And Peter opening his mouth said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons,
Peter is standing inside a Roman officer's house, a place he had always believed a Jew must not enter. His first words there correct his own thinking about God: who He accepts, on what basis, and how far the gospel now reaches.
Older translations render Peter's words as "God is no respecter of persons." He is not stating something he had always believed. He is dropping something he had believed wrongly.
Peter's opening words then are precious… Clearly he had himself thought that God was a respecter of persons, because his upbringing gave Israelites a higher place in God's sight than all other nations. In the church of God all of this must be completely levelled, and God used this miraculous way to press that truth on Peter.
"In every nation" is not about geography for its own sake. It marks how far God's blessing now reaches.
It is a question now of the grace of God going out world-wide; wherever there is a soul looking to God, that is the soul God will bless… Peter knew full well that Jesus was Lord of the Jews, but it never seemed to have sunk into his soul before that He was Lord of all.
One word here needs care. Writers say "accepted" is not the best rendering.
Peter now knows the truth. He has learned the lesson of the great sheet. As he says, in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is "accepted" with Him — or, as it should be, "acceptable," or "well pleasing to Him." Acceptance rests on completely different ground, as we learn from Ephesians 1:6. This was a completely new lesson to Peter.
Cornelius feared God and did what was right. Commentators read that as a real work already begun in him, not as a man earning his way in.
It is plain that the call did not go out to a pagan idolater. Peter speaks here of a man who already feared God and did what is right. Cornelius was not an unconverted soul. He truly feared God, and he was full of prayer and giving to the poor. Of course, self-righteous prayer or giving could not have commended him to God… In going out to the Gentiles, it was wise and most gracious of the Lord to begin with someone no Jew could deny was godly.
Cornelius already knew the message God had sent to Israel. So why did he not claim it for himself?
Cornelius knew the gospel had gone out to the children of Israel. But he was a humble believer, and that is exactly why he did not claim the blessing for himself. The very essence of faith is this: you do not run ahead of God. You receive what He sends, and in the way He sends it.
Peter's words open a door. Writers are careful to mark what those words do not yet say.
Peter has at last seen that God shows no partiality. In every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is accepted with Him. This goes no further than admitting that blessing is for Gentiles as truly as for Jews. The truth of the one body had not yet been made known, and Paul was the honoured administrator of it… Peter went no further than admitting Gentiles to an equal place with the Jews: "God gave them the same gift as He gave to us."
What Peter learned about God cuts both ways for the reader.
Without respect of persons, God tells you that you are a sinner, and without respect of persons that His grace is toward you.
The same rule shapes how believers treat one another.
But "God shows no partiality" (Acts 10:34). And God's Word must govern the Church. She does not make it; she is taught by it. It says, "If you show partiality, you are committing sin" (James 2:9).
- Unlearned — Peter had once thought God ranked nations. His upbringing put Israel above the rest, and God levelled it.
- Acceptable — the better rendering is "acceptable" or "well pleasing." Acceptance itself rests on different ground, taught in Ephesians 1:6.
- Prepared — God began with a man already fearing Him and praying, someone no Jew could call ungodly.
- Restrained — Cornelius knew the message sent to Israel, yet he would not claim it. Faith receives what God sends. It does not run ahead of Him.
- Extended — the verse gives Gentiles an equal place, and no more. The God who shows no partiality forbids partiality in His people.
but in every nation he that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.
Peter had just seen a vision that overturned a lifetime of religious training, and now he stands in a Roman officer's house and says what he has learned. Two questions follow: does God treat all nations alike, and can anyone be "acceptable" to Him before hearing about Christ?
Peter's opening sentence is a confession as much as a statement. It reveals what he had believed until that morning.
Peter's opening words then are precious: "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him." Clearly he had himself thought that God showed partiality, for his upbringing had given Israelites a higher place in God's sight than every other nationality. In the church of God all of this must be completely levelled. God used this miraculous way of pressing such truth on Peter.
Older English translations end this verse with "accepted." That can sound like a settled standing before God. One writer corrects the word, and points to different ground for a Christian's acceptance.
Peter now knows the truth. He has learned the lesson of the great sheet, as he says: "But in every nation he that fears Him and works righteousness is accepted with Him." It should be "acceptable," or "well pleasing to Him." Acceptance is on totally different grounds, as we learn from Ephesians 1:6. This was an entirely new lesson to Peter.
The ESV already reads "acceptable to Him."
Some have read this line as proof that sincere living earns salvation without the gospel. One writer answered that idea head-on.
"So to live that he might be saved" at once shows ignorance of the ways of God in grace — in fact, of the gospel, as regards Christ's work. "Right convictions and good practice" is not gospel. Is he born again? Acts 17:27 does not say a word about the Spirit's acting. Acts 10:35 says only that the man who is such and such is accepted. It was merely that blessing was not confined to the Jews, as is clear when you read the passage.
If God finds anything pleasing in a person, where did it come from? One writer traces it back to God Himself.
He now fully realizes that in every nation he that fears God and works righteousness is acceptable to Him. How could He indeed ignore what is but the fruit of His own work in the soul, wherever it is found?
Cornelius already prayed and gave to the poor. Yet he still had to send for a preacher. One writer draws a line here between being alive toward God and being saved.
But it is a mistake to suppose that Cornelius was a mere self-righteous formalist before Peter went to his house in Caesarea. He feared God, and his prayer and his alms came up as a memorial before Him. Cornelius already had eternal life. Yet he needed to hear words from the apostle, so that he and all his house should be saved. Salvation is more than being made alive. It is the conscious possession of the deliverance the gospel now announces, won through the work of Christ. Cornelius may have been safe before; he was saved after he received the message of grace and the gift of the Spirit.
God's own instruction to him was not to do something, but to hear something. The promise quoted comes from Acts 11:14, which the ESV renders "a message by which you will be saved."
What God tells Cornelius to do is to listen to "words, whereby you and all your house shall be saved." Many souls think that if they are to be saved, it is by works of some kind. But when God opens the way to the Gentiles, He rules out the thought of works. He says to this anxious man: send for my messenger, who shall "tell you words."
This verse had a practical outcome: a non-Jew did not have to become a Jew first. One writer also marks the limits of what Peter's vision revealed.
Peter's vision did not reveal the assembly as the body of Christ, neither did the admission of Cornelius. They only showed that in every nation the person who feared God was acceptable to Him. In a word, the favour of God was not limited to the Jews, and no one needed to become a Jew to share the salvation that is in Christ.
- Levelled. Peter's upbringing had placed Israel above every other nation. In the church of God that ground must be level.
- Acceptable. The word means "acceptable," or "well pleasing," rather than "accepted." A Christian's acceptance stands on totally different ground.
- God's fruit. What God finds pleasing in a man of any nation is what He Himself produced in that soul; He will not ignore His own work.
- Words, not works. Cornelius already prayed and gave, yet God told him to send for a preacher. Words to hear, not works to do.
- Door open. The result: no one has to become a Jew first. The favour of God is not fenced within one nation.