Let’s take our Bibles together and turn to Acts 11:1–18. Several years ago, Sanja and I went to a formal gathering in Springfield, Illinois. It was a naturalization ceremony for fresh, new Americans. Sanja took the oath that day, and she became an American citizen. I remember that day fondly. 

And I remember something else. The crowd was filled with people from all over. Sanja was probably the only Croatian there. But there were several other Europeans. There were Asians. There were Africans, South Americans, Central Americans, Middle Easterners, and people from the Caribbean. And there was a motto there at that ceremony that I was unfamiliar with. Maybe I learned about it in school, but if so, I had forgotten it—E Pluribus Unum. 

If you have a quarter in your pocket right now or a one-dollar bill in your wallet, that phrase, E Pluribus Unum, is emblazoned on that currency. It means, “Out of the many, one.” Out of many countries… out of many people groups… we become one.

Now I love America. And I love that motto—E Pluribus Unum. But seventeen hundred years before America was taking many people and making them one, the church of Jesus Christ was doing that in the book of Acts. Jesus gave his church a mission. Jesus gave his disciples a “Great Commission.” “Go… make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:18). And it took a little while for his disciples to grasp what that meant. It took a pretty elaborate vision of clean and unclean animals revealed to Peter in a trance, but eventually the Great Commission got going. 

And Peter and the other apostles got to work bringing many into one… one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all (Eph 4:4–6).

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Now that unity was a hard-fought unity for the Apostle Peter. We saw that in Acts 10. Peter had to shed his skin and journey away from his own ethnic bias. And he was taught by God to “not call unclean what God has cleansed.” But Peter’s just one man. And even though he’s a leader and an apostle, there are still other leaders, apostles, and brothers in Jerusalem who don’t yet grasp God’s plan for saving Gentiles. And that’s where Peter becomes an advocate for his new Gentile brothers. That’s what this passage is about in Acts 11:1–18. 

So without further ado, let’s pick up where we left off last week in chapter 11. Luke writes,

1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 

In other words, “word got around.” Peter’s adventures in the Gentile world are the talk of the town, according to verse one. But this verse doesn’t say how people responded to this news. It just says they heard the report. 

Now we’ll read in just a second how some of the people responded to this news, namely the circumcision party. But how did most people respond to it? Probably there was some uneasiness. Probably they needed to know why and how this happened. Probably there were some mixed responses. “O wow, Gentiles have received the word of God, the gospel. Gentiles have gotten saved? That’s fantastic! But they’re not circumcised. They probably still eat unclean food. They probably still have their Gentile practices. That can’t be right. What are we going to do about this?” 

And so now Peter has an opportunity to teach others what God has shown him. So in verse 2, Peter goes back to Jerusalem, some sixty miles southeast of Caesarea, to explain what’s happening among the Gentiles.

2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3 “You went to uncircumcised men [literally this is “foreskin men”] and ate with them.” 

Now notice this isn’t everybody objecting to what Peter has done. This is the circumcision party. This is that group of people with tender consciences. They had overactive consciences… Peter had the same problem in Acts 10. This is that group of people who are the most resistant to change. And they’ve already had their Jewish world turned upside down by the death and resurrection of their Messiah. Now you add to that the acceptance of unclean Gentiles… uncircumcised Gentiles… and their wires are short-circuiting.

Now, just to be clear and frank, circumcision was the removal of foreskin from a male’s penis. This was a sign of the covenant enacted between Abraham and God in the OT. And Abraham along with his entire household was circumcised to differentiate them from the pagan nations around him. Also, the Lord promised Abraham offspring. And it’s not an accident that the organ that was used to produce offspring was cut as a symbol of that promise. 

That’s the background of circumcision. And male Jews had been circumcised for millennia by the time that Peter traveled to Caesarea. So circumcision was a big deal for the Jews, as were dietary laws. Look again at verse 3. 

3 “You went to [foreskin men] and ate with them.” 

And let’s be fair to this circumcision party. They don’t have the benefit of the NT like we do. Agreed? They don’t have Paul’s letters. They don’t have the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) in written form like we do. So this is happening “live” for them. They are processing this without the benefit of the NT Scriptures. And we get to learn from their shortsightedness. 

And the lesson that they’re going to get from the Apostle Peter, someone who will later write inspired Scripture, is something like this. Here’s what he explains to them. 

Write this down as a first point from the message today. The title of today’s message is E Pluribus Unum (“out of the many, one”). And the first thing that we see today in God’s plan of making one out of many is as follows… 

1) God’s plan of salvation defies tradition (11:1–3)

Salvation is not a matter of circumcision. Salvation is not a matter of food laws and dietary restrictions. Salvation is about faith in Christ. Now, can a person get circumcised? Absolutely! But you no longer do it for covenantal or salvific reasons. Can a person continue dietary restrictions? Absolutely! There may even be some health benefits for eating kosher. But can a person ostracize Gentiles from the believing community? Absolutely not! That’s one tradition that has to fall by the wayside in order for God’s plan of salvation to come to fruition. 

Now let’s just think about this applicationally for a second. Let’s consider how this might apply to our twenty-first century world. Are traditions bad? No. Some traditions can be quite good. We have some traditions in the Caffey household that are good and meaningful. We go to church. We read our Bibles every day. When Alastair was younger, we used to put him to bed with prayers and Bible reading. That’s a beautiful and wonderful tradition to pass down from generation to generation. But those traditions are outworkings of our salvation, and they are not part of retaining our salvation. That’s where the rubber of legalism meets the road of heresy. 

And so here are some questions that I would ask you in light of that understanding. What are some ways that we allow traditions to inhibit or to distract from God’s work of salvation? Are there any unbiblical cultural expectations that we place on Christians inside the church? For example, how people should look or dress, or where they should live, or what kind of music they should listen to or books they should read, or how they should vote, or how they should raise or educate their children. 

The Bible isn’t down on tradition, and I’m not either. What we’re against is the idea that traditions are somehow necessary for God’s work of salvation. What the Bible is speaking against here is a “Jesus + Legalism” that presumes that Christ isn’t enough! You’ve got to add something to him. You’ve got to live a certain way or maintain a certain ethical standard. That’s the kind of tradition or traditionalism that God defies with his work of salvation. Let me put it in a mathematical formula that might help you: 

Jesus + Nothing = Everything.

Solus Christus (“In Christ Alone”). 

Jesus + Legalism = Nothing. 

Jesus + Nothing = Everything.

Jesus alone is the basis of your salvation. 

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So God’s plan of salvation defies tradition. Write this down as a second exposition point for this message. 

2) God’s plan of salvation defies discrimination (11:4–16)

Hidden within the statement of this “circumcision party,” is an ethnic bias. Do you hear it in their statement? “You… went to uncircumcised men… and ate with them.” “How dare you, Peter! What gives you the right?” 

Well, Peter explains himself. Look at verse 4.

4 But Peter began and explained it to them [“them” being the apostles, the brothers, and those in the circumcision party] in order: 

In other words, Peter explained it to them point by point. And to Peter’s credit he doesn’t get angry with them or bemoan their narrowmindedness. He patiently explains to them what happened. And rightfully so, because he might have reacted similarly without the incredible vision that God showed him. 

Look what he says in verse 5.

5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, 

 “I was just minding my own business,” Peter says. “I didn’t wake up that morning and say, ‘hmmm, I think I’ll go preach the gospel to some uncircumcised Gentiles!” He didn’t do that. 

5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 

Now we know this already because we read about it in chapter 10. And when something is repeated in the Bible, take note. The Bible is not being redundant. Repetition is a form of emphasis. And this is a hinge point in the book of Acts, so this gets emphasis.

And I love this particular retelling of the story with the sheet because Peter tells it in the first person. In chapter 10 it was in third person as Luke told the story. But Peter tells it a little more vividly here as he recaps what happened. “The sheet came right down to me. It was in my face! I couldn’t get away from it.” 

Look at verse 6.

6 Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7 And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 

In other words, “I acted just like you guys are acting now.” “You… went to uncircumcised men… and ate with them.” I acted like that too, even in total defiance of God’s command to me. 

9 But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ 10 This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. 11 And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. 

 In other words, this wasn’t just random happenstance. God had a purpose in all of this. The vision was linked to these three men from Caesarea. And these men were Gentiles, by the way!

 Look at verse 12. I just imagine Peter’s listeners hanging on his every word, not unlike Cornelius and his household a few days before this. They are waiting with bated breath. The Apostle James is there. The Apostle John was there. James the brother of Jesus is probably there. Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, and Matthias are probably there too. Maybe Jesus’s mother Mary is there. All of these people, some who were in the upper room when the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, are on pins and needles as Peter tells them what happened. 

12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. 

By the way, this is the same word for “distinction” that was used in Acts 10:20. It’s the Greek διακρίνω (diakrinō). The ESV translates this word “hesitation” in 10:20, but “distinction” in 11:12. I think “distinction” is a better translation. And I wish the ESV would have used the same word in both instances. The NASB translates it “misgivings” in both passages. 

The word is key. Because the Spirit was telling Peter to turn his conscience off. The Spirit was telling him essentially, “Don’t be judgy, Peter. Don’t discriminate.” And Peter, to his credit, obeyed.

And then Peter adds in verse 12.

These six brothers also accompanied me [as witnesses … “they saw everything I saw”], and we entered the man’s house. 13 And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14 he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 

 Now notice a few things here. I have to point these things out. First of all notice that the angel (according to Peter) specifically told Cornelius that Peter was bringing a message of salvation. That’s the first time that this is spelled out clearly for us. In Acts 10, we are just told that Cornelius sent for Peter because the angel told him to. Now we see that the angel also told him that the message of salvation was coming with Peter. Now we understand the sense of urgency. Now we know why Cornelius had called all his friends and family to his house to meet with Peter. The salvation of their souls hinged on Peter’s message.

And notice too that the angel said, “a message by which you will be saved.” He didn’t say, “Yeah, you’re already saved, Cornelius! He’s just coming to add some extra knowledge to your saving faith.” That’s not what the angel said. Yes, Cornelius was a God-fearer and a devout man and a man who made acceptable offerings to God. But he was still unsaved. God-fearing is not the same as Christ-believing. That’s why Peter had to come and bring the message to him. 

Look at verse 15… I know we’ve read about this already, but this is so good. I love a good salvation story! Peter continues…

15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 

Peter’s like, “It wasn’t human persuasion that brought them to saving faith. It wasn’t my rhetorical skills. I didn’t even finish my sermon before the Holy Spirit came upon them. God did this.” 

“God did this just like he did it with us at the beginning, at Pentecost. Remember that, James? Remember that, Thomas? Remember that, Matthew? That was our Pentecost. This was their Pentecost. It was a ‘Gentile Pentecost.’” 

And whatever confidence we have in the fact that the Holy Spirit descended upon us… whatever assurance we have by the Holy Spirit coming and dwelling manifestly inside of us… they have that too. It’s the same Spirit. The same Spirit that indwells us, fell on them.” 

And none of this should surprise any of us who have the benefit of a closed canon and the written NT Scriptures because Ephesians 4 says, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (4:4–6).

Look at verse 16. Here’s the coup de grâce for Peter’s argument. I love it when preachers preach, and Peter’s going to get a chance to finish this sermon. And he finishes with a bang. He says… 

16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 

Jesus said those words in Acts 1:5 at the beginning of this book. Peter had one of those “Aha moments” when the Spirit came upon the Gentiles. He remembered, “Oh yeah, Jesus talked about this.”

But Peter’s realization was bigger than that. Not only did he realize that Jesus prophesied the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He also realized in this moment, “They’re one of us. Our baptism is their baptism. The Holy Spirit that dwells in us, dwells in them. They’re part of our family. They’re our brothers and sisters in Christ. God’s plan of salvation defies discrimination.”

By the way, just a nota bene here. Don’t miss this. The word for “baptized” is βαπτίζω (baptizō) in Greek, and it shows up twice in verse 16. But the parsing of the verb is different in those two instances. In the first statement, “John baptized with water,” the verb is active. John is the subject. But in the second statement “you will be baptized,” the verb is passive. 

Who’s doing the action with that passive verb? It’s not Peter. It’s not the apostles. It’s not the disciples. And it’s definitely not John the Baptist. It’s God. This is referred to as a divine passive. God is doing the baptizing with the Holy Spirit. Or to put it in passive voice, “God the Son is baptizing with (or by) God the Holy Spirit.” That’s the idea here.

And here’s the result of all this. The same Holy Spirit inside of Jewish believers is inside of Gentile believers too. They may not share the same bloodlines. They might not share circumcision. They might not share the same background and heritage, but they share the same Holy Spirit. That’s more important than anything else. 

Now let’s just think about this for a second. Let’s think applicationally. Before we finish this text and go to the third exposition point, look at the application section of your notes. 

The situation has changed drastically in the last two-thousand years. I don’t know any church that would exclude a person today because they were uncircumcised or because they ate non-kosher food. In fact, lots of churches have potlucks and chili cookoffs with non-kosher food galore on the menu. 

So in today’s world, we don’t have Jewish believers discriminating against Gentiles in the church. In fact, just a few hundred years after the first century, the situation flipped. And it was Gentile Christians discriminating against Jews unfortunately because of unchecked antisemitism. 

And here’s what’s more common today. Ironically, in today’s world, it’s typically Gentile Christians discriminating against other Gentile Christians. That’s how this manifests in our day. And we seem to have this problem perpetually in the church with thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. I’m pretty sure the Bible says we shouldn’t do that. But discrimination is part of our DNA. It’s part of our sin-nature. And we’ve got to get rid of it. 

So let’s think practically. I want to flesh this out a little bit. What are some ways that discrimination finds its way into the twenty-first century church? I’ll give you eight ways that this can happen. Write these down.

Eight kinds of discrimination that the church needs to guard against:

1) Race Discrimination 

Hear me on this, church. There should never be on the lips of a confessing believer in Jesus Christ an ethnic slur or a racist, derogatory statement about another person’s ethnicity. Never. Don’t say it! Don’t hear it! Don’t tolerate it from your friends and family. 

Now we can joke in a lighthearted and friendly way about race and ethnicity. If you want to poke fun at Scottish kilts and bagpipes and haggis, I won’t be offended. If you want to tease me about the lacking melanin in the pigment of my skin, that’s okay. There’s a difference between lighthearted jesting among friends and meanspirited jeering. For the record, I don’t like racism. But I don’t like race-bating either. In Christ Jesus… E Pluribus Unum.

This might sound hopelessly idealistic, but I don’t care. I believe Christians should be the least ethnocentric, the least xenophobic, the least prejudiced people on planet earth. They should be the most inviting, the most diverse, the most charitable, and the most colorblind people in the world. Why? Because the ground is level at the foot of the cross. Because Christ died for every tribe, tongue, nation, and people group. Every human being is made in the image of God and is worthy of being accorded dignity. And in terms of salvation, God shows no partiality. 

When I was in seminary, I had a friend from South Africa. And he said this once. I thought this was profound. He said, “Don’t just preach against racism. Celebrate diversity.” Celebrate the “every tribe, tongue, nation, and people group” ethos that’s presented in the Scriptures. 

By the way, unity doesn’t mean uniformity. We are called to be unified in Christ Jesus. That doesn’t mean we have to be uniform. Diversity is good.

2) Gender Discrimination

I’ll be quick with this one. But I think this is especially important for churches like ours that are Complementarian. Complementarian means that we believe men and women have complementary roles in the church and in the family. God has reserved leadership in those areas for men. There’s no need to obliterate the distinction between male and female. We’ve seen in our own day how destructive that has been on society. 

But as complementarians we also affirm that men and women have equal standing before God as the children of God. We have different roles, yes. Complementary roles, yes. But equal standing as children of God, saved by the blood of Jesus, and made in God’s image. And the gospel welcomes both men and women into the kingdom of God. 

3) Age Discrimination

I celebrate the diversity that we have in this church. We have Boomers, Builders, and Millennials. We have Gen Xers, Gen Zers, and even a few Gen Alphas. Some of our Gen Alphas are still in the womb! I praise God for all of you. And I’m thankful for the diversity that we share here in this church. 

I’ve been in some churches where the youth are looked down on for their youthfulness. And I’ve been in some churches where older men and women are looked down on for their agedness. And both of those are wrong. Age diversity is good. Let’s celebrate it. We are one in Christ Jesus. 

4) Socioeconomic Discrimination

I’ve touched on this before. What side of town did you grow up on? How much do you make? White collar or blue collar? How influential are you in the community? Married? Single? Divorced? No kids? Lots of kids? Don’t make a big deal about those things. Celebrate diversity and defy discrimination in the church. 

I will say this, though. If you don’t have friends that differ from you socioeconomically, then get some new friends! That would actually apply for all these categories. Diversify your sphere of influence! Who wants to live a sterile, homogenous lifestyle? Homogeneity is boring! Get some new friends. You don’t have to get rid of your old friends… just add to them. 

5) Educational Discrimination

Home-school. Private-school. Public-school. College educated. Non-college educated. Trade school. UT. A&M. UTSA. Where’d you go to college? Did you go to college? E Pluribus Unum. For the record, I love my Aggie brothers and sisters in Christ. I just don’t cheer for their team. Get some friends in your life that differ from you in that regard.

6) Life before Christ Discrimination

Here’s what I mean by this one. I went to a church once that was a good church. But the men in this good church had a bad habit of glorifying their “before Christ” indiscretions. They called it their B.C. days. 

And in weak moments, these guys would sit around and say things like this, “Well, before I came to Christ, my life was a wreck. I was drinking and smoking. I was doing drugs and sleeping around.” And then the next person was like, “That’s nothing. Before I came to Christ, I did worse than that.” And there was this spirit of one-upmanship. Everyone had to one-up the previous person with their “before Christ” sinfulness. 

And then, as it would go around the circle, it was my turn. And I was like, “I used to lie to my parents, and I cheated once on a tenth grade Chemistry test.” And they were like “Pfft, you’re not even a real Christian!” And I felt less than Christian because I didn’t have a sexy, sordid, before-I-came-to-Christ backstory. So that wasn’t good.

And we all know it can go the other way too, right? Some churches can look down on those who do have a sordid before-I-came-to-Christ backstory. 

You guys ever heard of William Booth before? He’s the founder of the Salvation Army. He was a great man of God. He ministered to the broken and downtrodden of London in the nineteenth century. Well, Booth started a ministry that reached out to the homeless, the poor, and the alcoholics in some of the worst sections of London. But respected and devout leaders of the church criticized him. Once a famous evangelical leader even called William Booth, the anti-Christ for reaching out to those people.  That’s not good! If I had a moment with that “evangelical leader,” I would remind him, “The ground is level at the foot of the cross!”   

7) Non-sinful Lifestyle Choices Discrimination

That word “non-sinful” is key because there are some sinful lifestyle choices that churches need to guard against. Church discipline must be put into effect with unrepentant sinners because their actions jeopardize the health of the church. 

But non-sinful choices like movies, entertainment, video games, diet, dress, political persuasion, hobbies, affluence, etc. should not be a cause for division or discrimination in the church. Debate? Sure! I’m all for that. Division? Discrimination? No! 

8) Nonessential Theological Convictions Discrimination

Let me give you another Latin phrase. You’ve heard this one before, just not in Latin: “In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas.” “In essentials, unity. In nonessentials, liberty. In all things, charity.” In essential doctrinal matters like the deity of Christ, substitutionary atonement, the resurrection of the saints, the Trinity, etc., etc. … we need unity. We need conviction without compromise. 

In nonessential matters like views on divorce and remarriage, the use of sign gifts, the timing of the rapture, the understanding of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility… we need the freedom to “agree to disagree.” And in all things, we need charity (i.e. love). 

Theology is tricky, so let me give you a taxonomy to work with. This is something that we use at the Preacher’s Guild. When it comes to theological issues, there are first tier, second tier, and third tier issues. First tier issues are issues that differentiate between Christian and non-Christian. These include the deity of Christ, Trinitarian theology, the sufficiency of Christ for salvation, etc. 

[Theological Triage Chart]

Second tier theological issues are issues that we can agree to disagree on between churches. So the Presbyterian church down the road baptizes babies. We don’t do that here at VBVF. We love our Presbyterian brothers. We are one in Christ with them. But we attend different churches because that doctrinal distinction is important to us. And it’s important to them. Other issues in this category include women in ministry, the use of sign gifts in worship, and church government. We’re an elder-led church. Not all churches are. 

Then there are third tier issues. These are issues that we agree to disagree on in the same church. These include views on divorce and remarriage, drinking alcohol, tithing, tattoos, Sabbatarianism, some aspects of eschatology, etc., etc. We can disagree on these matters and still be members in the same church together. 

There are things that we can and must discriminate on. If you don’t affirm Trinitarian theology, you cannot be a member of this church, and you are out of bounds in regards to historical orthodox Christian theology. But with other things, with nonessential theological convictions, we need not discriminate. “In essentials, unity. In nonessentials, liberty. In all things, charity.”   

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I put some applicational questions on this topic in your notes, so you can process this a little further if you like. Let’s go back to the narrative and finish this passage up. 

But before we do that, write this down as a third point in your notes. God’s plan of salvation defies tradition. God’s plan of salvation defies discrimination. And thirdly,

3) God’s plan of salvation defies convention (11:17-18)  

Here’s Peter’s climactic statement in this passage. Look at verse 17.

17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ [regardless of their ethnicity or their demographic], who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 

Bravo, Peter! Well said, man. This is Peter’s version of Paul’s, “Let God be true and every man a liar” (Rom 3:4). If God wants something done, who’s going to stand in his way? Not me!

When I was a kid my dad used to say to me, “Don’t presume upon God what he can and can’t do!” I grew up, like some of you, at the tail end of the cold war era. I was eleven when the Berlin Wall came down. And before that, there was a lot of talk about nuclear weapons and mutually assured destruction and nuclear non-proliferation. That stuff was on the news all the time. 

And there was this palpable fear that a lot of people had that we were going to bomb ourselves into oblivion. And I remember telling my dad once, “God would never allow us to blow ourselves up like that!” And my dad said, “Don’t presume upon God what he can and can’t do!” 

God often does things in our universe that defy human expectation. God will take a person who everyone says, “That person is hopeless. There’s no way that person’s getting saved.” And God will save them. 

God will take a country where everyone says, “There’s no way those people over there will ever get saved.” And God will bring an evangelistic revival to that country. God works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform!

In verse 17, Peter’s like, “Who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” Good question, Peter. God wanted to save Gentiles! Who’s going to get in his way?

And why does God do that? Why does God defy convention? Because he’s God and he can do whatever he wants! And sometimes he’ll do something unexpected to remind us that he’s in control and we’re not. 

And by the way, keep in mind that salvation is not a matter of cultural conditioning. Some people who are given every provision for salvation walk away from God altogether. I’ve seen it, and it breaks my heart. Others, who should never get saved by the world’s reasoning, come to Christ. Who can fathom the mind of God? Who can mine the depths of his wisdom? And who are we to stand in God’s way?

Now look at verse 18. To the credit of this “circumcision party,” they, with the rest of the brothers and apostles, fall silent. 

18 When they heard these things they fell silent. 

In other words they quit arguing. They quit debating with Peter. And when they did open their mouths again, they didn’t use them to debate. Instead… 

And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

They accepted God’s plan of salvation for the Gentiles, and they rejoiced in God’s display of grace. They do a good thing here. 

Unfortunately, I hate to end this sermon on a sour note, but there are some people within the “circumcision party” who cause more problems later in the church. We find out later in Paul’s letters that the circumcision party reemerges with a group of Judaizers that wanted to circumcise Gentiles and add works to saving faith. 

Paul got so frustrated with them in the book of Galatians that he said, “I wish those circumcisers would go the whole way and just castrate themselves.” It’s probably Paul’s angriest moment in the NT. It’s a righteous indignation that he expresses towards anyone who would add anything to faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Maybe some of the same people who originally accepted Peter’s statement here emerge later as Judaizers. 

And unfortunately we also see, in Galatians, that Peter makes a big mistake later in his ministry. Although he waxed poetic here about equality in the family of God, Paul tells us in Galatians 2:11–12, “But when Cephas [Peter] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.” 

 Come on, Peter! What’s wrong with you, man? Paul confronted Peter over this issue and told him that his “conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel” (Gal 2:14). Why? Why was it “not in step with the truth of the gospel?” Because God’s plan of salvation defies tradition, it defies discrimination, and it defies convention.”

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I’ll close with this. The discipline of archaeology has made some remarkable discoveries in the last few centuries. One of those archaeological finds includes “The Temple Warning Inscriptions.” Here’s a replica picture of one of those.

Replica of “The Soreg Inscription” (One of the Temple Warning Inscriptions)

In ancient Jerusalem, Gentiles were physically prevented from accessing the inner courts of the temple by a four foot high barrier. Josephus pointed out that there were thirteen stone slabs with writing in both Greek and Latin that were placed at intervals on the barrier warning Gentiles not to enter.” Archaeologists have discovered two of these warning slabs like the one above called “The Soreg Inscription.” It reads as follows, “No Gentile may enter beyond the dividing wall into the court around the Holy Place. Whoever is caught will have himself to blame for his subsequent death.” 

To have Gentiles enter into the Holy Place was an abomination to these first century Jews. Paul actually makes reference to this wall of hostility when he writes in Ephesians 2:14, “For [Christ] is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.”

 And here’s the thing about life before the new covenant. Gentiles weren’t allowed into the inner court upon penalty of death. But even Jews were prevented from the innermost part of the temple, the holy of holies. Only the high priest was allowed there. But when Christ came, the veil was torn. We have access to God through God’s Son. The wall of separation was brought down between God and Jew, but also God and Gentile. We are welcomed into relationship with God and with each other because of Christ’s blood.

Now here’s my final thought for you, church. If God has labored so hard to break down these barriers between Jew and Gentile… if God has opened the doors for any and all people regardless of the race, gender, or demographic to receive Christ and be saved, should we ever, ever erect some barrier in our church that says “Unclean! You may not enter into God’s holy place?” “Unclean! You may not receive the free gift of salvation that Jesus gives and the fellowship of the saints in his church.” No! May it never be. E Pluribus Unum.