Acts 11:1 - Meaning and Application

The preaching of the gospel to Cornelius was a great joy to us poor sinners from the Gentile nations. It was the bringing of light to those who sat in darkness. Since this was such a surprise to both believing and unbelieving Jews, it is worth asking how they received it and what they said about it.

News of it quickly reached the church in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, because Caesarea was not far away. Some people spread the report in goodwill, and others in bad faith. So before Peter returned to Jerusalem, the apostles and the believers there, and in Judea, heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God, that is, the gospel of Christ. The gospel is not only a word from God, it is the very word of God, the center and summary of all divine revelation. They had received Christ, for his name is called the Word of God (Revelation 19:13).

This did not mean only that Jews living among the Gentiles, or Gentile converts to Judaism, had believed. It meant that the Gentiles themselves, people with whom Jews had thought it unlawful to keep ordinary company, had been brought into church fellowship. In other words, they had received the word of God in two ways. First, the word was preached to them, which was a greater honor than they expected. It is surprising that this seemed strange to people who had themselves been sent to preach the gospel to every creature. Yet pride and stubborn prejudice often cling to the clearest truth from God. Second, they welcomed the word and submitted to it, which was a better work done in them than anyone expected.

The believers had likely assumed that preaching the gospel to the Gentiles would do no good, because so much of its proof comes from the Old Testament, which the Gentiles did not accept. They thought Gentiles were not inclined toward religion and would not likely receive its influence. So they were surprised to hear that the Gentiles had received the word of the Lord. We should note this. We often give up hope of doing good to people who, when tried, prove very willing to learn.

But offense was also taken at this by the believing Jews (Acts 11:2-3). When Peter came up to Jerusalem, the men of the circumcision, Jewish believers who still had a strong respect for circumcision, argued with him. They accused him of a serious wrong, saying that he went into uncircumcised men and ate with them. In their view, this stained, if it did not forfeit, the honor of his apostleship, and they thought the church should discipline him. They were far from treating him as someone above correction, or as the supreme head of the church, with everyone else answerable to him and he answerable to no one.

Here we see how harmful it is when the church becomes narrow and tries to keep out those who are not exactly like us. Some people want to hold the church’s riches for themselves, just as others want to hold all worldly wealth. They would like to stand alone in the earth. These men had the same spirit as Jonah, who, because he was jealous for his own people, was angry that Nineveh received the word of God and even defended his anger.

Christ’s ministers should not be surprised when they are criticized and argued with, not only by open enemies but also by professing friends. Sometimes they are attacked not for their sins and weaknesses, but for good actions done at the right time and in the right way. Still, if we have examined our own work, we can rejoice in ourselves, as Peter did, even if our brothers speak against us. Those who are bold and zealous in Christ’s service should expect criticism from those who hide coldness under the name of caution. Those with broad, generous, and charitable hearts should expect to be judged by people who are proud and strict, saying, “Stand by yourself, I am holier than you.”

Peter answered them with a full and fair account of what had happened, enough both to defend himself and to satisfy them (Acts 11:4). He told the whole matter from the beginning and in order, so they could judge for themselves whether he had done wrong. As it turned out, the whole thing was clearly God’s work, not Peter’s.

He first assumes that if they had understood the matter rightly, they would not have argued with him, but would have approved him. That is a good reason to be careful and mild in our judgments. If we clearly understood what we are so quick to condemn, we might find reason to agree with it. When we see others doing something that looks doubtful, we should ask what they were aiming at. If we cannot ask them, we should give the best possible interpretation and not judge before the time.

Peter also wanted them to be satisfied, and he took the trouble to explain himself. He did not appeal to his place as chief of the apostles, for he was far from the idea of that kind of supremacy claimed by some who came after him. Nor did he simply say that he himself was settled in his own mind and they need not worry about it. Instead, he was ready to give a reason for his hope concerning the Gentiles, and to explain why he had moved away from the same views they still held. We owe it to ourselves and to our brothers to explain our actions clearly when they first seemed wrong and caused offense, so that we may remove stumbling blocks from their path.

Peter then gives his defense. He says that he had been taught by a vision not to keep using the distinctions made by the ceremonial law, that is, the outward rules about clean and unclean things under the Law of Moses. He repeats the vision, as in Acts 10:9 and following. The sheet there said to be let down to the earth he here says came even to him, which shows that it was meant especially for his instruction. We should also view all God’s revelations to people in the same way, as coming even to us and being applied by faith to our own hearts.

He adds that when the sheet came to him, he fixed his eyes on it and considered it (Acts 11:6). If we want to understand divine things, we must focus our minds on them and think about them carefully. He then tells them that he was commanded to eat all kinds of meat without making a distinction and without raising questions of conscience (Acts 11:7). It seems that after the flood, man was first allowed to eat meat at all (Genesis 9:3). That permission was later limited by the ceremonial law, but now those restrictions were removed and the matter was left open again.

Christ did not mean to take away our use of created comforts by any law except sobriety, self-control, and choosing the food that lasts for eternal life over what soon perishes. Peter explained that he had been as unwilling as they were to talk with Gentiles or eat their food, and so he had refused the offer: “Not so, Lord, for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth” (Acts 11:8). But God told him the situation had changed, because God had cleansed people and things that were once treated as unclean. So Peter was not wrong to change his mind when God had changed the matter itself.

In matters like these, we should act according to the light we have now. Yet we must not cling so tightly to our opinions that we reject further truth when God shows it to us (Philippians 3:15). To make sure Peter understood, the vision came three times. The command, “Kill and eat,” and the reason, “What God has cleansed, do not call common,” were repeated a second and third time (Acts 11:10). To confirm that this was truly from God, the things Peter saw were taken back up into heaven, the place from which they had come.

Peter also said that the Spirit told him to go with the messengers Cornelius sent. The vision had come right after the messengers arrived, showing that it was meant to prepare him for this very visit. Even so, the Spirit told him to go with the men from Caesarea, without hesitation (Acts 11:11, 12). They were Gentiles, but Peter was not to make any objection. He also took some brothers from the circumcision, that is, Jewish believers, with him from Joppa, so they could judge for themselves that he had acted carefully. He did not act alone, but with counsel, and he did not move too quickly.

Peter then told them that Cornelius had also seen a vision by which he was told to send for Peter (Acts 11:13). Cornelius had seen an angel in his house who told him to send to Joppa for Simon, whose name was Peter. It is good for those who walk with God and keep up fellowship with heaven to compare their experiences and share them with one another. That helps strengthen faith. Peter was confirmed by Cornelius’s vision, and Cornelius by Peter’s.

There was also an important addition to what the angel had said to Cornelius. Before, the message was simply that Peter would come and tell him what he ought to do (Acts 10:6, 32). Here it is clearer: “He will tell you words by which you and all your house will be saved” (Acts 11:14). That made the matter far more important. The words of the gospel are words by which we may be saved, saved forever, not just by hearing or reading them, but by believing and obeying them. They show us what salvation is, open the way to it, and lead us into it if we follow what they teach. Then we will be saved from God’s wrath and curse, and made happy forever.

Those who receive Christ’s gospel will often see salvation come to their families as well. “You and all your house shall be saved” means that he and his children would be brought into the covenant, that is, into God’s saving promise, and given the means of salvation. His household would be just as welcome to the blessing as he was, including even the lowest servant, if they believed. “Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:9). Up to that point, salvation had been known as belonging to the Jews (John 4:22). Now it was being brought to the Gentiles as fully as it had ever been with the Jews. The promises, privileges, and means of salvation were now reaching all nations with the same richness and fullness.

What settled the matter beyond all argument was the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Gentile listeners. That completed the proof that it was God’s will for Peter to bring Gentiles into fellowship. The fact was plain and could not be denied. Peter said, “As I began to speak” (and he may have felt some inner hesitation, wondering whether he was right to preach to uncircumcised people), “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as on us at the beginning” (Acts 11:15). There could be no mistake about it. God himself showed approval of what was done. Preaching is surely right when the Holy Spirit is given through it. Paul uses the same kind of argument with the Galatians: “Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?” (Galatians 3:2).

This also reminded Peter of his Master’s words when Jesus was about to leave them: “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 11:16; Acts 1:5). That promise showed, first, that the Holy Spirit is a gift from Christ, the result and fulfillment of his promise when he went to heaven. So this gift clearly came from him. The filling of these believers with the Holy Spirit was his own work. As he promised it by his word, he performed it by his hand, and it showed his favor. Second, the gift of the Holy Spirit is a kind of baptism. Those who received it were baptized in a more excellent way than any baptized by John with water.

When Peter compared that promise with this gift, and the question came up whether these people should be baptized or not, he saw that Christ himself had settled the matter (Acts 11:17). God had given them the same gift he had given to Jewish believers when they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Since God had done that, Peter said, “What was I, that I could withstand God?” Could he refuse water baptism to those whom God had already baptized with the Holy Spirit? Could he deny the outward sign to those to whom God had given the inward reality? Who was he to oppose the divine will or resist the wisdom of heaven?

Those who block the conversion of souls are resisting God. And those go too far who try to keep from their fellowship people whom God has already taken into fellowship with himself. Peter’s explanation satisfied them, and the matter was settled well.

This is like the case of the two and a half tribes, when they explained to Phinehas and the leaders of Israel why they had built an altar by the Jordan. Once the real reason was known, the dispute ended, and everyone was pleased with the outcome (Joshua 22:30). Some people keep a harsh judgment in place even after it has been proved wrong, but that was not the case here.

These believers, though they belonged to the circumcision party and naturally leaned the other way, changed their minds when they heard the facts. First, they dropped their criticism. They kept quiet and said no more against what Peter had done, because they now saw that God was at work. The Jews, who had taken pride in their special standing, began to see God humbling that pride by bringing the Gentiles in to share fully with them. In this way, the prophecy was fulfilled: "You will no longer be haughty on my holy mountain" (Zephaniah 3:11).

Second, they turned from complaint to praise. They did more than stop arguing with Peter. They glorified God for what he had done through Peter’s ministry. They were glad their mistake had been corrected, and they rejoiced that God had shown more mercy to the Gentiles than they had been ready to show. They said, "Then God has also granted the Gentiles repentance that leads to life."

God had given them not only the means of repentance, by opening a door for his messengers among them, but also the grace of repentance itself, by giving them the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit comes as Comforter, he first convinces people of sin and leads them to sorrow over it, and then he points them to Christ and gives joy in him. True repentance leads to life. It brings a person into spiritual life, and everyone who truly repents shows it by beginning a new life, holy and set apart for God. Those who die to sin through repentance begin to live to God, and only then do they really start to live.

All true repentant people shall live. They will be brought back into God’s favor, and that favor is life, better than life. They will be comforted with the assurance that their sins are forgiven, and they will receive the beginning of eternal life now, with the full enjoyment of it later. Repentance is God’s gift. It is not only his free grace that accepts it, but his mighty grace that works it in us. He takes away the heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh. "The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit," and he himself provides this sacrifice.

Wherever God means to give life, he also gives repentance. Repentance is the needed preparation for the comfort of a pardoned conscience and settled peace in this world, and for seeing and enjoying God in the world to come. It is a great comfort to us that God has exalted his Son Jesus, not only to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:31), but to the Gentiles also.