Acts 10:11-16

YLT ¹¹ and he doth behold the heaven opened, and descending unto him a certain vessel, as a great sheet, bound at the four corners, and let down upon the earth, ¹² in which were all the four-footed beasts of the earth, and the wild beasts, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the heaven, ¹³ and there came a voice unto him: `Having risen, Peter, slay and eat.’ <sup>14</sup> And Peter said, `Not so, Lord; because at no time did I eat anything common or unclean;’ ¹⁵ and there is a voice again a second time unto him: `What God did cleanse, thou, declare not thou common;’ ¹⁶ and this was done thrice, and again was the vessel received up to the heaven.

Acts 10:22

YLT ²² And they said, `Cornelius, a centurion, a man righteous and fearing God, well testified to, also, by all the nation of the Jews, was divinely warned by a holy messenger to send for thee, to his house, and to hear sayings from thee.’ 

Cornelius sent two of his household servants and a soldier to fetch Peter because an angel told him to. The three men he sent to Peter refer to Cornelius as a man (andre) but describe him as just and righteous. Even the Jews approved of his human behavior as a Gentile.

In Acts 10:28 the generic Jew is referred to as a man (andre) by Peter, (not necessarily of human behavior or part of true humanity). Peter uses the Greek word for a male person, rather than the covenant word ‘human’ to describe the generic Jew. Whereas the one not to be called unclean any longer is referred to as a human, not just any man. When Cornelius finally meets Peter, he falls at his feet to worship, but Peter says ,”Stand up. I myself am also human.” Peter doesn’t claim to be just any old man. Peter claims to be in the image of humanity along with the Gentile Cornelius. That was the whole point of the sheet vision. Peter finally got it. Humanity is not determined by race. Humans are those who don’t take God’s name in vain. They carry His family image. They are clean. They are righteous and just, like God.

I contend that all the animal creations coming down from heaven in Peter’s vision represented the different people groups or nationalities. They represented all the original living souls created by God and His angels also called watchers. Animals who were receiving the Holy Spirit of new creation were being called human just as the Jews. The first human/Adam also came out of the world at large. He became an immature living human soul by typical nose breath before being placed in the garden with the Spirit of God. Surely the indwelling Holy Spirit more personally develops the image of God in man, which is the definition of true humanity.

Hebrews became the image bearers among all the people on the planet. Just as only some Jews were the true Jews made to bear the image of God (sons of Adam or sons of humanity), only some people from the Gentile nations (represented by animals) became truly human. They were no longer unclean animals but were humans, making all races irrelevant. God’s image bearers were no longer to be typically identified by race. Post-diaspora, post-Pentecost, post-sheet vision; all races became equal. On Pentecost 3000 souls who had gathered from many nationalities, both Jews and converts gladly believed. Proselytes to Judaism were already considered clean by Jews. That is why they were allowed to be with them on that Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit initiated their new covenant humanity.

Peter defines what true humanity looks like to the first century Jew in in verse 34ff. The definition of humanity (the image of God in people) matures into something that is no longer race based. It changes from the face value of a racial identity to personal behavior. Which it always was under law but Cornelius is not required to keep Jewish festivals. It boils down to the essential character of God outside of all the old covenant laws. Ultimately it will hinge on the choice of the Holy Spirit, who was adding the cultivated by diaspora people to the body of new covenant humanity, without the typical conversion process of proselytism to Judaism.

3000 individual souls of both Jews and proselytes were added to the body of Christ on Pentecost. It came to be about 5000 men that were added to the body in Acts 4:4. That number grieved the non-believing (anti-Christ) Jews who were not accepting the true humanity of Christ. The new covenant objectors might be referred to as adult male Jews (andre) that were not being added to new covenant humanity (anthropos). They were mostly not God’s chosen people, though some new covenant Jews did fall for the Judaizers.

Acts 10:28 (no human is unclean)

JMNT ²⁸Thus he affirmed to them, “You folks continue well versed [in the fact] and are well aware of how illicit and inappropriate (forbidden by [our] Law and contrary to [our] established order) it is for an adult man [who is] a Jew (or: is of the Jewish culture) to be intimately joined to, or to regularly come to (or: visit and associate with), a man from another race. And yet God pointed out and demonstrated to me not to continue saying [that] even one human [is] common (= socially or ceremonially unhallowed or defiled) or unclean

Acts 10:34-35

JMNT ³⁴At this Peter, opening his mouth said, “ [Based] upon truth and reality, I continue grasping with force and fully receiving [understanding] that God is neither partial nor takes folks at face value (does not receive faces or appearances), ³⁵“but to the contrary, within every nation and ethnic group the person habitually reverencing and fearing Him, as well as repeatedly doing works and performing acts that have the qualities and character of fairness, equity, justice and rightwised relationships which accord with the way pointed out (= covenant principles) is and continues being welcome and acceptable to Him.

It was indeed the sons of Israel who had a synagogue in every city teaching the Logos to the nations. The sons of Israel then evangelized the nations. The determining factor was the choice of the Holy Spirit to indwell all nations, not just Jews. Jewish Peter was reluctant at first, but did not want to argue with the Holy Spirit. Besides the people from other nations were being added to the Jewish only church by God and nobody could stop God from gathering His chosen people into the one new body.

Typically Hebrews could only eat clean animals. Before the indwelling Holy Spirit, an unclean animal could not be made clean by bringing it into the human body. The foreigner had to become human first by joining the law covenant. In the new covenant, the animals were made clean spiritually. The sheet vision of clean animals came down from the spiritual realm of heaven. People from all nationalities were being born from heaven. The one new body was made of Spirit born people only. The only begotten head of the new covenant body was the only Spirit born body in the old covenant. The body of Christ is a new covenant phenomenon now.

JMNT ³⁶“He sent forth the Logos (the Word; the Idea; the Thought; the Reason; the message) to, and then in and by the sons of Israel – repeatedly announcing the good new of ease and well-being: peace through Jesus Christ ([the] Anointed One). This One is Lord (Master) of all humans, and Owner of all things! ³⁷“You yourselves have seen and thus know the thing happening (coming to be) – [the] result of the flow (or: spoken word; or: = the subject talked about) [going] down through the whole of the Judean [district], beginning from Galilee, after the immersion (or: baptism) which John, as a herald, publicly proclaimed –³⁸“Jesus, the One from Nazareth – even as how God anointed Him with [a/the] set-apart Breath-effect (or: Holy Spirit; Sacred Attitude) even for (or: and with) power and ability – Who went throughout repeatedly doing works bringing goodness, ease and well-being, as well as constantly healing all the folks being continuously held down under power (tyrannized and oppressed) by the one that casts things through folks (the accuser, slanderer, adversary)...because God was with Him. ³⁹“And we ourselves [are] witnesses of all[the] things which He did (and: performed; produced), both within the country of the Judeans, and in Jerusalem – Whom also they lifted up and assassinated, hanging [Him] upon a wooden pole (or: stake; tree). ⁴⁰“This Man (or: Person) God raised up on (or: in; [D reads: after]) [the] third day, and He gave (or: gives) Him to become (or: be birthed) visible within the midst – ⁴¹“not among all the people, but rather among witnesses (or: disclosed – not to all the people, but rather to folks giving evidence) having been previously hand-picked and elected by God – in us (or: to us) who ate and drank together with Him, after the [occasion for] Him to stand back up (rise again) out from the midst of dead folks. ⁴²“And He passed along the directive (the announced instructions) for us to publicly proclaim, as heralds – to, and among, the people – and to certify at once, by personal evidence, and to give testimony as witnesses that this Man is and continues being the very One having been definitely marked out and specified by God [as] He who decides ([the] Evaluator; a Separator for making decisions; Judge) concerning presently living folks, and currently dead people. ⁴³“To this Man (or: Person) all the prophets (those who had light ahead of time) continue bearing witness, giving testimony and presenting evidence: through His Name, everyone making it a habit to place their trust into Him and continue believing with [their focus] into the midst of Him is to at once receive a sending away of mistakes (a divorce from failures; a cancellation of errors; a forgiveness of sins; a flowing off of deviations).” ⁴⁴During the middle of Peter’s still speaking these gush-effects and results of the flow (or: declarations), the set-apart Breath-effect (or: the Holy Spirit; the Sacred Wind) fell upon all the folks presently listening to and hearing the Logos (the message; the Word). ⁴⁵Then the trusting (full of faith and loyal) folksfrom among [the] Circumcision (= those of the Jewish culture and religion) who came with Peter “stood out of themselves” in shocked amazement, that the free gift (the gratuity) of (or: which is) the set-apart Breath-effect (the Holy Spirit) had been poured out upon the nations (the ethnic multitudes; the non-Jews) as well,

Colossians 3:10-11 (the new covenant comes down and corresponds to the image of it’s creator)

JMNT ( ¹⁰and then [be] suddenly clothing yourselves with (or: entering within) the new one (the fresh one which existed only recently), the one being continuously (or: repeatedly; habitually; progressively) renewed (made back up new again, in kind and character) into full, accurate, added, intimate and experiential knowledge and insight which is down from and corresponds to the image (an exactly formed visible likeness) of its Creator (of the One framing and founding it from a state of wildness and disorder), ¹¹wherein (or: in which place) there is no Greek [figure of the multitudes who are non-Jews, and of those who are cultured and civilized] and Jew [figure of a covenant people of God], circumcision and uncircumcision [figure for religious in-groups and out-groups; there is no longer a covenant people versus non-covenant people], barbarian [foreigner who speaks a different language], Scythian [figure or example of wild, uncivilized groups], slave, freeman, but to the contrary, Christ [is] all, and within all (or: Christ [is] all humanity, and within all mankind; or: Christ [is] everything or all things, and within everything and all things; [note: the Greek is plural, and is either masculine, signifying “mankind,” or neuter, signifying all creation, in these phrases]).

Matthew 3:17 (the true imager even in the old creation)

YLT ¹⁷ and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, `This is My Son—the Beloved, in whom I did delight.’