Why did the Jerusalem apostles stay limited to Israel after Cornelius?
God had not yet permitted them to move beyond their ministry to Israel. Though Cornelius’s household was saved, Peter returned to Jerusalem and was called to account for going to a Gentile. The apostles therefore stayed in Jerusalem, still restricted to the apostleship of the nation of Israel.
Les explains that even after the amazing conversion of those pagan Romans in Cornelius’s house, Peter did not move further into Gentile outreach. Instead, he went back to Jerusalem and was called on the carpet for having gone to a Gentile, and there the apostles stayed. The reason given is that God had not yet permitted them to move any further than their ministry, identified as the apostleship of the nation of Israel. Twelve years later, at the Jerusalem council, Peter could still cite that earlier Gentile conversion, but the Jerusalem apostles remained limited to Israel.