Tearing Down the Walls (Acts 11:1-18)

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Welcome:
 
In today's episode we explore a pivotal moment in the early Church that teaches us about breaking down barriers based on Acts 11:1-18.

In 1987, Ronald Reagan famously urged the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, symbolizing the reunification of people divided for decades. Similarly, in the early days of Christianity, there was an invisible wall separating Jews and Gentiles. Today, we'll examine how this wall was torn down through divine intervention and human obedience, and what it means for us today.

Study Notes: Tearing Down the Walls (Acts 11:1-18)

Key Passage

Summary

This passage highlights the pivotal moment when Peter defended his actions of associating with Gentiles to the Jewish believers in Jerusalem. It underscores the divine mandate to include Gentiles in the Christian community without requiring them to follow Jewish customs.

Main Points

1. Peter’s Encounter and Charges Against Him (Acts 11:1-3)
   • Jewish believers criticized Peter for eating with Gentiles.
   • This criticism stemmed from deep-rooted Jewish customs and purity laws.
2. Peter’s Explanation (Acts 11:4-17)
   • Peter recounts his vision and divine instruction to not call anything impure that God has made clean.
   • He shares how the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles, signifying God's acceptance of them.
3. Response of the Jerusalem Believers (Acts 11:18)
   • The Jewish believers praised God for granting repentance that leads to life to the Gentiles as well.

Key Themes

• Divine Inclusivity: God's salvation is available to all, regardless of ethnic or cultural background.
• Breaking Barriers: The early Church faced and overcame significant cultural barriers to unify believers.
• Faith Alone: Salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not through adherence to cultural or ceremonial laws.

Reflection Questions

1. What walls or barriers exist in our lives or communities today that hinder people from coming to Christ?
2. How can we apply the principle of divine inclusivity in our daily interactions with others?
3. In what ways can we ensure that our practices and traditions do not become obstacles to others experiencing God's grace?

Application

• Personal: Reflect on any personal prejudices or biases that might create barriers between you and others. Pray for God's help to overcome these and to see everyone as worthy of His love.
• Community: Engage in conversations and activities that promote inclusivity and unity within your church and community.
• Global: Support and participate in missions and outreach programs that extend God's love beyond cultural and ethnic boundaries.

Thank you for joining us in this exploration of Acts 11:1-18. Let's strive to break down walls and build bridges of faith, love, and unity in Christ.

Transcript

 "Tearing Down the Walls." (Acts 11:1-18)

Transcript.

In 1987, Ronald Reagan stood before the Berlin Wall and made the now-famous utterance: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Two years later, the wall came down, and people who had been divided for 40 years were once again united as one. That's not the only wall we're going to talk about today. There are also invisible walls, not made out of brick and mortar, walls that people build up in their hearts and minds. In the early days of Christianity, there was such a wall that divided the Jews and Gentiles. The tearing down of that wall is not only initiated but emphasized and explained for us in the Book of Acts. We’ve been going through Acts for a while but just in the last chapter we looked at yesterday we’ve seen how that wall has begun to be torn down. It was initiated by God, but He used a man to do it. However, then as today, there were people who liked the wall the way it was and wanted it to stay. So, when Peter got back to Jerusalem, he found himself in hot water, so to speak. They wanted to know why he had allowed Gentiles to join the early Christian community. Can you imagine how Peter must have felt when he got back and told them the amazing thing that had happened, and they reacted in the way they did? Today I want us to look at this story not just because it has great significance for Christianity, but because it has something to say to us today about how we think about spiritual matters and the walls that exist between people. So welcome…. So, with that in mind, turn with me to Acts 11. I’m going to read from verse 1: "1 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4 Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance, I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6 I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. 7 Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’ 8 “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ 10 This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again. 11 “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. 14 He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 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?” 18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”'” (Acts 1: 1-18) This passage when we look at it can be seen to naturally falls into three parts: first, 1. Peter’s encounter and the charges made against him; 2. His explanation of why he did what he did. 3. The response of those in Jerusalem to Peter’s explanation. Let's start with what happened. The passage tells us in verse one that, “The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.” That is simply a summary of what we looked at yesterday in chapter 10 when Peter went to Cornelius’ house, who was a Gentile. Cornelius had invited all his friends and family, and when Peter arrived, he preached the gospel to them. He told them that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God, and that He died and rose again from the dead and that by simply trusting in Jesus Christ, they could have the forgiveness of sins, and the heard this and they accepted Christ. And what happened that day got back to Jerusalem before Peter did. When Peter arrived in Jerusalem, verse 2 tells us that those of the circumcision, criticized him. “Those of the circumcision” refers to the Jewish believers—people who had trusted Christ (So Christians) but Christians who still followed all the old Jewish customs. They were upset because Peter had broken a significant Jewish tradition, and they accused him of eating with uncircumcised men. Why would they object to him eating with Gentiles? In the Old Testament, God gave the Jews certain dietary laws. But the Jews by this time had expanded these laws to include a ban on eating with Gentiles. They believed that by eating with Gentiles, they would become ceremonially unclean. So this rule was not just about food; it was about maintaining their separate identity and purity as God’s chosen people. Peter’s actions challenged these deeply held beliefs by doing what he did. He told the story of how God led Peter to Cornelius and how the Holy Spirit fell upon the Gentiles as it had upon the Jewish believers at Pentecost which a powerful illustration of how God breaks down barriers and expands His kingdom to include all people. This story has profound implications for Jewish believers then and it still challenges us today as we think about our attitudes towards those who are different from us. Peter explained everything that happened in order from the beginning. To the end. You see, their rules were much deeper than just dietary laws. What they were really saying is that to become someone who knows God, you had to become a Jew. Notice they didn’t object to Peter preaching to the Gentiles—that wasn’t their main issue. In fact, Jews would allow Gentiles to convert. The problem was that, according to their tradition, to truly be part of the Jewish community, some still believe that Gentiles had to adopt all the Jewish customs. Peter wasn’t just eating with Gentiles; he was letting them become Christians without them becoming Jews first. He told them that all they had to do was believe, and that’s the key. If you look back at Acts 10:43, Peter clearly preached that all you have to do to be forgiven of your sins is to believe in Jesus Christ. The real issue was not just about food, it was symbolic of a much larger barrier. There was a wall between Jews and Gentiles. God had given the gospel to the Jews first, but Jewish legalism had built up a wall to the point that prevented Gentiles from coming in. God’s intention was for the gospel to be preached to the whole world, but the early Jewish Christians interpreted this as preaching only to Jews in different parts of the world. They believed Gentiles had to become Jews first to be accepted. We may not have the same wall today, but we do build other kinds of walls that can prevent people from coming to Christ. I recently read the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi in preparation for attending a discussion group who were meeting to consider his philosophy. In that I read that when Gandhi was at college in England, he started reading the New Testament and was impressed with Christianity. One Sunday, he decided to go to church and ask the preacher some questions. When he arrived that fist Sunday an usher refused to give him a seat and suggested he go worship with his own people. Gandhi left and never came back, saying, “If Christians have a caste system, I might as well remain a Hindu.” He later stated, “I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians.” That’s the kind of wall that hinders people from coming to Christ. But any wall that prevents people from coming to Christ is an abomination in the sight of God. Peter broke down such a wall by telling the Gentiles they could be forgiven of their sins by simply trusting in Jesus Christ. He preached that Jesus died for them and rose from the dead, and that by trusting Him, they could have eternal life. However, when Peter got back to Jerusalem, the Jewish Christians were not impressed. They were upset that he had eaten with Gentiles and allowed them into the community without circumcision. Peter had to explain himself. Most of Acts 11 is just a repetition of what happened in Acts 10. Peter went with the men, and when he began to preach the good news to Cornelius and his household, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon the Jewish believers at Pentacost. Peter recounts this, saying, “The Spirit told me to go with them, and doubt nothing.” He relates how God had shown him not to make any distinctions and how the Holy Spirit confirmed that Gentiles were now accepted by God. This story has a powerful message for us today. It reminds us that God’s love and salvation are for everyone, regardless of background or status. We too must be careful not to build walls that keep people from experiencing God’s grace and forgiveness. Instead, we should follow Peter’s example and welcome everyone genuinely seeks to know Christ, and turns away from sin, trusting that God will do the work of transforming their lives thereafter. So, Peter tells us how he went there taking six brothers with him. Now, that's significant because it amounted to seven people who witnessed what happened. This is noteworthy because, according to the Old Testament, legal testimony required two or three witnesses. According to Egyptian law, seven witnesses authenticated a document, and according to Roman law, seven seals authenticated a document. So, perhaps this is why Peter took six people with him. This little committee of seven went to Caesarea to meet Cornelius. Peter then recounts what happened in Cornelius's house, when he got there. While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word indicating that those listening believed the message, and as a result, the Holy Spirit came upon them. Peter's sermon was in fact interrupted because the Gentiles started receiving the Holy Spirit right then and there. It's similar to someone today, sitting in a church and realizing for the first time that all they need to do to be saved is to trust in Jesus Christ. They may come up to the pastor and say, "I get it, I have trusted in Christ." They don’t even wait for the altar call, or a baptism date they just believe and are saved right then. Peter says, " As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning." This refers back to Acts 2, the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit first came upon the early believers. The same Holy Spirit that filled the Jewish believers at Pentecost now filled the Gentiles as well. Peter makes a couple of key observations on this. First, it was at the moment of their conversion when they believed. They received the Holy Spirit immediately, just as the Jews did at Pentecost. Second, the baptism of the Holy Spirit places believers into the body of Christ, which is the Church community. This began at Pentecost in Acts 2. The point Peter is making is that he was simply preaching the gospel, and the Gentiles were saved. He didn’t do anything special; God did it all. Peter’s defence is clear: The whole story is he was instructed by God through a vision and the Holy Spirit to go to the Gentiles. When he got there, he preached the gospel, the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles just as it had upon the Jews at the beginning. Thereby God was showing that salvation is for everyone, not just Jews, and that Gentiles do not need to become Jews to be saved. This has a powerful message for us still today. There should be no barriers or discrimination in the Church. In Christ, there is no bias or elitism. Prejudice and elitism have no place among believers. The message of this passage is clear: Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and everyone is welcome. It doesn’t depend on your background or your works; it depends only on recognizing your need for a Savior and trusting in Jesus Christ who died for your sins and rose from the dead. God miraculously worked to ensure that the Gentiles received salvation without needing to follow Jewish customs like circumcision. Salvation is by faith alone. It’s solely by faith in Jesus Christ as the one who can allow the forgiveness of your sins. This passage is a powerful reminder that God’s grace is available to all who believe, without additional requirements. It’s a simple yet profound truth that we still need to grasp and communicate to others. If you look at Chapter 10 and the record of what happened and compare it with Chapter 11, you will discover that the two passages are virtually identical. This is one of those rare cases where God not only repeated Himself but did so, back-to-back. Why is He doing that? Answer! Because He wants us to get it; God wants to emphasize this. They wrote these New Testament books on scrolls in those days, and the longest available were 35 feet, which is about what it took to write the book of Acts. Furthermore,the book of Acts covers a span of 30 years, and Luke had a lot to say. He had endless material that could make it longer. This makes it all the more remarkable that he records this story twice, back-to-back. So, Like believed that God really wants us to understand this. The message is that salvation is by faith alone, plus nothing else. No circumcision, no baptism, no good works, no keeping of the law in any way, shape, or form. Another observation I'd like to make is that this passage teaches us that God doesn't want a wall of separation between Jews and Gentiles. God doesn't want a wall keeping anyone from knowing who Jesus Christ is. God is against elitism because He wants everyone to be saved. So, the message here is that God wants us to tear down that wall. Nobody is better than anyone else or has an edge or advantage when it comes to obtaining salvation or eternal life in Christ. Whether Jew or Gentile, bond or free, male or female, we all stand on level ground at the cross, as sinners who need to be saved. That’s it. Believers in Christ need to hear that. God wants the ground to be level, and He is against elitism. Furthermore, Christians are to receive one another, we are not dispute over cultural differences or minor matters of personal conviction. Some of the Jewish Christians in the early Church wanted Gentiles to become Jews, and some of the Gentile believers wanted Jews to stop being Jews. This attitude created the first serious division in the Church. It is important that we follow the example of Acts Ch 11 and the exhortation of Romans 14: which is to receive those whom God has also received. This is what the people did when Peter shared what happened. Look at verse 18: "When they heard these things, they glorified God, saying, God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.'" They got it. They were silent, meaning they didn’t continue to oppose it. Although later there was some opposition arose, at this moment that group understood that God wants everyone to be saved by grace through faith. The passage emphasizes that salvation is different to just doing good things. God made it clear by working miraculously so that Gentiles could be saved without being circumcised, thereby showing that salvation is by faith alone. Now, let's address repentance. This is where it gets interesting because many preachers say you need to feel sorry for your sins to be saved. I remember hearing that years ago and thinking, "But, how sorry do I have to be?" But repentance, as it's used in the Bible, means to change your mind. When we go through the book of Acts, we see that repentance means changing your mind about who Jesus is. In Acts 2, back at Pentecost, when Peter preached, he told the people to change their minds about Jesus. They had thought He was a criminal, but Peter declared that He is the Lord of Glory and the Messiah. They then asked, "What must we do?" Peter told them to change their minds, recognize who Jesus is. Over and over, the Bible says you have to believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and to be saved. Repentance and belief are two sides of the same coin. If you trust Christ, you have repented because you changed your mind about Him. Peter told these gentiles to believe, and when they did, they received the Holy Spirit, just like the Jews at Pentecost. When Peter explained this to the Jewish believers, they concluded that God granted repentance to the Gentiles as well, meaning they changed their minds about how wide Christ’s salvation was and believed. So, from a biblical point of view, if you repent, you have trusted Christ, and if you trust Christ, you have repented. You can't have one without the other. The point of this message is that God wants everyone to know that salvation is by faith alone, and He miraculously worked through Peter and the believers in Jerusalem to make this clear. Not everyone got it right away, but this was the beginning of God knocking down the wall and saying, "I want everyone to know it's all about faith in Jesus."