Additional Information on Peter with Cornelius

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MATT
In the discussion between Farrell and myself on the conversion of Cornelius
the focus has been on Acts 10 and Acts 11. There is however, another passage
in Acts which relates, in summary, the same account. It is to found in Acts
15 in the context of  a dispute about whether or not one had to be
circumcised in order to be saved. The relevant verses are from 7-12:

'7  And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto
them, Men [and] brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice
among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel,
and believe.
 8  And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the
Holy Ghost, even as [he did] unto us;
 9  And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by
faith.
 10  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the
disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
 11  But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall
be saved, even as they.'

I am sure that Farrell will find some means to squeeze this into his
semantic games with Acts 11, but for me it is decisive in what happened:

1. The Gentiles (Cornelius and his household) heard 'the word of the
gospel'.
2. On  hearing the word of the gospel they did 'believe'.
3. God bore witness to their belief in the gospel by 'giving them the Holy
Ghost'
4. God acted 'purifying their hearts by faith'.

This taken alongside Acts 10&11, and taking the plain meaning of the
passages tell us clearly what happened on that day and the order in which it
happened. The water baptism was there, and rightly so, but not as relating
to their salvation.

Thanks
Matt

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