Acts 10 - Freedom in Christ

Acts chapter 10 is a great reminder to me that God speaks to His people in many different ways. Cornelius and Peter each had visions, but they were also greatly influenced and affected by hearing what God had spoken to each other as well. I can’t say that I’ve ever had a vision from God, but I’ve received plenty of vision from God through my time spent with Him in prayer, through silence and solitude, and definitely through the words of others. God spoke to His people in the book of Acts and He speaks to His people now, we just need to listen! Cornelius and Peter listened, and listened the first time.

In this first section we see Cornelius’ vision, and I think it is interesting to note that the angel tells Cornelius that his good works have essentially been noticed before God. That has to be a good thing, right, that his acts were noticed before God. But, what was true for Cornelius and is as true for everyone else, those acts alone won’t get us into Heaven. Cornelius, no matter how much good he did, still needed a Savior, which Peter introduces him to a little later in the chapter. We all, no matter how much good we do or how nice we are, still need a Savior. Any approach towards Christianity as being a works-based or do-enough-good-and-you’ll-be-ok is just flat wrong and won’t get you anywhere. Sure you’ll be liked for the 80 or so years you live on this earth, but the rest of eternity will be, well, hell.

Peter’s vision is much more unique, in fact it’s a little weird. He sees some “four-footed animals” running around and he gets told to get up, kill and eat. He isn’t given much clear explanation and it doesn’t appear that he really knows what the vision is telling him, as this event happens 3 times. 3 times he says he won’t eat something that is unclean, and the voice tells him not to call unclean what God has made clean. In verse 11 we see that he is “deeply perplexed” about the vision and it doesn’t make sense to him until sometime later. The vision Peter received was God’s way of giving him direction in his life, and Peter was left supremely confused. Boy do I feel like I’ve been there before. God has given instruction; He has given me a direction or a command or He has brought an event or a circumstance into my life and I’m left scratching my head, wondering why in the world He’s doing what He’s doing. Frankly, God’s style of communication really annoys me sometimes, and I don’t think I’m the only one that feels that way. It seems like he drops these huge, almost impossible commands or casts a vision that is far too big to be accomplished, then says say yes to following me, wait a while, then I’ll tell you the rest. When I’m having a conversation with someone who takes a long time to tell a story or give me the details that I’m looking for, I get really impatient, and it seems like that happens a lot in my conversations with God. But, as it was in the case of Peter and has always happened in my life, God doesn’t leave us hanging forever. Peter was wondering about his vision and someone knocked on the door. As he proceeded with going to meet Cornelius, I’m sure this vision just kept running through his mind until the light bulb clicked on and he realized that vision was not about animals and was all about those “unclean” Gentiles. In my experiences, God hasn’t brought an idea or an event into my life without eventually clarifying it and revealing its purpose. And, always, that idea or event or struggle or trial has made a lot of sense and has proven to be beneficial for what I needed to learn or do.

Peter goes with the men in verse 23 and headed to meet Cornelius. He walks in and Cornelius drops to his face and worships him. What an opportunity for Peter to display where his heart was. Peter was an elder in “the church”, he was going around healing people and giving the Holy Spirit to people, he was in a position that could have easily gotten to his head. He was in a position that has gotten to the heads of many pastors since then, and this was an opportunity to either give in to the selfish, prideful desires, and allow Cornelius to “give him his due”, or he could remain pure and humble and give the glory to the One whom it belonged. And, in typical Peter fashion, he tells it like it is. “Stand up! I myself am also a man.” In other words, I’m not God so I don’t deserve your worship, so get up. I pray that I will not hesitate to respond the same way if someone ever tries to give me praise and glory that belongs to God alone. It’s hard, without a doubt, and sometimes it’s tempting to accept a little bit of praise for all the work you’ve done, when in reality we should constantly be humbled by the fact God chose to use us in His work. I always remind myself that if God wanted to He could use a rock to proclaim His glory, so who am I to boast.

Peter delivers the gospel message to Cornelius and his family and friends and once again, here comes the Holy Spirit. “While Peter was still speaking these words,” the Holy Spirit descended on the people and filled them up. Again, an incredible example of the Spirit doing what the Spirit wants to do, whenever the Spirit wants to do it. Cornelius and his friends and family believed in the message they were hearing and decided to put their trust in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit overwhelmed them. There is truly no better experience and no greater privilege than to walk alongside someone as they process through their sin, come to understand how much God loves Him and the plan that God has to save them, and to be there when they decide to make Jesus their Lord. As the Spirit fills them and their heart and their attitude and their countenance is changed, you are clearly seeing God work and move in a tangible way, it is impossible to describe or deny. Peter got to witness this over and over again, something that would renew his joy and refresh his passion to serve Jesus.

Those that were there with Peter were shocked that the Holy Spirit came down on these “Gentile sinners”. They couldn’t believe that this salvation was being offered to everyone, and they came to realize that the hundreds and thousands of years of laws against those Gentiles were wiped away and no longer valid. What a tough thing to understand I am sure but it also had to be freeing to them. To no longer have to worry about becoming ceremonially unclean by touching or being around a Gentile would make every day life easier and less complicated. To realize that the laws that had been bogging and dragging them down for centuries were no longer in place had to have released an incredible burden off their shoulders. And as I read about the Jews becoming followers of Christ, shedding their rules and regulations for freedom and grace, I can’t help but be thankful for the freedom that I have, for the weight that I’ve been able to drop because my Savior has taken it up. This life of faith is so freeing, yet it seems to be viewed just the opposite by so many. And, from the outside looking in, with all the stereotypes that are present and by all the terrible examples that have been given by “Christians”, I can see why. When those that call themselves followers of Christ “have” to obey on Sundays but live just like the world every other day of the week, the message that they are sending to the nonbeliever is that this stuff isn’t real, it isn’t life changing, it isn’t worth the other 6 days of the week. And when that is the message being sent, why would a nonbeliever give up even one day for faith in Christ? When those that call themselves followers of Christ are rightfully seen by nonbelievers as the biggest gossip in town or the biggest grump in the neighborhood, why would they care to hear, much less believe, a message of grace and love when all they see is deceit and revenge. True faith and relationship and communion with Christ, facilitated through the Holy Spirit is incredibly freeing, and if those around us don’t believe that then we need to look at our lives and see where we’ve gone wrong, to see where our faith is lacking and where we haven’t allowed Christ to release us of our burdens. If the people around us see Christianity as a burden, it’s probably because we’ve made it look that way.

Father you desire to release me of burdens and weights, you took all of that and left it on the cross, yet I hold on to so many things that I want to let go of but I just can’t seem to. Lord take those from me, pry open my fingers and take them from me. Living in you and with you leaves me free from worry about sinning too much or not doing enough good things or the right good things. Living in you and with you allows me to know my sins are forgiven, they were paid for, once and for all, on the cross 2,000 years ago, and they no longer have control over me. That gift of freedom is overwhelming. Father help me to know how to share that freedom with others, so their view of following Christ is accurate; a view of grace and mercy rather than rules and condemnation.