Salvation to Every Race

Background Scripture: Acts 10
Lesson Scripture: Revelation 7:9-17; Acts 10:44-47

Introduction

One of the most distinct aspects of the gospel era is that salvation is open to all people everywhere regardless of color, race, or nationality. Instead of an arduous conversion process for those not born of a Jewish mother, salvation was opened to anyone with a seeking heart and a humble, contrite spirit. By the death of Jesus on the cross, everyone on earth has full and equal access to God’s grace. We can be grateful for this unspeakable gift.

Key Verse

Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, 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 (Acts 10:34-35).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

In our lesson today, we see how God was preparing to bring two factions together into one united body. One side considered the other unclean. The other side probably considered most Jews as snobbish, high-minded, and a completely closed society. In the gospel dispensation, the converted Jews needed to realize that the gospel had been opened to everyone regardless of their birth.

As Peter was preparing to go to Cornelius’s house, imagine the thoughts going through his mind. God had promised way back in Abram’s day that salvation would include the gentile race—“in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). If Peter had thought about this at all in the past, he could have reasoned it would happen in some massive shift not necessarily involving him. Instead, God chose to reveal this new direction in a small and quiet way.

This event included a God-fearing gentile, an angel messenger, an empty stomach, a dream, and a divine message from God. This time no thundering revelation was handed down on tablets of stone; this was a new era of hearts burning with love.

The barriers erected long ago to keep God’s people pure would be demolished. At the time of this account, many of those original commands had been misconstrued and were being wrongly used in discrimination. The Mosaic law taught a strong sense of separation between the Hebrew people and other nations, and at the beginning of the gospel age, this was practiced in the most minute detail. Jewish people were commanded not to eat, drink, or enter the house of non-Jews and were not to mingle with gentile people.

While it was true that a gentile could convert to being a Jew, it was a long and arduous process, including a name change and leaving one’s family. Some committed, seeing the truth of the one true God, and they became part of Zion, while some came halfway and received the title of “Ger Toshav” (righteous gentile or resident stranger).

Peter preached a message that day perhaps as simple as he ever had (Acts 10:34-43). Notice here the power of a brief and direct message received by attentive listeners. May we lift our ordained brethren up in prayer that they can speak to us in such a clear manner as Peter did. While he was speaking, the Holy Ghost fell upon these hitherto “unclean” men, proving that God had accepted them. Even those brethren who accompanied Peter were astonished at the result.

Sadly, sometime later Peter was pulled into dissimulation when he refused to eat with the gentile brethren in the company of other Jews. His convictions were put to the test by what other people might think, and he fell back into segregation. Paul rebuked him for his two-faced behavior. Living in Christ brings us to a new way of thinking that we must choose to embrace. It was impossible to accept the cross of Christ and still have the old rituals. In following Christ there is no going back; there is only forward movement.

Practical Truths for Today

Can we be partial before an impartial, holy God? Racism begins as partiality, a fruit of the flesh. Without God’s grace and guidance, we will be partial to other people. We tend to surround ourselves with those who agree with us and think like us. For people to live in harmony with other people of different cultures is a nearly impossible task for the world at large. Each thinks their own language, culture, and skin color is superior to others.

A typical worldview for most people is that everyone lives and operates like themselves. If we live in North America, we will operate with a North American mindset. Our surroundings become the “lens” through which we see everything else. Do we even condition Jesus to our own culture’s perception of what we would like to imagine Him to be? He came from a region of the Mediterranean that was home to people of a darker complexion. Unwittingly, we may carry some prejudice inside of us toward other races. Have you ever caught yourself saying, “I’m not racist, but . . .”?

Not all people are alike, but all are equal before God. Perhaps the challenge in our day is accepting that the gospel still works for every condition and in every culture. We live in a world where society is becoming more diverse. Do we look down upon the overweight, the under-motivated, those with an alternative lifestyle, people who have had ink injected under their skin, the welfare recipient, and the incarcerated? If we are so put off by what appears on the outside, we will not be able to perceive the soul crying inside. Many of these people have made misguided choices, but let us remember the value God places on the soul of man.

We will be judged on the last day by the way we treat other people (Matt. 25:31-46), and there is no other way we can serve the Lord except by serving others. The gospel starts with a cup of cold water in the Savior’s name.

If we look somewhat judgmentally at the Jews at the beginning of the New Testament church, let us be willing to look at our own worldview. Paul says that we should fear a superior spirit, lest we be cut off like the Jews were (Rom. 11:20-21). What is your response to your children when they point out differences in other people? We dare not feel we are more worthy of the gospel than anyone else. When we feel a sense of superiority to some other race, culture, or personality, let us check ourselves with the help of the Holy Spirit and try to determine just what makes us feel that way. God does not look upon his children from the outside but looks upon the heart, and so we should ever strive to be like our Father. Our key verse makes it plain that any man who follows righteousness is accepted of God. May the same be said of us.

Questions

1. The Jewish status of “Ger Toshav” allowed for certain rights and respectability for those who gave up idolatry but were unwilling for a full conversion. Is the church in danger of this today?
2. With the thought in the lesson of serving God through others, is it possible for a Christian to be of service to God while having relationship difficulties?
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Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).