What did the conversion of Cornelius's household prove about Gentiles being saved?
The conversion of Cornelius’s household proved that Gentiles could be saved without the Jewish law or the attending ramifications of Judaism. It was evidence that pagan Romans had been genuinely saved apart from Judaism, confirming that Gentile salvation did not require the Jewish law or its customs.
Les explains that Peter’s experience at the house of Cornelius was the evidence that Gentiles had been saved without any of the attending ramifications of Judaism. It was an amazing conversion of pagan Romans—not hundreds, just a household—but the evidence was there that they were truly saved apart from Judaism. Twelve years later, at the Jerusalem council, Peter reminded the disputing leaders that God had long ago used him to speak to Gentiles. The council was arguing over whether Gentiles had to keep the Jewish law. The conversion of Cornelius’s household proved they did not need that, because they had already been saved without it. Yet Les points out that Peter did not immediately go back and tell the others to get out of Jerusalem because the Gentiles were waking up. Instead, Peter returned, was called on the carpet for going to a Gentile, and they stayed there. God had not yet permitted them to move beyond the apostleship of the nation of Israel.