The Narrow Path Ministries

I am more than a little confused by Paul's actions when meeting the brothers on his arrival in Jerusalem as decribed in Acts 21:21-26. I am a, fairly recently, active christian and have started reading(i.e. thirstfully drinking in) my Bible with all seriousness and am therefore not completely Bible literate but I am catching up fast.

My pastor was reading these verses aloud this last Sunday and they were either new to me or for the first time I was paying attention to what was being said, but I was rather shocked that Paul seem to being "going along" with a deception. I know Paul's approach was "to be all things, to all people" but here he seems to being giving in to the Jewish christian's demand that all the law still must be kept along with acceptance of Jesus as savior.

They specifically state in verse 24 "...that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing"
and in verse 26 Paul is going along with it. As my pastor was reading up to this point I was waiting for a brilliant statement from Paul to the Jewish brothers as to why following the law was not necessary, but was shocked that he apparently just plays along.

I am obviously missing something, for I do not question Paul's heart or integrity in the slightest, so what is really going on here?

If you look again at the passage, it is clear that the rumor that Paul wished to dispel was the false report that he was teaching Jews not to circumcise their children (Acts 21:21). We know that Paul taught Gentiles not to become circumcised, but there is no reason to believe that he had taught Jews to stop circumcising their children. I do not think Paul made it his business to intrude into the lives of the Jews on such matters. In fact, he himself tells us that, when among Jewish people, he felt quite comfortable outwardly conforming to their legal customs (1 Cor.9:20). The thing he fought so vociferously against was the false teaching that sought to make circumcision (and, by implication, the whole ceremonial law) a requirement of the the Gospel, and imposed such Jewish religious rites upon the Gentile Christians. I am of the opinion that Paul had not done the thing of which he was being accused.