Acts 11:4-18

God loves ALL of His creation. Who are we to deny Him?

For God so loved the world that He sent Jesus to die in our place. Whoever believes in Him will not die but have everlasting life! John 3:16

We are purified by our  faith!

Acts 11:4–18

4 But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, saying: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me. 6 When I observed it intently and considered, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘Not so, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.’ 9 But the voice answered me again from heaven, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’ 10 Now this was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven. 11 At that very moment, three men stood before the house where I was, having been sent to me from Caesarea. 12 Then the Spirit told me to go with them, doubting nothing. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 And he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, 14 who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?”

18 When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

While much of this narrative mirrors Acts 10, it focuses on God’s intervention on behalf of the Gentiles (non-Jewish people), showing that Peter has not just accepted the Gentiles as Christians but has become their advocate.

There were those in the Christian community who wanted to require Gentiles to first become Jews—including requiring the men to be circumcised—in order to be considered true Christians. The phrasing here could suggest either that Peter should not delay in going with the men to see Cornelius, or that Peter should go without discriminating against them (since they were Gentiles). Peter’s language and reasoning here seem to echo Gamaliel’s argument to the Sanhedrin that if God is indeed behind the Church’s message and mission, then no one will be able to stop it. Faithlife Bible.

Because of the importance of the issue of personal prejudice, Luke repeats the account of the vision of the sheet and the unclean animals that God used to free Peter from his racial bigotry.

Peter had wisely taken six brethren with him when he visited Cornelius’s home. He anticipated the argument from “those of the circumcision”. The manifestation of the Holy Spirit was the same to the Gentiles at Caesarea as it was to the Jews at Jerusalem. At the beginning is a reference to the Day of Pentecost. Baptized with the Holy Spirit is a reference to a once-for-all act whereby Christ places believers in the care and safekeeping of the Holy Spirit until the day He returns. This begins a bold new step in the mission of the church. The Samaritans were part Jewish; the Ethiopian eunuch and Cornelius were Jewish proselytes. Finally the Jewish Christians that made up the early church understood Jesus’ commission to them: they were to bring the gospel message to the Gentile too. NKJ Bible.

Isaiah 42:1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.

Isaiah 42:6 “I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles,

Acts 15:7 And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

Acts 15:8 So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us,

Acts 15:9 and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.