On the first Pentecost after the ascension of our Savior, the gospel was preached by Peter (Acts 2:14-36).  About three thousand souls were saved and added to the church on that day (Acts 2:41-47), and the promise that Jesus made to Peter on the coast of Caesarea Philippi began to be fulfilled (Matthew 16:18).  The church of Christ came into existence.

In the beginning, only Jews made up the church.  Around ten years later, Peter used the key of salvation upon the Gentiles, opening the door to the kingdom for them.  After receiving a vision to prepare his mind to be receptive to Gentiles, the Spirit told Peter to go with the men who were at Simon’s gate.  These men were sent by Cornelius, a centurion who also had a vision, telling him to send for Peter.  Peter did as he was instructed and went to the house of Cornelius.  For the first time, the gospel was preached to Gentiles.

In his sermon, Peter preached Jesus to Cornelius and his household (Acts 10:34-48).  He began with a summary statement of how one can be accepted by God.

Acts 10:34-35 (NKJV)
³⁴  Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth, I perceive that God shows no partiality. ³⁵  But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.

God is not a respecter of persons.  No matter who you are or where you are from, God will accept you if you meet His conditions, and everyone is accepted by Him the same way.  It begins with fearing God and ends with doing works of righteousness.

The word fear means, “to be in awe of or to revere.”  The majority of people in the world reject God because they have no fear of Him.  Their lack of fear is based on their ignorance of Who He is.  When one comes to realize that God is the Creator of all things, including man, and that we all will someday give an account of ourselves to Him (Romans 14:10-12), he will be in awe of Him.  Without that godly fear, a person will never do what is necessary to be accepted by God.

The one who fears God will do works of righteousness, or as the ESV says, he will do what is right.  Righteousness from this standpoint refers to, “the sum total of the requirements of God” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary).  This begins with obeying the gospel of Christ.  We know what is involved in doing this because Peter preached the specifics of it on the day of Pentecost.  He told the crowd that they must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ in order to have their sins forgiven (Acts 2:38).  There is no exception to this teaching.  If you want acceptance with God, no matter who you are, you must repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord.

Being accepted by God is not something one does by committing a single act.  It might be said that acceptance with God begins with obeying the gospel (Romans 1:16), but that acceptance is maintained by continuing to do what is right according to the Word of God.  To be accepted by God, we must live by His Word, following the doctrinal and moral precepts found therein.  No one gets a pass here.  To be right, we must do right.

1 John 3:7 (ESV)
⁷  Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.     

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.