Free Born

Acts 22:28 KJV

And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.

I find in the contrast between the citizenship of the captain and of Paul a parallel between those whose religion requires they earn their way to heaven and the faith of the Christian who receives his heavenly citizenship freely through the new birth.

The captain says he obtained his freedom or citizenship through a great price. There are a variety of things he could have meant by that and we are not familiar enough with the culture to know which it might have been.

• He could be referring to a great sum of money. Some have put forth that as the Roman Empire began to wane in its last years, it sought means to finance its opulence. Requiring those who lived in Rome, though not born a Roman citizen to pay a hefty price for that citizenship would be one way to increase the income of the government.
• Others have said that he could be referring to the tedious nature of paperwork and other requirements that might have been necessary for citizenship.
• Still others suggest that he may have earned his citizenship through his exploits as a soldier, receiving citizenship as a reward for his years in the military or for some action he had been involved in as a soldier. In any case, he knew his citizenship had come at great price.

Paul, on the other hand, declares that he had been free born. Though a New by blood, the location of his birth provided Roman citizenship and all its benefit automatically and freely.

But then my parallel breaks down because in the case of the captain and Paul, both were equally citizens of Rome whether by purchase or birth. That is not so with a heavenly citizenship. Jesus said that no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. The Bible repeatedly expresses that eternal heaven cannot be purchased. It is obtained through the new birth which is by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ or it is not obtained at all.