"The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter.  After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, 'Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the Gospel and believe.  And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.  Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?  But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they are also.'"

Peter is not defending his own decision to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles.  He is not defending Barnabas and Paul. 

Peter is reminding the apostles and disciples that God is the One in charge of bringing the gospel message.

He made no distinction between us and them.

There is no "us" and "them".  Not in the eyes of God.

We often try to align ourselves with God when we look at our good works.  We say, "This is godly, so I must be in God's camp."  But the truth is, God wants all in His camp, so He accepts us all. Our responsibility is to believe.

And maybe we can be more like God today:  Maybe we can begin to accept all men.

That's what Peter was making a case for on this day.