Several days ago we looked into a passage of Scripture where the Apostle Paul wrote about being “accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:6). We learned that whoever turns and accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior is accepted by God, no matter who they are. He will never turn anyone away who comes to Him, no matter who they are. However, there are some who do not like that idea, who feel that God should be much more selective in who can come into His family and be accepted by Him. In today’s brief Scripture passage, we will look at the time in the early Church when this thinking began to change.
Moments before Jesus ascended back into heaven, several weeks after His resurrection, He gave some final instructions to His followers. One major instruction that Jesus gave was that His disciples were to go into all the world and bring His message of salvation to everyone (Acts 1:8). They were to bring the Gospel to everyone - the rich, the poor, the well-educated and the illiterate, those who were respected in society, and those who were outcasts. Most importantly, they were to bring the Gospel to every race and nationality. No one was to be regarded as unacceptable to hear the Gospel and become part of God’s family.
However, for the first few years following the resurrection, the disciples were only witnessing to their fellow Jews. For centuries they had considered Gentiles (non-Jews) as unclean, and would not associate with, eat with, or even go into the house of one. Earlier in our chapter in Acts, the Apostle Peter had a vision from the Lord, showing that if God calls something clean and accepted, it is clean, not unclean or unacceptable as we may think (Acts 10:9-16). Following that vision, Peter had a visit from messengers of a prominent Gentile military officer, and God wanted him to bring this gentleman and his family the Gospel message (Acts 10:17-33). At first Peter was a bit hesitant to go and visit with a Gentile, but he knew what his vision had indicated, and he was going to obey the Lord.
As Peter brought the message of salvation through Jesus Christ to Cornelius and his family and friends, all Gentiles, he now knew that God does not show partiality among people, regardless of their race or nationality (vs. 34-35). It is with Peter’s witnessing to the centurion Cornelius that here begins the first official bringing of the Gospel to the Gentiles. There had been a few Gentiles prior to this who believed, such as the Samaritan woman at the well who Jesus spoke to (John 4:4-29), another Roman centurion whose servant Jesus healed (Matthew 8:5-13), and the Syro-Phenician woman whose daughter Jesus cast a demon from (Mark 7:25-30). It was here, though, that Peter officially brought the Gospel to Gentiles.
The Good News about Jesus is for everyone. In the days of the early Church, there was great hesitancy among some to bring the Gospel to certain other groups. Through the efforts of Paul, Peter, and others, though, that hesitancy was overcome, and the message of Jesus was spread around the world. In our churches today we should be proactive to make sure that everyone who seeks to come is made to feel welcome. We should not allow any barriers, whether because of language, culture, nationality, economic level, or education to keep us from telling others about Jesus. If God accepts everyone who comes to Him through His Son, then we, too, should be accepting and welcoming.
Earlier in our chapter we read that Cornelius was a devout man, who feared God, prayed, and gave to charities (Acts 10:1-2). He was a good man who did what was right. However, he still needed to be saved. All of his goodness was not going to get him to heaven. He still needed to come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. God knew this, which was why He gave Peter the vision, and instructed him to bring the Gospel to Cornelius. Those who truly seek after God will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). We, as followers and believers in Jesus, must be ready to bring to others the message of salvation through Him (Romans 10:14-15; I Peter 3:15).
Are you ready and willing to bring the message of the Gospel to anyone and everyone God brings across your path? God wants His message to be brought to everyone. He shows no partiality, and neither should we. Let’s do our part to fulfill the Great Commission, and bring the Gospel to everyone.
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