Acts 10:47 - Printer Friendly

ESV: "Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"

NIV: "Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have."

NASB: Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?'

CSB: "Can anyone withhold water and prevent these people from being baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"

NLT: Can anyone object to their being baptized, now that they have received the Holy Spirit just as we did?'

KJV: Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?

NKJV: “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

Peter and six other Jewish Jesus-followers (Acts 11:12) have just watched the first recorded case of the Holy Spirit indwelling a group of Gentiles. The new converts were devout God-followers, but they are not circumcised, and Peter has not laid his hands on them. But they are empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak in languages they don't know (Acts 10:44–46).

Peter was vaguely warned this would happen, but the other six had no idea that Gentiles could follow Jesus. Peter puts the situation into perspective. Whatever their preconceived notions, these Gentiles have received the Holy Spirit and there is no reason why they shouldn't be welcomed into the young church. As Peter will say to the church in Jerusalem, "If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?" (Acts 11:17).

Today, when someone comes to a saving faith in Jesus, the church they attend typically has them go through a class on baptism to make sure they understand the faith and what baptism represents. It is not a requirement for salvation—a point proven here—rather, it is a public sign that the person identifies with Jesus and His teaching. In the time of the New Testament, however, baptism was performed at the time the person chose to follow Jesus—often immediately after (Acts 2:41; 8:12, 36–38; 9:18; 10:47–48; 16:15, 33; 19:5). Considering the fact baptism is not a universal part of most modern cultures, as it was to the Jews, it's probably good that most churches make sure the new convert knows what it means, but it's also likely we sometimes wait longer than is necessary.

Acts 10:44–48 records the start of the international church. Peter is in Caesarea Maritima, sharing the story of Jesus with a houseful of Gentile God-followers. Before he is even finished presenting the gospel, the Holy Spirit falls on them. This is the only occasion in Acts where the Holy Spirit comes on people before they were baptized. This will rock the Jewish church to its core and prepare the way for Paul's ministry (Acts 11).

Peter has been a dominant voice in the spread of Jesus' message to Jews and proselytes. Now he brings the gospel to Gentiles. An angel tells Cornelius, a centurion, to ask Peter to come to him. Peter is praying when he receives a vision of food—including non-kosher food—and God's voice telling him to eat. When the centurion's messengers arrive, Peter realizes the dream meant that Gentiles are no longer unclean. He follows the messengers and tells Cornelius' household about salvation through Jesus. Before Peter can lay his hands on them or baptize them, the Holy Spirit falls on them.

Jesus told the disciples they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Oddly, the disciples didn't understand this meant the Holy Spirit would come upon Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles alike. After several years reaching Jews and proselytes in Jerusalem (Acts 1—7) and Samaritans in Samaria (Acts 8:4–25), God calls Peter to bring the message to Gentiles. Peter's witness that Gentiles can be saved (Acts 11) clears the way for Paul's ministry to Gentiles in modern-day Turkey, Greece, and Italy (Acts 13—28).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.