Acts 10:34-48 New International Version (NIV)
34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues[a] and praising God.
Then Peter said, 47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
The Jews believed that they were God’s favourite people. But Peter’s vision showed to him that God loves everyone. Peter said that ‘Many people worship God. He accepts all such people’ (verse 35). Jesus can save us from the results that sin causes. Peter was saying that God lovesand saves people from every nation in the world. Where you were born does not matter to God. It does not matter to God what colour your skin is. His salvation is a gift. He offers that gift by means of Jesus to all people.
God’s message to the Gentiles was the same as his message to the Jews. That message was ‘the good news about the peace that Jesus Christ offers’. (Peace means freedom from mental or spiritual troubles.) Sin had separated people from God. But Jesus came to rescue people from sin’s results. So, now, there is peace between people and God. This only happens by means of faith in Jesus. Many people believe in Jesus and they trust in him.
In verses 37-38, Peter described the main things that happened in Jesus’ life and work. It is likely that these Gentiles knew something about Jesus. But they probably did not know very much about him. Jesus was a Jew. Before this, the Christian faith was just a part of Judaism. But now, everything had changed!
So, Peter gave to these Gentiles the same message that the apostles preached. There is no doubt that Jesus was human. Peter called him ‘Jesus from Nazareth’. But Peter also said that Jesus is ‘the Lord over all’ (verse 36). That is a name that we give to God only. Jesus is a man and he is also God. Even when he lived on earth, God’s power was in him. Peter said that ‘he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was with him’ (verse 38).
Peter told his audience that he and the other apostles had seen all this. The apostles saw what Jesus did in the country of the Jews. This was the Roman province called Judea. The apostles also saw what happened in Jerusalem city. Peter had already told the Jews about Jesus’ death. Now, Peter told these Gentiles how Jesus died. The Jewish leaders had wanted Jesus to die. But it was the Romans who had actually killed him. Roman soldiers had put nails through Jesus’ hands and feet. They had hung him on a wooden cross. Now Peter was describing that terrible death to a Roman audience.
But then Peter told the good news to them. Jesus had beaten death! Peter and the other apostles had seen this too. The apostles had spent time with Jesus after he had come back to life. God had carefully chosen the people who would see Jesus. They would tell the truth about who Jesus really is. They could not doubt that he was alive. The apostles had even seen him eat. And they had seen him drink. Everything that Peter said about Jesus was true. Jesus’ resurrection proved it.
Jesus had told the apostles to ‘preach the good news to the people’. The ‘people’ meant both Jews and Gentiles. (Look at Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19.) The apostles also had to say that Jesus will be the judge of every person. Nobody can escape from this. He will be the judge of everything that we do. And he will be the judge of everything that we say. But we must not be afraid. Jesus can save us from punishment. If we believe in Jesus, God will forgive us. This is the promise that God gave to all the prophets.
The Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit, 10:44-48
The Holy Spirit interrupted Peter. Nobody had put their hands on the Gentiles and nobody had prayed aloud for them. Peter did not even pray aloud that the Holy Spirit would come. The Spirit came because the Gentiles were willing to believe God’s message. Peter had told them about salvation by means of Jesus. In other words, God forgives people who believe Jesus. God forgives people who trust him. There can be no doubt that the Gentiles believed immediately. So, the Holy Spirit came down onto them. Anyone can receive the Holy Spirit if he or she has real faith in Jesus.
Peter had already said that God accepted Gentiles. But the Jewish believers were still surprised when the Gentiles received the Holy Spirit. The Gentiles spoke in ‘different languages’ or ‘tongues’. The same thing also happened at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down onto the Jews. But now, this thing proved to the Jews here that the Gentiles had received the Spirit too. God had accepted the Gentiles. They were not ‘unclean’ to him. Now the church, too, had to accept them. So, all those Gentiles received the baptism in water.
The Gentiles asked Peter to stay with them for a longer time. He had entered a Gentile house. Now he was their guest. They would talk together. They would eat together and they would drink together. Jews and Gentiles could be true friends. They were all in God’s family.