Acts 15:6-11 6The apostles and the elders were gathered together to see about this matter. 7And after there had been much debate, standing up, Peter said to them, “Men, Brothers, you yourselves know that in the old days God chose among you that by my mouth for the Gentiles to hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8And God, who knows the heart, witnessed to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as to us, 9and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.
An assembly was called to consider what Paul, Barnabas, and their delegation from Antioch told them about how the Gentiles believed. This meeting is often called the first major church council and was a significant point in the development of the church. Paul recounts in Galatians 2:2 how he went up to Jerusalem to consult with the leaders there. Two positions were evident. The Pharisees represented the legalistic and traditional perspective that everyone needed to conform to Jewish practices. The unnamed group had the assumed argument that Gentiles did not need to become Jewish to believe in the Messiah. Luke notes that there was much debate (zētēseōs) or argument about this matter.
Peter stood up as the primary representative of the apostles. At some point, he had returned to Jerusalem. His position as leader is clear from this account, but he was not a dictator nor held absolute authority. He had to convince the rest of the group with careful theological reasoning. He began with a brief summary of his own personal account of his experience with Cornelius, though Cornelius is not mentioned by name. The episode in Caesarea happend quite some time before this, possibly a decade. Many of those present would remember this. The key point of that story was how Gentiles accepted and believed in the gospel. The proof at that point of God’s blessing and purpose was the coming of the Holy Spirit, like on the day of Pentecost. This was all God’s doing. If God was behind that experience, God was also behind the mission success of Paul and Barnabas. Peter highlighted the two key steps in becoming a disciple: hearing the word and believing in it. Verse 8 gives the key point that if God required something beyond faith, the Gentiles would not have received the Holy Spirit.
God knows the heart. God knows what people think and their motivations. God knows when people are sincere about believing in Jesus or if they are just trying to gain social acceptance or relieve their guilt. A trip to an altar of prayer may provide an emotional high, but what follows is what matters. Cornelius and his household were sincere in their repentance and faith. God confirmed that by treating them the same as the Jewish apostles and first disciples on the day of Pentecost. Some of those present at the meeting may also have been present at Pentecost, and when Peter returned to Jerusalem in chapter 11 and told about his experience. In both situations, the believers’ hearst were cleansed by faith. Cleansed (katharisas) is an important biblical word that represents the purifying work of the Holy Spirit that transforms people’s hearts, representing their thoughts, motives, deep spiritual condition, and worldview. The heart is where a person chooses between right and wrong. The Holy Spirit makes this change when any person, Jew or Gentile, comes to God in faith, trusting in the salvation offered in Jesus Christ.