First Stop: Cyprus

The Faith has faced opposition from the start. You don’t have to wait for the Apostasy to encounter opposition to it. Since the times of the Apostles, from the very first missionary journey of Paul, opposition to sound doctrine has been rigorous. Opponents of the Faith have attempted to turn new believers from sound doctrine since that initial mission, a journey to Cyprus.

Paul arrived at the island of Cyprus with his missionary partners Barnabas and Mark. These three preached the Scriptures to the island’s Roman political leader, the proconsul. But while witnessing to the proconsul’s court, they had to face off with a wizard-advisor who was very close to the proconsul. He was Jewish, and his name was Elymas.

Elymas was a sorcerer who attempted to turn the proconsul away from the teachings of Paul, doctrines which many Bible passages call the Faith.

The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the Word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer—for that is what his name means—opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the Faith.

Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, ‘You are a child of the Devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?

Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.’ Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord (Acts 13:7-8, 12)

In this passage God equates the Faith with four other things:

• the Word of God

• everything that is right

• the right ways of the Lord

• the teaching about the Lord

These four expressions are synonymous with the Faith.

This passage gives abundant evidence that the apparently simple expression the Faith is not simple at all. In fact, it’s packed with meaning.

One of your jobs as a student of the Bible is to unpack the expression the Faith every time you read it in the New Testament. To help you unpack the term well in the Acts 13 passage, here are four questions/answers you can ask yourself:

• Q: How is the Faith the Word of God?

  A: The source and origin of sound doctrine is the Scriptures.

  
  

• Q: How is the Faith everything that is right?

  A: The sum and result of sound doctrine is complete justice.

• Q: How is the Faith the right ways of the Lord?

  A: Sound doctrine produces God-approved righteous behaviors.

  
  

• Q: How is the Faith the teaching about the Lord?

  A: The doctrine of Christ is the foundation of sound doctrine.

Blindness

Back to Paul’s encounter with Elymas the sorcerer. Did you notice God’s punishment for Elymas? Blindness--how suitable and appropriate! Since those who oppose the Faith are spiritually blind and darkness rules their hearts, God gives them a taste of darkness to draw them to repentance.

People who hate the light deserve the discomfort of darkness. God, in mercy, sends darkness upon them to draw them towards the light. He sent it to Elymas as a warning that Elymas needed to repent of sorcery and false prophecies.

The blindness of Elymas was a punishment for Elymas, but it was also a testimony to the proconsul. Without this sign, the proconsul may have continued to heed the voice of Elymas. But instead, God struck Elymas with profound blindness as a sign to everyone around him, demonstrating how dangerous Elymas was as a guide.

With this sign, God pressed the proconsul and others to ask themselves the famous question Jesus proposed during his Earthly ministry:

Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? (Luke 6:39)

Doctrine Over Miracles

Another important lesson from that fateful day, and a strong indication that proconsul truly was an intelligent man is that he put his trust in the doctrine and not in the sign. His faith was in teaching, not in miracles.

We observe this in the last verse of the passage:

When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord (Acts 13:7-8, 12)

The proconsul’s belief rested upon what Paul said more than what Paul did. Paul produced a powerful sign, but the sign was not the object of the proconsul's faith. The sign encouraged the proconsul to believe in something greater: the Faith. Doctrine. The proconsul was amazed at the teaching, not at the sign!

Likewise, a true Christian does not put his faith in signs, but in God.

Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands…

But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream (Jeremiah 17:5-7).

Berean Wisdom

The Bereans had an approach similar to the proconsul: they sought truth. They focused on the teachings, not on miracles. They examined the Scriptures.

… the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them believed… (Acts 17:11-12)

The proconsul was a wise man because he set his mind on doctrines and not on circumstances. He would not allow Elymas or anyone else to turn him away from the Faith. He wasn't distracted by signs, by Paul's personality, or by Elymas.

Renounce the Lies to Embrace the Faith

And you? Is there anybody or anything that distracts you from the Faith? Having known the Truth, have you decided to renounce all lies? The Ephesians burned all their sorcery books after they heard the Gospel. When will you wholeheartedly turn away from the lies that draw you away from sound doctrine?

... many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they added up the prices of the books and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver (Ephesians 19:18-19; NASB).