Peter and Cornelius

PETER AND CORNELIUS (Acts 10:1-8)

The Jewish (including the Apostles'!) mindset had always been opposed to the Gentile inclusion. However, this mindset was set to change, as Christian Jews were then commanded to take the gospel to the ends of the world, including to the Gentile world.

Now we are past that cultural prejudice when it comes to faith. But other prejudices still exist today, and we still need to be careful and reminded that Christ is the Saviour of the world. We may look at and easily condemn unbelievers and fail to recognise that in a second they can be brought to holiness like us.

In this passage we look at Cornelius (a Roman centurion) who was so religious (but whose religion could not save him), whose good works did not go unnoticed, and whom God chose to save nevertheless.

Peter was called by God by giving him a vision thrice for which his initial adamant response was "by no means!". The vision was to show Peter that he should not call any person common or unclean. "What God has made clean, do not call common or unclean." (V. 15b) This means that we no longer consider people clean or unclean based on diet or ethnicity.

However, the bad news for everyone is that we are all unclean. The good news is that God has made a declaration that if we confess our sins and believe in Jesus, our sins are taken away and we are washed clean. No one can call that which He has made clean, including us who believe in Him, unclean.