Equal-Opportunity Spirit.

And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. – Acts 10:45-48 ESV

Cornelius was a centurion, a non-commissioned officer in the Roman army, who was in charge of a troop of 100 soldiers. He lived in the city of Caesarea, along the Mediterranean coast. Interestingly enough, he was also “a devout man who feared God with all his household” (Acts 10:2 ESV). He gave generously and prayed regularly. But he would have been greatly disliked by the Jews in Caesarea because he was both a Gentile and a Roman soldier. But God had plans for Cornelius and for the spread of the gospel.

Back in the gospel of Matthew, he records an encounter between Jesus and another centurion. It took place in the city of Capernaum. He approached Jesus and shared that he had a servant back at home who was paralyzed and suffering greatly. When Jesus offered to come heal him, the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the world, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it” (Matthew 8:8-9 ESV). Jesus marveled at the man's faith and said, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness…” (Matthew 8:11-12 ESV). Jesus predicts that others, like this centurion, will come to believe in Him. Gentiles, from east and west, and from outside the household of Israel, would come to believe in Jesus as their Savior. And not long after Jesus ascended back into heaven, Peter experienced the fulfillment of that prediction.

In a dream, Cornelius received a visit from an angel, who told him to send for Peter. Though he was terrorized by this encounter, he did just as the angel commanded him, sending two servants and a soldier to Joppa to find Peter. In the meantime, back in Joppa, Peter was up on the roof of the house where he was staying, preparing to pray. He became hungry, fell into a trance and was given an unexpected vision from God. In his dream, “He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat’” (Acts 10:11-13 ESV). Peter was appalled at the very thought and told the Lord, “By no means!” He explained that, as a good Jew, he had never eaten anything unclean or common. He had faithfully observed the Mosaic dietary laws. But the voice said, “What God has made clean, do not all common” (Acts 10:15 ESV). This sequence of events took place three times, then the sheet was taken back up into heaven and Peter awoke from his trance. Before he had an opportunity to figure out what this vision meant, the servants of Cornelius showed up at his doorstep. Peter was told by the Spirit to accompany them “without hesitation.” 

The next day, Peter left for Caesarea, accompanied by some Jewish brothers who had become Christ-followers. When they arrived at the home of Cornelius, they found that he had gathered a crowd made up of his family and close friends. Peter explained to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean” (Acts 10:28 ESV). Peter had gotten the message behind the vision. He understood that the good news of the gospel was to be made available to any and all, regardless of their nationality, occupation, background, economic status or religious heritage. Peter explained his new-found enlightenment, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34-35 ESV). While Peter shared with them the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, “the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word” (Acts 10:44 ESV). The believing Jews who had accompanied Peter were shocked at this turn of events because the “gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles” (Acts 10:45 ESV).

Cornelius and his family and friends believed in Jesus Christ and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. At that moment they were included into the family of God, the household of faith. The Jewish believers who had come with Peter and the Gentile who had gathered in the home of Cornelius became one at that moment. They shared a common belief in Jesus and the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God. In his letter to the Romans, Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16 ESV). The gospel is for all. The Holy Spirit is a gift given to all who believe in Jesus Christ. There is no favoritism with God. There are no classes or divisions. Paul put it this way: “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” (Ephesians 4:4-6 ESV).

Free To Be Fruitful.

Romans 7:1-13

So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. – Romans 7:4 NLT

Paul continues his diatribe about the law and its role in the life of the believer. He is having to instruct the believers in Rome, just as he had to do with those in Galatia, that the law is holy and its commands are holy and right and good. But there were those who were trying to say that keeping of the law was also a necessary requirement for salvation. This was a teaching that had cropped up in the early days of the church and had been following Paul in his missionary journeys throughout the Gentile world. Some Jews who had come to faith in Christ in the days immediately following the events at Pentecost, were convinced that conversion to Judaism was a required next step in the process of becoming a follower of Christ. For them, the law of Moses was still in effect, as was the requirement of circumcision for men, and the keeping of all Jewish religious festivals and rituals. So they were attempting to convince Gentile converts that their conversions were incomplete unless they became card-carrying Jews and kept the law of Moses.

As a former Pharisee and expert in the law of Moses, Paul knew exactly what the requirements of the law were. He had lived most of his life attempting to keep the law in order to attain a right relationship with God. But since his conversion to Christ, he had grown to understand that the law was never intended to save him. It was given to reveal the righteousness of God and the sins of man. And when Christ died on the cross, He paid the penalty that God required for sin, because the wages of sin is death. His sinless life was what was required to satisfy the just demands of a holy God. He became the blameless sacrifice required to atone for the wrath of God against sinful mankind.

Paul loved the law and understood that it was given by God. But he also understood its purpose. "It was the law that showed me my sin" (Romans 7:7 NLT). The law revealed God's righteous standard and exposed man's inability to keep it because of his sin nature. But Christ's death provided a way for us to escape the condemnation of the law. The law can no longer condemn us because we died with Christ. Our old man was crucified with Christ and we have been given new lives and a new power to live holy lives. Which is why Paul says, "We can produce a harvest of good deeds for God" (Romans 7:4 NLT). Not in our own strength, but through the power of the Holy Spirit living within us. Paul gives us the wonderful news that "we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit" (Romans 7:6 NLT). WE CAN SERVE GOD! Not through our own feeble attempts at trying to keep some written code or standard. But through submission to and reliance upon the Holy Spirit who Jesus sent to indwell us and empower us. We have a new power and a new capacity to live lives that are pleasing to God. But it requires that we come to grips with the painful reality that our self-effort is still inadequate to satisfy a holy, righteous God. If we allow ourselves to fall back into some form of rule-keeping, we will fail. We will become defeated and demoralized. The law is a constant reminder of our own tendency toward self-righteousness. We somehow want to try to measure up. We want to perform and earn God's favor. We are prone to becoming spiritual over-achievers. But Paul wants us to know that spiritual fruitfulness is a byproduct of living in the power of the Spirit, not our own flesh. Only the Spirit of God can produce fruit that is pleasing to God. Only the Holy Spirit can produce holy people. And as soon as we realize that the life God is looking for in His people is of divine origin and not the product of human achievement, the sooner we will experience the fullness of life that Jesus came to bring.

Father, show me how to rely more on the Spirit and less on me. Open my eyes to the impossibility of trying to earn favor with You based on my own self-effort. Keep pointing me back to the futility of trying to earn my way into Your good graces or trying to live up to Your standards on my own. I needed Your Son to save me. I need Your Spirit to sanctify and transform me. Never let me forget that fact. Amen.