WWUTT 2621 God Shows No Partiality (Acts 10:30-35)

Cornelius Summons Peter and the Gospel Goes to the Gentiles

Peter goes to the house of Cornelius to share the gospel with them. And it's in coming into Cornelius's house that Peter has this understanding now that God is calling all the nations to himself through the gospel when we understand the text.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. We've been working our way through Acts chapter 10 with Peter coming into the household of a centurion named Cornelius. As he has come to this house, he has said, you know that it is unlawful for a Jew like me to associate with a foreigner or even to visit him.

Yet God showed me that I should not call any man defiled or unclean. So I came without raising any objection. And now I am asking you why you have summoned me. Cornelius picks up answering the question in verse 30, and I'm gonna read through verse 48.

Hear the word of the Lord. And Cornelius said, four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments. And he said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.

Therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon who is also called Peter to come to you. He is lodging at the house of Simon the Tanner by the sea. So I send for you immediately and you have been kind enough to come.

Now then we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been ordered by the Lord. And opening his mouth, Peter said, I most truly comprehend now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation, the one who fears him and does righteousness is welcome to him.

As for the word which he sent to the sons of Israel proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. You yourselves know the thing which happened throughout all Judea starting from Galilee after the baptism which John proclaimed.

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power and how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all the things he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem.

They also put him to death by hanging him on a tree. God raised him up on the third day and granted that he appear, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is to us who ate and drank with him after he arose from the dead.

And he commanded us to preach to the people and solemnly to bear witness that this is the one who has been designated by God as judge of the living and the dead. Of him, all the prophets bear witness that through his name, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.

While Peter was still speaking these things, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the word. And all the circumcised believers who came with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also, for they were hearing them speaking with tongues and magnifying God.

Then Peter answered, "'Can anyone refuse water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?'. And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for a few days.".

The Gospel to Jews in Acts 2 and Gentiles in Acts 10

And that's to the conclusion here of Acts chapter 10. Let's come back up to verse 30. This is where Cornelius summarizes what had happened with him, why he had even summoned Peter in the first place. And then Peter answering the call of God to go to the house of Cornelius and hearing from Cornelius what he is there to do.

He opens his mouth and preaches the gospel. Now we've heard Peter preach the gospel already in the book of Acts. Back in chapter two, that was the first presentation of the gospel there before the Jews who were gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost.

And Peter walked through the scriptures showing in a summarized way that we have there in Acts chapter two, that Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, that the Messiah we have been waiting for has come.

It was Jesus Christ who died on the cross, rose again from the dead, and whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. Now you could certainly give a more exhaustive presentation of how Christ is the fulfillment of all that is in the Old Testament.

We have it summarized for us in chapter two and specifically before the audience of the Jews. The Jews certainly would have known those scriptures and hearing that Jesus is the fulfillment of all that had been said about the coming Messiah who would come in the line of David, they were cut to the heart and they asked, what do we need to do to be saved?

And Peter said to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. And 3 ,000 souls came into the church that day with the preaching of the gospel for the first time at Pentecost. That was a presentation of the gospel before the Jews.

This is a presentation of the gospel before Gentiles. And one of the things that I mentioned to you last week where we had ended up in Acts 10 is that I had mentioned this to you and said to keep this in mind.

This was back in verse 23. Peter rose up with the men that Cornelius had sent and he came to Caesarea with them. And also some of the brothers from Joppa went with him. So some of the Jews came with Peter into the house of Cornelius.

They accompanied him. Peter didn't go just by himself, but he had other men who were caring for him and tending to him as an apostle of Christ. And so therefore they served as witnesses here in the house of Cornelius to all of these things that had taken place, even to the Holy Spirit being poured out on them.

And Peter's saying, let's get some water and baptize these people. We'll come to that a little bit later. But first of all, we have Cornelius' explanation verses 30 to 33. We'll look at that today. And then the beginning of this message, as Peter says, God is not one to show partiality.

There in verse 34. So let's come back up to verse 30. Cornelius said four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments. And he said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.

Remember this was at the very start of chapter 10. Cornelius was a God of fearing man. He gave many alms to the people. He was generous with the people around him. He was not one of those centurions, one of those Roman soldiers who were oppressing the people that he was put in charge of.

In fact, he cared very much for people. And he even had the fear of God. So most likely Cornelius had listened to the preaching of the law. Like he would have gone to the synagogue, maybe had sat outside the synagogue and hear these things taught, but he was a God fearing man.

He believed in the God of the Hebrews. The God of all, of course, but he wasn't following after the gods of the Romans. He was believing in the true God who had been with his people and had come to his people, sending his son, Jesus Christ to them.

But Cornelius doesn't know all of this yet because when you go to the synagogue, they're not gonna be talking about Christ. He doesn't know that Jesus is the fulfillment of everything that had been written down in the law and prophets.

This is what Peter has come into the house of Cornelius to do. And they don't come to faith until Peter preaches this gospel. Note that, right? We hear stories today about how somebody had a vision of Jesus or an angel or something like that.

And sometimes these stories will accompany some kind of conversion. Sometimes it's, I saw a vision or I had a dream of somebody and then I went to somebody else who preached the gospel to me. That would be more in line, that anecdote anyway, would be more in line with what we have in Acts chapter 10.

But sometimes you'll hear these anecdotes and they will say, I had a vision of Jesus and I became a Christian. That is not how Jesus operates. That isn't what he does. And we see that even here by this account in Acts chapter 10.

Jesus means for the gospel to spread through preaching. He means for evangelism to take place, for people to go and share the gospel. We don't have any account in Acts of Jesus just appearing to somebody and then they immediately become a Christian.

Even with regards to Paul, who we read about in the previous chapter in Acts chapter nine. Jesus is the one that appears to him, but Jesus doesn't then share the gospel with him and convert him. He goes to the house until Ananias comes to him and then lays hands on him and tells him about Christ, whom Paul puts his faith and trust in, scales fall from his eyes and then he is baptized in the name of Jesus.

Now, the gospel that Paul would go on to preach would be what Jesus told him the gospel was, but it's still not that Paul's conversion happened by this appearance and then he just puts faith in Christ.

It is still in the plan of God that evangelism would take place. Peter and the other disciples, the apostles, have been told that they would be witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and now to the ends of the earth.

And Peter has come to Caesarea, which is kind of like the outskirts of anything that would be considered Israel and really like the kind of the inroads into the ends of the earth. This is now going out from Judea and Samaria into the ends of the earth to come to Caesarea and into the house of Cornelius and all the Gentiles who were there for Peter to share the gospel with them.

It's still the same gospel. The presentation is slightly different than what Peter presented in Acts chapter two to the Jews where he's connecting all these scriptures for them and showing them that Jesus is the Christ.

This is a little bit different here in the message that he preaches in the household of Cornelius. We don't have any Old Testament quotes. So Peter doesn't walk through the Old Testament to show them that Jesus is the Christ, but does give testimony to what Jesus did and by faith in him, a person is saved.

So that's the notable difference that we have when we look at this presentation compared with where Peter has shared the gospel elsewhere. So Peter coming into the house of Cornelius by the instruction of God.

God has come to Cornelius. Well, he sent an angel to Cornelius. Cornelius was not converted by this angel, but that he should go and summon Peter for Peter to come to him and share the gospel. This is by God's providence.

This is how God has set this up for people to come to faith, not because they had visions, but because the gospel was preached to them and they believed it and are saved. So verse 30 again, "'Four days ago, I was praying in my house.

"'Behold, a man stood before me in shining garments.'". Verse 31 now, and he said, "'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard "'and your alms have been remembered before God. "'Therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon, "'who is also called Peter, to come to you.

"'He is lodging at the house of Simon the Tanner by the sea.'". So Cornelius says to Peter, "'I sent for you immediately, "'and you have been kind enough to come. "'Now then we are all here present before God "'to hear all that you have been ordered by the Lord.'".

Salvation, Total Depravity, and Sovereign Grace

Now, I want to reiterate something that I said at the beginning of this chapter, that God has not come to Cornelius simply because Cornelius was a good man. Some people have used this passage to say, see, Cornelius wasn't suffering from total depravity and nor did he need some sort of regeneration to take place before the gospel was preached to him because this is very praising of Cornelius, that he feared God, he gave alms to the people.

He is clearly being presented in Acts chapter 10 as a good man, and that is certainly true, but Cornelius is not inherently good. He's not somebody who was just born a good man and he grew up good, and therefore we could say that he's escaped the doctrine of total depravity and proven it false.

You can't say that of Cornelius. Anything good about Cornelius is still by the grace of God. The fact that Cornelius has stirred in his heart to want to invite Peter to come, all of that is still the work of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius.

This is all still by God's gracious and sovereign hand, that the gospel comes to Cornelius and he believes it and his household with him and they are saved. Salvation is from beginning to end the gracious work of God.

As we have in Romans chapter eight, verse 29, those whom he foreknew, those whom God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. And then verse 30, those whom he predestined, he also called.

Those whom he called, he also justified, and those whom he justified, he also glorified. God predestined Cornelius. He had called Cornelius by the preaching of the gospel. Cornelius believed and he was justified.

And Cornelius and all those with him who believed in the gospel have therefore also been glorified. So we continue on as Cornelius says, I've summoned you to come and you came. We're all present before God now to hear all that you have been ordered by the Lord to say to us.

And this is that work of regeneration that is happening in the heart of Cornelius and his household, that they would be attentive to the words that Peter is about to preach and believe them. And so Peter opening his mouth, verse 34 said, I most truly comprehend now that God is not one to show partiality.

And verse 35, but in every nation, the one who fears him and does righteous is welcome to him. So going back up to where Jesus appeared to Peter and said to him, what God has cleansed no longer considered defiled.

That was what Peter said to Cornelius. God had told me that I should not consider any man defiled. So I came without objection. I've come into your home. Tell me why it is that I am here. The Holy Spirit had said to Peter, three men are looking for you.

Rise up and go down and accompany them without taking any issue at all, for I have sent them myself. But with this vision and the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to Peter, he still doesn't really understand what he's supposed to glean from this.

And now with Cornelius saying, God appeared to me through an angel. He told me to summon you, you're here, and we're here to listen to whatever it is that you have to say. And now it's all clicking with Peter.

Now Peter is saying, okay, now I truly comprehend that God is not one to show partiality. He is not making a distinction any longer between Jew and Gentile. The message of the gospel is not coming to just Jews.

It is even coming to Gentiles, as I have been summoned to share it here with you. And it could be, this could be Peter's own sanctification that we are witnessing here. Maybe the disciples did not fully understand at the start of Acts, in Acts 1, verse eight, when Jesus said to them, that you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

What was the question that the disciples had asked of Jesus right before he gave that commission to them? As he's going up with them on the Mount of Olives, they ask him, Lord, is it at this time that you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?

They are expecting, Jesus is the Messiah. They're expecting now the kingdom is gonna be restored. Israel is gonna be a great superpower again. And it's through Israel that all the nations are going to be saved.

People will look at Israel, and if they are loyal to Israel, then God will bless them. If they are disloyal to Israel, if they treat Israel as an enemy, or they disregard them altogether, well, then God is not gonna save them.

That's their expectation that they have in their minds. And it may still have been in their minds, even as they are going up with Jesus on the Mount of Olives in Acts chapter one. And Jesus responds to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons which the father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

And you shall be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the end of the earth. And maybe they did not fully understand what that meant until the Holy Spirit came upon them.

And then even after that, there is this process of sanctification that Jesus puts even his own disciples through. And so what we're witnessing here in Acts 10 could be that awakening, that awareness that Peter has now that he did not have then.

How was God going to use this to save even Gentiles? Because up until this point, all the preaching has been done in Jerusalem, and then Peter had even gone up to Samaria with Philip to share the gospel there.

So he's starting to see before his very eyes, oh, okay, okay, so we've done Jerusalem, we're throughout Judea and even Samaria, and now I'm starting to get what Jesus meant by ends of the earth. Like we're not going to just all the Jews throughout all the world, we're reaching out to Gentiles with the message of the gospel.

So I comprehend now that God is not one to show partiality, that Jew and Gentile will be saved together through this very gospel that is meant to go out to everyone. Now, as somebody who is a reformed Baptist, it is often argued with me, if God has already decided who it is that is going to be saved, then why do we even need to preach the gospel with anyone?

Well, because it is through the gospel that God means to save. It is through the preaching of Jesus Christ, the hearing of the gospel and faith in him that God means to save those who listen and believe.

This is God's plan, and we get to be included in that plan. Praise be to God. That question and being reformed or understanding what the scripture says about the sovereignty of God in salvation doesn't mean that we have any excuse not to go out and share the gospel.

We must, we must go out and share the gospel with everyone. Peter is coming to that awareness here in Acts 10 .34, and he had the idea that Jesus is coming only as a savior to Jews, but now he's beginning to see this is a whole other thing that's happening here.

Now the message of the gospel is going to Gentiles. So I am seeing that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation, he says, verse 35, in every nation, the one who fears him and does righteousness is welcome to him.

Now understand, Peter is not saying here that anyone is capable of doing righteousness apart from Christ. Cornelius did righteousness apart from Christ. Yeah, but not to a degree that it could have saved him.

Paul is very clear at the end of Romans 9, Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness laid hold of righteousness, even the righteousness, which is by faith. But Israel pursuing a law of righteousness did not attain that law.

Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, who is Christ. And here, Cornelius is not stumbling over that stumbling stone. He is building himself on Christ.

And the righteousness that he has is given to him by God because he believes. Salvation still only comes to him by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Peter's statement here is not to say that Cornelius was a righteous man before he heard the gospel, but that God is coming to everyone who fears him and does righteousness.

They are all welcome to him. And we have been welcomed unto God through the gospel, through righteousness that has been imputed to us because we believe in Jesus Christ. And so we are his children. We are even a new nation, as said in 1 Peter 2, 9, as Peter would write about later.

We are now a holy nation by faith in Jesus Christ, a nation set apart from all other nations, a royal priesthood, a people for his own possession, that we may be called out of darkness and into his marvelous light.

And so my friends, let us live as people of God, even in this day. And we're gonna come back to reading more about this gospel that Peter shares with Cornelius and his household tomorrow. Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we have read.

And I pray that even these things, as we have considered, they work out in us an understanding of a righteousness that is not our own, but is credited to us because we believe in Jesus. And I pray that we would live in that righteousness and that we would also have boldness to share the gospel with others, coming to this understanding, even by this narrative and acts, that no one comes to salvation except by faith in Jesus Christ.

Thank you that the gospel came to us and give us the courage to share it with others. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Thank you for listening to When We Understand The Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website, www .wutt .com, and click on the gift tab in the top right corner of the page.

Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study When We Understand The Text.