(Concluded from page 232.)

But if the believing Jew under the guidance of the Holy Spirit has been forced to preach repentance and remission of sins to the Gentiles, to declare among the Gentiles the doctrine of free, sovereign grace; to announce to them the gospel of salvation-by grace through faith-will he allow a believing Gentile to openly take his place along with those whom God has publicly acknowledged as His people, His sons ? This is the next question to be considered and, as all through, God Himself acts to force a right settlement of it. While Peter is declaring the message of God-a message, which, as we have seen, assures Cornelius that he belongs to the household of faith and has part in its blessing-God bestows upon Cornelius and the company of believers that were with him the Holy Spirit, thus owning them to be His sons. If in Acts 2:believing Jews had received the Spirit of adoption, and in chap. 8:the believing Samaritans, now in chap. 10:it is bestowed upon believing Gentiles. In each case it is God's public acknowledgment of them as His own. But if God has openly owned a believing Gentile why should not a believing Jew openly acknowledge him ? Peter feels that he is bound to do so, that he cannot refuse them baptism, and orders it to be done, putting them thus in open association with those upon whom the name of Christ has been publicly placed.

To what lengths Peter has gone! But will the Jewish company of believers at Jerusalem endorse all this? Will they admit that God has "granted repentance unto life to the Gentiles"? They are forced to do so. They sharply rebuke Peter for going "in unto men uncircumcised and eating with them." Then Peter explains the whole matter from the beginning and shows them the evident hand of God all through. He speaks of the manifest lesson of the vision he had seen of the great sheet let down from heaven, of the express command of the Spirit that he should go with the messengers that had come from Cornelius, of how he came to send for him, and of the assurance given to Cornelius that he would "hear words " which would be to him the unfolding of the salvation of God. Then he tells them that as he began to give the promised message God gave them the Holy Spirit, thus owning them as His, as He had already owned the believing Jew. How, then, he says, could I withstand? If God gave them the same Spirit of adoption which He has given to us "what was I " to oppose? Convinced thus against all their prejudices they allow it to be a matter that God has settled and consent to the admission of the believing Gentile, themselves thus putting down the bars by which they would have kept the Gentile believer in the place of distance, and owning his unity with the believing Jew.

Thus the lessons of the story are manifest. They are:First, the guidance of the believing Jew into the truth of the unity of the Jew and the Gentile in Christ. Second, the practical reception by the believing Jew of the believing Gentile into the place of privilege and enjoyed blessing. Third, the making known to the believing Gentile the blessing and portion of faith in the presence of God. And, Fourth, revelation to him of his right to take his place among those who are openly marked off as the household of God.

The story has been written that these lessons may abide for us. Alas! they have not always been remembered. The spirit of making "a fair show in the flesh " has come in, developing much that is inconsistent with these lessons. How many have forgotten that God does not regard the person of men! How many substitute works in the place of faith, denying thus Peter's gospel of salvation. How often, too, the receiving of the Spirit by "the hearing of faith" (see Gal. 3:2) is denied. Even the fact that Cornelius is already a believer when he is directed to send for Peter is used in this way, forgetting that Cornelius lived in the time of the overlapping of two dispensations. But Judaism, as a dispensation, has passed away, and so there are now nowhere any converts to God by its testimony. It is by the gospel of Christianity that men are " turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God " (see i Thess. 1:9). The"word of truth," the gospel of Gentile salvation, as preached by Peter is "whosoever," whether Jew or Gentile, believes, "receives the remission of sins."The record of the history of Judaism of course abides, but it is only as in the hand of the Christian that it gets its true interpretation. Alas! even he too often misinterprets it. But it is Christian testimony that now turns men to God. Whoever does turn to God gets the remission of sins, and the gift of the Spirit is distinctly connected with this. Cornelius received the Spirit when the remission of sins had been ministered to him. Under Judaism it could not be ministered to him even though he was a believer. But the gospel of Gentile salvation does just that, and hence a convert under its administration receives the Spirit when he receives the remission of sins, 1:e., when he believes (see Eph. 1:13). There is also another doctrine sometimes urged that is a clear misuse of the story of Cornelius. It is said that Peter asserts that he was to "tell him words whereby he and his house should be saved " and that therefore there are at least two kinds of believers, one having salvation, the other not. But, as we have already seen, in considering the previous point, the story of Cornelius shows the passing away of Judaism. He lived in the time of its overlap by Christianity. He knew the promise of a Saviour God had made to Israel. But he had not yet learned that promised Saviour had been sent to Israel and that they had rejected Him, crucifying Him upon a cross, and that God had raised Him from the dead and made Him Lord of all, the Judge of both the living and the dead. Peter tells him all this and then goes on to show him that the old dispensation under which he had turned to God was now passing away. A new dispensation was coming on, had indeed already begun, in which the believer, whether a Jew or a Gentile, should have the blessing of a known and enjoyed salvation, that the grace of God now brought salvation to all, and all who believed in and submitted to the risen Jesus shared in the salvation. This is the plain meaning of Peter's words when he says, "Words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved."He is really explaining to his Jewish brethren, who were so full of prejudice against the Gentiles, that he was guided of God and indeed forced to announce to the Gentiles their title to participation in the salvation of God. The meaning of the words must be understood from the evident object of the Spirit of God in the account. This, we have seen, is to declare the salvation of God to the Gen-tiles and to force the believing Jews to acknowledge the Gentile's title to it in common with themselves. It is not intended to teach, directly or indirectly, that there are or may be two classes of believers, one with, the other without salvation. It is an unwarranted use of the passage. Let it be realized that the question before the brethren of the circumcision was, Shall we admit that the believing Gentile shares with us in the salvation of God? and all difficulty disappears at once. Peter's answer is, Why, that is just what I was to preach to Cornelius. I was to tell him words whereby he and all his house should be saved. I was to tell him that he and his house should participate in the salvation which is now "preached by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. "

"Words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved," thus undoubtedly assures us that all believers are saved, that faith's blessing is salvation. It is true there may be much yet to learn. Peter had only begun to speak. But God waited not for them to advance in knowledge. Just as soon as Peter, the Jew, had declared the Gentile title to salvation God gave them the Spirit to say, I own them as saved. They are Mine and I claim them. It is a claim that cannot be disputed. He who does so resists God. C. Crain
"IN ME FIRST" AND "US . . . LAST."