But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us openly, uncondemned Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out." And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and asked them to depart from the city. So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed. Acts 16:37-40
When the magistrates tried to release Paul and Silas after beating them unjustly, Paul revealed that he (and apparently Silas also) were Roman citizens. Roman law forbade such treatment of Roman citizens. Citizens had a right to a fair trial before being punished. Paul and Silas were given no trial. Instead, they were illegally punished—and ever so harshly.
So Paul revealed his citizenship, and the magistrates were terrified! They would now be subject to severe discipline themselves; no doubt the loss of their cushy government jobs, or worse! They may have been next to be beaten for their crime against Roman citizens!
Why didn’t Paul speak up about his citizenship before the dreadful flogging? The text does not say. So again, we can only speculate. Maybe he was initially silent to demonstrate that he was willing to suffer humiliating and painful persecution for Christ’s sake. Paul knew that most believers had no “get out of jail free card” since precious few would have been Roman citizens. We do not know for sure, but it is entirely possible, if not likely. Talk about being willing to suffer along with others who suffer!
Do not miss that when the authorities pleaded with them to leave quietly, they did. They didn’t press charges or force the matter to court. What an example of being like Christ—who uttered not a word in His own defense! To be fair and balanced, however, later in Acts when Paul’s life was on the line, he did appeal his case to Caesar. So we ought not make a hard and fast rule about never or always using our civil rights to escape persecution.