Bible Strands
Acts 15:9
He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts by faith.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Peter addresses the Jerusalem Council, reminding the assembled apostles and elders that God has already acted among Gentile believers. His statement follows his recounting of God giving the Holy Spirit to uncircumcised Gentiles just as He did to Jewish believers.
The words — οὐθὲν διέκρινεν (outhen diekrinen) = He made no distinction. The verb diekrinen carries the literal sense of drawing a dividing line or making a separation, which Peter explicitly negates.
The thread — This theme of divine impartiality appears in Ephesians 3:6, which declares Gentiles as fellow heirs through the gospel. It aligns with Romans 3:22, which states that God’s righteousness comes to all who believe with no distinction, and Galatians 5:6, which notes that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision holds value in Christ.
Why it lands — The text reports that God cleansed Gentile hearts through faith alone, establishing that salvation does not require ethnic or ritual markers. A reader must recognize that human requirements cannot override God’s established pattern of acceptance by faith.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Cross-references
- Ephesians 3:6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
- Romans 3:22 And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction,
- Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is faith expressing itself through love.
- Acts 10:28 He said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.
- Acts 11:12 The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s home.
- 1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
- Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Colossians 3:11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.
- Acts 10:15 The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
- Acts 10:34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,