Transformed in Christ

Devotion

Acts 10:1–8 (NIV)

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”

Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.

The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.

The Law drew a barrier between the gospel and the gentile. A law-abiding Jew could not have contact with a people who were reckoned unclean not with their food that was also unclean.

Cornelius was a centurion of the Roman Army. He was a God fearing and devout worshipper of God. He was devoted to the worship of God, but he did not surrender fully to the law. In Judaism, a heart transformation without the physical act of circumcison left someone as still a pagan.

The Law was given to man to show the posture he should when relating to God. The mark of circumcision was a sign of God’s covenant with man Genesis 17:11

Genesis 17:11 (NIV)

You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.

Through Christ, the Lord seals His Covenant with the Holy Spirit. No longer is the seal of God’s covenant limited by flesh, now it is the divine that seals us and makes us sons and daughters of the most high.

Transformed in Christ

Acts 10:9–23 (NIV)

About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”

Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”

The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along.

Peter was a devout Jew who held to the dietary laws as lined out in Leviticus 11.

God’s authority deems things clean and unclean. The law shows us glimpses of who God is and how we are to relate to Him. The law does not bind God and the movement of His ways. Th point is that God has made the food clean. It is the authority of the Lord that defines the worth and value of His creation. When we judge in accordance with anything apart from the maker’s judgment, we diminish the maker and exalt something else in His place, the law.