🌊WEB · Acts 20:21
What does Acts 20:21 mean?
"testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus."
— Acts 20:21 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
When they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you all the time,
serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears, and with trials which happened to me by the plots of the Jews;
how I didn’t shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house,
testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus.
Now, behold, I go bound by the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there;
except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me.
But these things don’t count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the Good News of the grace of God.
Explanation
Acts 20:21 comes from Paul's farewell address to the elders of the church at Ephesus, delivered at Miletus as he made his way toward Jerusalem, likely never expecting to see these fellow believers again. In this speech, Paul is summarizing his ministry among them, reminding them of what he taught and how he lived while he was in their midst. This particular verse captures the essence of his preaching: he testified to both Jews and Greeks the same core message — repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus.
In plain language, the verse says that no matter who Paul was speaking to, whether Jewish people steeped in the Hebrew Scriptures or Gentile Greeks unfamiliar with Israel's covenant history, his message did not change. He called everyone to two inseparable responses: to turn away from sin and self-rule (repentance) toward God, and to place their trust in Jesus as Lord (faith). This shows that the gospel Paul preached was universal — it applied equally to every ethnic and religious background, breaking down any notion that salvation was reserved for one group.
Theologically, this verse presents repentance and faith as the twin pillars of conversion, the necessary human response to the gospel. Repentance is not merely feeling sorry for sin but involves a genuine turning of the will and direction of life toward God. Faith, in turn, is not a vague spirituality but a specific trust placed "toward our Lord Jesus" — acknowledging his authority and relying on him for salvation. These two are not sequential religious rituals but two s
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