Should We Evangelize All Races?
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Yes. The Bible teaches that the gospel is for all regardless of one’s race, social status, skin color, or other physical appearances that happen to be different from others. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” God loved the entire world, every single person in it. God sent His Son to die for everyone. Jesus reflects this thought in the great commission. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” (Matthew 28:19-20). Mark records Jesus’ words, “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). The gospel is for “all nations,” and “every creature.” The apostle did not do this. They only preached to their Jewish neighbors. God was not happy with this. He let Peter know that things needed to change. We find this story in Acts 10.
The Bible says that Cornelius was “a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always” (Acts 10:2). Yet, Cornelius did not know about Jesus. Since the church was not taking the gospel to the gentiles, God had to personally intervene to get this process started. So, God sent an angel to facilitate the process. The angel did not tell Cornelius what to do to be saved nor say anything about Jesus. The angel told Cornelius to send for Peter. It was Peter’s job to preach the gospel to Cornelius.
Peter, however, had a problem. He would not go into a gentile’s house because gentiles were unclean. God taught Peter otherwise. In a vision, He showed Peter various unclean animals. A voice told Peter to “kill and eat.” Peter’s response was “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean” (Acts 10:14). This happened three times and then, Cornelius’ men arrived where Peter was staying. The Holy Spirit told Peter to go with them without doubting because He had sent them. These men told Peter, “Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you (Acts 10:22)” The next day, Peter set out with these men to see Cornelius.
When Peter arrived at Cornelius’ house, he said, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean” (Acts 10:28). Peter had figured out what the vision meant. He was not to withhold the gospel from those who were not Jews even though it was “unlawful,” in Peter’s words. Cornelius then told Peter the story about the angel appearing to him. He then said, “Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God. (Acts 10:33)”
Peter told them about Jesus. Then something unusual happened. “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God” (Acts 10:44-46). Why did the Holy Spirit do this? It was forbidden for a Jew to touch a gentile. God had to convince Peter and the others to do this so that they could baptize them. “’Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’ And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord” (Acts 10:47-48). God wants everyone to hear the gospel and respond to the gospel. He did not want our individual prejudices against anyone interfering. That is why we have this story in Acts 10. We absolutely must take the gospel to anyone who will hear it. We must evangelize all races!