³⁵Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, “Release those men.” ³⁶And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” ³⁷But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.” ³⁸The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, ³⁹and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. ⁴⁰They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.

Roman citizenship came with many rights and privileges, and the apostle Paul was not averse to taking full advantage of them. Jailing and beating a citizen was a serious criminal act. His citizenship came by being born to a Roman citizen (Acts 22:28), but the implication of his referring to himself as among “men who are Romans” seems to indicate Silas was also a citizen.

Now the city officials, who were unaware of the previous night’s events, gave orders to release Paul and Silas, but the apostle had a point to make. He could have simply gone in peace, as the officials asked, and he could have simply appealed to God for help. But instead, he chose to use his “citizenship card.” He would not simply accept persecution meekly when he had human devices available, which he considered entirely appropriate as a Christian, missionary, and one who walked in faith trusting the Lord.

Paul knew he had leverage against them for the way he and Silas were treated, so as a citizen, he demanded that the magistrates come in person to release him. He was not going to let them off the hook easily. Paul was exercising his rights as a citizen. Being a believer does not mean submitting to unjust persecution in every case and situation. There are times, we can see from this apostolic precedent, that Christians can take the prerogative to use the laws of the land to advance the cause of Christ.

When the low-level law enforcers (“policemen”) took Paul’s demand back to the officials, huge fear settled in, which tells us how serious a violation of citizenship this treatment of Paul and Silas was. The results are fascinating: the magistrates appealed to the apostle and begged them to leave. They didn’t want any more trouble but knew they were helpless to do any more than make an appeal. This confrontation may have lingered in their minds: treat the Christians permissibly or Paul may report them to Roman higher-ups.

Lord, thank You for the freedom we have to spread the Word.