Oddly enough, one of the toughest questions the early church had to wrestle with was to what extent the Law of Moses continued in effect after Pentecost.
We like to imagine that the apostles or New Testament prophets were gifted with all the answers from day one, but this is plainly not the case. Had it been that easy, there’d have been no council at Jerusalem to decide whether Gentiles must be circumcised (that is, convert to Jerusalem) to be saved. And there was such a council.
God gave Peter a vision declaring all foods clean — contrary to the Law — but intending to communicate that the Gentiles are therefore clean. After all, the purpose of the food laws regarding clean and unclean foods was to separate the Jews from the Gentiles. If all food is clean, then so are Gentiles. (Not obvious to you and me because we think of laws as laws, whereas Peter, as a devout Jew, would have known that the food laws were about separating Jews from Gentiles. In Paul and the Faithfulness of God, N. T. Wright demonstrates that this understanding was common in Second Temple Judaism.)
God then sends Peter to preach the gospel to Cornelius, a Gentile centurion — in fact, a Roman soldier. And God pours out his Spirit as Peter preaches, that is, as the centurion comes to faith, not waiting on a confession or water baptism. God wants to make it crystal clear that Cornelius is to become a Christian as he is, without any need for circumcision or such like.
Shortly thereafter, Paul is sent to Asia Minor as a missionary, and he converts many, many Gentiles without requiring them to convert first to Judaism. And he comes home, only to find a group of Jewish Christians beside themselves with anger — because Paul is destroying the traditions of Moses. In fact, circumcision goes back beyond Moses all the way to Abraham as an identifying mark of God’s covenant! It was looking to be an ugly fight.
(This seems foreign to us until we remember that the church of Christ was founded AD 33. This was a church of Christ fight — and these are our spiritual forebears. This is us! I mean, we can’t claim the founding date and not also accept the problems that go with the date — and it does fit. There was a “conservative” camp insisting on the scriptures, as plainly written — and Jesus never once said that circumcision is no longer necessary. Jesus said quite a bit regarding the end of the Sabbath, and predicted the end of the Temple, but he never questioned circumcision. And so this group considered themselves to stand foursquare on the holy scriptures. They had just missed the big picture, especially the (true) overarching story of the scriptures. And calling their views “tradition” surely only made them madder.)
Meanwhile, Peter was vacillating and Paul found himself nearly alone in arguing that these new Gentile converts in nearby lands are in fact Christians and brothers and sisters of the Jewish Christians in Judea. He had to remind Peter of his own history and that, as a leader, he could not dare to pretend to agree with the circumcision party while actually believing them to be in error. That might be good church politics, but it’s bad gospel — and destined only to make the divide worse in future years as the circumcision party claims Peter as an ally — perhaps for generations.
You see, Paul was the “liberal” because he considered the literal words of God’s covenant with Abraham, requiring circumcision as a sign of the covenant, to be abolished by the resurrection of Jesus. Paul said that faith in Jesus is the true mark and that fact prevails over any other element that may have once applied.
The decision was made that the apostles and the elders of the Jerusalem church would decide the issue. Some consider this to be some sort of churchwide council — but no one invited the Gentile churches to the discussion, and for that matter, neither were the leaders of the church at Antioch there — except that Paul and Barnabas, their missionaries, “and some of the others” were present. There’s no indication that the elders of the church in Antioch made the trip or had a vote. Hence, verses 22 and 23 refer to the decision being made by the “apostles and elders” and “the whole church.”
My own theory is that the decision was being made simply by and for the Jerusalem church, because the teachers insisting on circumcision were from the Jerusalem church. The fact that the apostles were a part of the decision surely gave it great weight in the minds of other churches, but the problem arose in Judea and had to be resolved in Jerusalem (Acts 15:1; compare Gal 2:12).
Peter made a speech, recalling the Cornelius incident —
(Act 15:7-11 ESV) 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
Notice that Peter agrees that it was at the moment of Cornelius’ faith that God saved him (“cleansed their hearts” v. 9). Peter preaches grace, essentially claiming the conversion of Cornelius as a template for all Gentile conversions. If Cornelius did not have to be circumcised, why any other Gentile?
(Act 15:12 ESV) 12 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.
Barnabas and Paul then testified to the workings of God done through them in order to bring salvation to the Gentiles. The mighty acts of God surely demonstrate God’s approval of their mission!
Again: notice that no one says: I’m an inspired prophet and God has given me a certain answer. For whatever reason, they felt the need to hash it out. They had to consider the workings of God and his Spirit in the church. Peter and Paul were the most important speakers, evidently, and their experiences as well as their arguments won the day.
Perhaps God wanted the Jews to hear the arguments and see the issue worked out. Perhaps he wanted them to feel that they’d had a fair hearing before he overruled them through his apostles and elders. Or perhaps God wants us to do group hermeneutics and sort hard questions out together — even today. (It’s an interesting question, isn’t it?)
(Act 15:13-19 ESV) 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, 16 “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, 17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.’ 19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God,
James, the brother of Jesus and evidently acting as chairman, offers an Old Testament passage (Amos 9:11-12) as promising the entry of the Gentiles into the Kingdom — as Gentiles, not converted Jews. He then proposes —
(Act 15:20-21 ESV) 20 “[We] should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
Why this list? That’s for the next post in this series.
I must admit I am surprised. Jay, you said:
“(This seems foreign to us until we remember that the church of Christ was founded AD 33. This was a church of Christ fight — and these are our spiritual forebears. This is us! I mean, we can’t claim the founding date and not also accept the problems that go with the date — and it does fit…”
Do you really believe that those churches that grew out of the Restoration Movement began by the Campbell’s, Stone and others are the exact same as the universal body of Christ? I am well aware of the misguided belief that perhaps most of those who use the term “the Lord’s church” have in mind only members of the visible, local churches of Christ, but it’s wrong. Our precious denomination, churches of Christ, came to us through Baptists and Presbyterians.
Restoration Movement believers have no more right to claim their brand started in AD 33 than Catholics, Baptists and some others.
Let me be clear… The universal one body of Christ (the saved from every people group, location, and denomination) is correctly called the church of Christ, it is Christ’s, it is his purchased possession, it is his spiritual body. It is the “church of Christ”. (I hope this is the meaning you had in mind in this post…)
The churches of Christ, visible on earth, is not the exact duplicate of the spiritual body described above. In our churches there are some impostors, some professors who are not possessors, wheat among the tares. All of us who have been around for many years have witnessed people who made a good confession, were baptized, and then proved by a rebellious lifestyle that they were not truly disciples of Jesus. It happens across all of the church brands. So yes, we members of churches of Christ, who are truly saved are in that great body of believers, the church of Christ, the body of Christ.
When we claim to be the only true church (coc on earth) we do so to the exclusion of all other baptized believers. (Jay, you have made it clear that in your understanding there are some Christians who have not even been baptized, and I agree.)
A theology that excludes every believer from the universal body of Christ who is not a member of a local church of Christ is simply poor theology and is the polar opposite of what Jesus prayed for in John 17. Christians are “one” with each other and with Christ (and the Father) because they are in him, not because of where the attend church on Sunday morning.
When we boast of “unity” it’s lie if at the same time we refuse to acknowledge the believers across the street as brothers and sisters who are just as devoted to Jesus as we are.
i know
just read it
2:9 But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators.17 2:10 For the one who obeys the whole law but fails18 in one point has become guilty of all of it.3:12 But the law is not based on faith,23 but the one who does the works of the law24 will live by them.25 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law 4:4 But when the appropriate time7 had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 4:5 to redeem those who were under the law,2:15 when he nullified29 in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man30 out of two,31 thus making peace, 2:16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.1 8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit2 in Christ Jesus has set you3 free from the law of sin and death. 8:3 For God achieved what the law could not do because4 it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 8:4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.3:5 Does God then give10 you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law11 or by your believing what you heard?12
3:6 Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,13 3:7 so then, understand14 that those who believe are the sons of Abraham.11:6 And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. 11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The5 rest were hardened, 11:8 as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,
to this very day.”6
11:9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
11:10 let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,
and make their backs bend continually.”7
God’s covenant with Abraham was before circumcision, Abraham was counted righteous while uncirumcised. God gave circumcision as a sign of the covenant He already made with Abraham. Paul says the blessing of salvation is to everyone who has the same faith as Abraham had before he was circumsised.
Romans 4:9-12 “Is this blessing only for those who are circumcised or also for those who are not circumcised? We have already said that God accepted Abraham’s faith and that faith made him right with God. So how did this happen? Did God accept Abraham before or after he was circumcised? It was before his circumcision. Abraham was circumcised to show that he was right with God through faith before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the father of all those who believe but are not circumcised; he is the father of all believers who are accepted as being right with God. And Abraham is also the father of those who have been circumcised and who live following the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.”
Jewish males were circumcised on the eighth day and truly show Gods great wisdom given to the Israelites.Vitamin K (the vitamin responsible for blood clotting) peaks at eight days of age. An infant’s blood clotting mechanism stabilizes on the eighth day after birth.
Kosher is food that Jews can eat. It is from the Hebrew Torah and established rules for dealing with foods the humans ate. These rules were developed to keep people from getting sick from the animals they ate.
Deuteronomy 6:24 “And the LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.” Exodus 23:25 “So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.”
Kosher foods are those that conform to the kashrut (Jewish dietary law). Food that may be consumed is termed kosher. Deuteronomy and Leviticus state that any animal which chews the cud and has a cloven hoof was clean, but animals that only chew the cud or only have cloven hooves were not so must not be eaten by Jews.
In Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, God points out the following groups as being unclean.
All animals which do not have a split hoof and chew the cud (Deuteronomy 14:6). Pigs were unclean.
All fish and water creatures that do not have both fins and scales. Nearly all fish were clean (Deuteronomy 14:9). Shellfish and catfish were unclean.
All birds of prey, carrion eaters, and fish eaters (Leviticus 11:13-20). Birds of prey were unclean.
Most creeping things (or invertebrates) were also unclean (Leviticus 11:21-47). The ones which live all or part-time in water and do not have both fins and scales were unclean.
3:27 Where, then, is boasting?41 It is excluded! By what principle?42 Of works? No, but by the principle of faith! 3:28 For we consider that a person43 is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.44 3:29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles too? Yes, of the Gentiles too! 3:30 Since God is one,45 he will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 3:31 Do we then nullify46 the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead47 we uphold the law.
29:16 “(For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations as we traveled. 29:17 You have seen their detestable things16 and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.)17 29:18 Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit.18 29:19 When such a person19 hears the words of this oath he secretly20 blesses himself21 and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.”22 This will destroy23 the watered ground with the parched.24 29:20 The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger25 will rage26 against that man; all the curses27 written in this scroll will fall upon him28 and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory.29
29:21 The Lord will single him out30 for judgment31 from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law.
29:22 The generation to come – your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places – will see32 the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the Lord has brought on it. 29:23 The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger.33 29:24 Then all the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger34 all about?” 29:25 Then people will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 29:26 They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship.35
29:27 That is why the Lord’s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses written in this scroll.
29:28 So the Lord has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today.” 29:29 Secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those that are revealed belong to us and our descendants37 forever, so that we might obey all the words of this law.
7:1 Or do you not know, brothers and sisters1 (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is lord over a person2 as long as he lives?
7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I14 would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else15 if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”16 7:8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires.17 For apart from the law, sin is dead. 7:9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive 7:10 and I died. So18 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death!19 7:11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died.20 7:12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 7:25 Thanks be25 to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then,26 I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but27 with my flesh I serve28 the law of sin
Royce, can’t you tell when jay is writing “tongue in cheek”? He did say that if we claim the date, we have to take what comes with it, including this particular “church squabble.” They are so much like us in that many refused to accept the decision of the council, even though that decision was made based on prophecy, revelation from God (Peter’s vision) and apostolic example. Of course, without the continued opposition of the Judaisers, several of Paul’s epistles might not have been written to our loss.
Evidently not Jerry 🙂 We have plenty of church squabbles without going back to the 1st Century to pick up some more.
I think you are probably right Jerry. But, what I wrote is true none-the-less..
Wasn’t those rules(by the JC) simply to avert the Gentiles from idolatry?
DEUT
Anticipation of a Blessing and Cursing Ceremony
11:26 Take note – I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:51 11:27 the blessing if you take to heart52 the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today,
11:28 and the curse if you pay no attention53 to his54 commandments and turn from the way I am setting before55 you today to pursue56 other gods you have not known. 11:29 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are to possess, you must pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.57 11:30 Are they not across the Jordan River,58 toward the west, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal59 near the oak60 of Moreh? 11:31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to possess the land the Lord your God is giving you, and you will possess and inhabit it.
11:32 Be certain to keep all the
statutes and ordinances
EPH. (2:15 when he nullified29 in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees.)
that I am presenting to you today.
“There is no one righteous, not even one,
3:11 there is no one who understands,
there is no one who seeks God.
3:12 All have turned away,
together they have become worthless;
there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”15
3:13 “Their throats are open graves,16
they deceive with their tongues,
the poison of asps is under their lips.”17
3:14 “Their mouths are18 full of cursing and bitterness.”19
3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
3:16 ruin and misery are in their paths,
3:17 and the way of peace they have not known.”20
3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”21
3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under22 the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him23 by the works of the law,24 for through the law comes25 the knowledge of sin. 3:21 But now26 apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets)27 has been disclosed – 3:22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ28 for all who believe. For there is no distinction,
GOD’S servant loved his brother… and his father whom he loved
1:3 concerning his Son who was a descendant7 of David with reference to the flesh,8 1:4 who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power9 according to the Holy Spirit10 by the resurrection11 from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 5:7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.)7 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming26 a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)27
3:14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles,28 so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.
BEING BLESSED / NO CONDEMNATION /( OR CURSE)
2:15 when he nullified29 in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man30 out of two,31 thus making peace,Anticipation of a Blessing and Cursing Ceremony
11:26 Take note – I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:51 11:27 the blessing if you take to heart52 the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, 11:28 and the curse if you pay no attention53 to his54 commandments and turn from the way I am setting before55 you today to pursue56 other gods you have not known. 11:29 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are to possess, you must pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.57
Jerry and Royce,
At least Jerry gets my sense of humor. And it is certainly tongue-in-cheek but in a double layer. The first layer is, as Jerry noted, that I don’t accept the CoC conceit that “we” have existed as a distinct body going back to Pentecost, separate from “the denominations,” as shown in the old Jule Miller filmstrips. We stole that claim from the Landmark Baptists, who claimed exactly the same thing around 1860 in Nashville. But the history behind the claim is pretty thin.
On the other hand, because we are in fact a part of the church-universal, which is a whole lot bigger than the Yellow Pages Churches of Christ, it’s a fact that the Christians in the First Century are our predecessors and we have no choice but to claim them: we’re going to live with them eternally!
Therefore, the Judaizing teachers really are “us” — regardless of the theory that you take. Well, they’re what we can become when we make the same mistakes in our time and place and culture. And they were damned by Paul — just because they said that you aren’t saved unless you’re circumcised, based on gobs of scriptures and a hermeneutic that failed to see the freedom brought by Jesus.
Great reply as usual Jay. Exactly.
You comment that God sent His Spirit to show the Gentiles they were saved by faith in Jesus. In particular you say that “when they came to faith” was when the Spirit was sent. How odd that you would attack the gospel plan of salvation so openly. When an angel appeared to Cornelius, he didn’t then have faith? You imply that it was when Peter began speaking that THEN they came to faith, and so God sent His Spirit to save them, it seems. But the angel had said that Peter would bring a MESSAGE by which they would be saved. And the sign preceded the message.
The baptism in God’s Spirit sign was NOT to save the Gentiles. Or else the angel was wrong. And our thinking the Gentiles only came to believe in Jesus when Peter showed up in the home is not very sensible. Cornelius had believed in God and sought to be part of God’s family for many years, as his gifts to the Jewish synagogue surely prove. He had apparently heard about Jesus. But he was not saved by his generosity or by his faith in God. The angel told the truth. The MESSAGE about Jesus resulted in the baptism INTO CHRIST of this Gentile family group. They were saved just as sinners today are saved, by obeying the GOSPEL. The series of signs, of which the baptismal sign was the final one, was to persuade Peter and other Jewish Christian leaders that it was God’s will that the church should no longer exclude Gentiles from membership.
Ray, as a “devout” gentile, Cornelius had faith in the God of Israel. That does not equate to faith in Jesus, the Messiah and Savior, even though Peter indicated he had knowledge of Jesus’ healing ministry. Yet Peter preached to him of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the things that made Jesus savior.
Ray, a clarification, if I may. The Spirit came upon Cornelius while Peter was still speaking, not before he spoke. Verse 44 says the Spirit came upon those who heard the message. Romans 10:17 comes to mind here: God speaks, which creates hearing, which in turn creates faith. It appears that this is exactly what is happening at Cornelius’ house. Nothing antithetical to the gospel here, Ray. No, it does not mesh precisely with the order of Walter Scott’s Five Step System, but I think the gospel predates this 19th century mnemonic. In fact, if one wishes to take issue with someone who did not follow the proper order of steps from faith to eternal life, he had best start with Jesus. At least with his teaching recorded in John 5.
Another thought: If most Jews were still not convinced of Jesus’ messiahship, Jews who had SEEN Jesus’ ministry, why do we presume that an Italian centurion had already recognized Jesus as the Messiah? That such faith in Jesus would be the ultimate result of Peter’s message is much more reasonable and requires fewer presumptions.
I would also question the presumption that the SOLE reason that Cornelius received the Holy Spirit prior to his baptism was as a sign to the Jews of God’s acceptance, making it a unique occurrence. Peter never mentions this timing in his testimony about his event. That it occurred prior to baptism was apparently not of great significance. The fact is that we have given it great significance– enough to grant Cornelius the rare title of “EXCEPTION” to our established doctrine– because it refuses to fit the five finger exercise we have adapted from Walter Scott. Those who take this event to contradict Acts 2:38 have tacitly added words to Peter’s sermon: “…repent and be baptized for the remission of sins, and then and only then will you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”. It is that little unspoken addition which creates the heartburn. Take it out and no contradiction exists.
IMO, Walter Scott would have been glad to rearrange his fingers had he been with Peter’s crew in Caesarea that day.
Jerry wrote,
“Ray, as a “devout” gentile, Cornelius had faith in the God of Israel. That does not equate to faith in Jesus …”
Exactly.
Perhaps we should take Peter’s word about what happened instead of Ray’s. Of course I’ve been down this road before with Ray and he will not budge from his rigid view of Acts 2:38, a passage that in his view evidently trumps all others, even Jesus’ plain statements.
34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Peter preached the gospel of Christ. If you read what Peter preached you will find a clear presentation of the gospel with emphasis on the resurrection of Jesus. What is not there is a “plan of salvation”, no church of Christ distinctives, just the gospel. Now is the report of what happened while Peter was preaching.
44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.”
Did you notice Peter’s words? “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT JUST AS WE HAVE?” “Just as we have” Peter? Yes, “Just as we have”. Now Ray makes up a meaning that is not in the Bible. He says this reception of the Holy Spirit was only a sign to Peter and the other Jews from God that is was OK to baptize Gentiles. Of course the Bible says no such thing. Here is what it does say.
In Acts 11 Peter goes up to see the men of the church in Jerusalem to give an accounting of baptizing Gentiles. He says these words after telling them about his vision and trip to see Cornelius.
.15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the SAME GIFT to them as he gave to us WHEN WE BELIEVED in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
Peter made NO mention of some sign. But, he isn’t done speaking. in Acts 15 he once more addresses this situation. The brothers from Judea were teaching that a Gentile must be circumcised in order to be saved. Yes, there were people adding to the gospel back in Peter’s day just as they are today. The apostles and elders called a meeting in Jerusalem to get the matter sorted out. Below is an account of what happened.
6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles SHOULD HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD AND BELIEVE. 8 AND GOD WHO KNOWS THE HEART, bore witness TO THEM, BY GIVING THEM THE HOLY SPIRIT JUST AS HE DID TO US, 9 AND HE MADE NO DISTINCTION between us and them, having CLEANSED THEIR HEARTS BY FAITH. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”
Ray makes up a sign that is not in Scripture. The only ‘sign” is stated clearly in Acts 15:8 ” AND GOD WHO KNOWS THE HEART, bore witness TO THEM, BY GIVING THEM THE HOLY SPIRIT JUST AS HE DID TO US”. The only sign mentioned was that God gave the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles and made NO DISTINCTION between the Jews and Gentiles. God CLEANSED THEIR HEARTS BY FAITH, and then after God has done his work of regeneration they were baptized in water. God bore witness to the Gentiles, not the Jews as Ray claims.
You can make up stuff but the Bible says what it says and it’s just a plain as the nose on your face. Any high school student should be able to read these texts and come to the same conclusion I have. Peter was so clear only those who refuse the plain truth can disagree with the plain words of Scripture.
Royce,
Are you experiencing God giving his Spirit into those who listen to the message as you speak in the same way as happened to Cornelius and those with him as Peter spoke? I have never seen an event like this take place. If you have did you follow the pattern that Peter did and baptize them as quickly as Peter did?
Do any of those that post on here ever pray to the Holy Spirit? Romans 8:26 and 8:34.
Romans 8:26
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
The Holy Spirit is God and both He and ALSO Jesus 8:34 maketh intercession for us.
Alabama John,
I have not been able to identify in scripture that the Holy Spirit is God, and I don’t find any instructions or examples of any man of God praying to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit seems to be a helper for man to be able to communicate to God thoughts that man may be incapable of and a helper to help man to understand God’s will.
If you have evidence to support your statement, show us.
Concerning the Acts 15 conference, “My own theory is that the decision was being made simply by and for the Jerusalem church,” says Jay. The problem was in the Gentile churches. It was not a problem in Jerusalem. Luke points out that the decision was delivered to those who were having the problem (the Gentile churches) by both a letter and by messengers from the apostles and elders. It’s obvious that the decision was NOT just for the brethren who had remained in Jerusalem, but was for all Christians everywhere.
And several are complaining that I wrongly insist that Peter’s (and all the apostles’) answer concerning the need for believers to repent and be baptized in order to be saved and to enter the Kingdom was for all time. It’s as true today as it was when Peter first uttered the words. Salvation is not and never has been by faith alone. Conversion is leaving the sinful world and through a new birth of water and spirit entering a NEW kingdom where Jesus is Lord.
About Cornelius and his household, they were still lost and in sin even after God sent the sign to them which convinced the Jewish Christians that now Gentiles also could be baptized into Christ. Peter says that it was as he BEGAN to speak that the sign was given. Luke, in describing the event, has it coming after Peter had begun speaking. So some feel that as soon as the hearers heard that Jesus was Lord, God immediately sent His Spirit to them. Was this, you suppose, to make them feel good and saved? If so, why would Peter immediately tell them they needed to be baptized? Why would saved people need to be baptized, then or now or ever?
If baptism is for Christians, why would we want to do it only once? Why not demonstrate our faith by being baptized once a month or once a year or once every ten years? And WHY would Paul make the mistake of claiming that baptism is the burial of a person DEAD IN SIN and then the raising up of a person NEWLY ALIVE? Either the apostles misunderstood baptism or some people nowadays are misunderstanding its purpose. Paul states clearly that it brings us INTO Christ. Some don’t agree with Paul. Peter thinks people aren’t saved without being baptized. Or why would he command that the Cornelius household immediately BE baptized?
Larry, sorry I missed your post above. We have beat the trinity to death and it seems many of us differ on who is called God.
I mention in prayers hoping the Holy Spirit will while making intercession for me, he will help specifically with this problem I have and need help with.
I have no problem with anyone not asking the Holy Spirit for anything, its an individual choice.
Just hope he keeps interceeding for us all anyway.
Ray, yesterday you wrote that the Acts 15 “problem” was in Antioch, not Jerusalem. Are you sure of that, in view of Galatians 2:11-12? “11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.” See also the fact that in Acts 15 IN JERUSALEM, “certain believers from among the sect of the Pharisees arose” saying the Gentiles must be commanded to be circumcised and keep the law of Moses.
Also, the letter drafted for the gentile churches stated that some “had gone out from us” who troubled the Gentile churches, but to whom the elders and leaders in Jerusalem said, “to whom we gave no such command.”
It seems to me that the problem began in Jerusalem and was spread by false brothers from there. In going to Jerusalem to sort it out, the brethren from Antioch were going to the root of the matter to address the matter and to establish the truth of what the Jerusalem church was teaching.
This is in keeping with the general teaching that I’d you have an issue with a brother, go to him to resolve it.
Jerry the texts are really clear as you point out. Some folks pour meaning into texts that was never intended by the Lord or the original writer and that is unfortunate.