So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?
Acts 11:17 (NIV)
God never does anything randomly. Everything He does, He does it in a spirit of love and compassion, and He always ensures that there are no errors or contradictions. Knowing the hearts of the Jews who believed themselves to be God's chosen people and knowing Peter's doubts about what was going to happen, He gave him a vision to prepare his heart for the mission that awaited him, that of preaching the Gospel to the uncircumcised. .
When I consider this story from the Bible, I see how careless we sometimes are about the salvation of others. God freely gave His Son on the cross to save and redeem us, we didn't have to give or do anything, we just had to have faith in that sacrifice. But, like the Jews, we tend to oppose the salvation of those who we believe are too deeply involved in their lives of sin to be saved. Pierre's experience allowed him to understand that it was not his right to decide who could be saved or not.
I would like to remind you that we are no different from each other, we are all sinners and need to be saved regardless of the depth of our sin. All God requires of us is repentance and faith in His Son. Stop believing that the sin of others is too cruel or too dirty for them to be delivered from. Remember God's primary purpose, that all, without distinction, be saved and come to the knowledge of His Son. Let us therefore proclaim the word without favoritism.
May the grace and peace of God be with you all.
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