According to verse 4, Peter began to explain in sequence what had taken place in the house of Cornelius. When I read the account in 11:1-18 many years ago, I thought that Peter was quite spiritual in the way he explained the matter to those of the circumcision. However, later I came to see that Peter may have actually been somewhat cowardly, somewhat afraid of those of the circumcision. Whatever may have been the situation, Peter explained things in a very nice way.
Peter concluded his presentation with these words: “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as also on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, John indeed baptized in water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit. If God therefore gave to them the equal gift as also to us, having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could forbid God?” (vv. 15-17). Peter’s presentation is excellent, and we may learn of him.
Acts 11:18 says, “And when they heard these things, they were silent and glorified God, saying, Then also to the Gentiles God has given repentance unto life.” In this verse the word “then” is not positive, for it does not indicate willingness. Those of the circumcision were surprised that God had given to the Gentiles repentance unto life. Their surprise and lack of willingness to accept this fact are indicated by “then.”
Actually, those of the circumcision should not have been surprised that God had given repentance unto life to the Gentiles. In 1:8 the Lord Jesus had already told the disciples that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even in the remotest part of the earth including all the Gentiles. That was the Lord’s commandment, but the disciples did not realize it, and they did not accept it. After strong testimony was given concerning the Lord’s move among the Gentiles, those of the circumcision could only say, “Then also to the Gentiles God has given repentance unto life.”
We need to be impressed that Acts is a dispensational book. The matter of the change of dispensation is one of the strong points in Acts. To speak of a dispensational change means that in this book we see the need for a great transfer, the need for a great turn. This transfer, this turn, is from the old dispensation to the new.
In the book of Acts the early believers, including the apostles, were in a period of transition. We have pointed out that not even the apostles had a clear vision concerning God’s abandonment of the Judaic things. Peter and the other apostles, therefore, did not pass through this transitional period successfully. Actually, they had a great failure. This led to a mixture of the church with Judaism, which was not condemned by the early church in Jerusalem. That made it necessary for God to use Titus with the Roman army in A.D. 70 to destroy Jerusalem, the temple, and the religion of Judaism. Through Titus the religious mixture in Jerusalem was also terminated. May we all see from the record in Acts the need for a dispensational transfer.