Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible



Now the Apostles, and the brethren in various parts of Judaea, heard that the Gentiles also had received God's Message; and, when Peter returned to Jerusalem, the champions of circumcision found fault with him. "You went into the houses of men who are not Jews," they said, "and you ate with them." read more.
Peter, however, explained the whole matter to them from the beginning. "While I was in the town of Jaffa, offering prayer," he said, "in a trance I saw a vision. There descended what seemed to be an enormous sail, being let down from the sky by ropes at the four corners, and it came close to me. Fixing my eyes on it, I examined it closely, and saw various kinds of quadrupeds, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. I also heard a voice saying to me, "'Rise, Peter, kill and eat.' "'On no account, Lord,' I replied, 'for nothing unholy or impure has ever gone into my mouth.' "But a voice answered, speaking a second time from the sky, "'What God has purified, you must not regard as unholy.' "This was said three times, and then everything was drawn up again out of sight. "Now at that very moment three men came to the house where we were, having been sent from Caesarea to find me. And the Spirit told me to accompany them without any misgivings. There also went with me these six brethren who are now present, and we reached the Centurion's house. Then he described to us how he had seen the angel come and enter his house and say, "'Send to Jaffa and fetch Simon, surnamed Peter. He will teach you truths by which you and all your family will be saved.'" "And," said Peter, "no sooner had I begun to speak than the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He fell upon us at the first. Then I remembered the Lord's words, how He used to say, "'John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit.' "If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we first believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, why, who was I to be able to thwart God?" This statement of Peter's silenced his opponents. They extolled the goodness of God, and said, "So, then, to the Gentiles also God has given the repentance which leads to Life."

and after there had been a long discussion Peter rose to his feet. "It is within your own knowledge," he said, "that God originally made choice among you that from my lips the Gentiles were to hear the Message of the Good News, and believe. And God, who knows all hearts, gave His testimony in their favour by bestowing the Holy Spirit on them just as He did on us; and He made no difference between us and them, in that He cleansed their hearts by their faith. read more.
Now, therefore, why try an experiment upon God, by laying on the necks of these disciples a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that it is by the grace of the Lord Jesus that we, as well as they, shall be saved."