Limitless Word
He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts by faith.
Acts 15:9 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
  • KJV And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
  • NKJV and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
  • NASB and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
  • NLT He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God made no distinction between Jew and Gentile, cleansing their hearts by faith. Salvation purifies the heart through faith, the same for all people.

Overview

Peter declares that the same God who saved Jews saved Gentiles on identical terms, with no second-class status. Crucially, hearts are cleansed 'by faith,' not by circumcision or ritual. This statement anchors the doctrine of justification by faith and the unity of all believers in Christ, regardless of background.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 22

  • Eph 3:6This 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.
  • Rom 3:22And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction,
  • Gal 5:6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.
  • Acts 10:28He 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 11:12The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s home.
  • Col 3:11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.
  • Gal 3:28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
  • 1 Cor 1:2To 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:
  • Acts 10:34Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,
  • Acts 10:15The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
  • Acts 10:43–44All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”
  • 1 Pet 1:22Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.
  • Rom 4:11–12And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
  • Rom 3:29–30Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,
  • Rom 9:24including us, whom He has called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles?
  • Acts 14:27When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
  • Rom 10:11–13It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
  • 1 Cor 7:18Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised.
  • Acts 14:1At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue, where they spoke so well that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.
  • Heb 9:13–14For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that their bodies are clean,
  • Rom 3:9What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin.
  • Eph 2:14–22For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (11)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Acts 15:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.

How Acts 15:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.