God Welcomes All

Read Acts 10 “Opening his mouth, Peter said: ‘I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him”’ (Acts 10:34-35, NASB). When I was a boy my mother tells me that there is a group of Christians that believe that they are the only ones that will be saved and go to heaven. Mom tells me that these people believe this because other denominations do not have the name “Christ” in their name. Mom further explains that these people believe that we call ourselves Baptist because we are following John the Baptist. In general, these people do not permit their children to marry people from other denominations. I will not dwell on all the things that mom explained to me. I hope that you get the point, because today it seems that there are a lot of divisions in America because of some false beliefs that some people hold to about people different than themselves. In this article I want to raise the issue that at the core of these false beliefs is that people have some wrong beliefs about God. In the text above Peter confesses that God has shown him that God is not partial to anyone. All are sinners before God, and God welcomes all people who fear Him. Let us review Acts 10 to see what takes place to cause Peter to make this statement. In Acts 10:1 we are introduced to a Roman centurion named Cornelius who is described as “a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually” (v. 2). Now, this description tells us that Cornelius believes in God, prays to God, and does good works. However, can you see the fallacy in this description? Cornelius gives alms to the Jewish people. Cornelius believes that God favors the Jewish people. His hope is that God will bless him if he does good things for God’s chosen people, the Jews. You see, not only do the Jews see God as partial, Cornelius also sees God as partial. My brothers and sisters herein lay the reason for a lot of the racial, ethnic, and religious barriers that separate us as a people in the United States today. Let us continue with this story. Cornelius goes to pray at the ninth hour of the day. He sees a vision in which an angel of God instructs him to send men to Joppa to find Simon called Peter. On the next day Peter has a vision. He sees a sheet coming down from heaven that is full of animals that are unlawful for a Jew to eat. The angel tells Peter to kill and eat, but Peter refuses because he knows that the Law says that these are unholy and unclean (v. 14). However, the angel tells Peter that he is not to consider what God has cleansed to be unholy (v. 15). Now, we need to be sure that we understand what the angel says to Peter. The angel does not say that Peter had made a wrong assessment of the animals. Rather, the angel tells Peter that God has cleansed these animals and they are no longer unholy. The next day, the men from Cornelius’ house arrive and tell Peter about Cornelius’ vision. Now Peter understands that the animals that he saw in the vision represent people that are not Jews. Peter along with some of the brethren from Joppa travel with the men from Caesarea to the house of Cornelius. When they get to the house Cornelius explains to Peter what has taken place and why he has sent for Peter. Peter tells Cornelius and his household about Jesus and the peace with God that Jesus brings to all people regardless of their ethnic background. Peter tells them that all people have access to God and are saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Cornelius and his household believe the message and Peter calls for them to be baptized. So, what are the beliefs that Peter has about people who are not Jews? How do these same or similar beliefs hinder Christians today from engaging the unsaved? Why do Christians continue to keep barriers between themselves and non Christians? Why do so many Christians fail to carry out the command of Jesus to go and preach the gospel for salvation, and to make disciples for Jesus? Let us look at some of the barriers that keep Christians from sharing the gospel with other people First, Peter is a self righteous person. Peter takes pride in that he has never eaten anything unholy and unclean. Although he is hungry, under no circumstance will he eat the food that is made available to him. I admit that Peter is to be commended for his obedience to the law, but we have to grasp the fact that Peter thinks of himself as better than other people simply because of his observance of dietary laws while being guilty of sins in other categories. For example, Peter denied Jesus three times. Peter has a limited understanding of God. He along with most Jews at the time misunderstands God’s reason for telling them to keep themselves separate from other people. It is not because that Jews are better than other people and that God loves the Jews only. When the Israelites come out of Egypt and enter into Canaan God wants the Israelites to separate themselves from the native people for two main reasons. They are to live holy before God and not be contaminated by the sinful practices of the people of the land. If they participate in the lifestyle of the native people they will be led into idolatry. The Israelites are to live separate so that they are examples of the advantages of serving their God. Their God is the only true and living God who loves His people and provides for all their needs. God wants the Israelites to be a light in a dark world. Their separation from the world serves as a light set high on a hill to be seen by all men instead of a light hidden under a basket (Matt. 5:14-16). The Jews have forgotten that God calls Abram to bless the whole world through his seed. His seed is Jesus Christ who saves all people regardless of their human status (Gal. 3:16, 28). Peter is conditioned by his culture. All people are social being in need of fellowship with other people. People need to be accepted. In order to be accepted people conform to the norms of their culture. Our culture defines our beliefs about ourselves and other people. Our culture shapes our religion, our attitudes and image of ourselves. Our culture tells us the accepted lifestyle that we are to live by. Our culture defines who our God or gods is and why our God is to be preferred above all other gods. Our culture is the measuring rod that defines our worth and limitations as well as the worth and limitations of other people. Peter’s culture tells him that he is not to “associate with a foreigner or to visit him” (v. 28). The good thing is that Peter is given a change of mind and heart. Peter is now able to see God with a new perspective, and he can now see other people in a new light. This change of mind and heart does not come from negotiations and discussions with Cornelius. Rather, Peter gets a revelation from God; “and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean” (v. 28). Today, Christians need a revelation from God. Instead of judging other people and living in fear of them, we are to be about the business of letting God be the judge. We are to take advantage of the opportunity to show the love of God to all people. We are to be available to share the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We cannot carry out the assignment that Jesus gives us if we allow our narrow theology, our culture, and our self righteousness to keep us from being a light in this dark world. Remember that God is not partial. God welcomes all who fear Him.