John Calvin Commentary Acts 10:15

"And a voice [came] unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, make not thou common." — Acts 10:15 (ASV)

God hath made clean. He speaks concerning food, but this sentence must be extended to all parts of life. It is, word for word, That which God hath made clean, do not thou make profane; but the sense is this: It is not for us to allow or condemn anything. Instead, as we stand or fall by the judgment of God alone, so He is the judge of all things (Romans 14:4). Regarding food, after the abrogation of the law, God pronounces that all food is pure and clean.

If, on the other hand, some mortal man arises, making a new distinction and forbidding certain foods, he arrogates to himself the authority and power of God with sacrilegious boldness. Of this kind were the old heretics: Montanus, Priscillianus, the Donatists, the Tatians, and all the Encratites. Afterwards, the Pope, in order to bind all those sects together, made a law concerning food.

And there is no reason why the patrons of this impiety should babble that they do not imagine any uncleanness in food, but claim that people are forbidden to eat meat on certain days to tame the flesh. For since they eat food that is most suitable for both delicacy and for excess, why do they abstain from eating bacon, as if it were some great offense, unless it is because they imagine that what is forbidden by the law of their idol is unclean and polluted?

With similar pride, the tyranny of the Pope rages in all parts of life, for there is nothing in which he does not lay snares to entangle the miserable consciences of people. But let us trust in the heavenly oracle and freely despise all his prohibitions. We must always consult the mouth of the Lord, so that we may thereby be assured of what we may lawfully do, since it was not lawful even for Peter to make profane what was lawful by the Word of God.

Furthermore, this passage is of great importance to counter the perversity of people, which they display too much in perverse judgments. Almost everyone grants themselves the liberty to judge the actions of others. Now, as we are often ill-tempered and malicious, we are more inclined to the worse interpretation, so that we take from God what is His. This voice alone—that it is not lawful for us to make this or that unclean, but that this power belongs to God alone—should be enough to correct such boldness. From these words, we also understand that the Jews were not the holy people of the Lord because they excelled through their own worthiness, but only because of God’s adoption. Now, after God received the Gentiles into the fellowship of the covenant, they all have equal right.