Acts 10 is entirely dedicated to revealing the conversion of Cornelius and his household, as well as what this means for the Gentiles. We will be forced to overlook many details of this account in order to focus on some major points.
READ ACTS 10
THE MAIN MESSAGE
The main message of Acts 10, beginning with what the Lord conveys to Peter, was that the Gospel was to be preached to the Gentiles, beginning with Cornelius. This is seen by the divine arrangements for the encounter with Cornelius. This is seen through the vision given to Peter (see vv. 9-16). Though it took Peter some time to understand the meaning here, verse 29 shows that he did. There he states: “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.” Also note Peter’s use of the words “anyone” (v. 35) and “everyone” (v. 43). Finally, he argues for Gentile inclusion in the body of Christ by appealing to the baptism of the Holy Spirit they received (see vv. 44-47).
While God’s desire for the Gospel to be preached to the Gentiles is the thrust, and was always His plan, consider a few other notable points.
- Cornelius was devoutly religious but yet an unsaved man (see v. 2). The fact that he was unsaved is buttressed in part by the “great pains” that the Lord went through to get the Gospel to him. Further, Peter’s message is that everyone who “does what is right is acceptable to him [God]” (v. 35). Lastly, in verse 48 Peter commands Cornelius and his household to be baptized. Since baptism is “for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38), we can safely conclude that Cornelius, though a stellar and devoutly religious individual, was not yet saved.
- In this account we also see the provision of God for a man who genuinely sought after Him. Though not a Christian, he was living according to what he knew, and he also “prayed continually to God” (v. 2). While it may be debated as to whether God hears the prayer of someone who is seeking after Him (see Jn. 9:31), surely God can providentially arrange good hearts to come in contact with His saving message.
(3) The preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles, as well as their inclusion in the church, was always in the plan of God (see Gen. 12:1-3; Is. 49:6; Mt. 28:18-20; Gal. 3:26-29; Eph. 2:11-3). In fact, immediately before the ascension of Jesus in this book (Acts), He told the apostles that they would be His “witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (1:8). As they took Gospel outward from Jerusalem, the apostles and Christians would very naturally be sharing the Gospel with more Gentiles. Though natural in this regard, it took a vision from the Lord for Peter to really understand. Paul would later even find it necessary to rebuke Peter concerning a related matter of hypocrisy (see Gal. 2:11-14).
(4) We also note that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was an exception to the rule, for a very specific purpose. There is actually only one other specific case of Holy Spirit baptism in the New Testament. The first, which is actually alluded to in our text (v. 47), was the Holy Spirit baptism of the apostles that took place the day the church was established in Acts 2. (See also regarding this: Acts 1:5.) There the apostles began preaching to the Jews by inspiration of the Spirit. In Acts 10, this baptism of the Holy Spirit, as mentioned earlier, demonstrated that the Gospel was for the Gentiles as well (see again vv. 45-48). Clearly, this baptism is not the baptism of the “Great Commission” which was for all the world (Mk. 16:15-16). A couple of ways this is easily discerned is that Holy Spirit baptism, in Acts 2 and Acts 10, was administered by the Lord, not man. Also, the other examples we have of baptism in the book of Acts (as well as in the NT in general), is baptism in water (see Acts 8:12, 35; 10:47). Clearly, this baptism is the baptism in which a believer chooses to be baptized in water to be forgiven of sins (see Acts 22:216; 2:38; 1 Pt. 3:21; Mk. 16:16).
Certainly there are other important lessons to be gleaned from this chapter, but perhaps above all else, may we be reminded and take to heart, as the song by J.M. McCaleb says, “The blessed Gospel is for all.”
Daren Schroeder
