Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
While Peter was preaching Christ's life, death, resurrection and work in heaven, the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and his company just as at Pentecost, they spoke with tongues and magnified God, and Peter asked who could forbid water and commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Receiving the Holy Spirit did not replace water baptism, for conversion includes faith, repentance and baptism in one Lord, one faith and one baptism. The equal descent of the Spirit on uncircumcised Gentiles and circumcised Jews testified that God accepted them alike, purified their hearts by faith, and granted Gentiles repentance unto life. Through Christ the middle wall of partition was torn down, for God is no respecter of persons but accepts in every nation those who fear Him and work righteousness. The baptism of Cornelius and his household as firstfruits of the Gentile harvest opened the door the Jewish converts had closed and began a new phase of carrying the gospel to all the world.
Setting in Cornelius Story
While Peter was setting forth Jesus to Cornelius and his attentive household, he traced Christ's life and ministry and miracles and betrayal and crucifixion and resurrection and ascension and His present work in heaven as man's Representative and Advocate pleading for sinners, with his own heart glowing as his hearers were charmed by the teaching. He was interrupted in the midst of that preaching by the fall of the Holy Ghost upon all who heard, in the same manner as manifested at Pentecost, and this outpouring was attested by speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance. The believing Jews who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift was poured out upon Gentiles also, for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify and glorify God. Seeing that these Gentiles had received the Holy Ghost just as the Jewish believers had, Peter asked who could forbid water to keep them from baptism, and he ordered and commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, after which they asked him to remain certain days.
Cornelius was a Roman army officer at Caesarea, a man of high position and stewardship and influence who feared God and lived by principles of righteousness. He followed and improved all the light he had received, yet was not fully informed of the truth for his time, and he longed and prayed for heaven's light. When Christ was revealed to him he with his household sincerely received Him with gladness and was brought into connection with the church for further instruction and advanced light. His conversion shows that God's work reaches responsible and influential souls as well as the lowly, for he stands for men of means and responsibility and for all sincere souls whom God seeks and can convert by the Holy Spirit.
The whole meeting was directed from heaven by vision and angelic ministration, with God showing clearly what should be spoken and repeating the instruction again and again. The vision given to Peter served to guide and correct him toward people he had not expected to welcome, and such visions serve to comfort God's people and correct those departing from Bible truth rather than to furnish a new rule of faith. Cornelius and Peter in obedience to those directions were brought together, the one to hear and the other to share the message. The ministration of heavenly angels in the conversion of Cornelius and his company shows heaven to be much nearer to the Christian engaged in soul-saving work than many suppose.
God answered Cornelius's prayer for further light by arranging for him to receive it through a human messenger according to His plan to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. He knew Cornelius as He knew Abraham, knowing him by name and just where he lived and the spirit he possessed and every act of his life. He knew just where Peter was lodging with Simon the tanner by the seaside, and by an angel and by specific directions He brought the two into connection so Cornelius might obtain advanced knowledge of God. In that simple transaction the seeker who had improved the light given him was placed in connection with men of superior knowledge of the Word.
Peter undertook the duty laid upon him by divine command with reluctance at every step, and the result was a great surprise to him. Afterward he defended his baptizing of Gentiles who had received the Holy Spirit not on general principle but as an exception required and done because of divine revelation. Contention arose in the church at Jerusalem over his course, until he rehearsed his experience with Cornelius to the leaders there before they could believe God would send His Spirit upon the uncircumcised.
Baptism After the Spirit
Receiving the Holy Spirit did not take the place of water baptism, and the Spirit's coming upon the Gentiles was not a reason to set baptism aside. Conversion requires faith and repentance together with baptism, and Peter therefore saw that those who had received the Spirit as the Jewish believers had should also be baptized. He said no one could withhold water from them and had them baptized in the name of the Lord. That baptism joined believers in one Lord, one faith, and one baptism, while sanctifying grace shapes people of diverse temperaments by the same principles.
Because the Gentiles had received the Holy Spirit just as the Jewish believers had, their reception gave them the same standing and removed any ground for withholding baptism. Their praise of God confirmed what had taken place, showing that God had accepted them. Peter recognized this, asked who could forbid water, and ordered and commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord and in the name of Jesus Christ. Receiving the Spirit was therefore sufficient reason not to forbid water baptism, and their baptism followed the outpouring and opened the way for a wider work of grace among the Gentiles. That reception also overcame the prejudice and exclusiveness that had kept Jewish converts from accepting Gentiles as fellow believers.
Water baptism must not be forbidden to those who have truly repented and been converted and give evidence of conversion, even when the past includes serious crime, condemnation, and imprisonment. When sinners are shamed and penitent and look to the Lord for help, objections based on their former life must not keep them from baptism. This includes converts who upon release from prison ask for baptism before going back to the place of their sin, in order to show their repentance and what the Lord has wrought for their souls. The rite in such cases is to be performed with joy and rejoicing and thanksgiving to the Lord that lost sheep have been found.
Gentile Equality in Gospel
The equal falling of the Holy Spirit with equal power on uncircumcised Gentiles and circumcised Jews, with the same light and glory resting on both, testified that God accepted them alike. What God had cleansed was no longer to be called common or unclean, for God put no difference between them, purifying their hearts by faith and granting to the Gentiles repentance unto life, so one was not to be regarded as inferior to the other. The praise of God by those who spoke with tongues confirmed that they had received the same gift as the Jewish believers, and that reception was sufficient reason that water baptism could not rightly be forbidden them.
Through Christ the middle wall of partition and the old barrier excluding Gentiles from the blessings of the gospel was torn down and removed. His blood cleanses people from every nation and from all uncleanness, and God makes no distinction between them. God is no respecter of persons but in every nation accepts those who fear Him and work righteousness, Jew and Gentile are alike precious in His sight, and both are joined to Jesus Christ by faith.
The conversion of Cornelius and his household was the first of importance among the Gentiles and only the firstfruits of a harvest to be gathered from the world. It began an entirely new phase of the work of the church, in which the door that many Jewish converts had closed against the Gentiles was thrown open. From that home a widespread work of grace was carried on in a heathen city, the gospel was to be carried to all the world, and Peter was made a messenger to the Gentiles.
Gentiles who accepted the gospel were to be baptized, welcomed into the Christian community, and admitted to the privileges of the gospel. They were to be regarded as on perfect equality with the Jewish disciples, as fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household and partakers through Christ of the blessings and privileges of the gospel. This standing required no first observance of circumcision or of the rites of the ceremonial law.
The Spirit had already settled the question on which depended the prosperity and even the existence of the Christian church, that circumcision and the ceremonial law must not be imposed on Gentile converts, for to lay that yoke on the disciples is to tempt God. That yoke is not the law of ten commandments but the law of ceremonies made null and void by the crucifixion of Christ.
The outpouring overcame the prejudice and exclusiveness fixed by Jewish training that had kept Jewish converts from accepting Gentiles as fellow believers. That is why the believing Jews who came with Peter were astonished at the gift to the uncircumcised, and why contention arose in the church at Jerusalem until the experience was rehearsed to the leaders there.
Divine Guidance and Human Agency
God's purpose in this event was to take away the barriers between Jew and Gentile and to join both to Jesus Christ by faith, and Peter himself was converted on the housetop to receive this truth and to become the human instrument in the hands of heavenly agencies, with heaven and earth united in the work carried forward in His own way. The gospel was not given to Cornelius by an angel, though the angel could have told the message directly, for that is not God's way. God purposed instead to bring Peter and Cornelius into acquaintance and connection in gospel missionary work, so that the light He had given Peter would be given by Peter to Cornelius and all his family. By having members impart truth to one another in this way He joins His church together and brings them into closest connection with God and with His church.
God's plan advances in simplicity through the cooperation of heavenly agencies with human agencies. Believers must therefore come into close connection with God and with one another, unified in love and in honest, just, true, gentle, and righteous dealing rather than hatred, division, and pointing at another's wrongs. Every talent is to be connected, with medical missionary work and the gospel bound inseparably together, so that the salvation of God is revealed. Though Cornelius was accepted by God for devout piety and commended for prayer and almsgiving, he still needed an advance in faith and a new experience to do his work intelligently through Jesus Christ. One who believed the promise of a Messiah must now receive its fulfillment, because neither prayer nor almsgiving can take the place of Christ, in whom all fullness dwells and in whom alone all is complete.
God directs people to those who need divine help and guidance even when the work or place is not their own choice. In every age He sets in operation a train of circumstances to bring honest-hearted seekers into connection with those of His people who can best reach their individual needs. He uses servants with special knowledge in certain lines for one class of inquirers and servants trained in a different way for another class.
Application to Present Work
The falling of the Holy Spirit on Cornelius and his company while Christ was preached to them, and the baptizing of those Gentiles in water without hindrance because they had received the Spirit equally, is the pattern for work today. Many now have little light and few privileges, yet as they live up to the light they have, truth presented as the Spirit leads will bring them greater light and they will advance with it. In the last days those who value God's wisdom and obey His word will receive greater light, learn the truth, and share it with other seekers.
Gentiles who have not received the whole truth but serve God with sincere, earnest purpose, walking in all the light they have received, are accepted by God as acceptably as Jews. God's servants must therefore be ready to make personal, special, determined and earnest efforts for the many like Cornelius in the world, to bring them to the full light of truth. Angels cooperate with such workers, and God will guide them to His many precious jewels in this dark world of sin, including souls in the churches who are much nearer the kingdom than is supposed. The sending of a special message to Cornelius, a Roman army officer in high position who followed the light he had, and the directing of Peter to bring him further light, shows God's compassion and the need for special effort to connect such souls with the church despite the ties and temptations holding them to the world.
Cornelius stands for men of means, nobility, stewardship, influence and responsibility whose sympathies are with God's people but who are held by ties to the world and lack moral courage to take their stand with lowly believers. Because of the responsibilities they bear and the temptations that come with stewardship, they need special care and more determined, earnest effort to bring them to baptism and church membership, rather than leaving the work to gather only the poorest. Honest souls like Cornelius, fully ready to hear truth and receive advanced light, are still to be worked for with earnest, devoted, determined effort, that those seeking light may be gathered out from those bitterly opposed to the message given to the world. Such honest seekers are found in associations like the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and far more earnest, devoted, determined effort for them will cause light to shine forth to them.
God still works in every age and sphere for true standard-bearers who fear God, live by principles of righteousness, work on principles He accepts, and bear a clear, pure, undefiled testimony for truth and righteousness. As Cornelius, though not fully informed regarding truth for his time, was visited by angels and placed in connection with men of superior knowledge of the Word that he might obtain advanced light and knowledge of God, so God prepares the way for such standard-bearers to take the place of those given Bible truth who have disappointed Christ. He will call men of nobility and influence to stand for Him in true integrity and to testify by purity and nobility of character if they heed the message for this time. Men taught by God, with spiritual discernment and truly sanctified and ennobled through the truth, are the men needed now, in contrast to those who have lost spiritual discernment and are in peril and to those whose lifelong profession of truth does not make them true men.
Every true believer must stand ready to be taught by God, have prejudice broken down, and yield his own ideas to walk in the Lord's ways. God carries forward His work in His own way, through heavenly messengers cooperating with men on earth, enlightening all who love and fear Him though they do not yet know all the truth, in order to bring many to the truth. Those who hold to their own ideas and are unwilling to yield cannot be used but are passed by for those willing to walk in the ways of the Lord. The ministration of heavenly angels resulting in the conversion of Cornelius and his company shows heaven is much nearer the Christian engaged in soul-saving than many suppose. The verse teaches God's regard for every human being, and that each should treat his fellow man as one of the Lord's instrumentalities for accomplishing His work in the earth.
While Peter was preaching Christ's life, death, resurrection and work in heaven, the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and his company just as at Pentecost, they spoke with tongues and magnified God, and Peter asked who could forbid water and commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Receiving the Holy Spirit did not replace water baptism, for conversion includes faith, repentance and baptism in one Lord, one faith and one baptism. The equal descent of the Spirit on uncircumcised Gentiles and circumcised Jews testified that God accepted them alike, purified their hearts by faith, and granted Gentiles repentance unto life. Through Christ the middle wall of partition was torn down, for God is no respecter of persons but accepts in every nation those who fear Him and work righteousness. The baptism of Cornelius and his household as firstfruits of the Gentile harvest opened the door the Jewish converts had closed and began a new phase of carrying the gospel to all the world.
Setting in Cornelius Story
While Peter was setting forth Jesus to Cornelius and his attentive household, he traced Christ's life and ministry and miracles and betrayal and crucifixion and resurrection and ascension and His present work in heaven as man's Representative and Advocate pleading for sinners, with his own heart glowing as his hearers were charmed by the teaching. He was interrupted in the midst of that preaching by the fall of the Holy Ghost upon all who heard, in the same manner as manifested at Pentecost, and this outpouring was attested by speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance. The believing Jews who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift was poured out upon Gentiles also, for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify and glorify God. Seeing that these Gentiles had received the Holy Ghost just as the Jewish believers had, Peter asked who could forbid water to keep them from baptism, and he ordered and commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, after which they asked him to remain certain days.
Cornelius was a Roman army officer at Caesarea, a man of high position and stewardship and influence who feared God and lived by principles of righteousness. He followed and improved all the light he had received, yet was not fully informed of the truth for his time, and he longed and prayed for heaven's light. When Christ was revealed to him he with his household sincerely received Him with gladness and was brought into connection with the church for further instruction and advanced light. His conversion shows that God's work reaches responsible and influential souls as well as the lowly, for he stands for men of means and responsibility and for all sincere souls whom God seeks and can convert by the Holy Spirit.
The whole meeting was directed from heaven by vision and angelic ministration, with God showing clearly what should be spoken and repeating the instruction again and again. The vision given to Peter served to guide and correct him toward people he had not expected to welcome, and such visions serve to comfort God's people and correct those departing from Bible truth rather than to furnish a new rule of faith. Cornelius and Peter in obedience to those directions were brought together, the one to hear and the other to share the message. The ministration of heavenly angels in the conversion of Cornelius and his company shows heaven to be much nearer to the Christian engaged in soul-saving work than many suppose.
God answered Cornelius's prayer for further light by arranging for him to receive it through a human messenger according to His plan to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. He knew Cornelius as He knew Abraham, knowing him by name and just where he lived and the spirit he possessed and every act of his life. He knew just where Peter was lodging with Simon the tanner by the seaside, and by an angel and by specific directions He brought the two into connection so Cornelius might obtain advanced knowledge of God. In that simple transaction the seeker who had improved the light given him was placed in connection with men of superior knowledge of the Word.
Peter undertook the duty laid upon him by divine command with reluctance at every step, and the result was a great surprise to him. Afterward he defended his baptizing of Gentiles who had received the Holy Spirit not on general principle but as an exception required and done because of divine revelation. Contention arose in the church at Jerusalem over his course, until he rehearsed his experience with Cornelius to the leaders there before they could believe God would send His Spirit upon the uncircumcised.
Baptism After the Spirit
Receiving the Holy Spirit did not take the place of water baptism, and the Spirit's coming upon the Gentiles was not a reason to set baptism aside. Conversion requires faith and repentance together with baptism, and Peter therefore saw that those who had received the Spirit as the Jewish believers had should also be baptized. He said no one could withhold water from them and had them baptized in the name of the Lord. That baptism joined believers in one Lord, one faith, and one baptism, while sanctifying grace shapes people of diverse temperaments by the same principles.
Because the Gentiles had received the Holy Spirit just as the Jewish believers had, their reception gave them the same standing and removed any ground for withholding baptism. Their praise of God confirmed what had taken place, showing that God had accepted them. Peter recognized this, asked who could forbid water, and ordered and commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord and in the name of Jesus Christ. Receiving the Spirit was therefore sufficient reason not to forbid water baptism, and their baptism followed the outpouring and opened the way for a wider work of grace among the Gentiles. That reception also overcame the prejudice and exclusiveness that had kept Jewish converts from accepting Gentiles as fellow believers.
Water baptism must not be forbidden to those who have truly repented and been converted and give evidence of conversion, even when the past includes serious crime, condemnation, and imprisonment. When sinners are shamed and penitent and look to the Lord for help, objections based on their former life must not keep them from baptism. This includes converts who upon release from prison ask for baptism before going back to the place of their sin, in order to show their repentance and what the Lord has wrought for their souls. The rite in such cases is to be performed with joy and rejoicing and thanksgiving to the Lord that lost sheep have been found.
Gentile Equality in Gospel
The equal falling of the Holy Spirit with equal power on uncircumcised Gentiles and circumcised Jews, with the same light and glory resting on both, testified that God accepted them alike. What God had cleansed was no longer to be called common or unclean, for God put no difference between them, purifying their hearts by faith and granting to the Gentiles repentance unto life, so one was not to be regarded as inferior to the other. The praise of God by those who spoke with tongues confirmed that they had received the same gift as the Jewish believers, and that reception was sufficient reason that water baptism could not rightly be forbidden them.
Through Christ the middle wall of partition and the old barrier excluding Gentiles from the blessings of the gospel was torn down and removed. His blood cleanses people from every nation and from all uncleanness, and God makes no distinction between them. God is no respecter of persons but in every nation accepts those who fear Him and work righteousness, Jew and Gentile are alike precious in His sight, and both are joined to Jesus Christ by faith.
The conversion of Cornelius and his household was the first of importance among the Gentiles and only the firstfruits of a harvest to be gathered from the world. It began an entirely new phase of the work of the church, in which the door that many Jewish converts had closed against the Gentiles was thrown open. From that home a widespread work of grace was carried on in a heathen city, the gospel was to be carried to all the world, and Peter was made a messenger to the Gentiles.
Gentiles who accepted the gospel were to be baptized, welcomed into the Christian community, and admitted to the privileges of the gospel. They were to be regarded as on perfect equality with the Jewish disciples, as fellow citizens with the saints and members of God's household and partakers through Christ of the blessings and privileges of the gospel. This standing required no first observance of circumcision or of the rites of the ceremonial law.
The Spirit had already settled the question on which depended the prosperity and even the existence of the Christian church, that circumcision and the ceremonial law must not be imposed on Gentile converts, for to lay that yoke on the disciples is to tempt God. That yoke is not the law of ten commandments but the law of ceremonies made null and void by the crucifixion of Christ.
The outpouring overcame the prejudice and exclusiveness fixed by Jewish training that had kept Jewish converts from accepting Gentiles as fellow believers. That is why the believing Jews who came with Peter were astonished at the gift to the uncircumcised, and why contention arose in the church at Jerusalem until the experience was rehearsed to the leaders there.
Divine Guidance and Human Agency
God's purpose in this event was to take away the barriers between Jew and Gentile and to join both to Jesus Christ by faith, and Peter himself was converted on the housetop to receive this truth and to become the human instrument in the hands of heavenly agencies, with heaven and earth united in the work carried forward in His own way. The gospel was not given to Cornelius by an angel, though the angel could have told the message directly, for that is not God's way. God purposed instead to bring Peter and Cornelius into acquaintance and connection in gospel missionary work, so that the light He had given Peter would be given by Peter to Cornelius and all his family. By having members impart truth to one another in this way He joins His church together and brings them into closest connection with God and with His church.
God's plan advances in simplicity through the cooperation of heavenly agencies with human agencies. Believers must therefore come into close connection with God and with one another, unified in love and in honest, just, true, gentle, and righteous dealing rather than hatred, division, and pointing at another's wrongs. Every talent is to be connected, with medical missionary work and the gospel bound inseparably together, so that the salvation of God is revealed. Though Cornelius was accepted by God for devout piety and commended for prayer and almsgiving, he still needed an advance in faith and a new experience to do his work intelligently through Jesus Christ. One who believed the promise of a Messiah must now receive its fulfillment, because neither prayer nor almsgiving can take the place of Christ, in whom all fullness dwells and in whom alone all is complete.
God directs people to those who need divine help and guidance even when the work or place is not their own choice. In every age He sets in operation a train of circumstances to bring honest-hearted seekers into connection with those of His people who can best reach their individual needs. He uses servants with special knowledge in certain lines for one class of inquirers and servants trained in a different way for another class.
Application to Present Work
The falling of the Holy Spirit on Cornelius and his company while Christ was preached to them, and the baptizing of those Gentiles in water without hindrance because they had received the Spirit equally, is the pattern for work today. Many now have little light and few privileges, yet as they live up to the light they have, truth presented as the Spirit leads will bring them greater light and they will advance with it. In the last days those who value God's wisdom and obey His word will receive greater light, learn the truth, and share it with other seekers.
Gentiles who have not received the whole truth but serve God with sincere, earnest purpose, walking in all the light they have received, are accepted by God as acceptably as Jews. God's servants must therefore be ready to make personal, special, determined and earnest efforts for the many like Cornelius in the world, to bring them to the full light of truth. Angels cooperate with such workers, and God will guide them to His many precious jewels in this dark world of sin, including souls in the churches who are much nearer the kingdom than is supposed. The sending of a special message to Cornelius, a Roman army officer in high position who followed the light he had, and the directing of Peter to bring him further light, shows God's compassion and the need for special effort to connect such souls with the church despite the ties and temptations holding them to the world.
Cornelius stands for men of means, nobility, stewardship, influence and responsibility whose sympathies are with God's people but who are held by ties to the world and lack moral courage to take their stand with lowly believers. Because of the responsibilities they bear and the temptations that come with stewardship, they need special care and more determined, earnest effort to bring them to baptism and church membership, rather than leaving the work to gather only the poorest. Honest souls like Cornelius, fully ready to hear truth and receive advanced light, are still to be worked for with earnest, devoted, determined effort, that those seeking light may be gathered out from those bitterly opposed to the message given to the world. Such honest seekers are found in associations like the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and far more earnest, devoted, determined effort for them will cause light to shine forth to them.
God still works in every age and sphere for true standard-bearers who fear God, live by principles of righteousness, work on principles He accepts, and bear a clear, pure, undefiled testimony for truth and righteousness. As Cornelius, though not fully informed regarding truth for his time, was visited by angels and placed in connection with men of superior knowledge of the Word that he might obtain advanced light and knowledge of God, so God prepares the way for such standard-bearers to take the place of those given Bible truth who have disappointed Christ. He will call men of nobility and influence to stand for Him in true integrity and to testify by purity and nobility of character if they heed the message for this time. Men taught by God, with spiritual discernment and truly sanctified and ennobled through the truth, are the men needed now, in contrast to those who have lost spiritual discernment and are in peril and to those whose lifelong profession of truth does not make them true men.
Every true believer must stand ready to be taught by God, have prejudice broken down, and yield his own ideas to walk in the Lord's ways. God carries forward His work in His own way, through heavenly messengers cooperating with men on earth, enlightening all who love and fear Him though they do not yet know all the truth, in order to bring many to the truth. Those who hold to their own ideas and are unwilling to yield cannot be used but are passed by for those willing to walk in the ways of the Lord. The ministration of heavenly angels resulting in the conversion of Cornelius and his company shows heaven is much nearer the Christian engaged in soul-saving than many suppose. The verse teaches God's regard for every human being, and that each should treat his fellow man as one of the Lord's instrumentalities for accomplishing His work in the earth.