No partiality with God

(Act 10:34-35) “So Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”

I wonder how many Christians have actually understood the tome of this statement "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality“? Peter is bold to speak on behalf of his understanding of God’s character in this area. We have a tendency to expect partial favouritism in many areas of our lives depending on our standing with differing individuals. A father provides for his children and if the crunch is on surely the son will find favour over a stranger even if they are caught in the same sin. Two men break the same law and if a father has it in his power to free only one, who will he chose? Surely his son will find favour. Is this not the way we are wired?

What is the author’s intention, what is it that we must realise with Peters statement?

Let us explore further…

We must examine the history of God’s dealings with His people to understand what is implied. God made a covenant with Abraham and with it came a promise; “When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly."” (Genesis 17:1-2) – When examined we learn that there were those from the seed of Abraham who were claiming the same privileges as the faithful, those who applied themselves to the call of God in a righteous manner as opposed to those who lived as they pleased and therefore felt they deserved the promise of God with all the same privileges even though they were far from Him. Peter tells us they will not be excused for their lifestyle just because they came from Abraham’s seed. Although God’s covenant was with the Jews, not every Jew will be blessed of God. Only the faithful will receive the promise.

I wonder how many Christians live with the same mind-set. I too have been guilty as charged and I repent of this type of reasoning; we cannot live as the heathen lives and expect to be covered by God’s favour. We have been bought with the blood of God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ died to set us free and therefore if we reason as one who counts His sacrifice as a small thing, we are playing with fire and when we take fire to our bosom we shall suffer burns. The Christian mentality that is robbing so many of the blessings of God as we are lead to believe that we can live as we once did and still find favour from God is a very dangerous approach. We must strive against sin and search out God’s graces to overcome all opposition. The scripture is clear on a particular point, there will be those who claim to be Christians but continue to live and run with sin as their confederate. Please do not misunderstand my point, I am not for one minute suggesting a holier than thou attitude, we stand justified in the finished work of the cross and nothing else will justify us before God. But it is clear that there are those that claim to be Christians but in fact are not. Where do we fit in with relation to those individuals? We must be sober with our deliberation. We all struggle in one area or another but we must put our hands to the plough and fight against sin in every area of our lives that moves us in the opposite direction to God’s holiness. We cannot rest in defeat if there is something robbing us of our victory in Christ.  

These are the words of our great Saviour and it addresses those who claim to be Christians but in fact are not. It is not enough to claim something if in fact the evidence proves another thing all together; “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:19-24)

Much of my life has been filled with many bad choices throughout my lifetime; nevertheless they too have taught me and still teach me to put on the mind of Christ. We cannot claim son-ship on a simple confession when in fact our lives depict a totally different story. We must seek out God’s graces to be changed by the blood of our Saviours glorious sacrifice and we must not rest until we are blessed by our great God and Father.

Signing off

Tyrone