I understand. that God shows. No partiality, 35 but in every. nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. Perhaps the greatest barrier to the spread of the gospel in the first century was the Jewish-Gentile conflict. Most of the early believers were Jewish, and to them it was scandalous even to think of associating with Gentiles. But God told Peter to take the gospel to a Roman, and Peter obeyed despite his background and personal feelings. The word used here (Gk. dektos, acceptable, welcome ) does not refer to legal justification before God (for which the NT uses Gk. dikaioĊ and related terms), nor is Peter talking about the basis for justification. Rather, the question here is whether God s favor is made available to Jews only ( partiality, v. 34) or is now available to Gentiles also (those in every nation ).
