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Acts 10:1-11:18

God Is No Respecter of Persons

Lyrics · Acts

God Is No Respecter of Persons

Acts 10:1-11:18

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About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the Acts collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
Acts
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Acts
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Uncategorized
[Two Visions] A soldier prayed in Caesarea town, An angel remembered the alms he laid down. A hungry apostle on a rooftop lay, And heaven lowered a lesson into day. [Verse I] Rise, Peter, kill and eat, came the sound, Not once but three times the vessel came down. What God hath cleansed call not common or small, Then strangers were waiting beside Simon's wall. [Chorus] God is no respecter of persons, In every nation the seeker may hear. The wall men guarded is opened by mercy, The Lord of all peoples has drawn Gentiles near. God is no respecter of persons, Peace through Jesus Christ is declared. [Verse II] Cornelius gathered his household and friends, Peter confessed how the old boundary ends. He told of the anointing, the cross, and the grave, The Judge of the living with power to save. [Spirit Fall] Before the last sentence had left Peter's mouth, The Holy Ghost fell and praise sounded out. The circumcised witnesses marveled to see The gift poured on Gentiles as full and as free. [Bridge] Can any forbid them the water today, Who received the same Spirit in heaven's own way? Jerusalem questioned, then glorified God: Repentance to life has been given abroad. [Final Chorus] God is no respecter of persons, The gospel has crossed the guarded line. What God has made clean no fear may call common, The nations are welcomed by mercy divine. [Coda] The sheet was taken upward, But the door remained open.

Named in this songPeterJesus ChristCorneliusThe crossJerusalem

About the passage

Acts 10: The Spirit arrives before the boundary is settled

Two separate directions bring Cornelius and Peter together, and neither man begins with complete understanding of what the meeting will mean. Cornelius is already described as devout, generous, and prayerful, yet he is told to send for someone who will speak to him. Peter is hungry when a repeated vision challenges his categories of common and unclean, but the meaning is still unsettled when Gentile messengers arrive at the gate. Obedience moves faster than comprehension. Peter receives them, travels with witnesses, refuses Cornelius's prostration, and finally states the human force of the vision: he is not to call any person common or unclean. His proclamation keeps Israel's history intact while naming Jesus “Lord of all,” risen, appointed judge, and the one through whom forgiveness is announced. Then the Holy Ghost falls before Peter finishes speaking. The decisive inclusion arrives before circumcision, a vote, or even baptism, and water follows what God has already done.

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Acts 11: The welcome must be explained in Jerusalem

News of Gentiles receiving God's word reaches Jerusalem together with a more practical objection: Peter entered the home of uncircumcised people and ate with them. Peter does not answer by appealing to rank. He recounts the sequence, the repeated vision, the Spirit's direction, the six witnesses, Cornelius's message, and the Holy Ghost falling as at the beginning. The argument ends with a question about whether he could withstand God, and the critics move from contention to glorifying God for granting Gentiles repentance unto life. The chapter then returns to the earlier scattering after Stephen and follows unnamed believers as the message reaches Antioch. Barnabas arrives, recognizes grace, and strengthens what he finds rather than claiming it. He seeks Saul in Tarsus, and the two spend a year teaching there, where the disciples are first called Christians. The chapter closes with prophecy becoming relief, as Antioch sends practical aid toward Judaea through Barnabas and Saul.

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