English Version
Acts 22:10 "And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me,
Rise up and go into Damascus, and there it will be told to you concerning
all the things which have been appointed to you to do."
26:18 "To open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from
the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins
and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me."
[In Acts 9:6] the Lord would not directly tell Saul immediately after
his conversion what He wanted him to do. This was because he needed a member
of His Body to initiate him into identification with the Body, for he had
been saved and brought to the Lord directly by Him, not indirectly through
any channel. Unless a member of His Body had been sent by the Lord to contact
him, it would have been difficult for any member of the Body to receive
Saul (cf.v. 26). This is related to Saul's knowledge concerning the Body
of Christ and to his ministry for the Body of Christ later (Col. 1:24).
(Acts 9:6, footnote 1)
In Acts 26:18 we have the contents of Paul's commission.... Here the
opening of people's eyes is the carrying out of the fulfillment of God's
jubilee, the acceptable year of the Lord, proclaimed by the Lord Jesus in
Luke 4:18-21 according to God's New Testament economy....The first item
of the spiritual and divine blessings of the New Testament jubilee, which are the blessings
of the gospel of God, is to open the eyes of those who are fallen and turn
them from darkness to light so that they may see the divine things in the
spiritual realm. To see these things requires spiritual sight and divine
light.
Acts 26:18 speaks not only of the opening of the eyes but also of the
turn from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God. This
turn is what we mean by a transfer. To turn from darkness to light is to
have a transfer from darkness into light, and to turn from the authority
of Satan to God is to be transferred out of the authority of Satan into
God. What a great transfer this is!
Darkness is a sign of sin and death; light is a sign of righteousness
and life (John 1:4; 8:12). The authority of Satan is Satan's kingdom (Matt.
12:26), which belongs to darkness. Satan is the ruler of this world (John
12:31) and the ruler of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). He has his authority
and his angels (Matt. 25:41), who are his subordinates as principalities,
powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world (Eph. 6:12). Hence, Satan
has his kingdom, the authority of darkness (Col. 1:13).
According to Acts 26:18, we are transferred from the authority of Satan
to God. Actually, to be transferred to God is to be transferred to the authority
of God, which is God's kingdom belonging to light. Formerly we were in darkness
and under the authority of Satan. But we have been transferred out of darkness
and the authority of Satan into light and God.
Darkness is actually the authority of Satan. Whenever we are in darkness,
we are under the satanic authority. Light is God Himself (1 John 1:5).
Therefore, when we are in the light, we are in God. Just as Satan and darkness
are one, so God and light are one. The greatest transfer we can have is
the transfer from darkness to light.
In chapter 21 of Acts James was promoting the old things of Judaism.When
he was doing this, he was in darkness. James said to Paul, "You observe,
brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed;
and all are zealous for the law" (21:20). This word was spoken in darkness,
and it indicates that James himself was blind and in darkness. Because he
was in darkness, he was also under the authority of Satan. It is not too
severe to say this concerning James.
Paul certainly was not blind. However, in Acts 21 he was in danger of
being pulled back into darkness. Actually, for the days he was in the temple
with the others for the completion of the Nazarite vow, he was in darkness.(Life-
study of Acts, pp. 599-601)
Further Reading: Life-study of Acts, msgs. 60-61, 69
