Why did Peter say 'Not so, Lord' and refuse to eat the animals in his vision?
Peter refused because he was a law-keeping Jew who had never eaten anything common or unclean. When told, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat,” he would not eat anything not legally acceptable under the law, and therefore he answered, “Not so, Lord.”
The transcript places this about eight to ten years after Pentecost, near the end of Acts. Les explains that Peter’s reply, “Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean,” reveals he was a law-keeping Jew. He was not going to eat anything not legally acceptable under the law. The command “Rise, Peter, kill and eat” therefore collided with Peter’s lifelong law observance. Later in the account, Peter goes with Cornelius’s men up to Caesarea, showing the broader setting of the vision.
But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
More Questions
What does Peter's reaction to the vision of unclean animals show about his relationship to the law?
Peter's vision in Acts 10:14 showed him a sheet full of unclean animals according to the Jewish diet, and his reaction demonstrates he had not been set free from the law.