The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.” Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story:
“Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”
When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:1-4,11-18 NIV)
“Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”
When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:1-4,11-18 NIV)
Peter was called on the carpet by the other believers for visiting the gentile, Cornelius, and the three other men who were also visiting Cornelius. He explained to the circumcised believers that it was God who had brought them together so that they might hear the message through which they would be saved. Peter's answer was enough. They understood that God intended that the message of salvation was for even the Gentiles.
The message of salvation is indeed for all people. Christians often get called on the carpet for sharing this message. People do not always want to hear the truth. There are those who assume we should think in one way; their way. Usually, those accusers have only read "choice" parts of the Bible, if any at all. Sometimes, the only place that they've received any teachings about Christ has been from television and I think we all probably recognize that what we hear and see on the television is not always the truth.
We are sometimes questioned as Peter and many others before us have been. Unlike Peter's answer to the other believers; sometimes, our answers aren't good enough for others. Sometimes, they have other agendas that do not agree with God's agenda; God's will, and they close their ears to hearing the truth. They will not accept what you have to say because if they accept the truth they will also have to accept that what they, themselves, have been presenting as the truth was not the truth. They have been lying and leading others astray. If they accept the truth; they know that they will have to change the way in which things are being done. They way in which they teach and live themselves.
Those who genuinely seeks to please God, will listen to the truth and they will change so that one who loves them so much that he willingly died for them did not die in vain.
God's Peace - Pr. J.
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