"Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:7-9, ESV).

Here’s the story: A group of Christ-followers gathered to discuss whether or not people of other races can be saved–that is, forgiven of all their sins and enter into a personal relationship with God.

The main issue was a racial one. You see, the Jews were God’s "chosen people." Everybody else, called Gentiles, were not "chosen." So according to the Jews, Gentiles couldn’t be saved (unless they converted to Judaism).

But God had a different idea. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, salvation is available to all who believe in Him and follow Him. God knows the hearts of people, as Peter said.

And it is the heart of a person, not their skin color or their ethnicity, that makes the difference when it comes to salvation.

So, what about you and me? We can’t save people. But we can learn that since God doesn’t make a distinction based on race, then neither should we.


Acts 15:1-21