Peter Preaches The Gospel To Cornelius's Household

Acts 10:34–35 “Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.”

Peter’s vision of the clean and unclean animals finally made him to perceive (katalambano: grasp, understand) that God shows no partiality (prosopolemptes: favoritism, no respecter of persons) that in truth God extends salvation to both Jews and Gentiles.

The OT taught that there is no partiality with God.

Deuteronomy 10:17“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.”

2 Chronicles 19:7 “Now therefore, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes.””

In the NT Paul teaches in Romans 2:11 “For there is no partiality with God.” Romans 3:29–30 He says this about God, “Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.”

God doesn’t favor a person because of their ethnicity, nationality, abilities, or prosperity.

None of those things makes a person acceptable to God. In v. 35 Peter explains that there is two characteristics that makes a person acceptable to God from any nation. The first is the person who fears God. Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.” We are told at the beginning of this chapter (v.2) that Cornelius feared God with all his household.

The second characteristic is the person who does works righteousness (lit. does what is right) is accepted by Him.” Cornelius is said to have done works of righteousness in v.2 by giving alms to the people and praying daily.

Cornelius’s acts of righteousness didn’t mean that he was saved. If that were the case Peter wouldn’t be there to preach the gospel to him (Acts 11:14 “who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.’” )

No ones works will just them before God, it is by faith that alone that a person is accounted righteous, Romans 4:5 “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,”

Cornelius’ good works couldn’t bring about salvation. He needed God’s grace through faith to be saved.

Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

What Peter is expressing here is that God had predetermined to save Cornelius had sovereignly worked in the heart of Cornelius by the Holy Spirit, which caused Cornelius to fear/reverence God and do what is right, and acceptable to God that paved the way for him to receive salvation.

2 Corinthians 6:2 “For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Acts 10:3 “The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—”

Peter tells Cornelius and his household that word of God was sent first to Israel, offering to them that they can have peace with God through Jesus Christ. But now the good news is that the peace through Jesus Christ is available to everyone who places their faith in Jesus Christ who is Lord of all.

Everyone is in need of peace with God because every person who enters into this world is an enemy (echthros: hostile) to God because of their fallen sin nature. And the only means of putting an end of being an enemy of God and being reconciled back to a right relationship with Him is through Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:10 “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

Acts 10:37–38 “that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

The word about Jesus was known. God providentially caused the word to spread and planted in the hearts of people beginning at Galilee and went forth throughout all Judea. It was imperative that Peter let Cornelius, and his household know that the Jesus they heard about was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, which occurred when Jesus was baptized by John, and that God equipped Jesus with power through the indwelling Holy Spirit that enabled him to go about doing good. The phrase “doing good” is a powerful on in a Greek context, it points to a benefactor, someone who does good for society. Jesus’ doing good by healing served several purposes, first it his healing ministry served and benefited humanity, and secondly his healing ministry was a fulfilment of Isa 61:1 prophesy that Jesus himself quoted in Luke 4:18–19 ““The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”” and lastly, his healing all who were oppressed by the devil proved Jesus had authority and power over the devil and demons which proved that God was with him.

But just hearing about Jesus was just the tip of the spear. Cornelius and those in his house needed to know that they needed to come to faith in Jesus for their salvation. Knowing about the person of Jesus and the good that he did, isn’t enough you must come to faith in Jesus Christ. And this can only occur through the preaching of the gospel (vv. 39-43).

Acts 10:39–40 “And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly,”

The strength of Peter’s gospel message was that he and the other apostles were witnesses to everything that Jesus did throughout the land of Israel. Peter is letting Cornelius, and his household know that what he is telling them about Jesus isn’t coming from hearsay. They were witnesses that in Jerusalem they killed Jesus by hanging him on the cross and that God had raised Jesus from the dead on the third day and showed Him openly. The death and resurrection of Jesus has been the center of Peter’s gospel message in the book of Acts.

Acts 2:29–33 ““Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.”

Acts 3:13–16 “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”

Acts 5:29–32 “But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.””

Since the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection beginning with the chief priests and elders who conspired to tell others that disciples stole Jesus’ body, there has been numerous people who have denied Jesus’ physical resurrection to this day.

But Peter and the apostles set out to dispel the lies about Jesus’ resurrection. Paul gives one of the strongest arguments for the resurrection of Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:5–8 “and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.”

The eyewitness account of Jesus’ resurrection is central to Christianity. For if Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead our faith is worthless, our sins are not forgiven, and we are doomed for eternal punishment.

1 Corinthians 15:12–19 “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”

Jesus’ death and resurrection proved that He was the divine Son of God, it demonstrated His victory over Satan, death and the grave, and that God’s wrath for our sins was satisfied by Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross and God would be just and justify the ungodly who has faith in Jesus.

Acts 10:41 “not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.”

Peter points out that Jesus’ resurrection was not revealed to the general public. It would be pointless to reveal the risen Jesus Christ to unbelievers who didn’t love and follow Jesus in the first place. But God chose specific witnesses before Jesus’ death and resurrection, those who were believers that loved and followed him, and God specifically chose the apostles who ate and drank with Jesus after He rose from the dead, so that they could witness to others that when they saw Jesus after his death he wasn’t a spirit, for Jesus Himself had declared to them (Luke 24:39-43) Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence.

Acts 10:42–43 “And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.””

Peter informs Cornelius’s household about Jesus’ command to them to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. That that they were to testify that Jesus was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. And that the OT prophets had witness beforehand that Jesus would suffer death, rise from the dead and being glorified, that through Jesus, whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins.

The true essence of the gospel that is being used by those in the church today is powerless because they only tell others that Jesus loves them. That isn’t gospel lite, that gospel isn’t right. Because it isn’t the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is what Peter preaches to Cornelius’ household, that Jesus died for your sins, God physically raised him from the dead proving that his death satisfied God’s wrath for our sins, and that God ordained Jesus to be judged of the living and the dead. There is no escaping Jesus judgment. Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,” The only hope that a person has is to believe in Jesus and repent of their sins and they will receive forgiveness of their sins and will not have to fear Judgment Day.