10:30-33
Cornelius then recounts how he had received a visitation from an angel, and the angel had told him to send for Simon Peter. They were now all gathered ready to hear from Peter what the Lord had commanded him to tell them. How good it is when people positively want to hear the word of the Lord. In those circumstances things are much more likely to happen. At the end of Matthew Jesus commanded His disciple to make disciples of all nations. So Peter had already given the command of what to say, and that command still applies to all of us to this day. Sometimes the command of God comes through a direct word, but mostly it comes through the written word of God.
10:34,35
The Jews thought they were the favoured people. They were certainly blessed (Rom 3:1,2), but this gave them a responsibility. If a Jew rejected the word of the Lord, then they were in no better position than a Gentile, possibly even worse. Conversely, if a Gentile listened to God, then he was accepted by God. Peter says that God accepts people from every nation who do what is right and fear the Lord. Notice the emphasis on the importance of what people do. In our right emphasis on the gospel being based on what Christ does, on grace and forgiveness, we sometimes have a tendency to be afraid of saying that how we act makes a difference. The Bible does not have a problem with this.
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