Peter explains to other believers that God had shown him a vision telling him it was acceptable to preach to Gentiles. He recounts visiting Cornelius, a Gentile, where the Holy Spirit fell upon those listening before they were baptized. When questioned about this later, Peter recounts the vision and emphasizes that God had given the Gentiles the Holy Spirit, showing God had accepted them. The other believers then accept that God had granted repentance and salvation to Gentiles as well.

1. The Acts of the Apostles
Acts 10:34-11:18

2. • 34 Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most
certainly understand now that God is not one to
show partiality, 35 but in every nation the man
who fears Him and does what is right is welcome
to Him. 36 "The word which He sent to the sons
of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He
is Lord of all)--

3. • Deuteronomy 10:17 "For the LORD your God is the
God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the
mighty, and the awesome God who does not show
partiality nor take a bribe.

4. • Deuteronomy 10:17 "For the LORD your God is the
God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the
mighty, and the awesome God who does not show
partiality nor take a bribe.
• Romans 3:29-30 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is
He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles
also, 30 since indeed God who will justify the
circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised
through faith is one.

5. • John 10:16 "I have other sheep, which are not of
this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear
My voice; and they will become one flock with one
shepherd.

6. • Acts 10:2 a devout man and one who feared God
with all his household, and gave many alms to the
Jewish people and prayed to God continually.

7. • Acts 10:2 a devout man and one who feared God
with all his household, and gave many alms to the
Jewish people and prayed to God continually.
• Acts 11:14 and he will speak words to you by
which you will be saved, you and all your
household.'

8. • Romans 3:10-18 as it is written, "THERE IS NONE
RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE
WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS
FOR GOD; 12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE,
TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS
NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN
ONE." 13 "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE,
WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,"
"THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS";

9. • 14 "WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND
BITTERNESS"; 15 "THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED
BLOOD, 16 DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN
THEIR PATHS, 17 AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY
HAVE NOT KNOWN." 18 "THERE IS NO FEAR OF
GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."

10. • Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we
were reconciled to God through the death of His
Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall
be saved by His life.

11. • Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we
were reconciled to God through the death of His
Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall
be saved by His life.
• 2 Corinthians 5:19 God was in Christ reconciling
the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses
against them,

12. • Colossians 1:20 and through Him to reconcile all
things to Himself, having made peace through the
blood of His cross;

13. • 37 you yourselves know the thing which took
place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee,
after the baptism which John proclaimed. 38 "You
know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him
with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He
went about doing good and healing all who were
oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

14. • Matthew 3:1-2 Now in those days John the Baptist
*came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
saying, 2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand."

15. • Matthew 3:1-2 Now in those days John the Baptist
*came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
saying, 2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand."
• Matthew 3:16-17 After being baptized, Jesus came
up immediately from the water; and behold, the
heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of
God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, 17
and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This
is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

16. • “That phrase encompasses the whole gamut of
human ailments, from direct demon oppression to
disease to spiritual darkness.” John MacArthur

17. • 39 "We are witnesses of all the things He did both
in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also
put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. 40
"God raised Him up on the third day and granted
that He become visible, 41 not to all the people,
but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by
God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him
after He arose from the dead.

18. • 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 Now if Christ is preached,
that He has been raised from the dead, how do
some among you say that there is no resurrection
of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of
the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and
if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is
vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are
even found to be false witnesses of God, because
we testified against God that He raised Christ,
whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not
raised.

19. • 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ
has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been
raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your
sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in
Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in
Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be
pitied. 20 But now Christ has been raised from
the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.

20. • “The significance of Peter’s statement that Jesus
became visible should not be overlooked.
Countless heretics, from apostolic times to the
present, have denied the truth of Christ’s physical
resurrection. That fact is central to Christianity,
however.” John MacArthur

21. • 42 "And He ordered us to preach to the people,
and solemnly to testify that this is the One who
has been appointed by God as Judge of the living
and the dead. 43 "Of Him all the prophets bear
witness that through His name everyone who
believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."

22. • John 5:21-29 "For just as the Father raises the dead
and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life
to whom He wishes. 22 "For not even the Father
judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to
the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son even as
they honor the Father. He who does not honor the
Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. 24
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word,
and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life,
and does not come into judgment, but has passed
out of death into life.

23. • 25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and
now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the
Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 "For
just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He
gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; 27
and He gave Him authority to execute judgment,
because He is the Son of Man. 28 "Do not marvel
at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are
in the tombs will hear His voice

24. • 29 and will come forth; those who did the good
deeds to a resurrection of life, those who
committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of
judgment.

25. • Isaiah 53:11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge
the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the
many, As He will bear their iniquities.

26. • Isaiah 53:11 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge
the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the
many, As He will bear their iniquities.
• Jeremiah 31:34 "They will not teach again, each
man his neighbor and each man his brother,
saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me,
from the least of them to the greatest of them,"
declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity,
and their sin I will remember no more."

27. • Galatians 3:22 But the Scripture has shut up
everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in
Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

28. • Galatians 3:22 But the Scripture has shut up
everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in
Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
• Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the
gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no
one may boast.

29. • Colossians 1:13-14 For He rescued us from the
domain of darkness, and transferred us to the
kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

30. • 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the
Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to
the message.

31. • 44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the
Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to
the message.
• Romans 8:9 However, you are not in the flesh but
in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in
you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of
Christ, he does not belong to Him.

32. • Matthew 16:19 "I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on
earth shall have been bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth shall have been
loosed in heaven.“

33. • Matthew 16:19 "I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on
earth shall have been bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth shall have been
loosed in heaven.“
• “The Spirit’s coming required no petition, no
confession, no water baptism, and no laying on of
hands. He came as they listened and believed.”
John MacArthur

34. • 45 All the circumcised believers who came with
Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy
Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
46 For they were hearing them speaking with
tongues and exalting God.

35. • Then Peter answered, 47 "Surely no one can
refuse the water for these to be baptized who
have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can
he?" 48 And he ordered them to be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to
stay on for a few days.

36. • 11:1 Now the apostles and the brethren who were
throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had
received the word of God.

37. • 11:1 Now the apostles and the brethren who were
throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had
received the word of God.
• 2 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those
who were circumcised took issue with him, 3
saying, "You went to uncircumcised men and ate
with them."

38. • Acts 15:5 But there rose up certain of the sect of
the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was
needful to circumcise them, and to command them
to keep the law of Moses.

39. • Acts 15:5 But there rose up certain of the sect of
the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was
needful to circumcise them, and to command them
to keep the law of Moses.
• “Acknowledging that Jesus was their Messiah and
Lord was one thing, accepting that He was equally
the Lord of Gentiles another.” John MacArthur

40. • 4 But Peter began speaking and proceeded to
explain to them in orderly sequence, saying, 5 "I
was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I
saw a vision, an object coming down like a great
sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it
came right down to me, 6 and when I had fixed
my gaze on it and was observing it I saw the four-
footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts
and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air.
7 "I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up,
Peter; kill and eat.'

41. • "But I said, 'By no means, Lord, for nothing unholy
or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' 9 "But a
voice from heaven answered a second time, 'What
God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.' 10
"This happened three times, and everything was
drawn back up into the sky. 11 "And behold, at
that moment three men appeared at the house in
which we were staying, having been sent to me
from Caesarea. 12 "The Spirit told me to go with
them without misgivings. These six brethren also
went with me and we entered the man's house.

42. • 13 "And he reported to us how he had seen the
angel standing in his house, and saying, 'Send to
Joppa and have Simon, who is also called Peter,
brought here; 14 and he will speak words to you
by which you will be saved, you and all your
household.' 15 "And as I began to speak, the Holy
Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the
beginning.

43. • 16 "And I remembered the word of the Lord, how
He used to say, 'John baptized with water, but you
will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 17
"Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He
gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus
Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?"

44. • 16 "And I remembered the word of the Lord, how
He used to say, 'John baptized with water, but you
will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' 17
"Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He
gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus
Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?"

45. • 18 When they heard this18 When they heard this,
they quieted down and glorified God, saying, "Well
then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the
repentance that leads to life."

46. • “They could hardly argue with the Holy Spirit, the
testimony of seven witnesses, or the Scriptures.
That they would come to the admission that God
had granted to the Gentiles also the repentance
that leads to life was one of the most shocking
admissions in the annals of Jewish history. For
until the Hebrew Christians came to that
realization, they would never begin the task of
evangelizing the Gentiles.” John MacArthur