Hello, I have read your book “The Spirit Summarized,” and I have enjoyed reading it. I have learned much. I am currently in a serious study over “Acts” and currently I am in chapter 10. I have profited from chapter 6 of your book and I have a couple of questions for you. 1. In Acts 11:15 it says, “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as on us at the beginning.” Who is the “us” in this verse? 2. A couple of versus later the text reads, “For as much then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us.” Once again, who is the “us” in this verse? Please elaborate on these questions. In Him, Michael Robinson
Pronouns refer to nouns and the correct correlation between nouns and their pronouns must be made in order for language to be properly understood. This is as true in the Bible as in everyday speech or in the newspaper. That is all it will take to satisfactorily address the question of to whom the “us” in Acts 11:15 and 17 refers.
Acts 11 is a reiteration of the events that transpired in Acts 10 respecting the conversion of Cornelius and those who were with him. Without duplicating the entire Bible text relative to this incident in these two chapters and without giving a full narration of the events that are chronicled in these two chapters, nevertheless, references must be made to verses in both chapters to answer the question at hand. If the reader needs more background regarding the events transpiring, he may refresh his memory of them by reading Acts 10 and 11.
In Acts 10:23, the apostle Peter and other Jewish brethren accompanied Peter from Joppa to Caesarea. In Acts 10:45, these Jewish brethren and Peter are mentioned thus, “And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter…” Like Acts 11:15, 17, but using the pronoun “we,” Acts 10:47 reads, “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” The “we” of whom Peter was speaking included himself and the Jewish brethren who had accompanied him to Caesarea. Only one apostle was present, so that the essence of Peter’s question to the Jewish brethren who had accompanied him was, “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received miraculous power as well as we Jews?”
Acts 11:12 reveals that six Jewish brethren accompanied Peter from Joppa to Caesarea and the house of Cornelius. Acts 11:15 is identical to Act 10:47 where “we” refers to Jews. The only difference in Acts 11:15 is the enlargement of the Jewish audience present. The Jews as a class of people, if not each Jew present in the Acts 10 and 11 references, had received miraculous power. Acts 11:17 is a repetition of the way in which the pronouns “we” and “us” are used in Acts chapters 10 and 11, to represent Jews who had received miraculous power.
The point of noting that the Gentiles as well as the Jews had received miraculous power was to convince the Jews that the Gentiles ought to have the same unfettered access to Christianity, without having to proselyte to Judaism first. The church had been in existence for about 10 years before the Gospel was preached to the Gentiles in Acts 10 and 11. The context of Acts chapters 10 and 11 shows plainly that the apostle Peter went reluctantly to the house of Cornelius with the Gospel message. Acts 11 amounts to Peter’s defense among his fellow Jews for taking the Gospel to the Gentiles. The miraculous manifestation at Cornelius’ home, necessarily before the Gentiles were baptized, was to validate to the apostle Peter, to the Jewish brethren with him and to Jewish Christians in general that the Gentiles were to be equal in Christ (Galatians 3:28; Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 62:2).
A gathering in Jerusalem again in Acts 15 was necessary to counter the mischief of Judaizing teachers, respecting the equal access for Gentiles to the church through the Gospel. The Judaizing problem was an ever-present nuisance to the infant church, as evident especially from the epistles of the apostle Paul.
