“And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:42–43)
Acts 10:24–48 is one of the most consequential moments in the history of salvation. In a single evening in a private home in Caesarea Maritima, the God of Israel crossed the boundary that had divided His people from the nations since the earliest centuries of the covenant. Peter, the apostle to the circumcised, stood in a Gentile’s house, preached the Gospel, watched the Holy Spirit fall upon uncircumcised men and women, and baptized them—thereby establishing the first recorded instance of Gentiles being admitted into the community of the faithful without first becoming Jews.
For an LCMS congregation this text is not merely a story about “how the Gentiles were saved.” It is one of the scriptural foundations for justification by grace through faith alone (sola fide) as confessed in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV, and it is the direct precedent for the decision of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. The text teaches that the boundary of the Church is not ethnic, cultural, or ceremonial, but is drawn by the free gift of God through the Word and the Sacraments.
Connection to previous discussions: If your group has been working through Acts sequentially, the preceding units (Acts 8:26–40, the Ethiopian eunuch; Acts 9, the conversion of Saul) have already shown the Gospel crossing boundaries—of social class (the eunuch, a wealthy court official) and of personal identity (Saul, the persecutor). Acts 10:24–48 is the next, and most radical, crossing: the crossing of the line between Jew and Gentile that underwrote all of Jewish religious life for nearly 1,500 years.
To understand the weight of what happens in this chapter, the study group must understand how far it was from the ordinary experience of first-century Jews and Gentiles alike.
Caesarea Maritima was not a Jewish city in any cultural sense. Built by Herod the Great as his new capital (c. 22–10 BC), it was a Hellenistic-Roman port city, the seat of the Roman praetor (procurator) of Judea from the reign of Pontius Pilate onward. The population was cosmopolitan: Roman, Greek, Phoenician, Egyptian, and Jewish. It was a garrison city with a permanent Roman military presence. For a first-century Jew, to enter Caesarea was to step into the world of the empire that had crushed Israel.
The “cohort” (Latin cohors) mentioned in v.1 was a subunit of a Roman legion, typically 800 men. The unit was named “Italicus”—a unit drawn largely from Italian citizens, stationed in the East. Within such a unit were a number of centurions, officers of roughly 80 men each. Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian cohort, was thus a middle-ranking Roman officer, likely of modest social standing but of a certain civic reliability. That he was a “God-fearer” (see below) is not out of the question; the Roman garrison in the East had long been a source of Gentile interest in the God of Israel.
The Greek of Acts 10:2 describes Cornelius as eusebēs (god-fearing, devout) and v.22 calls him a sebōn (one who reveres/worships) God. This is the technical category of the God-fearer (Greek sebomenoi): a Gentile who had drawn near to the God of Israel through the synagogue, who prayed, tithed, and observed at least some of the Mosaic Law, but who had not undergone circumcision. The God-fearers are a recurring figure in the New Testament (Acts 13:5, 13–15, 43; 17:4; 18:4–7) and in the rabbinic literature of the period.
The God-fearer occupied a liminal position in the religious landscape: he was neither a full Jew nor a pagan. He was drawn to the monotheism and ethics of Israel, yet the social and ritual barriers of the covenant kept him outside its full membership. For Cornelius, this liminality was a real and costly identity—Roman officer by day, synagogue-goer by prayer, a man who lived between two worlds. The Gospel he was to hear in Acts 10 would resolve that tension in a way that neither Judaism nor Roman cult could.
This is the single most important cultural fact to internalize for the discussion. First-century Judaism, both in its Pharisaic and in its popular forms, observed a complex set of purity boundaries that kept Jews from close contact with Gentiles. The sources of these boundaries were diverse:
For Peter, a Galilean fisherman of thirty-odd years who had walked with Jesus, to cross the threshold of a Roman officer’s home in a Gentile city, sit at his table, and preach to his household—this was not a minor social awkwardness. In the eyes of observant Jews, it was a serious act of religious compromise. This is precisely why the “men of the circumcision party” could later challenge Peter at Antioch (Gal 2:11–14) and why the “controversy, dispute, and dissension” of Acts 15 erupted from this very event.
Peter (Kefas, “the Rock”) is described in Galatians 2:7–8 as the apostle to the circumcision—that is, the apostle specifically commissioned to the Jewish people. He was a Pharisee by training (Acts 4:6, 13; 5:34), a man of deep Torah-observance, and the leader of the Twelve. His conversion at Pentecost (Acts 2), the healing of the lame man at the Temple (Acts 3), and the raising of Tabitha in Joppa (Acts 9) had all taken place in the Jewish world. For him to now enter a Gentile home and preach the Messiah to Gentiles was to cross a line that most of his Jewish brethren would have regarded as a grave error. This is why his account of the vision (Acts 10:9–16) and the subsequent events carry such weight: it is the apostle to the circumcised who himself reports that God has opened the door to the Gentiles.
Before we enter Cornelius’ house, we must note the setting in which Peter was when the angel’s men arrived. Peter had been in Joppa (modern Jaffa), a port city on the Mediterranean coast, lodging with Simon the tanner (Acts 9:43; 10:6). Joppa was a cosmopolitan port, not a Jewish city. The tanner’s trade—working with animal hides—placed him, in the eyes of the observant, in an “unclean” profession. Peter, by lodging with him, had already crossed a small social line. This detail is not incidental. Luke has already been softening Peter’s boundaries, and now the great crossing is about to take place.
The passage in Acts 10:24–48 falls into five major movements. Let us walk through them.
The men who had been sent by Cornelius had already found Peter at the tanner’s house (v.6). They reported back to Caesarea, and Cornelius gathered his household and his close friends to wait. When Peter arrived the next day, he was met by a household that was, in Cornelius’ own words (v.33), “all here before God, to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”
This is significant: the Gentile household has gathered in a posture of reverent waiting (Greek prosdechomenoi). They are not curious tourists; they are people who have heard of Peter and expect a divine message. Cornelius’ household, led by a centurion of the Italian cohort, has positioned itself before God in the same way the pious God-fearers of the synagogue did. The stage is set for the Gospel to be received as what it is: the saving Word of God.
For the group: Notice that the initiative is not with Peter, not with the apostles, not with the “religious establishment” of Jerusalem. The initiative is with God (the angel in vv. 3–4, the vision in vv. 9–16, the Holy Spirit in v.44). The Church’s mission in Acts 10 is not a program; it is a response to the Holy Spirit’s leading. This is the Lutheran principle of sola gratia (grace alone) applied to mission: we go because God has already gone before (cf. Acts 13:2, 4).
Peter’s sermon in vv. 27–43 is one of the great Lukan kerygmata—the standard form of apostolic proclamation in Luke-Acts, paralleled in Acts 2:22–36; 3:12–26; 4:8–12; 5:29–32; 8:5–12; 13:16–41. Its structure is recognizable:
Key theological points:
(1) The Anointing by the Holy Spirit. Peter does not begin with the genealogy of Jesus, or with the prophetic typology of the Messiah, or with the legal demands of the Mosaic Law. He begins with the historical event of the anointing by the Holy Spirit. This is significant for the Gentile audience: they do not need the full weight of Torah to understand the identity of Jesus. The Spirit’s anointing and the prophetic witness are sufficient. This is the same logic that Paul will later deploy in Acts 13:16–41 (Pisidian Antioch) and Romans 1–4.
(2) The witnesses: “to eat and drink with him.” The resurrection is not an abstraction. It is a historical, embodied, meal-sharing event. This is the ground of the Church’s faith: not a philosophy, but a testimony to a risen Lord who “ate and drank” with His disciples. For the LCMS, this is the basis of the real presence in the Lord’s Supper: the same risen Christ who ate with the disciples at Emmaus (Luke 24) and by the Sea of Galilee (John 21) gives Himself to His Church in the Supper.
(3) “Judge of the living and the dead.” This is a citation of the broader prophetic witness (cf. Daniel 7:13–14; Psalm 110; Isaiah 33:22). The exaltation of Jesus as judge is the climax of the Lukan kerygma. It is not merely a comfort; it is a conviction. The Gospel that offers forgiveness also announces judgment. This is the two-edged sword of the Gospel in Lutheran theology: the Law convicts, the Gospel forgives, and the judgment that the Law brings is borne by the Judge Himself (2 Cor 5:21).
(4) “Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” This is the sola fide formula in its purest form. Pisteuōn (believing) is the only condition. Dia tou onomatos autou (through his name) is the instrument. There is no mention of works, of circumcision, of Torah-observance, of moral merit. This is the “free justification” (libera iustificatio) that Luther and the Reformers defended against the medieval scholastic and later Catholic position.
“And while Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who were listening to the word. And the believers from among the circumcision party who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.”
This is the pivotal moment of the passage. The Holy Spirit falls on the Gentile listeners before they are baptized (v.47). This is the same pattern we saw at Pentecost (Acts 2) and in the Samaritan church (Acts 8:14–17), and it is the same pattern that Paul will later describe in Ephesians 2:18–19: the Spirit is the seal (Eph 1:13) and the guarantee (Eph 1:14) of salvation. The gift of the Spirit is not a reward for obedience; it is the cause of faith and the evidence of God’s acceptance.
The “believed” (Greek pisteusantes) are the ones who “heard the word” (v.44). Faith comes by hearing (Rom 10:17), and the word that is heard is the kerygma of vv. 27–43. The Spirit falls on those who believe, not on those who obey. This is the heart of the sola fide argument.
“For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and glorifying God.”
The “men of the circumcision party” (Greek hoi ek peritomes)—Peter’s traveling companions, all Jews—are amazed (Greek ethambeōsan). Their amazement is not at the content of Peter’s sermon (they know it well); it is at the object of the Spirit’s gift. The Spirit has fallen on Gentiles. In their understanding, this is the equivalent of a breach of the covenant: the Spirit is the seal of the covenant people (cf. Isaiah 44:3; 59:21; Ezek 36:27; Zech 12:10), and the covenant people are the Jews. For the Spirit to fall on uncircumcised Gentiles is, in their framework, a violation of the covenant.
This is the moment at which the “wall of partition” (Eph 2:14) is torn down. The boundary that had kept the covenant to the Jews is broken by the free gift of the Spirit. The “wall” was never God’s will; it was a human construction (cf. Gal 3:28; Eph 2:11–22) that the Gospel dismantles.
“Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone forbid water for these people to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit as we have?’ And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then he requested of them, ‘Stay with us a few days.’ So they stayed with them for some days.”
This is the decisive moment of the passage, and it is the moment that most directly bears on the sola fide question. Peter’s rhetorical question—“Can anyone forbid water?”—is not a question about whether baptism is necessary for salvation (it is necessary as the means by which God gives the gift, cf. Mk 16:16; Acts 2:38). It is a question about whether anyone has the authority to withhold the outward sign from those who have already received the inward gift. The answer is implicit: No one can forbid it, because the Spirit has already gone before.
The baptism is performed “in the name of Jesus Christ” (v.47). This is the standard formula of Acts (cf. Acts 2:38; 8:16; 19:5). The “name” (Greek onoma) is not merely a label; it is the person and work of Jesus. To be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ” is to be placed under the authority of the risen and exalted Lord, who has been appointed “judge of the living and the dead” (v.42).
The “stay a few days” (v.48). This is a small but significant detail. Peter does not simply baptize and leave. He stays, and the new Gentile believers stay with him. This is the beginning of church fellowship (Greek koinōnia)—the new community is not a collection of isolated converts but a body (cf. 1 Cor 12:13). The “days” of fellowship that follow are the seed of the church that will later be described in Acts 11:1–18 and Acts 15.
The word ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia, “church”) appears for the first time in Acts in this passage (v.48, in some manuscripts; in others, the word appears earlier in Acts 5:11, 11:22, 13:1, 14:27, 15:4, 15:22, 16:4, 16:5, 20:28, 21:20, 28:23). The “church” is not a building, not a denomination, not a program. It is the assembly (Greek ek-kalō, “called out”) of those who have been “called out” from the world by the Gospel. The first “church” in Acts is not the synagogue in Jerusalem; it is the household of Cornelius in Caesarea. This is a radical redefinition of the People of God: the boundary is no longer ethnic (Jew) or ceremonial (circumcision), but faith in the risen Christ.
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV (“On Justification”), is the magisterial confession of the Lutheran position on sola fide. It states:
“We teach that man cannot be justified before God by his own merits, works, or satisfactions, but that he is justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when he believes that Christ has made satisfaction for him. And that his sins are forgiven, and that he receives grace and the Holy Spirit by faith alone.”
Acts 10:24–48 is the scriptural demonstration of this confession. The Gentiles are justified before they are circumcised, before they observe the Mosaic Law, before they do any “works of righteousness.” They are justified by faith alone (sola fide), in the name of Christ alone (solus Christus), by the grace alone (sola gratia) of God, as witnessed in Scripture alone (sola Scriptura).
The “works of the Law” (Greek erga nomou) that Paul mentions in Galatians 2:16 and Romans 3:28 are the Mosaic Law and its ceremonial requirements (circumcision, dietary laws, sabbath observance, etc.), not “good works” in a general moral sense. The “controversy” of Acts 15 (Gal 2:11–14) is precisely about this question: must the Gentiles be circumcised and observe the Law in order to be justified? The answer of Acts 10 and Acts 15 is No.
The “door of faith” (Greek hē thyra tēs pistis) is a phrase that appears in Acts 14:27 and 15:7. In Acts 15:7, Peter explicitly cites the event of Acts 10 as the precedent for the Council’s decision:
“But God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, but purified their hearts by faith.” (Acts 15:8–9)
This is the decisive text for the Lutheran understanding of the universality of the Gospel. The “door” is not a human institution; it is the free gift of God. The Gospel is not a religion for the “clean” (the Jews) but the saving Word for all the “unclean” (the Gentiles). This is the heart of the Great Commission (Mk 16:15; Mt 28:19; Acts 1:8): the Gospel goes to “all creation,” to “all nations,” to “the ends of the earth.”
The falling of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles (v.44) is not a response to their “good works” or their “moral preparation.” It is the sovereign gift of God, given “to all who were listening to the word” (v.44). The Spirit is not a reward; He is the cause of faith (1 Cor 12:3) and the seal of salvation (Eph 1:13). This is the Lutheran principle of sola gratia (grace alone) in its most radical form: the gift is given to the unmeriting, the “unclean,” the Gentiles.
The “tongues” (Greek glossai) that the Gentiles spoke (v.45) is the sign to the circumcised that the Spirit has indeed fallen on the Gentiles. This is not the same as the “tongues” of 1 Cor 14 (a charismatic gift for the edification of the church); it is the Pentecostal sign (cf. Acts 2:4; 10:45; 19:6) that the Spirit is given to the Gentiles as to the Jews. The sign is evidentiary, not operational: it proves to the astonished Jews that God has indeed accepted the Gentiles.
The event of Acts 10 is the dramatic enactment of the Lutheran Law-Gospel distinction (German Gesetzes- und Evangeliumsunterscheidung). The Law (the Mosaic covenant, the purity codes, the social barriers) says: “You are unclean; you are outside; you cannot come near.” The Gospel (the kerygma of vv. 27–43) says: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth… he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead… everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
The Law convicts; the Gospel forgives. The Law builds walls; the Gospel tears them down. The Law says “Do this and live”; the Gospel says “Believe and you will live.” This is the heart of the Lutheran teaching, and Acts 10 is its dramatic demonstration.
The baptism of the Gentiles (v.47) is not the cause of their salvation (the Spirit has already fallen on them, v.44); it is the visible sign and seal of the salvation that has already been given. This is the Lutheran understanding of baptism: it is a sacrament (a visible word of God), not a work (a human act of merit). The water is not magic; it is the means by which God gives the gift of the Spirit and the forgiveness of sins (cf. Mk 16:16; Acts 2:38; Titus 3:5).
The fact that the Spirit falls before the baptism is not a contradiction; it is a dramatic demonstration that the gift is God’s, not ours. The baptism is the response to the gift, not the condition of the gift. This is the heart of the Lutheran teaching on baptism: it is not a “work” that we do to earn salvation; it is the means by which God gives salvation to those who believe.
The “church” (Greek ekklēsia) that is born in Acts 10:48 is not a denomination, not a program, not a building. It is the assembly of the called (Greek ek-kalō, “called out”)—those who have been called out from the world by the Gospel and gathered together by the Spirit. This is the heart of the Lutheran teaching on the Church: the Church is not a human institution but the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27; Eph 1:22–23), gathered by the Word and the Sacraments.
The event of Acts 10 is the direct precedent for the decision of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. When the “men from Judea” (Acts 15:1) later challenge the Gentile believers, demanding that they be circumcised and observe the Mosaic Law, Peter’s response (Acts 15:7–11) is a direct citation of Acts 10:
“But we believe that we are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.” (Acts 15:11)
This is the decisive text for the Lutheran understanding of justification by faith alone. The “grace of the Lord Jesus” (Greek charis Iēsou Kyriou) is not a supplement to the Law; it is the replacement of the Law as the basis of justification. The Gentiles are saved by the same grace as the Jews, and they do not need to add the “works of the Law” (circumcision, dietary laws, etc.) to that grace.
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV (“On Justification”), is the magisterial confession of the Lutheran position on sola fide. It is the most important confessional document for understanding Acts 10. The key passage is:
“We teach that man cannot be justified before God by his own merits, works, or satisfactions, but that he is justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when he believes that Christ has made satisfaction for him. And that his sins are forgiven, and that he receives grace and the Holy Spirit by faith alone.”
The Apology goes on to argue against the position of those who teach that the “works of the Law” (the Mosaic Law) are necessary for justification. This is precisely the position that the “men from Judea” (Acts 15:1) and the “Judaizers” (Gal 2:12) held. The Apology’s answer is the same as Peter’s answer in Acts 15:11: “We are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.”
The Wittenberg Concord (1536), Article 1, is the confessional document that settles the distinction between the Law and the Gospel. It states:
“The Law and the Gospel are not to be confused. The Law demands; the Gospel promises. The Law convicts; the Gospel forgives.”
This is the heart of the Lutheran teaching, and Acts 10 is its dramatic demonstration. The Law (the Mosaic covenant) demands circumcision, dietary observance, and social separation. The Gospel (the kerygma of Peter) promises forgiveness of sins to all who believe, Jew and Gentile alike.
The Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article VIII (“On the Third Commandment”), addresses the question of how the Law is to be applied to believers. It states that the Law is not to be used as a means of justification (a “work” that earns salvation) but as a mirror (a means of conviction) and a guide (a means of direction for the life of the believer). This is the Lutheran principle of the three uses of the Law (usus Legis):
In Acts 10, the theological use of the Law is dramatically enacted: the “unclean” (the Gentiles) are convicted by the Law (their “uncleanness” in the eyes of the Jews) and driven to the Gospel (the kerygma of Peter). The Gospel forgives them, and the Spirit seals them. The Law does not save; the Gospel saves.
The Lutheran teaching on the “new man” (Greek kainos anthropos) and the “old man” (Greek palaios anthropos) (Eph 4:22–24; Col 3:9–10) is directly relevant to Acts 10. The “old man” is the person who lives under the Law, who is “unclean” in the eyes of the world, who is “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1). The “new man” is the person who has been “created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph 2:10), who is “a new creation” (2 Cor 5:17), who is “in Christ” (1 Cor 1:30).
In Acts 10, the Gentiles are the “old man” (unclean, outside the covenant). The Gospel makes them the “new man” (clean, inside the covenant, sealed by the Spirit). This is the heart of the Lutheran teaching on sanctification: it is not a work that we do to earn salvation; it is the fruit of the salvation that has already been given.
The Lutheran teaching on the Two Kingdoms (German Zwei Reiche) is directly relevant to Acts 10. The “kingdom of the left hand” (the civil kingdom, the realm of the Law, the realm of the world) is the realm of the Roman garrison, the realm of the centurion, the realm of the “unclean” Gentiles. The “kingdom of the right hand” (the spiritual kingdom, the realm of the Gospel, the realm of the Church) is the realm of the “clean” (the justified), the realm of the “new man.”
In Acts 10, the boundary between the two kingdoms is crossed by the free gift of the Spirit. The Gentiles, who belong to the “kingdom of the left hand” (the Roman garrison), are drawn into the “kingdom of the right hand” (the Church) by the Gospel. This is the heart of the Lutheran teaching on the mission of the Church: the Church is not a civil institution (it does not enforce the Law by the sword); it is a spiritual institution (it preaches the Gospel by the Word).
The most immediate application of Acts 10 is the call to break the “clean/unclean” categories that we construct in our own context. In the first century, the “unclean” were the Gentiles. In our context, the “unclean” might be:
The call of Acts 10 is the same: the Gospel goes to the “unclean.” It is not our job to “clean them up” before they hear the Gospel; it is our job to preach the Gospel to them, trusting that the Holy Spirit will do the work of faith (cf. 1 Cor 1:21; Rom 10:17).
The second application is the call to reject works-righteousness in our own context. In the first century, the “works” were circumcision and the Mosaic Law. In our context, the “works” might be:
The call of Acts 10 is the same: justification is by faith alone, not by works. The “works” are not the cause of salvation; they are the fruit of salvation. We do not “earn” our place in the Church by our “works”; we receive it by the free gift of the Gospel.
The third application is the call to reject cultural Christianity and Christian nationalism. In the first century, the “cultural Christianity” was Judaism: the covenant people, the chosen race, the “clean” nation. In our context, the “cultural Christianity” is American (or German, or Scandinavian, etc.): the “Christian nation,” the “Christian culture,” the “Christian values.”
The call of Acts 10 is the same: the Church is not a cultural institution; it is a spiritual institution. The boundary of the Church is not ethnic, cultural, or political; it is drawn by the free gift of the Gospel. The Church is not “American Christianity” or “German Christianity” or “Scandinavian Christianity”; it is the universal Church of Jesus Christ, gathered from all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues (Rev 7:9).
The fourth application is the call to embrace the mission of the Church (Acts 1:8). The “door of faith” (Acts 14:27; 15:7) that was opened in Acts 10 is still open. The Gospel still goes to the “unclean”—the “unclean” of our own context. The call of Acts 1:8 is the call of Acts 10: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
This is not a program; it is a commission. The Church does not “do mission” as a project; it is mission, because it is the body of Christ, and Christ is the Savior of the world. The “mission” of the Church is not an addition to the Gospel; it is the outworking of the Gospel.
The fifth application is the call to trust the Holy Spirit in mission. The Spirit went before the Gospel in Acts 10 (vv. 19–20). The Spirit will go before the Gospel in our own context. We do not need to “prepare the ground” or “soften the hearts” of the “unclean” before we preach the Gospel; we need to preach the Gospel and trust that the Holy Spirit will do the work of faith (cf. 1 Cor 2:4–5; 14:1–25).
The sixth application is the call to embrace evangelism in our own context. The “unclean” of our own context are not “beyond the reach” of the Gospel; they are within the reach of the Gospel. The call of Acts 10 is the call of Acts 1:8: “You will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.”
This is not a call to proselytize (to convert people to a religion); it is a call to preach the Gospel (to announce the saving work of Christ). The Gospel is not a religion; it is the good news of the salvation that has already been accomplished in Christ.
Cultural context: In what ways does the “clean/unclean” distinction of the first century parallel the “clean/unclean” distinctions that we construct in our own context? Who are the “Gentiles” of our own time?
Justification by faith: How does the event of Acts 10 bear on the question of “what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 2:37)? Is the answer of Acts 10 the same as the answer of Acts 2?
The role of the Holy Spirit: How does the falling of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles (v.44) bear on the question of “what is the evidence of salvation?” Is the “evidence” the works of the believer, or the gift of the Spirit?
The Law-Gospel distinction: How does the event of Acts 10 bear on the Lutheran teaching of the Law-Gospel distinction? In what ways does the “Law” (the Mosaic covenant) convict, and in what ways does the “Gospel” (the kerygma of Peter) forgive?
The place of baptism: How does the event of Acts 10 (the Spirit falls before the baptism) bear on the Lutheran teaching on baptism? Is baptism the cause of salvation, or the sign of salvation?
The “church”: How does the “church” (Greek ekklēsia) that is born in Acts 10:48 differ from the “church” that we often imagine (a building, a denomination, a program)? What is the real boundary of the Church?
The mission of the Church: How does the “door of faith” (Acts 14:27; 15:7) that was opened in Acts 10 bear on the mission of the Church in our own context? What is the “door” that is still open in our own context?
The “two kingdoms”: How does the event of Acts 10 bear on the Lutheran teaching of the “two kingdoms”? In what ways is the Church a “spiritual” institution (the realm of the Gospel), and in what ways is it not a “civil” institution (the realm of the Law)?
Personal application: In what ways have I constructed “clean/unclean” categories in my own life? Who are the “Gentiles” in my own life, and how can I preach the Gospel to them?
Confessional reflection: How does the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article IV, bear on the event of Acts 10? In what ways does the confessional teaching on sola fide find its scriptural demonstration in this passage?
Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You that You have broken down the “wall of partition” (Eph 2:14) that had kept us from You. We thank You that You have opened the “door of faith” (Acts 14:27) to all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. We thank You that You have sent Your Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Savior of the world, and that You have sent Your Holy Spirit to seal us with the gift of faith. We pray that You would continue to break down the “clean/unclean” categories that we construct in our own hearts, and that You would give us the grace to preach the Gospel to all the “unclean” of our own context. We pray that You would give us the faith to trust in Your free gift of salvation, and the courage to embrace the mission of the Church. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
This study is prepared for the LCMS Bible Study Group, Discussion 17: “At Cornelius’ House” (Acts 10:24–48). May God bless your study and your worship.