No Unclean Thing

     Since the foundational apostles were Jews, they began spreading the Gospel among their own people, often teaching in the synagogues as Jesus did. The Gospel message purposely pointed to a different way to connect to God—not through the Law only, but personally through the blood-bought connection secured by Jesus’ death and resurrection. Consequently, this new faith in God the Father and Jesus the Messiah was called the Way. But unlike the Old Covenant established with the Israelites, this New Covenant would cross geographical boundaries and cultural labels. 
       In Acts 10 we meet a Roman centurion named Cornelius. He is “a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always” (vs. 2). One afternoon he is praying and has a vision of an angel of God. The angel instructs him to go to Joppa to a certain house where a certain man, Simon Peter, is staying. The centurion immediately sends a servant to seek out this man.
       Meantime, in Joppa, Peter is likewise praying around noontime, and realizes he is hungry. But before lunch can be served, Peter likewise has a vision. He sees a giant sheet bound at four corners, descending to him. It is holding all kinds of creatures. The angel calls out, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat.”
       You would think that Peter is thrilled to see the angel and this heavenly feast. But instead he cries out, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” His response reflects his Jewish upbringing and repulsion toward food sources forbidden by the Law. The scene harkens back to a lesson in Mt. 15:15-20 that Jesus gave on this very issue. Apparently, it is hard for Peter to let go of this religion tradition.  
        So the voice repeats the instruction two more times. In effect, the number three in the Bible is like an exclamation point at the end of a command. It represents the trinity and all that is perfect and complete. So the angel adds, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” The angel’s response reflects the shift in God’s plan to extend the Gospel to the Gentiles, who the Jews considered unclean. Needless to say, Peter has to ponder this new piece of information.
     In what can only be described as God’s perfect timing, the centurion’s servants arrive at the house where Peter is staying. Just as they arrive at the gate of the house, Peter hears the Holy Spirit say, “Behold, three men are seeking you. Arise therefore, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
      To make a long story short, Peter returns to Joppa with the servants, and preaches the Gospel of Christ to Cornelius and his household. “It is He [Jesus Christ] who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”
        Peter didn’t even have to prayer the prayer of salvation with the non-Jews. For “while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word,” much to the astonishment of the Jewish Christians present who hear the Gentiles speaking with tongues and magnifying God!
        To Peter’s credit, he responds, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized [into Christ] who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized [water baptism] in the name of the Lord.”
        The Chronos Lesson: The Gospel message applies to anyone who receives the Word and believes in Jesus. “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings” (Acts 17:26).
         In the last Days, the corresponding kairos signs are that salvation is available to all who believe along with the outpouring of the Spirit. All who accept Jesus as their Savior are made righteous through His shed blood. All their sins are forgiven, for they are justified in Christ. All man-made labels lose their significance in the face of such love and acceptance. “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). See also Galatians 3:28 and Colossians 3:11 as the confirming witness.
      By the way, the truth stated in Acts 17:26 above is also the judgment against the Antichrist and any who bear that same intent to change God’s preappointed times and boundaries of the nations (Daniel 7:25). In the same vein, it sounds the death toll to the race issue. For we are all one race created by God—the human race. We are of one blood, even if we have different ethnic features. Created in God’s image, every human being has purpose and is loved by God, despite their rejection of God and His truths.