“God has made clean”

[Acts 10:9-16]

A young pastor visiting a mining village passed by a dark and dirty tunnel and discovered beautiful white flowers growing inside.  He asked one of the miners, ‘How is it that such clean and beautiful flowers are blooming in this remote mine?’  The miner replied, ‘Pour coal dust on those flowers.’  So, the pastor did as instructed, but to his amazement, as soon as the coal dust touched the petals, it fell to the ground, leaving the flower completely unaffected.  The reason was that the petals were so smooth that the coal dust couldn't stick to them.  Our hearts are the same.  Though we live as humans in a world full of sin, God, who owns us, keeps us clean, protecting us from being ensnared by sin.  Finding ourselves in the midst of sin is like a beautiful white flower blooming in a mine.  The key to cleanliness lies in belonging to God.  The secret of seeing God, the secret of knowing God, comes from a clean heart.  A clean heart comes from God.  We must have a clean heart.  Only then can we find perfect happiness in any situation.  However, there is a scheme from Satan to take away this happiness.  Look at 2 Corinthians 11:3 - "But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ."  Satan does everything in his power to lead us away from our sincere and pure devotion to Christ.  One way Satan does this is by causing us to doubt God's Word.  One of the verses that Satan uses to cause doubt is John 15:3 - "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you."  This verse refers to being already clean as a result of being bathed in the Word of God.  Just as we become clean when we take a shower or bath, we have become clean as a result of being bathed in the Word of the Lord.  Here, spiritual cleansing refers to the work of regeneration brought about by the Holy Spirit (Yoo).  Those who have undergone this spiritual cleansing are already clean.  Through the work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, we have become a new creation in Jesus Christ, clean and ready to love our brothers and sisters sincerely from the heart without deceit.  Look at 1 Peter 1:22 - "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart."  Are we, as a church, practicing such love?  I would like to draw a few lessons today from Acts 10:9-16, focusing on the phrase "God has made clean" (v. 15).

First, we should not call what God has made clean impure.

Look at Acts 10:15 - "The voice spoke from heaven a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.'"  Starting from Acts 9:32, we see that Peter traveled widely and in Lydda, he healed a paralyzed man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years, in the name of Jesus Christ.  He also raised a woman named Dorcas (or Tabitha) in Joppa, who had already died.  After these amazing events, Peter stayed at the house of Simon the tanner in Joppa, a person who worked with leather goods (v. 43).  While he was staying in Simon's house, Cornelius was praying.  While Cornelius was praying, he encountered an angel of God.  At that moment, the angel instructed Cornelius to send for a man named Peter in Joppa.  Upon hearing this command (v. 5), Cornelius summoned two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him and sent them to Joppa (vv. 7-8).  The next day, when the men Cornelius sent approached Joppa, Peter was staying on the roof of Simon's house.  Around noon, he had a vision (v. 9).  In the vision, Peter saw a large sheet being lowered by its four corners from heaven, and it contained all sorts of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds.  A voice told Peter, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat" (v. 13).  Peter's response was, "Surely not, Lord!  I have never eaten anything impure or unclean" (v. 14).  Then the voice from heaven spoke to Peter a second time, saying, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean" (v. 15).  This happened three times, and then the sheet was immediately taken back up to heaven (v. 16).  What does the vision that Peter saw mean?  It can only mean one thing: a divine command from God that people from all regions, nations, races, without discrimination, can come and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and be saved through faith (Park).  This cannot be anything other than a meaning that contradicts the Jewish religious beliefs of the Old Testament era that Peter held.  In other words, when we refer to Leviticus 11, the Israelites of the Old Testament era did not eat certain kinds of animals as they were considered unclean according to God's statutes.  God's command to Peter in the vision was to eat those unclean animals.  This meant that Peter no longer needed to strictly adhere to those statutes in the Old Testament era (Park).  In other words, God's command to Peter in the New Testament era was to proclaim the gospel without discrimination between Jews and Gentiles.

In the body of the Lord's church, there should be no discrimination or prejudice.  However, it seems that we Koreans engage in a lot of discrimination.  We discriminate based on educational background, social status, family ties, and wealth to the point where it becomes suffocating.  I believe that our nation, before God, should repent most deeply for judging and discriminating against one another.  However, the problem is that even Korean churches have not yet abandoned the sin of judging and discriminating against people based on their appearance.  Instead of looking at individuals within the church with spiritual maturity, dedication, and spiritual purity, we have not been able to break the habit of judging based on material wealth and worldly status.  This is what Korean churches need to repent for.  If a church shames and despises the poor and the weak, if the rich are exalted and the poor who come to the church have to bow their heads and be ignored, and if the saints form groups for fellowship based on social and economic status, it can by no means be considered the true form of a church.  The Bible states that discrimination is a sin.  In order for us to avoid discrimination, we need to start with our speech.  Among the words we use, there are often expressions that discriminate against others, even though we may not realize it.  We should always be cautious about whether a certain word is discriminatory towards others or whether it might cause further harm to those who are already weak and wounded before using it.  Second, we should examine whether there is a mindset of discrimination in our hearts, and if we have prejudice towards anyone, we should examine what our motives are.  Last, it's not enough to just examine our hearts for any discriminatory thoughts; we need to actively make intentional efforts to care for the poor, the weak, and the wounded (Internet).

Second and last, what God has made clean is indeed clean.

When Peter refused to eat what he considered impure and unclean, he did not realize that the regulations in Leviticus 11 regarding unclean animals had been revoked because of Christ.  In today's passage, Acts 10:15, the phrase "that God has made clean" refers to a simple past tense indicating an historical fact.  In other words, it signifies that all deliberate religious regulations have been abolished due to the fact that Jesus Christ, through His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, has gained glory (Col. 2:14-15).  Therefore, there is no longer a distinction made consciously about certain animals being clean or unclean (Park).

The doctrine of the dietary laws in the Sabbath-keeping faith is as follows.  There are two main components: one is to refrain from eating unclean foods, and the other is to practice vegetarianism.  The Sabbath-keeping faith teaches the prohibition of consuming foods deemed impure and abominable in Leviticus 11.  This means that foods considered impure and abominable in the Old Testament are still considered as such and should not be consumed.  However, is this doctrine of the Sabbath-keeping faith in line with the Scriptures?  The regulations of impurity and abomination in Leviticus 11 do not apply to New Testament Christians, as all these regulations have been nullified by the redemption of the cross.  The Bible provides clear evidence for this: "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.  These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ" (Col. 2:16-17) (Internet).  Look at Romans 14:14 - "I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself.  But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean."  On the contrary, Paul says, "Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.  For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer" (1 Tim. 4:3-5).

However, the key point in today's passage, Acts 10:9-16, is not about food itself, but rather, God is using the metaphor of food to teach Peter a lesson.  This lesson is nothing other than God instructing Peter, and by extension, the Jewish people, to no longer consider the Gentiles as impure and unclean.  God had already cleansed the Gentiles, whom Peter considered impure, through the atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross, so He commands Peter to preach the gospel to them.  When God told Peter in the vision to kill and eat the unclean animals he saw, it was a symbolic representation of Peter welcoming and embracing the Gentile men sent by Cornelius, and sharing fellowship with them (Yoo).  In a way, just as Jesus touched the leper, who was considered impure from a Jewish perspective, and dined with tax collectors and sinners who were viewed as defiled, God was telling Peter not to adhere to the Jewish purity laws anymore, but to accept and preach the Gospel to those whom God had already cleansed.

The thoughts and feelings that the Lord, who is currently the head of the church, gives me are to embrace and welcome souls in society who, like Jesus, are rejected and marginalized, in other words, those who experience exclusion and loneliness.  We should fellowship together in the Lord and move forward. Just as Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Lk. 5:31-32), our church should invite and embrace spiritually sick individuals, those burdened by sin, and lead them to repentance through the love of the Lord (v. 32).  Look at Romans 2:4 - "Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?"  The church should treat souls who are rejected and cast aside by the world, considering them as impure, with the love of the Lord, accepting them and enduring with patience, while leading them to repentance and turning them towards receiving Jesus as their Savior.  

We should recognize that what God has deemed clean, we should not consider impure. Rather, we should understand that what God has cleansed is indeed clean.  God has cleansed me and many others through the atonement of Jesus' cross.  Therefore, we should not consider ourselves impure.  

With a heart of gratitude for God's grace, who has cleansed us through the blood of Jesus,

James Kim

(As I seek for the glorious day to come)