We now know, and will see from Scripture, that such a requirement is not part of God’s plan for Gentiles coming to faith and belief in Him.ġ At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, 2 a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. Cornelius, the Gentile God-FearerĪs we begin to read the scriptural account in Acts chapter 10, let’s remember the context: until this point it was thought that a Gentile believer could not be considered as ‘being saved’ unless he first converted and became a legal Jewish citizen through undergoing man-made conversion rituals prescribed by the Judaism of that day. Now, let’s follow the story as we read through Acts chapter 10 together in the remainder of this article. It has nothing to do with God changing existing Old Testament dietary laws and prohibitions. This is the context and backdrop surrounding Peter’s vision.

But when the Messiah came, Yahweh unfolded His ultimate plan of all nations and peoples worshipping and serving Him in a way He hadn’t previously done (Ephesians 3:5). This was revealed, though only in part, in many passages throughout the Old Testament (e.g. Yet God has always had the ultimate plan of all nations and peoples worshipping and serving Him. So when a Gentile felt drawn to worship Yahweh – the God of Israel – Judaism of that day required the Gentile to undergo a man-made conversion ritual of circumcision, baptism, and offering a sacrifice before he could be counted as being ‘saved’. Why was the concept of Gentile inclusion in salvation such a difficult idea to grasp? Until this time, in a Jew’s mind, salvation existed only within the confines of citizenship among legal Israel. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles- 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.

What does act s 13 verse 36 mean.