Peter’s Conclusion

Ordinarily, ancient Jews did not “associate with or . . . visit anyone of another nation”—that is, gentiles. Peter made that remark to the gentile centurion Cornelius when he first met him (Acts 10:28–29), but he did not mean that Jews had no contact with gentiles whatsoever. Daily life in the Roman Empire would have been impossible for any Jew who never interacted with gentiles except one who lived in the remotest villages in the Holy Land. Nevertheless, Jews did limit their contact with gentiles for fear that they would somehow incur ceremonial defilement. They might meet a gentile on the street, but most Jews would not enter a gentile’s house as Peter did (v. 25).

Peter’s statement regarding Jew-gentile separation highlights the extraordinary nature of Peter and Cornelius’ meeting. Convincing the Apostle that he had done the right thing in heeding Cornelius’ request for Peter’s visit would take some explanation (vv. 21–24), and that is what we find in today’s passage. Cornelius explained the vision of the angel that he had received and the message to seek out and hear from Peter. He and several of his relatives and close friends stood ready to listen to the Apostle (vv. 30–33).

At once, Peter came to understand what was going on, for he connected Cornelius’ vision with his own vision and the Spirit’s command to go to Cornelius’ house (vv. 9–20). He replied to Cornelius that he now knew that God shows no partiality but accepts anyone who fears God and “does what is right.” Some interpreters have claimed that Peter’s statement means that doing good deeds and trusting in whatever one knows about God from nature is enough to save even if one never hears about Jesus, but that makes more of the Apostle’s comments than he intends. If Peter believed that fearing some unknown God was enough for salvation, then there’s no reason that he would go on to tell Cornelius about Jesus (vv. 34–35). Peter’s comments simply mean that God does not limit salvation to the Jewish nation but will give eternal life to anyone who truly fears Him and does what is good, the implicit assumption being that the only way to do this is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone (John 14:6). Also, Peter’s words about God’s accepting those who do right are not a statement that we can merit salvation by our good works. He is simply connecting good works with true faith. Those who fear God cannot help but do good works.