Limitless Word
and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
Acts 15:9 · New American 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.
  • BSB He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts by faith.
  • NKJV and made no distinction between us and them, purifying 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 3:6that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus through the Good News,
  • Rom 3:22even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction,
  • Gal 5:6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.
  • Acts 10:28He said to them, “You yourselves know how it is an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to join himself or come to one of another nation, but God has shown me that I shouldn’t call any man unholy or unclean.
  • Acts 11:12The Spirit told me to go with them, without discriminating. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house.
  • Col 3:11where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all.
  • Gal 3:28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
  • 1 Cor 1:2to the assembly of God which is at Corinth; those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours:
  • Acts 10:34Peter opened his mouth and said, “Truly I perceive that God doesn’t show favoritism;
  • Acts 10:15A voice came to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean.”
  • Acts 10:43–44All the prophets testify about him, that through his name everyone who believes in him will receive remission of sins.”
  • 1 Pet 1:22Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently:
  • Rom 4:11–12He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they might be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them.
  • Rom 3:29–30Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
  • Rom 9:24us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles?
  • Acts 14:27When they had arrived, and had gathered the assembly together, they reported all the things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the nations.
  • Rom 10:11–13For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”
  • 1 Cor 7:18Was anyone called having been circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised.
  • Acts 14:1In Iconium, they entered together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of Jews and of Greeks believed.
  • Heb 9:13–14For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh:
  • Rom 3:9What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin.
  • Eph 2:14–22For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition,

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.