Title: God Hears the Repentance of Gentiles
Contents
God hears the repentance of Gentiles
Acts 11:1-18
Until the last time, for evangelism to the Gentiles, God first selects a godly man named Cornelius, decides to save them, and calls and uses Peter.
So, at the same time, he gives them visions and tells them God's will. After going through that process, Peter went to the house of Cornelius the Gentiles, baptized them, and learned the amazing thing about them receiving Jesus Christ.
Repentance brings new life. Faith without repentance is not true faith. Repentance does not discriminate between Jew and Gentile. The teaching of the Bible promises eternal life to any people of any race, any class, or any kind, if they repent. Repentance is the key to receiving God's grace and mercy. Repentance changes your life.
Repentance completely casts away the old self and makes you a new person. The Christian faith presupposes repentance.
Because all humans are sinners. Repentance is necessary every day. This is because man departs from God every day, hides the glory of God every day, hates him every day, becomes proud every day, and turns away from the Word every day.
To believe in Jesus without repentance is pride among pride. Anyone can stand before God only through repentance. Heaven is not a place for people who are morally clean, but a place for those who repent despite being sinners. A person who knows how to live a life of repentance is a person who knows how to live a life of faith.
Dear saints,
Can Gentiles also be saved if they repent? This was the subject of controversy between the early church members and those who received Halle and became Christians after being Jews.
This is because, among the Jews, they believed in Jesus, were baptized, and were saved, but because they live in the Old Testament traditions and laws, they cannot believe that salvation and the Holy Spirit came to the Gentiles.
From the text, we can see that Peter went to Cornelius's house to eat, baptized, and became indignant.
Look at verses 1-3.
The criticism of these people was because, although some preached by Peter, they disregarded the law and shared a meal with the Gentiles. At first, even Peter felt conflicted because of this and refused to eat three times.
And after seeing the vision of God, when the servants from the house of Cornelius wanted to take him to the house of Cornelius, there must have been many conflicts and troubles.
It was a painful moment for Peter too. But God shows us in three ways.
Acts 10:15, 10:20 But Peter eventually obeys the Holy Spirit.
The content of confessing what Peter realized is 10:34-35.
It is difficult for us too to obey, but once we obey, it is easy. Therefore, you must receive a lot of training in obedience. In fact, many of us are religiously inclined to believe in Esu.
Dear saints,
God does not look at outward appearances, and even though they are Gentiles, He accepts those who fear God and do righteousness, and He also listens to Gentiles if they repent.
Through this process, we learn two things.
(1) God's thoughts are different from human thoughts. Look at Isaiah 55:8-9.
Many people claim that their experiences or ideas are correct. These are some of the people who have been attending church for a long time and have studied the Bible a lot.
When these people receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and truly meet Jesus, change begins.
As such, if we draw near to God every day, we become humble.
The more you read the Bible, the more you see yourself and realize your mistakes. Your mistakes begin to show.
God did not choose Israel to save that nation alone.
Dear saints,
If you look inside the church, you are humble and obedient when you first come to church. However, as they go to church for a long time and take up church positions, they begin to show their human nature.
The church acts and speaks as it does. You feel that you are important. So, when you do everything, the part you want to focus on comes out. Since when did you speak like God?
criticize people. judge. point out. It was the Israelites who thought this way.
That is why they did not have relations with strangers.
As you teach the Bible, you begin to see your own flaws. Therefore, those who have learned the Word must take the position of teaching with the Word.