Acts 10:14

Wherefore did he object? That none may say that God was proving him, as in the case of Abraham, this is why he says, "Not so, Lord," etc. not gainsaying - just as to Philip also He said, "How many loaves have ye?" Not to learn, but tempting, or "proving him." And yet it was the same Lord that had discoursed above in the Law concerning things clean and unclean. But in that sheet were also "all the four-footed beasts of the earth," the clean with the unclean.

Peter abstained from swine; "but a trance fell on him," as is written in the Acts of the Apostles, "and he saw heaven opened, and a vessel let down on the earth by the four corners, and all the four-footed beasts and creeping things of the earth and the fowls of heaven in it; and there came a voice to him, Rise, and slay, and eat. And Peter said, Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten what is common or unclean. And the voice came again to him the second time, What God hath cleansed, call not thou common." The use of them is accordingly indifferent to us. "For not what entereth into the mouth defileth the man," but the vain opinion respecting uncleanness.

Peter exhorts that the brutal and irrational sort of people be sacrificed, so that once they are cleansed what remains may become edible. The account of piety is delivered plainly, not once the divine voice having said that what God has sanctified is not common, …

Because I have never eaten anything common and unclean. The people of the Jews, boasting themselves as part of God, call common foods those which all men use. For example, pork, oysters, hares, and such animals which do not split the hoof, nor chew the …

Everyone would have begun to accuse Peter as a lawbreaker, and therefore it is arranged by the Spirit so that he would have a defense; that is why he objects to the Angel. For he had to fully observe the law. So this is arranged …

But it ought not to be repeated. This doubt and delay of St. Peter had several good effects. Hereby the will of God in this important point was made more evident and incontestable.

But Peter said, not so, Lord,....

The reason he gives is, " For I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean; hitherto I have kept my integrity in this matter, and will still keep it." If God, by his grace, has preserved us from gross sin unto this day, we should use this as an argument with ourselves to abstain from all appearance of evil.

Common or unclean - By common, κοινον, whatever was in general use among the Gentiles is to be understood; by ακαθαρτον, unclean, every thing that was forbidden by the Mosaic law. However, the one word may be considered as explanatory of the other. The rabbins themselves, and many of the primitive fathers, believed that by the unclean animals forbidden by the law the Gentiles were meant.

Not so, Lord--See Marginal reference. I have never eaten anything that is common--that is, not sanctified by divine permission to eat of it, and so "unclean." "The distinction of meats was a sacrament of national distinction, separation, and consecration" [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].

You and I have said some very curious things in our time. We have uttered exclamations that have been so good that the Lord accepted them, but they have been so bad that He could not have accepted them if it had not been for His infinite mercy! In our utterances there has been faith mixed with unbelief, love defaced with a lack of submission, gratitude combined with distrust, humility flavored with self-conceit, courage undermined with cowardice, fervor mingled with indifference.

You and I have said some very curious things in our time. We have uttered exclamations that have been so good that the Lord accepted them, but they have been so bad that He could not have accepted them if it had not been for His infinite mercy! In our utterances there has been faith mixed with unbelief, love defaced with a lack of submission, gratitude combined with distrust, humility flavored with self-conceit, courage undermined with cowardice, fervor mingled with indifference. We are as strange beings as the image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream and our speech betrays the fact. When we were fashioned by nature, first of all, we were "fearfully and wonderfully made." But when we fell and were unmade by sin, we became monstrosities, combinations of contrary actions! I will not dwell upon that topic, but every man who looks within, if the candle of God is shining within him, must often cry out, "Lord, what is man, that You are mindful of him? And the son of man, that You visit him?' In our speech, this mixed estate of ours most plainly shows itself. We often feel as if we could eat our words, or at the least, unsay them. Speeches that have had about them real sincerity and true devotion have been greatly marred by expressions which were not fit for the occasion. Our tongues need a sevenfold sanctification if we are always to speak that which is good and acceptable. And, surely, that is what we desire. Now, we will have a look at Peter and see what we can learn from this amazing expression of his—this strangely compounded exclamation, "Not so, Lord." I. The first Truth of God which we may easily learn is that THE OLD MAN REMAINS IN THE CHRISTIAN MAN. Albeit we are made new creatures in Christ Jesus and the life that is within us, the dominant life, is new, holy and heavenly, yet the old nature still survives.

I have never eaten ... - In the Old Testament God had made a distinction between clean and unclean animals. See Lev. 11:2-27; Deut. 14:3-20. This law remained in the Scriptures, and Peter pled that he had never violated it, implying that he could not now violate it, as it was a law of God, and that, as it was unrepealed, he did not dare to act in a different manner from what it required. Between that law and the command which he now received in the vision there was an apparent variation, and Peter naturally referred to the well known and admitted written Law. One design of the vision was to show him that that Law was now to pass away. That is common - This word properly denotes “what pertains to all,” but among the Jews, who were bound by special laws, and who were prohibited from many things that were freely indulged in by other nations, the word “common” came to be opposed to the word “sacred,” and to denote what was in common use among the pagans, hence, that which was “profane,” or “polluted.” Here it means the same as “profane,” or “forbidden.” Unclean - Ceremonially unclean; that is, what is forbidden by the ceremonial law of Moses.