May 23, 2024

Acts 10:34-43  (HCSB)
Good News for Gentiles
34 Then Peter began to speak: “Now I really understand that God doesn’t show favoritism, 35 but in every nation the person who fears Him and does righteousness is acceptable to Him. 36 He sent the message to the Israelites, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all. 37 You know the events that took place throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John preached: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were under the tyranny of the Devil, because God was with Him. 39 We ourselves are witnesses of everything He did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem, yet they killed Him by hanging Him on a tree. 40 God raised up this man on the third day and permitted Him to be seen, 41 not by all the people, but by us, witnesses appointed beforehand by God, who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to solemnly testify that He is the One appointed by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead.43 All the prophets testify about Him that through His name everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins.”

Mark Jenkins
The revelation that Peter had and the message he was called to deliver involved the fact that God does not discriminate. This does not mean that God accepts all people, no matter their response to Him or that the people who fear Him are acceptable to him. Those who accept the message of Good News and ask Jesus Christ to come into their heart and be their Lord and Savior are saved and will spend eternity with Him. Peter showed that God sent the gospel first to the Jews, but the gospel is intended for all. The heart of the Gospel message is in these verses, the message that Peter was called to give those he was brought to speak with. I am reminded of a wise saying I heard many years ago, “there are going to be a lot of “good people” in Hell.” Being “good” is not the measure or the deciding factor. Did you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? That seems easy, but just as the ability to bridge the sinfulness of man to the holiness of God through Jesus came at a great cost and sacrifice, there is a cost and sacrifice for each of us. Amongst many other things, we are to do as Peter did in these scriptures and tell others about our Lord Jesus, what He has done in our lives, and live it out as a witness. The Holy Spirit takes care of the rest.