<p>5:39 <i>But if it is of God, you will not be able</i>- Gamaliel summarized the issue as being whether it was Judaism or Christianity which was of God or of men. I have mentioned already that Gamaliel is leaving the question open, rather than condemning the Christians; and that this was something which would have deeply exercised the conscience of his pupil Saul. The way Gamaliel's words deeply entered Paul's consciousness and conscience is reflected by the way in which he later alludes to those words. The choice between being of God or man is reflected in Rom. 2:29, where Paul reasons that a true Jew has commendation &quot;not of men but of God&quot;. This is framed in exactly the terms Gamaliel uses here. This phrase &quot;of God&quot; is very widely used by John in his Gospel and letters, e.g. &quot;We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness&quot; (1 Jn. 5:19). John of course was one of the apostles referred to by Gamaliel; and John too would have heard these words of Gamaliel, and was triumphing in the fact that things had worked out to show that indeed, Christianity was &quot;of God&quot;.</p><p><em>To overthrow them</em>- See on :38 <em>It will fail.</em></p><p><em>You might be found to be fighting against God</em>- Paul would have heard these words, and struggled with them, seeing they came from his respected teacher. He would have realized that indeed he was fighting with God- or as the Lord put it, kicking against the goads. The allusion is surely to Jacob, whose fighting with God in the form of an Angel is therefore read here in a negative light. These &quot;men of Israel&quot;, descendants of Jacob / Israel, were not to be followers of Jacob in his negative aspects.</p>