Acts 10 Study Notes

10:25-26 When Cornelius met Peter, fell at his feet, and worshiped him, Peter protested that he too was merely a man. The apostles always sought to glorify God, not themselves.

10:27-28 The vision God gave Peter taught him that cleanliness standards barring Jews from associating with Gentiles had become obsolete. It is hard to overestimate the seismic change this represented for Peter’s worldview.

10:29-32 This is the third time Cornelius’s vision has been recounted. Peter may not have known why he was there, but he was sure he was in the right place.

10:33 By saying they had all gathered in the presence of God, to hear everything God commanded Peter to say or do, Cornelius showed the childlike openness Jesus asked of his disciples (Lk 18:15-17).

10:34-35 Due to the vision, Peter now understood that God doesn’t show favoritism (see Rm 2:11; Gl 2:6). This does not mean God accepts all people no matter their response to him or that people who fear him are acceptable to him and do not need Christ. Rather, it means that God does not restrict any nation or ethnicity from the offer of salvation.

10:36 Although God sent the gospel first to the Jews, he is Lord of all, suggesting that the gospel is intended for all.

10:37-41 You know the events indicates that the basic biography of Jesus was widely known by now. It was still necessary, however, that witnesses to Jesus’s life come and fill in any knowledge gaps and call unbelievers to saving faith.

10:42-43 Jesus himself told the apostles that he is the one appointed by God to judge all humans. Backing this claim is the testimony of all the prophets (Lk 24:44).

10:44-46 Faith, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and believer’s baptism are again all components of conversion, although again in a different order. Since the Gentile converts spoke in other tongues and declared the greatness of God just as the Jewish believers had done at Pentecost (2:4-11), the circumcised believers who were with Peter were amazed.

10:47-48 Again we see prompt baptism in response to new faith (8:36-39).