In the early ministry of Jesus Christ, as recorded in Matthew 10:5-6, He instructed the apostles to avoid the Gentiles and the Samaritans, directing them instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. However, by the time of Pentecost and the events in the book of Acts, a significant shift occurred, marking a stage where Christ determined it was time to extend the message to other nations. Despite this outreach, the response from Gentiles often mirrored that of the Jews; unless God was specifically calling individuals, as with Cornelius and his family, Gentiles frequently reacted with persecution, just as many Jews did. As the apostles preached in Gentile areas, such as in Acts 13:42-50, initial interest from Gentiles in cities like Antioch in Pisidia was evident, with many begging to hear more on the next Sabbath. Yet, opposition arose as Jews, filled with envy, contradicted and blasphemed against Paul's teachings, leading Paul and Barnabas to boldly turn their focus to the Gentiles, declaring that the Lord had commanded them to be a light to the Gentiles for salvation to the ends of the earth. While many Gentiles rejoiced and believed, Jewish opposition stirred persecution, ultimately expelling Paul and Barnabas from the region. In Acts 14:1-7, in Iconium, a great multitude of both Jews and Greeks believed due to the apostles' preaching, but unbelieving Jews incited the Gentiles, poisoning their minds against the brethren. This division led to violent attempts by both Gentiles and Jews to abuse and stone the apostles, forcing them to flee to Lystra and Derbe. Later, in Acts 14:19-28, Jews from Antioch and Iconium persuaded Gentile multitudes in Lystra to stone Paul, though he survived and continued preaching, eventually reporting back in Antioch that God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. The tension between Jewish and Gentile believers also surfaced in Acts 15:1-10, where certain men from Judea insisted that Gentile converts must be circumcised according to Mosaic custom to be saved, sparking significant dispute. Peter addressed this at the Jerusalem council, affirming that God had chosen him to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, granting them the Holy Spirit just as He did to the Jews, making no distinction and purifying their hearts by faith. James, in Acts 15:14-21, further declared that God had visited the Gentiles to take out a people for His name, aligning with prophetic words, and judged that they should not trouble Gentile converts with additional burdens beyond abstaining from idolatry, sexual immorality, things strangled, and blood. These events highlight a historical pattern where Gentiles, like Israelites, often initially accepted the gospel but turned to persecution when influenced by opposition or deeper reflection, revealing a shared human nature prone to sin. This recurring behavior underscores the challenges faced by the early church in bridging the divide between Jews and Gentiles as they navigated the expansion of God's message.

The incident shows not only the conversion of a Gentile but the first major realization by the church that Gentiles were to be accepted into full fellowship with Jews. It also shows the first time that the gospel was taken directly to Gentiles. In every other case prior to this even though there may have been some Gentiles who were converted it was always peripheral. The Jews had for a long time accepted Gentiles into Judaism but not in full fellowship. This situation is the event that changed all of that in the Christian church because the Christian church up until that time was largely Jewish in its thinking. An apostle a man who had spent three and a half years with Jesus Christ and yet it is very evident from his own lips that he was still following many of the same ideas that he brought with him from Judaism. The church's resistance to Gentiles being evangelized and or in direct contact in fellowship in the church is addressed. It shows very clearly that it was God Himself who led the church into this right understanding. It was Peter not Paul that God used in this regard. Since Peter was the chief apostle first among equals it was essential that God begin that work through him. The Jerusalem church's acceptance of the Gentile conversions apart from any previous allegiance to Judaism is a major thing. Peter said you know how that it is unlawful for a Jew to keep company with a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Then Peter opened his mouth and said in truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. 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. When Peter came up to Jerusalem those of the circumcision contended with him saying you went into uncircumcised men and ate with them. Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning step by step chronologically. If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ who was I that I should withstand God. When they heard these things they became silent and they glorified God saying then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.

At the Jerusalem conference, certain believers from Judea insisted that Gentiles could not be saved unless circumcised according to the custom of Moses and required to keep the law of Moses, effectively demanding that they become Jews through ritual and tradition. Peter countered that God had shown no distinction between Jews and Gentiles when the gospel was first preached to the latter, granting them the Holy Spirit by faith just as He had to Jewish believers, and that both groups are saved in the same manner through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. James supported this conclusion by citing prophetic Scripture that God had always intended to include Gentiles among His people, ruling that no additional burden should be placed on them beyond abstaining from things offered to idols, sexual immorality, things strangled, and blood. These four prohibitions addressed widespread Gentile practices that would offend Jewish brethren and hinder fellowship in the church, while assuming that the Gentiles already knew the requirements of God's law from hearing it read in the synagogues. The apostles thereby affirmed that circumcision and man-made Jewish traditions held no role in justification for either group, since salvation comes solely by grace through faith for Jew and Gentile alike. This decision preserved the unity of the one body in which both are raised together in Christ Jesus, while establishing that God's law remains binding on all believers as the standard of righteousness rather than a means of earning salvation.

The conversion of the Gentile Cornelius and his family took place in Caesarea. God introduced the Gentiles into the church through the back door in order to soften the cultural shock to Jewish pride. Peter stated that it was unlawful for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. God showed Peter that he should not call any man common or unclean. There is no place in any direction God gave in His Word in which He forbids Gentiles from being acceptable to being companions with Jews. It was unlawful by means of Jewish adjustments and traditions added to God's laws. God began converting Gentiles in large enough numbers to establish congregations. Paul writes to a Gentile congregation that they once were called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision. At that time they were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. In Christ Jesus those who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. He Himself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of division between us. He has abolished in His flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. Because of the existing Jewish religious regulations combined with mankind's normal carnality the separation between the two peoples could hardly get healed. It became a natural part of both cultures to have a prejudiced wariness of each other that in some cases was outright hatred. This had to be overcome spiritually in order to accept each other and to meet together in the closest bonds of spiritual brotherhood as parts of the same spiritual body that Jesus was forming by means of the church. Judaism was a religion Gentiles were not really accepted at participating in except at a very comfortable distance.

In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul addresses a congregation that included both Israelites and Gentiles who faced significant attitudinal barriers to unity. The Israelites carried feelings of superiority rooted in their circumcision and the knowledge advantage God had granted them through His choice to reveal Himself and His Word to the families of Jacob. The Gentiles, by contrast, experienced feelings of inferiority, resentment, and rejection because God had chosen to hide Himself more fully from the rest of the world. These differences created real offense on both sides, with pride on one and envious hatred on the other, even though neither group was wholly responsible for the separation that God Himself had established. Paul reminds the Gentiles of their former alienation from Christ, from the commonwealth of Israel, and from the covenants of promise, while simultaneously correcting the Israelites by noting that their circumcision was merely physical and handmade rather than a supernatural work of the heart. Through the calling in Christ Jesus, both groups receive the same faith, justification, and hope, placing them on equal footing before God. Jesus Christ serves as their peace by breaking down the middle wall of partition, abolishing the enmity that existed between them, and reconciling both unto God in one body through the cross. The real barrier to oneness was each group's attitude toward God's law. The Israelites had formalized their religion around ceremony while minimizing spiritual and moral requirements, leading to self-righteousness. The Gentiles' natural antagonism against God's law fueled their resentment. The solution required each person to repent, humble himself, forgive the other, and carry out his responsibilities on the strength of their common relationship with Christ. In this way, they also straightened out their relationship with God, allowing true unity to become a reality. This same process remains necessary whenever differences threaten oneness among those God has called.