Acts 15:9
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He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts by faith.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
put no difference between us and them: purifying their hearts by faith--"Purification" here refers to "sprinkling (of the conscience by the blood of Jesus) from dead works to serve the living God." (See on Co1 6:11). How rich is this brief description of the inward revolution wrought upon the genuine disciples of the Lord Jesus!
Open source ↗Hitherto we have, with a great deal of pleasure, attended the apostles in their glorious travels for the propagating of the gospel in foreign parts, have seen the bounds of the church enlarged by the accession both of Jews and Gentiles to it; and thanks be to that God who always caused them to triumph. We left them, in the close of the foregoing chapter, reposing themselves at Antioch, and edifying the church there with the rehearsal of their experiences, and it is a pity they should ever be otherwise employed; but in this chapter we find other work (not so pleasant) cut out for them. The Christians and ministers are engaged in controversy, and those that should have been now busied in enlarging the dominions of the church have as much as they can do to compose the divisions of it; when they should have been making war upon the devil's kingdom they have much ado to keep the peace in Christ's kingdom. Yet this occurrence and the record of it are of great use to the church, both for warning to us to expect such unhappy discords among Christians, and direction to us what method to take for accommodating them. Here is, I. A controversy raised at Antioch by the judaizing teachers, who would have the believing Gentiles brought under the yoke of circumcision and the ceremonial law (Act 15:1, Act 15:2). II. A consultation held with the church at Jerusalem about this matter, and the sending of delegates thither for that purpose, which occasioned the starting of the same question there (Act 15:3-5). III. An account of what passed in the synod that was convened upon this occasion (Act 15:6). What Peter said (Act 15:7-11). What Paul and Barnabas discoursed of (Act 15:12). And, lastly, what James proposed for the settling of this matter (Act 15:13-21). IV. The result of this debate,…
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.
And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction,
He said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s home.
Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,
The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”