He (God) Has Made Us Clean

This morning I am reading from Acts 10:9-17, 21-22, 28 NIV:

[9] "About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. [10] He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. [11] He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. [12] It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds.

[13] Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

[14] “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

[15] The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” [16] This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

[17] While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate.

[21] Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”

[22] The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to sDOy.”

[28] He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean."

I love this story of the miraculous leading of the Lord to open the Body of Christ to the Gentiles. I was thinking about this story this morning and specifically about verse 15, where God said that we should not "call anything impure that He has made clean". This is such an interesting expression, and although the imagery was of animals to eat, He was talking about the Gentiles as Peter correctly understood once he met the men that Cornelius sent.

The word clean from verse 15 is translated from the Greek word Katharizo whose definition is:

1. to make clean, cleanse
a. from physical stains and dirt 1. utensils, food 2. a leper, to cleanse by curing 3. to remove by cleansing
b. in a moral sense 1. to free from defilement of sin and from faults 2. to purify from wickedness 3. to free from guilt of sin, to purify 4. to consecrate by cleansing or purifying 5. to consecrate, dedicate

2. to pronounce clean in a levitical sense

We understand that God was speaking of the second minor meaning, that of moral cleansing - namely the defilement of sin and faults, and the guilt of sin. So if you follow the logic of the Lord, Jesus sacrifice paid for the sins and cleansed the Gentiles just as much as the Jews. This moral cleansing was applied by God to all men, for He said He has made them clean. This is such good news for all of us who were outside the people of the promise, the Jewish people.

This is not something that we earned, but something given, something already attained for us by the actions of God. We have been made clean, we have been cleansed. As I wrote yesterday, this is the foundation of the understanding of the Gospel of Grace, that salvation is a free gift, not something earned or achieved by our own efforts. This is the reason Paul fought against any merging of the Law and the Gospel, for God had made it very clear that He had already cleansed all men.

It is interesting to note that later in his life, Peter started waffling on this core message, of which he was the primary recipient. I find it troubling that he could forget such a significant experience with God, due to the pressures of men. I also find it encouraging that the Lord, through Paul, wasn't going to let this core message be tainted or forgotten.

I am so grateful for the truth of the Gospel, that I have been cleansed and made pure by Christ. I don't need to earn, or work for this, it has already been given. What I DO want to do, is live up to that which I have already attained, or received in this gift. I want my life to be full of giving thanks for this gift, and to live in such a way that I experience the fullness of this gift in my life!