Luke’s historical account of the Acts of the Apostles is also an account of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh and of the dynamic fulfillment of the Lord’s promise of power for witness. Acts is like that one uncle that stands out from the rest of the family. Everyone likes his personality, but they want to settle him down like the rest. Thus, many use the epistles to formulate their primary source for doctrine, and reconfigure Acts into a pattern that fits the system of doctrine. (I think the Gospels are treated much like Acts).
Others exalt their favorite story and select parts of certain stories in Acts as the preeminent examples illustrating a certain doctrine and pattern for the church today. For example, my heritage, the Restoration Movement, exalts select parts of the stories of conversions in Acts resulting in a doctrinal focus on baptism. Perhaps this is justified since so many other traditions minimize the importance of baptism; and focus on other select parts of the stories; such as, speaking in tongues, the laying on of hands, and the role of church authority. In any case, be watchful, for selective doctrinal focuses lead to sectarian doctrinal imbalances and errors.
This is my disclaimer. Whatever I write and teach about the Holy Spirit, salvation, the church or any other substantial matter of the Christian faith in Acts, I do not intend to deny or minimize the richness and diversity of what I see in Acts. I am certain that the Holy Spirit is sovereign in Acts, fulfilling God’s promise, leading the mission and fostering unity within the church. If I could Google Acts like I can Google the earth, that is the terrain I notice. The divergent story streams in Acts come together because of God’s sovereign terrain; but in the interest of doctrinal rules, sectarianism has cut its own ditches.
Among the early Jews, the party of the Pharisees had cut their own ditches defining rules for salvation and full acceptance into fellowship in accordance the traditions of the Law of Moses. They stood up in an assembly of leaders and brothers and proclaimed: Gentiles must submit to the Law of Moses in order to be saved (See Acts 15). You might think this problem was settled without possibility of recurrence in any other form. Yet different Christian religious traditions dig their own ditches to redirect the gift of the Holy Spirit in accordance with their rules of priority and order. However, in the story of the conversion of Cornelius, God’s sovereign grace taught priority and order without eliminating or diminishing any other essential (Please read Acts 10-11, and 15).
The story of Cornelius is formative; somewhat exceptional, but not unrelated to God’s plan for all, Jew and Gentile. In Acts 11:15, Luke recorded Peter’s statement of a fact to other Jewish Christian leaders describing the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius’s household: “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning (ESV).” The fact of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, “just as on us at the beginning”, was exceptional; but the fact of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon Gentiles was not exceptional, but formative. It’s profound that the exceptional aspect functions as God’s sovereign verification of what He willed to be formative. Peter explained God’s formative purpose and way in several important statements. The four statements are located in the scriptures in Acts 10:34-35, Acts 10:47, Acts 11:15-17, and Acts 15:8-9. In this and successive blogs I will write on these four statements to show how God’s sovereign act in the salvation of Cornelius’s household was formative for the whole church, confirming vital foundational truths of the gospel. (Don’t forget to read Acts 10-11 and 15).
The first formative statement sets the stage for understanding the administration of God’s sovereign grace. While the vision of the unclean animals was fresh in memory, Peter opened his providential visit with Cornelius’s household with these words: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34-35). God shows no partiality. Therefore, the issue God has placed before HIs church is acceptance. This is the first lesson Peter learned, and his learning is formative for the foundation of the church. When you read the story of Cornelius, search your heart and heritage as to what God wants us to learn about acceptance.
