The apostles had been told to preach to ALL nations but the Jews considered the Gentiles to be unclean dogs, not worthy of the time of day. In Old Testament times, God had commanded that they keep themselves separate from the Gentiles so that they could keep their faith pure. Now with a new way of life replacing the Law of Moses and all its rituals, some changes obviously had to be made in their attitude. The Gospel had so far, only been preached to those of the Jewish faith, descendants of Abraham or those who had adopted that faith ie proselytes (eg. the Ethiopian). Peter also shared these ideas of Jewish elitism and it required intervention by God to rid him of them.

Acts 10:1-8 Living Bible

“In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer, Cornelius, a captain of an Italian regiment. 2 He was a godly man, deeply reverent, as was his entire household. He gave generously to charity and was a man of prayer. 3 … one afternoon he had a vision-it was about three o'clock-and in this vision he saw an angel of God coming toward him. "Cornelius!" the angel said. 4 Cornelius stared at him in terror. "What do you want, sir?" he asked the angel. And the angel replied, "Your prayers and charities have not gone unnoticed by God! 5 Now send some men to Joppa to find a man named Simon Peter, … ask him to come and visit you." 7 As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a godly soldier, one of his personal bodyguard, 8 and told them what had happened and sent them off to Joppa.”

The scene had been set for Cornelius to become the first Gentile to be converted to Christianity and be baptised.

Meanwhile God was preparing Peter’s mind to rid him of his anti-Gentile prejudice. How did God do this? With the vision of the clean and unclean animals. What do you know about this? Read through chapter 10:9-17.

No explanation of the vision was given but messengers came from Cornelius immediately after and explained Cornelius’ situation (10:19-22). Peter willing went with them, something that he would not have done if he had obeyed the Law of Moses, as it was forbidden to associate with Gentiles. When Peter reached Caesarea and saw the household of Cornelius he realised what God had told him through the vision. 'God hath shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.' v28. The mention of clean and unclean animals was a statute under the Law of Moses (Lev 11) that now was of no importance seeing Jesus had done away with the Law at his death. Clean animals like sheep and goats were often used as symbols of Israel while unclean animals; especially carnivores were used of the Gentiles. (Animals that did not chew the cud and did not have cloven hooves were designated as unclean and were not to be used for food. Furthermore, clean animals had to be prepared in such a way that the blood did not remain within the carcass. Although Peter was a Christian, he was also a good Jew, who did not violate Jewish dietary rules. The voice from heaven told him that God had now abolished these regulations about clean and unclean foods. Jesus had in effect taught the same thing (Mark 7:14-23) by teaching that foods which enter a man's body from without cannot defile his heart. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database.)

After Cornelius explained his situation Peter said, Acts 10:34-35, “… Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” KJV He then preached the Gospel message. While he was speaking, the Holy Spirit came on all those in the household and they began speaking in tongues and glorifying God. The Jews with Peter were astonished that this gift could be given to the Gentiles. Then all of Cornelius’ household were baptised. Peter had already played a vital part in opening the door to the Jews at Pentecost and now he had done the same for the Gentiles.

Some very important lessons emerge from this account.

1. Being a good person does not gain you a place in the Kingdom (10:2). Cornelius was a good God- fearing man but this was not enough. He had to take some specific action (10: 36-43). He had to hear and believe the Gospel.

2. 10:3-6 If we honestly seek the Truth thru' prayer, we will be answered (v31).

3. Baptism is essential for salvation. As Peter was preaching to the household, God showed His approval by baptising them with the Holy Spirit BEFORE they were fully immersed. (v44-45) but Cornelius and his household still had to be baptised in the conventional manner, in fact they were commanded to do this (v47-48).

4. God shows no bias to any one people. Any person who fears God and does what is right, whether Jew or Gentile, is accepted by God. This was an important lesson for the Jews to learn.

Peter was convinced by this experience that the Gentiles had been accepted by God into His new way of salvation. Unfortunately this did not apply to the rest of the Jewish believers. Acts 11:1-5, “Soon the news reached the apostles and other brothers in Judea that Gentiles also were being converted! 2 But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers argued with him. 3 "You fellowshipped with Gentiles and even ate with them," they accused. 4 Then Peter told them the whole story.” … Acts 11:18, “When the others heard this, all their objections were answered and they began praising God!”Yes," they said, "God has given to the Gentiles, too, the privilege of turning to Him and receiving eternal life!" TLB Although the Jewish Brethren accepted this, at times, others throughout the Roman world had objections to this new way and this was the source of constant problems both to Peter and to Paul throughout their ministries. The question of admission of the Gentiles into the Faith became the subject of the conference in Jerusalem in Acts 15.

Acts 11:19-21 Some of the believers who had escaped persecution came from Cyprus and Cyrene and preached to the Gentiles in Antioch. Large numbers of these Gentiles became believers. When the Jerusalem ecclesia heard of this success they sent Barnabas to help out. Acts 11:24-26, “Barnabas was a kindly person, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. As a result, large numbers of people were added to the Lord. 25 Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to hunt for Paul. 26 When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch; and both of them stayed there for a full year teaching the many new converts. (It was there at Antioch that the believers were first called "Christians.")” TLB