Jun 16 – 1 Kings 1, 1 Kings 2:1-12 Acts 10:23-48, Acts 11:1-18 Psalm 74:10-17
Acts 11:18
When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
The realisation that hits Peter here is phenomenal. Jesus Christ died for everyone – every nation, every tribe and every tongue. They church was astonished – they wouldn’t have considered baptising gentiles, but how could they deny them? They’d received the baptism in the Spirit, they were speaking in tongues! If they could do that, how could they deny their salvation?
That’s the power of the gifts of The Holy Spirit – only someone who has saved can move in the Spirit, only someone who has received Christ can receive tongues. They could see by their fruit, that God had saved them.
This does of course lead to the question – if Gentiles are getting saved, how much of the law do they need to keep? Do they need to be circumcised? Do they need to become Jewish?
Well… we will get to all that in later readings.
