Paul 2.9

When Judas had finished, a cache of Amens rumbled through the crowd.

Then Peter spoke. "Israelites, I agree with you that salvation is of the Jews and that we are the people of God. But Scripture also shows that God cares through us for the stranger in the land who is in our midst. And God even sent Jonah to the Ninevites, the greatest enemies of Israel in that day, in order to give them the chance to repent.

"We apostles and elders marvelled some years back when God chose to bring the gospel to the Gentiles by my lips. God gave me a dream of a net with unclean food that He told me to kill and eat. Of course even in my dream I refused. Three times God brought this dream to me. He was telling me to go to the house of Cornelius, even though it would normally make me unclean.

While I was there, God sent the Holy Spirit on these God-fearing men. I was amazed. They were uncircumcised men, and yet God purified their hearts. They were not even baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah yet!

We could have debated this issue for a long time, but God settled the issue before we even began the debate. The Gentiles can indeed escape God's wrath because of the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah. They are like the stranger in our midst."

I did not like Peter's approach to the matter, but I recognized it was more likely to convince than my argument would have.

Then I felt deeply patronized when James gave Barnabas and me a moment to tell of the success we had experienced among the Gentiles of Galatia. I was particularly keen to mention the signs and wonders that the Holy Spirit had done through us. What signs had God ever done through these false brothers?

Barnabas told them how he believed God had actually raised me from the dead at Lystra. Even the Judaizers there gave in to laughter at the thought that some in the city there had believed we were Zeus and Hermes, just because we had healed a lame man.