second sermon. They speak to the followers individually and persuade (peithō — convince through argument, urge with reason) them to continue in the grace of God.
The phrase "continue in the grace of God" is the pastoral instruction: don't stop where you started. The grace that first attracted you is the grace you must continue in. The initial response needs sustained commitment.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Who is persuading you to 'continue in the grace' when your initial excitement fades?
- 2.Where have you drifted from grace into performance — starting with the Spirit and ending with the flesh?
- 3.What does it look like practically to 'continue in the grace of God' rather than just remembering it?
- 4.Who needs you to be the Paul or Barnabas who says 'keep going' when they're tempted to stop?
Devotional
They followed. And Paul said: continue. Don't stop at the first response. Stay in the grace. Keep going. The initial attraction was real — now sustain it.
Many followed. The sermon produced a response: people who heard the gospel and wanted more. They left the synagogue and followed Paul and Barnabas — physically, through the streets, wanting more conversation, more explanation, more of what they'd just heard. The following is the evidence of genuine interest: they didn't just approve from their seats. They got up and pursued.
Persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. The pastoral work begins after the sermon. Paul and Barnabas don't just preach and move on. They speak to the followers individually — urging, reasoning, persuading. The content of the persuasion: continue. Stay in the grace. The grace that produced your initial response is the same grace that sustains your ongoing journey. Don't drift from it.
Continue in the grace. Not: continue in the law. Not: continue in the rules. In the grace. The foundation for sustained Christian living isn't performance. It's grace. The same grace that attracted you at the beginning is the fuel for the middle and the end. And the temptation Paul anticipates is the one the early church constantly faced: starting with grace and sliding into works. Beginning with the Spirit and ending with the flesh (Galatians 3:3).
The persuasion is necessary because continuation isn't automatic. The initial response is emotional and energetic. The continuation requires persuasion — someone deliberately encouraging you to keep going when the enthusiasm fades, when the novelty wears off, when the grace that was exciting on day one becomes assumed by day one hundred.
Every new believer needs a Paul or Barnabas who says: continue. Don't stop. The grace is still here. The grace that brought you in is the grace that carries you forward. And if nobody persuades you to continue, the excitement that followed the sermon fades into a memory rather than a life.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold,.... They were not at all daunted at the opposition they met with, but rather grew…
When the congregation - Greek: when the synagogue was dissolved. Broken up - Dismissed. It does not mean that it was…
Many of the Jews - Direct descendants from some of the twelve tribes; and religious proselytes, heathens who had been…
The design of this story being to vindicate the apostles, especially Paul (as he doth himself at large, Rom. 11), from…
religious(devout) proselytes Perhaps applied to the proselytes of righteousness as distinguished from the proselytes of…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture