Acts 5:34-40

A wise man is not always right; a fool is not always wrong. Wise men make their decisions based on what experiences, both theirs and others, have taught them will have the best probability of achieving the preferred outcome. Gamaliel was a Pharisee, and a teacher of the law; all the people honored him; he was a wise man.

When the Sadducees became furious and wanted to put the apostles to death, Gamaliel offered what he believed was a wise option. He made the argument that if the Christian movement was not of God, it would fail, and if it were of God, they could not stop it; their attempt to stop it would place them in opposition to God’s will. He gave them two examples from experience that illustrated that if a movement was not of God it would end in failure. At first glance, his advice seems wise. But when we think more on the situation, we realize that experience reveals that his advice was based on probabilities, not guarantees. Many movements that are not of God succeed for a long time, and in their success, they do great harm to humanity. This is true of both political and religious movements. Experience has also taught us that the work of wicked men can end projects and missions that were in God’s will.

The apostles had once again told the Sanhedrin the good news about Jesus. It was not wise to attempt to postpone the decision about what to do with Jesus. The Sadducees made their decision; they rejected him. Gamaliel was attempting to postpone his decision. He did not want to say Christ was the Messiah, but he also did not want to say that he was not. He wanted time and history to make the decision for him. In his attempt to be wise, he made the most foolish decision of all.

To postpone accepting Christ as savior is foolish. No matter how long we wait, salvation will always requires us to have faith.