The Gospel to the Gentiles
READ Acts 10:1-4
What
is Cornelius, the Roman Centurion, being told by the angel?
His heart is known, his actions have been
weighed, his prayers have been heard and the Lord is putting the process in
place to save him in the kingdom of God.
What
is implied by this?
God truly is no respecter of persons –
i.e. being part of a “chosen people” doesn’t mean you’re any better than anyone
else.
The only advantage being part of a chosen
people may give you is better access to the truth; however, that is a
double-edged sword, as you will be responsible for not advancing in light that
much further, if you choose not to pursue what has been made available to you.
READ Acts 10:34-35
So,
if God is no respecter of persons, what does it mean to be a “chosen” people?
Chosen to receive the revelations from
God which will make it easier to walk back into His presence and be saved (as
you can’t be saved in ignorance).
Chosen to be a “peculiar people” out of
alignment with the world – to be hated of the world because the world loves its
own and hates all others who don’t comply with its culture and values.
Chosen to serve all others – to follow
Christ’s example and minister to, teach and bless all who do not yet have the
knowledge of God and His ways.
What
does it mean that God is no respecter of persons?
The deeds and salvation gained by your
ancestors means nothing with regards to YOUR salvation.
One’s calling gives them no automatic
access to spiritual blessings – regardless of the calling.
ANYONE can humble themselves before God
and successfully seek Him out if they offer their whole souls on His altar in
covenant with Him, and exercise faith in His love and power to save them.
READ Acts 10:5, 9-16
What
do the “unclean” or “common” animals represent?
The Gentiles.
When Christ talked about “salt that has
lost its savor”, it has become “profaned” because it has come in contact with
something that has contaminated it. This
is our common lot in mortality.
But
what does it mean that “what God hath cleansed, that call not thou common”?
God has the opposite affect – coming into
contact with Him, even if you are “profane” or “contaminated” will make you
clean or sanctified or it will make you incinerated and racked with torment if
He does not declare you clean (see Isaiah
6:5-8, 1 Kings 2:28-34, and Matthew 23:35, where the altar of the Temple was
believed to not be capable of being profaned, but would make any in contact
with it holy or clean like it was).
Our uncleanness does not make Him unclean
by our contact with Him – but to enable us to not be destroyed, His Word can
make us absolutely clean; we are perfect in Christ, not perfect in ourselves.
What
is the message of this vision to Peter?
The Gospel is to be taken to the Gentiles
(see Acts 11:18).
What
is the significance of the proclamation being given to Peter three times?
It is eternally binding.
It is the opposite of a “wo, wo, wo”
curse, from which there is no going back.
READ 1 Nephi 13:42
What
does this prophecy mean?
Christ and His gospel would first be given
to the Jews (at the time of His birth and ministry).
Then it would be given to the Gentiles
(which we are now reading about in Acts).
In the last days, Christ would manifest
Himself first to the Gentiles (via Joseph Smith and the Latter-day Saints).
And then unto the Jews, including the
remnant of Lehi’s descendants.
Why
was this revelation so shocking to Peter?
Even the Samaritans were seen as unclean
apostates, much less the Gentiles, who believed in all kinds of heathen gods –
this revelation was abhorrent to someone raised in the Jewish traditions at
this time.
READ Acts 10:19-20, 24-32, and 44-48
What
is the sign that the gospel is really to be preached to the Gentiles?
They receive the Gift of the Holy
Ghost/Baptism of Fire (see Acts 11:15-17).
The spiritual, inward change has already
taken place, leaving only the formal, official outward performance of the
ordinance of water baptism to be completed.
Implied is that while the outward
ordinance extending the covenant is required, not only is it insufficient on
its own, but the Lord can work with people independent of the administration of
the outward ordinance and enable them to experience the mighty change of heart
through the Holy Spirit and baptism of fire without having first participated
in water baptism, because that baptism of fire comes through Him directly,
based on the person’s willingness to offer their whole soul to Him, not through
a Church or their outward ordinances. If
this is true, then why do we even need a Church? Because most people require the symbolism and
learning that comes through the administration of outward ordinances to understand
what the true inner covenant and spiritual experience might be. Ordinances are invitations to experience
more, through covenant with God.
Peter’s Escape from Prison
READ Acts 12:1-5
In
the context of Christ, Stephen and James deaths, what might have the Church
assumed would happen to Peter?
He would also be killed in short order.
What
was their reaction?
Petitioning the Lord for Peter’s release.
They practiced the Parable of the
Importuned Friend at Midnight – “weary the Lord until He blesses you”.
READ Acts 12:6-11
How
did the Lord release Peter from prison?
Through an angel from God.
How
did Peter react?
He followed the angel – shades of Mission
Impossible or Jason Bourne – one heck of an angel – the angel must have been
having fun.
But Peter thought he was asleep and
dreaming.
Is
there precedent for this kind of intrusive action from heaven?
Yes – Daniel; Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego; Elisha; Alma; Nephi.
Paul vs. the Judaizers
READ Acts 11:1-3
What
happened when the rest of the Church in Jerusalem heard what Peter had done in
opening the Gospel to the Gentiles?
Some (many) were deeply offended.
They felt that Gentiles should not be
preached the gospel.
Later they will espouse a belief that if
Gentiles are to be baptized, they need to become Jews first and live the Law of
Moses.
This will eventually split the Church.
READ Acts 11:22-26
Why
do they get Saul/Paul from Tarsus?
He is the perfect missionary to the
Greeks and Romans – being one (culturally) himself and also being a Roman
citizen.
And its also possible that they didn’t
want to carry out this “abomination” personally.
Paul and Barnabus preach Christ as the
Messiah in the Jewish synagogue in Antioch (see Acts 13:14-41).
READ Acts 14:42-48
How
did the Jews generally react to Paul’s preaching that Jesus of Nazareth was the
promised Messiah?
While they didn’t cast the missionaries
out or attack them, they didn’t really believe them, either.
How
did the Gentiles react to the missionary message?
They embraced it – and the whole city
showed up to hear it.
Many were baptized (ordained to eternal
life).
READ Acts 14:50
How
did the Jews react to the Gentiles accepting the Gospel of Christ?
They ran Paul and Barnabus out of town.
This was too much for some; implied is
the power that the traditions of the scribes and pharisees over hundreds of
years had on the people -even those that were spiritually awake enough to
recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah and to understand the nature of His
first coming.
READ Acts 15:1-5
What
do the Jewish Christians want to do with the Gentile converts?
Make them Jewish proselytes (converts)
first.
So that they will live the Law of Moses –
with Christ the object of the Law.
Why
do they want this?
Because they believe that the Messiah
can/will only save Jews.
It is a bridge WAY too far to think that
the Law of Moses was just a schoolmaster – that it didn’t have saving
properties in and of itself.
This reminds me of a conversation I
listened in on at BYU back in the early 1990s, where two professors were
talking about the difficulty the Church was having with the native cultural
traits of new members in Africa (i.e. drumming in Church meetings), and what,
if any “Western Yankee” cultural traits should be exported with the Gospel
(i.e. the “priesthood uniform” of white shirts, boring ties and dark
suits). Although it is merely rhetorical
until we rend the veil, we might also wonder which cultural traits we espouse
that will be wildly inappropriate in heaven, or even in the terrestrial Zion,
for that matter.
What
is the problem with conflating culture and traditions (of the fathers) with the
doctrine of Christ?
Only the doctrine of Christ will save you.
The cultural mores and traditions are
philosophies of men, perhaps inspired (at some point or to some degree) but
perhaps not.
If they do not exist in heaven, they are
transitory anyway.
The danger is that a) they may not be
true, b) they may detract from the truth, c) regardless, they will not save you
so they constitute a distraction.
What
is the problem with settling for a “starter” gospel rather than the “mysteries
of godliness”?
You will never enter and abide (stay) in
the presence of God in this life (D&C 84:19-26) – there is just not enough
truth and light in a starter gospel to enable that.
You will be under condemnation (D&C
84:49-59) for not seeking for and obtaining more.
You will not be redeemed from the Fall
(Ether 3:13-14).
You will not receive a Celestial glory
(D&C 76:51, 74 and D&C 88:75).
And it is all just, because you chose it
yourself (2 Nephi 32:6-7).
Is
the gospel going to the Gentiles a sea-change for God, and if so, why did He do
it?
It may be a change in mortal time but not
an eternal doctrinal change – God does things “in season”, according to His own
wisdom (D&C 5:30, D&C 89:11, D&C 127:1, D&C 19:21-22).
God is no respecter of persons; chosen
blood does not matter – obedience and sacrifice matter (Acts 10:34-35).
And He is not a changeable God – His
doctrine is His doctrine – if He changes, He will cease to be God (Moroni 8:18
and Mormon 9:19).
READ Acts 15:6-18
Why
were the Apostles and elders disputing?
They were struggling with the culture vs
doctrine and the Mosaic Law vs Celestial Principles issues – they loved what
they were comfortable with and “knew” to be right.
They had not gone to the Lord for
revelation to truly understand Peter’s vision and how it should be applied.
Why
was there no difference between converted Gentiles and Jewish Christians?
Because they all had equal access to the
Gift of the Holy Ghost and mighty change of heart – all who would receive it,
received it in the same manner and by living the same terms.
All are saved by the grace of Christ, not
through personal works (whether it be adherence to a Jewish Law of Moses or an
LDS “For the Strength of Youth”).
The Jews couldn’t live the Law of Moses
perfectly anyway – so why impose that senseless burden on the Gentile converts? It was pride in the outward shows of
righteousness and a proof that the gospel covenant hadn’t been entered into by
many Church members.
What
had Simeon declared to them?
That God has already visited Gentiles
previously in history to introduce the gospel to them and they accepted it and
became His people (taking upon themselves His name) – not sure who he is
referring to here – either pre-Abrahamic people like Enoch or perhaps a group
of gentiles (Arabs or some other group descended from Abraham but not Jacob, or
maybe another group entirely, like in Babylon or Persia) that we don’t know
about.
Other prophets have also testified of
this.
God knows the works of all mankind, from
the beginning – and is not a respecter of persons but will reward those that
seek after Him in humility with the gospel and His presence.
So, there was precedent for this sharing
of the gospel beyond the twelve tribes of Israel.
