Acts 10:34–35
“Then Kefa [Simon Peter] addressed them: “I now understand that God does not play favorites, but that whoever fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him, no matter what people he belongs to.”
Acts 10 begins with the introduction of Cornelius, a Roman who was known as a devout God-fearing man. Upon receiving a message from an angel of God to send for a man named Kefa, he sent out some of his men. Meanwhile, Kefa saw a vision involving animals that were unclean, upon which a voice from heaven told him to “stop treating as unclean what God has made clean.” This passage is often misinterpreted as having to do with Kosher & un-Kosher food, but the context immediately alludes to the men sent out by Cornelius. In the days of the Acts of the Apostles, the Jewish people would never have associated with the Gentiles. To the Jewish people, the Gentiles, especially the Romans, may as well have been treif (un-Kosher). But because of this vision and message from Heaven, Kefa is willing to go into the household of Cornelius and listen to him, and ends up having this epiphany: that God does not play favorites, and whoever fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him, no matter if he is Jew or Gentile.
Many Gentile believers, upon discovering and embracing the Hebrew roots of their faith, will eventually claim to be Jewish or fall into a doctrinal error that claims that believing in one’s heart is enough to make someone Jewish. They even misinterpret the “one new man” concept as making Gentiles Jews, as if a Jew becoming “one new man” would cause them to become the same as they were! Much of the reason for why people fall into this trap is a mistaken belief that being “God’s chosen people” somehow implies that the Jews are God’s favorite, and/or that they are somehow first-class citizens in God’s eyes, having a position of being elevated over Gentiles. Acts 10 clearly refutes this idea. One of the people in the Bible that is spoken most highly is not Jewish at all; compare how Cornelius is described compared to anyone else in the Bible and ask yourself if you don’t believe that Gentiles can be adored in God’s eyes just as much as Jews. Furthermore, that the Jews, including Kefa, could learn from a man like Cornelius, that he could be an example for them and that the Ruach (Holy Spirit) would descend upon a community of Gentiles and grant them gifts just as it did for the Jews is proof positive that there is great honor in being a Gentile man (or woman) of God. For the Gentiles, there is no need to try to be “Jewish” because there is nothing to be gained by it; rather, Gentiles should proudly take the mantle of their Biblical patriarchs and matriarchs (Cornelius, Ruth and many others) and wear the Gentile label with pride.
