11
was used later to prevent the Jerusalem church opposing the new ministry of Paul. Peter makes his own attitude
very plain. To Cornelius, a pious man, who prayed and gave alms, he said:
"Ye know how that it is an UNLAWFUL thing for a man that is a JEW to keep company, or come unto one of
another NATION; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man COMMON or unclean" (Acts 10:28).
Peter here makes a series of important admissions:
(1) He was still a man that is a Jew.
(2) He was still under the law that made Israel a separate people.
(3) He still looked upon all men of any other nation as common and unclean.
Each item is diametrically opposed to the teaching of Paul who taught that in the church to which he ministered:
(1) There was neither Jew nor Gentile.
(2) That the whole machinery of the law gave place to the new creation in Christ.
Those who continued in the apostle"s doctrine "had all things common" (Acts 2:44), yet they would not be seen
in the company of a Gentile, and called him "common" instead. The words "keep company" indicate fellowship
with disciples, as Acts 9:26 shows, where it is translated "join himself". If Peter acted as he did when obliged to go
to Cornelius, one wonders what would have happened to him had Dionysius the Areopagite "clave (same word) unto
him" (Acts 17:34). By all tests it appears evident that Peter"s keys which fitted the doors of the kingdom of heaven
(the kingdom of God on earth) would not turn the locks of the doors opened by the Lord for Paul.
As the outcome of a special call by the Spirit of God, and in entire independence of Jerusalem, the apostles Paul
and Barnabas take the gospel to the Gentiles upon their return to Antioch:
"They rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how He had
the
of faith unto the
OPENED
DOOR
GENTILES" (Acts 14:27).
Peter"s experience with Cornelius enabled him to break down the opposition exhibited by the apostles and
brethren at Jerusalem by reminding them how that:
"A good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the
gospel, and believe" (Acts 15:7),
which James explained as being in harmony with the prophecy of Amos, and related to the restoration of the
tabernacle of David. Peter did no miracle when he stood before Cornelius, for miracles were signs of apostleship
(Gal. 2:7,8, and 2 Cor. 12:12), and he was not the apostle to the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas, however, declared:
"What miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them" (Acts 15:12).
A great door was opened for Paul at Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:9), and another at Troas when he crossed over with the
gospel to Europe proper (2 Cor. 2:12), but Peter"s keys were of no service here. Then, when Israel were set aside,
and Paul was made a prisoner of the Lord for the Gentiles, he prayed for the opening of another door, connected
with his "bonds" and the "mystery" (Col. 4:3), which it is the aim and object of these papers to explain.
No. 3
"The chief corner stone".
There are many evangelical Christians who take their stand upon the threefold presentation of the gospel, viz.,
"Christ crucified, Christ risen, Christ coming again", and they would be horrified to be told that they had omitted
the one phase that completed the whole. That omission is nothing less than "Christ ascended". Now we are