John Calvin Commentary Acts 26:6

"And now I stand [here] to be judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers;" — Acts 26:6 (ASV)

For the hope of the promise. He now proceeds to the cause, namely, that he labors for the principal point of faith. And though he seems to have spoken generally of the resurrection, yet we may gather from the text that he begins with a further point, and that he comprehended those circumstances which properly belong to the faith of the gospel.

He complains that the Jews accused him because he maintained the hope of the promise made to the fathers. Therefore, this was the beginning and also the core of the matter: that the covenant which God had made with the fathers refers to eternal salvation. Thus, this was the sum of the disputation: that the Jewish religion was of no value unless they looked to the heavens and also lifted up their eyes to Christ, the author of the new life.

They boasted that they were chosen from among all people of the world. But their adoption profited them nothing, unless they trusted in the promised Mediator and looked to the inheritance of the kingdom of God. Therefore, we must understand much more than Luke plainly expresses.

And surely his narration has no other aim, except that we may know what things Paul discussed. But what this was, and in what words he uttered it, we cannot tell. Nevertheless, it behooves us to gather from a brief summary those things which pertain to this disputation, which was freely discussed before Agrippa, when Paul was granted the freedom to plead his own cause.