"The ground is level at the foot of the cross." There is no platform of religious or ethnic heritage or practice that one must climb to qualify for God's saving favor. First-century Jews, even Jewish Christians, would have disagreed. Today, some nominal Christians look to bloodlines or certain religious rites to erect their platform. But the startling good news of Peter's message is that no religio-ethnic or cultural conditions must be met to qualify for God's salvation blessings.