<p>28:4 <i>And when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to each other: No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped from the sea</i>- The fact was, Paul was indeed a murderer, of Christians. The whole incident then becomes a testament to God's grace; he should have died then, justice would not permit him to live, he was in the grip of the snake of sin- but was saved by grace. This living parable was exactly what Paul had written to the Romans about grace in his relatively recent letter to them. We see here the Lord's providential action to help Paul perceive the living truth of what he had expounded in theory. 'Justice' translates <em>dike</em>, rightness, which is a major theme of Romans. Likewise the Lord works with us, to help us appreciate in reality the things we are taught in theory.</p><p><em>Yet Justice has not permitted to live</em>- Acts 28:3&ndash;6 describes how a lethal snake attacked Paul, fastening onto his arm. The surrounding people decided Paul was a murderer, whom &ldquo;vengeance suffers not to live&rdquo;. Their reading of the situation was totally wrong. But Paul did not explain this to them in detail; instead, he did a miracle &ndash; he shook the snake off without it biting him. The Lord Jesus did just the same in relation to the commonly held ideas about demons.</p>