Acts 11

Read: Acts 11

The story from Acts 10 continues in chapter 11. Peter’s Jewish buddies were wondering why he went to spend time with a Gentile man. As was mentioned previously, the Jews did not have a very high view of Gentiles or non-Jewish folk.  Because of this, Peter recounts the vision and experience he had with Cornelius in order to defend his actions. When he tells them the story, they are amazed. God has not just brought salvation to Israel, but to all people!

This is significant. Christ did not just die for some, he died for all. Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient enough for all people to be saved, but salvation is only applied to those who believe in the gospel message. To those who believe, we also see that God does not leave people alone to try and live out the Christian life. He gives them a gift; the Holy Spirit. Here in this passage, the same Holy Spirit that was upon the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles is now being given to Gentiles who have repented and believed.

Acts was a special time in the church. Christianity spread like wildfire in its early days for at least two reasons. One has already been mentioned in past devotions; persecution caused the dispersion of the Christians, which resulted in the spread of their message. The other reason I want to mention is the Holy Spirit. Many people believed because they saw the Holy Spirit at work in the lives of people like Barnabas.

Depending on where you live, you may or may not face much persecution. Likely if you live in America, you do not face anything like these people faced. However, if you are a believer, you do have the Holy Spirit inside of you. The problem is, many of us don’t live as if he’s there. We think the temple of God is the church building, but scripture tells us that believers are the temple of God (See 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). The Holy Spirit indwells all who believe. That includes you and me; God wants to work in us and through us to accomplish his mission and to spread his message. If you are a believer, meditate on that truth today and thank God for that gift.  If you are not yet a believer, that gift is open to you too. Confess your sins to God, trust that Jesus died and raised again to forgive you of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit just like these people did.