Bible Study Acts 10
‹ Acts

Acts 10 · WEB

Cornelius and the Opening of the Gospel to Gentiles

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

Tap a verse to copy it, open the Greek, or write a note.

Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment,
2a devout man, and one who feared God with all his house, who gave gifts for the needy generously to the people, and always prayed to God.
3At about the ninth hour of the day, he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God coming to him, and saying to him, "Cornelius!"
4He, fastening his eyes on him, and being frightened, said, "What is it, Lord?" He said to him, "Your prayers and your gifts to the needy have gone up for a memorial before God.
5Now send men to Joppa, and get Simon, who is surnamed Peter.
6He lodges with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the seaside."
7When the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier of those who waited on him continually.
8Having explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
9Now on the next day as they were on their journey, and got close to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about noon.
10He became hungry and desired to eat, but while they were preparing, he fell into a trance.
11He saw heaven opened and a certain container descending to him, like a great sheet let down by four corners on the earth,
12in which were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the sky.
13A voice came to him, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat!"
14But Peter said, "Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean."
15A voice came to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean."
16This was done three times, and immediately the vessel was received up into heaven.
17Now while Peter was very perplexed in himself what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon's house, stood before the gate,
18and called and asked whether Simon, who was surnamed Peter, was lodging there.
19While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, "Behold, three men seek you.
20But arise, get down, and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them."
21Peter went down to the men, and said, "Behold, I am he whom you seek. Why have you come?"
22They said, "Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God, and well spoken of by all the nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to invite you to his house, and to listen to what you say."
23So he called them in and lodged them. On the next day Peter arose and went out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.
24On the next day they entered into Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for them, having called together his relatives and his near friends.
25When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell down at his feet, and worshiped him.
26But Peter raised him up, saying, "Stand up! I myself am also a man."
27As he talked with him, he went in and found many gathered together.
28He said to them, "You yourselves know how it is an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to join himself or come to one of another nation, but God has shown me that I shouldn't call any man unholy or unclean.
29Therefore I also came without complaint when I was sent for. I ask therefore, why did you send for me?"
30Cornelius said, "Four days ago, I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
31and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God.
32Send therefore to Joppa, and summon Simon, who is also called Peter. He lodges in the house of Simon a tanner, by the seaside. When he comes, he will speak to you.'
33Therefore I sent to you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now therefore we are all here present in the sight of God to hear all things that have been commanded you by God."
34Peter opened his mouth and said, "Truly I perceive that God doesn't show favoritism;
35but in every nation he who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.
36The word which he sent to the children of Israel, preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all—
37you yourselves know what happened, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;
38even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
39We are witnesses of everything he did both in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they also killed, hanging him on a tree.
40God raised him up the third day, and gave him to be revealed,
41not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen before by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that this is he who is appointed by God as the Judge of the living and the dead.
43All the prophets testify about him, that through his name everyone who believes in him will receive remission of sins."
44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word.
45They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles.
46For they heard them speaking in other languages and magnifying God. Then Peter answered,
47"Can any man forbid the water, that these who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we should not be baptized?"
48He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay some days.
✶

Summary

In Caesarea, a Roman centurion named Cornelius — devout, God-fearing, generous — is visited by an angel and told to send for Peter in Joppa. Peter is meanwhile prepared by a three-fold vision of a sheet full of unclean animals and the divine voice: "What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean." When the messengers arrive, the Spirit sends Peter with them; he enters a Gentile household — something a strict Jew would not do — and tells them God shows no favoritism. As he preaches Jesus, the Holy Spirit falls on the Gentile audience just as he did on the apostles at Pentecost, speaking in languages and praising God; Peter, astonished, orders them baptized. The first Gentile household has been brought fully into the church without first becoming Jews.

Themes

  • The gospel breaking the Jew/Gentile barrier
  • God's preparation of both messenger and hearer
  • Clean and unclean redefined in Christ
  • The Spirit confirms what God has done
  • Universal scope, particular Lord

Key verses

  • Acts 10:15 — “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean.”
  • Acts 10:34-35 — “Truly I perceive that God doesn't show favoritism; but in every nation he who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.”
  • Acts 10:36 — “Preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all.”
  • Acts 10:43 — “Through his name everyone who believes in him will receive remission of sins.”

Context & background

C. AD 39-41. Caesarea Maritima (modern Caesarea, Israel) was Herod the Great's port city on the Mediterranean, the Roman administrative capital of Judea, with the governor's residence and major military garrison. Cornelius was a centurion, commanding roughly 80-100 men; "the Italian regiment" was an auxiliary cohort recruited in Italy. A "God-fearer" was a Gentile who worshiped the God of Israel and attended synagogue without taking on full circumcision and dietary law — a sizable category in the Roman world. The food laws of Leviticus 11 were a defining marker of Jewish identity; Peter's vision (vv. 10-16) symbolically dismantles that wall, but Peter doesn't fully grasp it until he sees the Gentile household receive the Spirit. Joppa and Caesarea are about 30 miles apart along the coast — about a day and a half's walk. Peter's sermon (vv. 34-43) is a model of early Christian preaching: God's character (no favoritism), Jesus' ministry, death, resurrection, witnesses, judgment, and forgiveness through his name. The Spirit falling before baptism (v. 44) — the reverse of usual order — is God's unambiguous public verdict that Gentiles are now in.

Cross-references

  • Ephesians 2:11-22 — Paul's full theology of one new man in Christ from Jew and Gentile.
  • Galatians 2:11-14 — Peter later regresses on this very issue at Antioch, and Paul confronts him — showing how revolutionary and contested Acts 10 was.
  • Isaiah 49:6 / 56:6-8 — God's mission to bring his salvation to the ends of the earth and gather foreigners.
  • Mark 7:18-19 — Jesus' earlier teaching: "Thus he declared all foods clean" — completed in Peter's vision.
  • Romans 2:11 — "There is no favoritism with God" — Paul's theological development of v. 34.

Check your reading

Log in to take the quiz and save your progress.

  1. Observe

    What was Cornelius doing when the angel appeared to him, and at what time of day did this happen (Acts 10:3, 30)?

  2. Observe

    What was the immediate evidence that convinced Peter's Jewish companions that the Gentiles had genuinely received the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:45-46)?

  3. Interpret

    Peter's sheet vision (Acts 10:10-16) involves animals declared unclean under Leviticus 11. The primary lesson, however, is stated in Acts 10:28. What is that lesson?

  4. Interpret

    Peter declares "God shows no favoritism" (Acts 10:34) and then immediately preaches Jesus. Does this mean, as some read it, that sincere religious people of any background are already saved without hearing about Christ?

  5. Apply

    Peter crossed a significant social barrier by entering a Gentile's home and eating with non-Jews (Acts 10:28-29). What enabled him to make that crossing, and what does it suggest about which barriers Christians today might be called to cross?

  6. Apply

    Cornelius was already devout, generous, and prayerful (Acts 10:2), yet he still needed to hear the specific message about Jesus in order to be saved (Acts 11:14). How should this shape the way Christians approach spiritually serious people who have not yet heard the gospel?

Your journal

Write your own answers — they save automatically, and only you can see them.

Log in to write and save journal answers.

Apply (How does it apply to me?)

Personal notes (anything else about this chapter)