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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Acts 10:13-15
“Then a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’ ‘Surely not, Lord!’ Peter replied. ‘I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.’ ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’”
Paradigm-shift time.
We have left Saul behind (he was first called “Paul” in Cyprus – Acts 13:9). As we will be looking into his letters in some detail, I shall not spend any more time on the account of his travels as recorded by Luke in Acts.
However, before we leave Acts, there are two highly significant issues that we need to consider. One, the decision of the Council at Jerusalem, which we will look at tomorrow and this one here, which taught dear old Peter a phenomenal lesson.
Before I look at it in greater detail, however – I need to highlight Peter’s response to God’s invitation. The N.I.V. translates it – “Surely not, Lord!” The King James Version says, “Not so, Lord.” Either way, Peter has committed the impossible. You cannot say “Not so, Lord.” The three words cannot co-exist. If you say, “Not so”, Jesus is, by definition, no longer Lord. If Jesus is Lord – “not so” cannot be part of the conversation.
I highlight this because so many of us are like Peter. We think we can say, “Not so, Lord.” We can’t. As soon as we say, “Not so” – in mind, thought or action – Jesus is no longer our Lord. Do you get the point? If Jesus really is to be Lord of our lives – the reply is “Yes, Lord” to whatever He says.
Maybe the Holy Spirit is challenging you and me today. How obedient are we, really? Have we fallen into Peter’s trap? Because if we have, we need to repent and get back on track.
Back to the rest of Acts 10. Cornelius was a Roman Centurion in the Italian Regiment. A good man. He was God-fearing, prayed regularly and gave to the poor. But he was a Gentile – a non-Jew. So –
a)He could not be accepted by Jews and
b)He had ‘no right’ to be a Christian.
So God called Peter, as a leader of the Church to understand that, as Jesus had said - He had died for everyone in all the world, both Jew and Gentile. God used the picture of clean and unclean animals so that Peter could get to understand that God considers all people in the ‘same light’. Just then people arrived from Cornelius’ household and invited Peter to go back with them.
Since they arrived after the vision, he automatically went with them. But he was still in for three surprises:
First of all, he actually got on with them quite well.
Secondly, Cornelius was already a Christian.
Thirdly – even as he was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard.
So he authorised and encouraged them to be baptised in water.
Oh dear. Here were Gentiles who were already Christians but not baptised in water or the Holy Spirit. Then to cap it all, they got baptised in the Holy Spirit before they got baptised in water.
What was God up to? I thought He was a God of order, not chaos.
He is. He is the God of His order, not mine. We must never ever put God or the Holy Spirit in a ‘box’. They have this horrible tendency to break out saying, “What box?”
Why not let God break free in and through your life today?
Never be afraid to let God challenge your theological paradigm or worldview to become more in line with His.
And remember, there is absolutely no place for racial, social or gender prejudice in the Kingdom of God.
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