Acts 22:3

I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as ye all are this day.

Dummelow gave an excellent outline of Paul's speech which properly begins with this verse:

Paul was accused of: (1) hostility to the Jews; (2) contempt for Jewish law; and (3) desecration of the temple. He replied to all three charges thus:

(1) He was a Jew by birth, educated in Jerusalem under the noted Gamaliel, was zealous for God, and a persecutor of the Christians,

(2) His conversion resulted from a divine revelation which was confirmed by another divine revelation to Ananias.

(3) That even after he became a Christian he continued to honor the temple, to worship there, and even saw a vision while worshiping in the temple.

That his preaching to the Gentiles was the result of a divine command, and was due to the rejection of God's message by the Jews.[2]

At the feet of Gamaliel ... The honor in which Gamaliel was held by his contemporaries is demonstrated by the fact that a certain year "was only provisionally known as leap-year until he gave his approval."[3] As a pupil of so distinguished an educator, Paul hoped to find favor with his hearers.

Being zealous for God ... There is a subtle difference in being zealous for "the law" and being zealous for God; but such a distinction was lost on the temple mob. Strangely enough, it is revealed here that "a man may be learned, acquainted with Scripture, and zealous toward God, and yet an enemy and persecutor of Christ."[4]

Paul's efforts to identify himself with his hearers were as skillful and diplomatic as was humanly possible; furthermore, they were reinforced by Paul's own convictions that he could succeed. It is important to remember that in spite of God's warning that Israel would not hear him, Paul evidently believed that he could persuade them. Such a confidence on his part was understandable, but nevertheless incorrect.

Paul's feeling, despite divine revelation to the contrary, that he could convert that gang in the temple is pitifully like the opinions of young ministers in every age. They are so sure of the undeniable truth and righteousness of their message that it is simply inconceivable to them that any man could resist it. All of us should take note of how it worked out for Paul. As Wesley said:

It is not easy for a servant of Christ, who is himself deeply impressed with divine truth, to imagine to what a degree men are capable of hardening their hearts against it. He is often ready to think with Paul that it is impossible for any to resist such evidence. But experience makes him wiser, and shows that willful unbelief is proof against all truth and reason.[5]

[2] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 848.

[3] Jack P. Lewis, Historical Backgrounds of Bible History (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1972), p. 169.

[4] John Peter Lange, Commentary on Acts (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House), p. 401.

[5] John Wesley, Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House), in loco.