Acts 11:15-18

Jesus was born to save mankind and in His death He overcame any obstacle that separated man from God except man himself. We choose who we believe. To those who choose Him the Holy Spirit is given to teach us the ways of Jesus and to guide us safely home to Him.  

The sins of the world were laid on His shoulders and He willingly died for you!

Peter’s language and reasoning here seem to echo Gamaliel’s argument to the Sanhedrin that if God is indeed behind the Church’s message and mission, then no one will be able to stop it. Faithlife Bible.

The manifestation of the Holy Spirit was the same to the Gentiles at Caesarea as it was to the Jews at Jerusalem. The reference to being baptized in the Spirit,  was a once-for-all act whereby Christ places believers in the care and safekeeping of the Holy Spirit until the day He returns. 

This begins a bold new step in the mission of the church. The Samaritans were part Jewish; the Ethiopian eunuch and Cornelius were Jewish proselytes. Finally the Jewish Christians that made up the early church understood Jesus’ commission to them: they were to bring the gospel message to the Gentile too. NKJ Bible.

Acts 11:15–18 (NKJV)

¹⁵ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?”

¹⁸ When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”

Acts 15:8 (NKJV)

⁸ So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us,

Acts 15:9 (NKJV)

⁹ and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

Isaiah 42:6 (NKJV)

⁶ “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness,

And will hold Your hand;

I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,

As a light to the Gentiles,