How Impartial Are We?

MEMORY SELECTION: “Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.” —Acts 11:18

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Acts 11:1-18

IT IS difficult to put into perspective the fact that all down through the long period of the Jewish Age, from the release of the children of Israel out of Egypt until the death of Jesus on the cross—a period of, approximately 1,500 years—God dealt exclusively with the Jewish people. (Amos 3:2) The Gentiles, or heathen, knew not God. They were idol worshipers.

The Apostle Paul expresses God’s attitude toward the Jews’ relationship to the heathen thus: “And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”—II Cor. 6:15-18

In Leviticus 11:1-8 there is an enumeration of the animals that were to be considered unclean by the Jew. In general, the only animals that were to be considered clean and edible by the Jews were those which had cloven hoofs and chewed the cud. Of all the other animals it was said, “Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.”—vs. 8

The vision that Peter saw and the command to kill and eat was astounding to him, going contrary to everything that Peter had been taught and believed. And the Lord caused the vision to appear three times in order to convince him that the message was true and accurate. Each time, after the vision, Peter heard the Lord’s voice, “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.”—Acts 11:1-10

The Heavenly Father in this way prepared Peter’s mind so that he could be the instrument used to open the door of the Gospel to the Gentiles, who previously had been considered by the Jews to be unclean. Cornelius was the first Gentile convert.

The account of Peter’s meeting with Cornelius and his household is recorded in Acts 11:13-17: “And he showed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?”

And so Peter, when he was certain that it was the Lord’s will, was able to put aside his lifetime of training and beliefs and offer the Gospel to a Gentile. More than this, he was willing to accept Cornelius and his house as brethren when he saw the evidence of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

The Lord quickly arranged that the message should go forth to the Gentiles through the Apostle Paul, who by divine appointment was the apostle to the Gentiles. Paul recognized that the message was to go to the Jews first, and for a time he was occupied in this ministry. But we read in Acts 13:46-48: “Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord.”

We, as disciples of the Lord, must, like the Apostle Peter, be willing to put aside prejudices and to accept any, regardless of race, color, or background, if they manifest the Holy Spirit, realizing that such have been called of the Lord and therefore enjoy the same fellowship with him as do we.

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