Peter's statement signifies that God makes no difference between believing Jews and believing Gentiles — He purifies the hearts of both by faith, not by law-keeping.
At the Jerusalem council, Peter rose after much disputing and reminded the group that God had chosen him a good while ago to preach to Gentiles (Acts 15:7; clip 0). He then said God put no difference between Jews and Gentiles, purifying their hearts by faith (Acts 15:9; clip 2). Les explains that this was a hard truth for Peter, who was a law-keeping Jew and had to be shown in the sheet vision not to call any man common or unclean (clips 3,4,7). Peter then warned against putting the yoke of the law on the disciples because even Israel could not bear it (Acts 15:10; clip 2). Paul had been proclaiming the same no-difference message, and it stirred Jewish opposition because Israel had long been taught that they were different and set apart (clip 1).
Acts 15:8-9 — Peter states directly that God made no difference between Jewish and Gentile believers, purifying their hearts by faith.
Acts 15:10 — Peter asks why anyone would place the yoke of the law on the Gentile disciples, a yoke neither their fathers nor he could bear.
Acts 10:28 — Peter had already learned that God told him not to call any man common or unclean, preparing him for the no-difference truth.
Romans 3:22-23 — Paul teaches that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile because all have sinned.
After much disputing at the Jerusalem council, Peter rose up and said that God had made choice among them that the Gentiles by his mouth should hear the word of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the hearts, bore them witness by giving them the Holy Ghost, and put no difference between us (Jews) and them (Gentiles), purifying their hearts by faith. In the same speech, Peter asked why they would tempt God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples — the yoke of the law — which neither their fathers nor they were able to bear. Earlier, in Acts 10, Peter told Cornelius that it was unlawful for a Jew to keep company with a man of another nation, but God had shown him not to call any man common or unclean. Romans 3 confirms the same principle: there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Les Feldick points out that Peter did not immediately grasp this truth. Peter was a law-keeping Jewish believer, still observant of the law, and not yet aware of the doctrines of grace (clip 4). In the sheet vision, Peter protested that he had never eaten anything common or unclean, and he knew it was unlawful to enter a Gentile home (clips 3,4,7). Only when God showed him that He was not talking about food but about the human race did Peter begin to understand (clip 3). At the Jerusalem council, after much disputing, Peter rose and reminded the believers that God had chosen him to preach to the Gentiles a good while ago (clip 0). He stated that God put no difference between Jewish and Gentile believers, purifying Gentile hearts by faith — not by becoming proselytes of Judaism (clip 2). Then he warned against putting the yoke of the law on Gentile disciples, saying that even Israel itself could not bear the law (clip 2). Les also stresses that this no-difference message was not new with Peter; Paul had been saying it for years, and it is what got him into trouble with his Jewish people, who had been taught from Exodus that Israel was different and set apart (clip 1). The same truth appears in Romans 11, where Les explains that a Jew does not come in on a different level from a Gentile; both are unworthy and without hope, so a Jew must be saved by grace and drop his works religion (clip 5).
Peter was a law-keeping Jewish believer. In the vision of the sheet, he said he had never eaten anything common or unclean, and he was uncomfortable going into the house of Cornelius because it was unlawful for a Jew to enter a Gentile home. Les points out that Peter had not yet been told he was no longer under the law and was not yet aware of the doctrines of grace. God showed him in the vision not to call any man common or unclean, and Peter understood that the lesson was about the human race, not just food.
Peter asked why they would tempt God by putting the yoke of the law on the neck of the Gentile disciples, a yoke which neither their fathers nor he were able to bear. Les comments that Peter was saying even Israel could not handle the law, and that the law was severe. The law was a burden that Israel itself could not bear.
God had pulled Israel out of Egypt and told them they were different, set apart, and not to have anything to do with the pagans around them. They were not to intermarry. Les says this tradition made it hard for the Jews of Paul's day to hear a Jewish teacher say there is no difference. Paul had been maintaining this all along, and it was what got him into trouble with his Jewish people. In Romans, the same point is made: a Jew does not come in on a different level from a Gentile; all are unworthy and without hope, and a Jew must be saved the same way as a Gentile.
Peter was referring to Acts chapter 10, when he went to the house of Cornelius. In that account, the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentile believers before they were even baptized. This is the event Peter brought up to show that God had already acted on behalf of the Gentiles.
Peter Rose Up After Much Disputing
At the Jerusalem council, Peter had been sitting by while the others argued; when he rose he referred to God choosing him a good while ago that the Gentiles would hear the gospel through his mouth.
Paul's No-Difference Message Stirred Jewish Opposition
Les explains that God had set Israel apart as different from the pagans, which is why it was so hard for Jewish people to accept Paul's claim that there is now no difference between Jew and Gentile.
God Put No Difference and Purified Hearts by Faith
Les directly teaches on Peter's statement that God put no difference between Jewish and Gentile believers, purifying the Gentiles' hearts by faith, and on Peter's warning about the yoke of the law which even Israel could not bear.
The Sheet Vision Was About the Human Race
Les explains that in the vision of the sheet, Peter was shown not to call any man common or unclean, and Peter understood God was talking about the human race, not just food.
Peter Was Still a Law-Keeping Jewish Believer
Les teaches that Peter was not yet aware of the doctrines of grace and still practiced the law, which is why he responded to God's command by saying he had never eaten anything common or unclean.
No Different Level for Jew or Gentile
Les teaches that a Jew does not come to God on a different level from a Gentile; all are unworthy and without hope, so a Jew must be saved by the same gospel of grace and drop works religion.
Why Paul's Gospel to Gentiles Is Different From Peter's
I got some things across to those people at Jerusalem. I communicated unto them. Now watch the language. That gospel, which I preach among the Gentiles. Now do you see what that says? There would be no need for language like that if He was preaching the same thing that Peter did. But He's not preaching the same thing that Peter did. He's enlarging on it.
Peter Knew It Was Unlawful to Enter a Gentile Home
Les describes Peter as a law-keeping Jew who told Cornelius it was unlawful for a Jew to keep company with another nation, until God showed him He was now turning to the Gentiles.
Acts 15:7: And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.
Peter's opening words at the Jerusalem council, connecting the debate to his earlier preaching to Cornelius.
Acts 15:8-9: And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Peter's direct statement that God made no difference between Jewish and Gentile believers.
Acts 15:10: Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Peter's warning against requiring the law for Gentile believers.
Acts 10:28: And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
Peter's earlier lesson that no human being is to be treated as common or unclean.
Romans 3:22-23: Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Paul's parallel teaching that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile because all have sinned.
At the Jerusalem council Peter was referring to the household of Cornelius in Acts 10. God gave the Gentiles the Holy Spirit and purified their hearts by faith, so they were not made clean by becoming Jewish proselytes or by law-keeping (Acts 15:9; clip 2).
Les says Peter was a typical Jewish believer who had not yet been told he was no longer under the law; he was not aware of the doctrines of grace. He still practiced the law, which is why the vision about clean and unclean animals surprised him (clip 4).
God had told Israel in Exodus that they were different and set apart, so for centuries they had avoided Gentiles. A Jewish teacher saying there is now no difference turned that tradition upside down and angered Jewish people (clip 1).
At the Jerusalem council Peter affirmed that God put no difference between Jewish and Gentile believers, purifying their hearts by faith. Les also points out that Paul had been proclaiming the same no-difference message for years (clips 1,2,5).
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