Not Common Anymore
And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” Acts 10:15
Peter was maybe the first person that God revealed His plan for saving all people to. The disciples in the upper room on the day of Pentecost and all that had come to salvation through their witness and testimony after that were Jewish peoples. It is obvious by Peter’s response that none of them had even considered that Jesus died for the sin of the whole world. They were just trying to learn about and get a grasp on Jesus coming to die for their sin and not to restore the kingdom of Israel back to them from the Roman rule at that time. Everything the Holy Spirit was showing them was new and revealing to them. Well, not exactly. These new ways that they were being introduced to were all prophesied in the Old Testament, but they were just starting to figure that out. It seemed that they believed the prophecies about the Messiah coming but that was all they remembered.
So when Peter fell into a trance and the Holy Spirit showed him that Jesus had made clean what used to be the unclean, Peter had a hard time grasping that. He actually argued with God’s Spirit, so God showed him the vision three times. Even then, I’m not totally sure he understood what God was trying to reveal to him. It wasn’t until Cornelius’ men came to take him back to Cornelius that Peter was starting to get it. The point is that Peter and us today are not to call unclean or common what God has cleansed through Jesus’ blood.
Even though Cornelius was a gentile and not of the Jewish faith, God still considered him, the common or unclean, as cleansed by the blood of Jesus. But it was up to Cornelius to receive that cleansing through the provision of salvation. It was not automatic. The cleaning had been done by Jesus at the cross, but Cornlius and all of us still had to receive that cleansing by faith.
What does that look like for us today? We were once foreigners and far from God but now in Christ Jesus we have been brought near to Him. That salvation is available for every person that is here in this world, but it is up to each one individually to receive that provision personally. Now beyond us there are many out there who have not yet received, but God has cleansed and there is no common anymore. He turned the choice over to each individual to receive that cleansing or not. God cleaned the whole mess up and it is up to us to show others how to get in that cleansing stream.
Don’t call unclean or common what God has cleansed. So, the next time you look at those far from God don’t despise them as wretched sinners, fill up with compassion because Jesus died and made provision for them too. They just need to receive His cleansing just as you once did.
Today I want to encourage you to thank your heavenly Father for making clean what once was unclean. Thank Him for that provision of salvation that you received and is available for all people no matter how despicable they are. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill your heart with love and compassion for all others and when you see the people around you lost in their foolishness and sin, pray for them and take the opportunities when they come to tell them about God’s great love and cleansing that is available to all.
Today’s scripture reading: Acts 10:9-16
9The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour.
10Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance
11and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth.
12In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.
13And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
14But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”
15And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”
16This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.
The Daily Dose 