Acts 10:44-48--The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles

Acts 10:44-48
English Standard Version
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The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles
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.

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Remember the setting--God has sent and angel to Cornelius to send men to Simon Peter to ask him to come and speak to Cornelius because God has a message for Cornelius to hear--the angelic messenger did not directly relay the message to Cornelius because God has now chosen to allow His apostles and His disciples to be His ambassadors.  Peter also receives a vision to tell him to not call unclean what God has made to be clean (inferring that God had already declared Cornelius and those who were with him that day) to be clean, even though they were Gentiles.  Cornelius and those with him were chosen by God and they were definitely going to respond in repentance to the gospel message that Peter was going to share with them, and, yet, God used Peter to go from Joppa to Caesarea to use Peter in this process both for the sake of those who were being saved, but also for Peter's sake and those who came with him as they had something to learn too about how God's gospel plan was much larger and broader than they had envisioned.

Just like at Pentecost, when Peter finished speaking to them they repented and believed and the Holy Spirit fell upon them and they began speaking in tongues as a sign to the Jewish believers that were with Peter that these Gentiles had also received the same Holy Spirit that they had received at Pentecost.  This is not a formula for how the Holy Spirit is going to come upon everyone at salvation, but God has specifically used tongues now several times in the book of Acts to validate the authenticity of the ones sharing and the ones receiving the gospel message, and God wants to make it clear to the Church that He is reversing the curse from the Tower of Babel.  God is taking the many people groups with many languages and making them a single people unto Himself and giving them a single gospel message.  The message these Gentiles were speaking in tongues was not gibberish but was clear and understandable as Luke records that they were extoling and praising God for who He is and what He has done.

Peter, probably speaking to the Jewish brothers that accompanied him, asks rhetorically why the waters of baptism should be withheld from them if they too have received the Holy Spirit.  Then Peter commanded that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.  Note here that everywhere we've seen baptism in the book of Acts so far, it occurs immediately upon their full understanding of the gospel and their receiving of the Holy Spirit.  There are no baptism or membership classes.  No one is required to give a testimony.  Whatever water is present to immerse them is used and whoever is present acts as witnesses.  The command to go and make disciples is immediately connected to "baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" in The Great Commission as a single thought.  Those unwilling to immediately associate themselves with Christ in this way, marking themselves as a target for all that oppose Christ, have not make a true profession of faith.  In Western culture we like easy-believism and we like to count "decisions" and "recommitment" and decisions to become members of our local church, but we make it hard for people to be baptized.  Why are the waters of baptism not available every time the church meets for those that come forward for salvation?  Why are we not cut to the heart by the question that Peter asks, "Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" and why are we not willing to boldly command them to be baptized as Peter did here?  I believe that this is one of the places in the book of Acts where the descriptive account is also prescriptive.

I know that makes it sound like I'm picking and choosing because I just said earlier that tongues does not always accompany salvation, but I'm looking at the broader pattern that we've seen in the book of Acts.  While Paul will later talk about the fact that he himself only baptized a few people, he is not saying that those believers were never baptized--just that Paul was not the one to officiate the baptism ceremony as it was likely officiated by the leaders of their local church.  Consistently in the book of Acts we see "repent and be baptized" tied together as a single idea and here we see that singular idea put into action.  This is one of main reasons that I believe that the New Testament teaches believer's baptism and that believer's baptism is not optional.  Notice I didn't say that baptism is what saves you, but if you are genuinely saved then you will want to be baptized and if you don't want to be baptized (because you don't want to associate yourself with Christ), then the Bible seems to make that pretty clear--anyone who wants to deny Christ before men is not really saved and God will deny Him before the Father in heaven.  I don't think I am making a mountain out of a mole hill here.  This is one of the things though that has divided us in our doctrine though it seems that it was something of which we were all in one accord with in the book of Acts.  People didn't have to perfectly understand everything to be baptized, but they did need to understand and respond to the gospel through repentance that comes by faith that is a gift of God.  When that happens and they receive the Holy Spirit they will want to be baptized and those around them who are brothers and sisters in Christ will want them to be baptized.  Something is seriously wrong if we want to withhold the waters of baptism from those whom we know have received the Holy Spirit.