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Acts 10:23b–29
“When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I too am a man’” (vv. 25–26).
Peter’s meeting with Cornelius in Acts 10 shows that gentiles are to be included in God’s people, as confirmed by how the church later received the news of Cornelius’ conversion with joy (11:1–18). Clearly, something of tremendous importance had occurred, but was it something wholly new?
As we consider the full scope of biblical teaching, we see that gentiles’ coming to worship Yahweh, the Lord of Israel and one true God of all, should not be seen as entirely new or unexpected. Gentiles could be in a saving relationship with God before His covenant with Israel and the establishment of the Jews as a distinct ethno-religious group. For example, Abraham was justified before he was circumcised, while he was still a gentile (Rom. 4). Certainly, the formation of Israel and the Jewish people created a situation wherein they were the primary recipients of salvation for a time. Even under the old covenant, however, gentiles could join the people of God. They had to take on the yoke of the Mosaic law in so doing, but some gentiles, such as Ruth, were saved before the coming of Christ (Ruth 1). Finally, the Old Testament prophets foresaw a day when the gentiles would become full members of God’s people without necessarily having to adopt all the ceremonial rules of Israel. The Lord said that He would take some gentiles as priests and Levites (Isa. 66:18–21), which would require setting aside the ceremonial laws for the old covenant priesthood. Therefore, the ceremonial laws that separated Jews and gentiles were always intended to be temporary. God would, after the old covenant’s primary dealings with Israel, again not require gentiles to adopt all the Mosaic law to be His people. The extension of the gospel to the gentiles was new in that it brought them to worship the God of Israel in unprecedented numbers, but it was not new in that God had saved some gentiles before Jesus came.
In Acts 10:23b–29, Luke describes Peter’s arrival at the home of Cornelius. The gentile centurion fell at Peter’s feet, worshiping him. His response, though wrong, was understandable. Cornelius had recently seen an angel and knew that supernatural power was at work (Acts 10:1–8). He did not know any better than to think that Peter might be some kind of divine being. Peter, however, rejected Cornelius’ worship (v. 26). Matthew Henry comments, “Christ’s faithful servants could better bear to be vilified than to be deified.”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Some people want to read the incorporation of the gentiles as something entirely new and contradictory to what had come before, and then apply that in a manner to claim that God is doing things today that contradict His words from the past. This is improper, for when we read God’s purposes for the gentiles in light of the entire canon, we see that God did not contradict Himself in saving the gentiles. God, in fact, never contradicts Himself.
For further study
- Ezekiel 16:49–50
- Matthew 4:8–10
- Jude 5–7
- Revelation 22:8–9
The bible in a year
- 1 Kings 15–16
- Luke 24:36–53