In Acts 24:24-27, we see that Felix, the Roman governor, did not reach a decision about what to do with Paul, and therefore left him in custody. The charges against him – of inciting resurrection and of desecrating the temple – were not proven, and if Felix had done what was right, he would have acquitted Paul and let him go. Because he wanted to please the Jews, however, he did not do so and instead kept him in ‘custodia libera’ (under supervision, but allowed visitors) for two years before he himself was moved to another post. During this period, he spoke with Paul on many occasions and definitely heard the basics of the gospel, which Luke defines for us as ‘faith in Christ Jesus.’ (Acts 24:24)
Faith is seen by Paul as the key element in life (see Rom 4:3, 13-25). He spoke to Felix about ‘righteousness, self-control and the judgment that is to come’ (Acts 24:25), and these are the ‘basics’ of the gospel message: how God, through the act of justification, gives the sinner His own righteousness (Rom 3:21-26, 2 Cor 5:19-21) and thus, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, gives us the power to overcome temptation and achieve self-mastery (a topic which may well have irked Felix, who was by now on his third wife!) In this way, we are shown that we can escape the awful final judgment of God because we are now accepted as His children and are free from all condemnation. (Rom 8:1) Felix was undoubtedly affected by this message (Acts 24:25 tells us he was afraid), but – like so many today – was not affected enough to repent and believe.
Paul shows us that even when in custody, he was committed to preaching the gospel. He never missed an opportunity to speak about faith in Christ Jesus and what that meant for our lives today. We may find it discouraging that Felix never seems to have come to faith himself, but salvation is from God. Our role is to be faithful witnesses to what He has done, and Paul did this consistently.
