And God, who knoweth the hearts, gave testimony, giving unto them the Holy Ghost, as well as to us:
και ο καρδιογνωστης θεος εμαρτυρησεν αυτοις δους αυτοις το πνευμα το αγιον καθως και ημιν
5 Church Fathers comment on this verse
“And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them.” He points them to the witness of the Spirit. “Giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us.” See how everywhere he makes the Gentiles equal with the Jews. He said well, “God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them,” just as in that passage, “Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all, show” (Acts 1:24).
At last the Apostle Peter came forward with his proposal, which he based on his own experience. You know, he said to those assembled, that long before this God chose me myself to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles for the first time.
And when God, who looks upon the heart, imparted to them His Holy Spirit just as to believers from the Jews, He thereby testified that the Gentiles no longer had any uncleanness in His eyes.
Having purified their hearts by faith in the Redeemer, they had become as pure as the believing Jews.
How, then, can one be so bold as to doubt the almighty power and goodness of God? How can one assert that God cannot admit the Gentiles to participation in the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven without the law?
Why do you wish to lay upon believers what neither you nor your fathers could bear?
By this yoke Peter of course did not mean the external observance of rites in itself. He himself observed them and did not wish the Jews not to observe them.
He meant such observance as came from the inward dominion of the law over the conscience. With this was joined the thought that justification and blessedness depended on it.
From this people feared that, for the slightest deviation from the law, they would lose salvation. From this came a tormenting anxiety, devising various precautions against every transgression of the law.
Understanding his position in this way, Peter could add: but we also, by faith in Jesus as our Redeemer, are freed from the yoke of the law.
It is no longer for us a means of justification. Together with the Gentiles, we believe that we are saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Άφ ήμερών ιίρχαίων shows that much time had passed from the conversion of Cornelius to the Council.
At the general Church assembly that then opened, agreement was not reached for a long time. Unreasonable zealots of the law of Moses disputed much with the defenders of Christian freedom from the legal yoke.
At last the chief Apostle Peter rose and offered his judgment on the matter. First he reminded those assembled of the event known to them all: the conversion of the Gentiles to Christ in Caesarea, in the house of Cornelius.
At the same time, he disclosed to them the inward meaning of this event. He showed that in this whole event, which began the conversion of the Gentiles, it was not he, Peter, who acted, but God Himself.
God Himself chose him, Peter, from among the other apostles, so that he would be the first to bring the word of the Gospel to the Gentiles.
God, the Knower of hearts, then bore witness that He deemed them worthy of His saving grace, granting them the Holy Spirit as He had granted Him to Christians from the circumcision.
Consequently, God Himself made no distinction between the circumcised and the uncircumcised. By faith He directly purified the hearts of the latter, without first purifying their bodies by circumcision.
After this the apostle applies the matter to the question that had been raised. Addressing the unreasonable zealots of the law of Moses, he says the following.
Why then do you now, after such clear divine indications and testimonies, and after the will of God concerning the Gentiles has been so clearly expressed, tempt God?
Why do you still question Him, and demand from Him new signs and wonders in order to know His will?
Why do you wish to place upon the necks of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
It is not the legal yoke that saves us. Rather, we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they are (cf. Rom. 3:9-26; Gal. 2:15-16; 3:10-14).
The Knower of hearts; cf. Acts 1:24. He cannot be deceived in His judgment concerning the capacity of these Gentiles to receive or attain salvation in Christ.
He gave them, Cornelius and his household, testimony concerning this capacity to attain salvation, and concerning their worthiness to be received into the Church of Christ.
God gave them this testimony by granting them the Holy Spirit, just as He had granted Him to the apostles on the day of Pentecost (Acts 10:44; 11:15 and following).
This testimony was clear and decisive, allowing no misunderstanding or reinterpretation.
The testimony of God, manifested in the granting of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles, is the essential foundation for deciding how to regard Christians from the Gentiles.
They received the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the same way and to the same degree as other Christians. Therefore they are Christians like the others.
As for their calling, it is God's work. His knowledge of hearts is sufficient guarantee that this calling took place rightly.
The converts, lacking the sacred purifying means and methods of the Jews, were purified in heart through faith. This faith gives spiritual purification in Christ, in Baptism.
In this they were sealed; that is, they received testimony with the seal of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, they received everything that Christianity gives, and therefore are equal in all things to Christians from the Jews.
What has been said gives the grounds for a positive decision on reception into Christianity. Faith in Christ, joined to a sincere desire to partake of the work of salvation accomplished by Him, is the first and necessary requirement of converts.
Everything else is the work of God's grace. St. John Chrysostom says: See how he everywhere makes the Gentiles equal with the Jews.
By faith alone, he says, they received the same thing. This brings shame upon the Jews, or rather, it can teach them too that faith alone is needed, and not works, the law, and circumcision.
For in saying this, the apostles wish not only to justify the Gentiles, but also to teach the Jews to abandon the law.
Formerly the law saved those who kept everything written in the law. But now the Lord's grace saves through faith, even without observance of the law.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 14 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS