Acts 11:18

Held their peace, and glorified. Or, “held their peace, and began glorifying.” The difference in tense of the two Greek verbs indicates that they first “held their peace,” and then began a continuous utterance of praise. However, important textual evidence may be cited (cf. p. 10) for the reading “glorified,” with the same tense as “held their peace.” The fact that Cornelius and his household received the Spirit of God was obviously of immense importance as bearing on the question soon to arise between Paul and the Judaizers (see Acts 15; Gal. 2). The Spirit led in the first step in the free admission of Gentiles into the church at the hands of Peter, and the formal approval of the apostles and the other Jewish Christians of Jerusalem was added.

To the Gentiles. The Jews thought very highly of themselves, as if God’s blessings had been designed for them only, and ill of other nations. “Thou madest the world for our sakes,” says the book of Esdras. “As for the other people . . . thou hast said that they are nothing, but be like unto spittle. . . . These heathen . . . have ever been reputed as nothing” (2 Esdras 6:55-57). The expected Messiah was to save the Jews and make them a glorious people, but was to destroy all other nations or to enslave them to the Jews. To free the growing Christian church from this arrogant the Lord made the singular display of His Spirit on Cornelius and those with him.

The lesson that the church learned in the experience of Cornelius was that God designed that the “middle wall of partition” (Eph. 2:14) between Jews and Gentiles was to be broken down. Paul knew that the gospel of Christ must accomplish this breaking down. The typical ceremonies were brought to an end in Christ’s death. His saving grace and divine strength, imparted to the believer and enabling him to keep the law, remove the law’s condemnation from the sinner (Rom. 8:1-4). Since both Jew and Gentile benefit from this, there is no difference: all are condemned; all are saved who believe (Gal. 3:27-29; Col. 3:10, 11). Both groups are reconciled to God and brought into harmony with the heavenly Father (Eph. 2:11-22).

This is the “mystery” now revealed (Eph. 3:1-12). The grace of God had rested upon Israel in the flesh. They had not recognized that He intended it to extend also to the nations. Now in Christ all is made plain. The Gentiles may enter into the “fellowship of the mystery” (Eph. 3:9) of righteousness, which includes all in the same great plan of salvation.

Granted repentance. God gives repentance. Faith is the gift of God (Rom. 12:3), and so is the repentance that follows it (Rom. 2:4; 2 Tim. 2:25). Through His Spirit God had given these Gentiles not only the opportunity for, but the experience of, repentance. Changed in heart (cf. Jer. 24:7; Eze. 11:19; 36:26), repentant and forgiven, they were accepted of God. How, indeed, could Peter withstand God?