The Revolutionary Instruction of the Spirit

Then Peter told them exactly what had happened. “I was in the town of Joppa,” he said,

“and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet

was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me. When I looked

inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of tame and wild animals, reptiles, and birds. And I heard a voice

say, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’”

(Acts 11:4-7 NLT)

Sometimes, when God has to teach you something new to believe, He lowers a heavenly screen upon which to project a vision. That was the case for Peter, anyway.

In dramatic fashion, God provided a visual learning lab on a rooftop for Peter’s instruction. And he responded in true Peter fashion – he refused God (Acts 10:13)! But God would not leave him there in an offended state of misunderstanding. The Spirit, ever the Teacher and Guide, intervened.

The lesson for Peter, which first unfolded in a vision about clean verses unclean food laws, would gradually reveal something far more grand and revolutionary than that. God was teaching Peter not to view Gentiles as unclean. It was to teach the new Jewish Christians that Jesus had removed the barriers that divided Jew and Gentile (Galatians 3:28-29). Led by the Holy Spirit, Paul expounded this teaching often, but particularly in Galatians 3:14, writing, Jesus “redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”

The Spirit led Peter to do what he would not do otherwise—for he welcomed and travelled with the Gentile messengers (Acts 10:19-20) and subsequently entered the home of a Roman centurion.

The Spirit teaches the will and ways of God, often counter to culture and our misinformed minds.

Before Peter’s very eyes, the Spirit fell upon Cornelius and “all who heard the word” (Acts 10:44-45). It was a sign, confirmation of God’s will. And it also acted as assurance for the uncomfortable Peter that it was ok for him to be in the home of that Gentile.

The event had not yet reached its conclusion, however. Not until Peter reported to the Jerusalem leaders what had supernaturally happened.

At first report, they criticized Peter. But they listened. Peter’s conclusion? “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). Indeed! Who dare stand in God’s way? The Spirit is for all those who belong to Jesus.

This was a major milestone for the early church. It was God’s means of reversing beliefs held for centuries by the Jews—that salvation was reserved solely for Jews. That explosion that began on Pentecost would now blast through the Gentile world. There would be bumpy roads ahead, in this uniting work of the Spirit. But He continues to teach—not just leaders of the church, but all who proclaim the saving name of Jesus Christ.