16:21 {13} And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.
(13) It is an argument of the devil to use the authority of ancestors, though not distinguishing exactly which ancestors.
16:21 Teach customs... not lawful. According to Howson, Roman law sternly forbade one not a Jew to be circumcised. Paul and Silas did not teach this, but it was a safe charge to make, they being Jews.
16:21 And teach customs which it is not lawful for us to receive - The world has received all the rules and doctrines of all the philosophers that ever were. But this is a property of Gospel truth: it has something in it peculiarly intolerable to the world.
16:16-24 Satan, though the father of lies, will declare the most important truths, when he can thereby serve his purposes. But much mischief is done to the real servants of Christ, by unholy and false preachers of the gospel, who are confounded with them by careless observers. Those who do good by drawing men from sin, may expect to be reviled as troublers of the city. While they teach men to fear God, to believe in Christ, to forsake sin, and to live godly lives, they will be accused of teaching bad customs.
