{"id":27410,"date":"2022-09-24T12:12:03","date_gmt":"2022-09-24T17:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-acts-159\/"},"modified":"2022-09-24T12:12:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-24T17:12:03","slug":"exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-acts-159","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-acts-159\/","title":{"rendered":"Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 15:9"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 align='center'><b><i> And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. <\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n<p> <strong> 9<\/strong>. <em> And put no difference<\/em> ] i.e. made no distinction. The Apostle looks on God&rsquo;s testimony to the Gentiles in two lights. What was given to the new converts was the same which had been given at the first outpouring of the Spirit. And God made no mark of distinction to sever Jews from Gentiles. Faith had purified the hearts of Cornelius and his house, and the outward observances of the law of Moses were of no account when the heart was clean before Him who alone could judge of the purity thereof. In these words of his St Peter clearly agrees to all that St Paul had taught about the admission of the Gentiles.<\/p>\n<p><em> purifying their hearts<\/em>, &amp;c.] The verb is the same which is used in the account of the vision (<span class='bible'>Act 10:15<\/span>) &ldquo;what God hath <em> cleansed<\/em>, &amp;c.,&rdquo; and St Peter is clearly referring to that narrative.<\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p><P STYLE=\"text-indent: 0.75em\"><B>And put no difference &#8230; &#8211; <\/B>Though they had not been circumcised, and though they did not conform to the Law of Moses. Thus, God showed that the observance of these rites was not necessary in order to the true conversion of people, and to acceptance with him. He did not give us, who are Jews, any advantage over them, but justified and purified all in the same manner.<\/P> <P STYLE=\"text-indent: 0.75em\"><B>Purifying their hearts &#8211; <\/B>Thus, giving the best evidence that he had renewed them, and admitted them to favor with him.<\/P> <P STYLE=\"text-indent: 0.75em\"><B>By faith &#8211; <\/B>By believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. This demonstrated that the plan on which God was now about to show favor to people was not by external rites and ceremonies, but by a scheme which required faith as the only condition of acceptance. It is further implied here that there is no true faith which does not purify the heart.<\/P><\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: Albert Barnes&#8217; Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p><P> Verse <span class='bible'>9<\/span>. <I><B>Put no difference between us and them<\/B><\/I>] Giving them the Holy Spirit, though <I>uncircumcised<\/I>, just as he had given it to us who were <I>circumcised<\/I>: an evident proof that, in the judgment of God, circumcision was <I>no preparation<\/I> to receive the Gospel of Christ. And as the purification of the heart by the Holy Spirit was the grand object of the religion of God, and that alone by which the soul could be prepared for a blessed immortality, and the Gentiles had received that <I>without<\/I> circumcision, consequently, the <I>shadow<\/I> could not be considered of any worth, now the <I>substance<\/I> was communicated.<\/P><\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: Adam Clarke&#8217;s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p><P> God had now broken down the middle wall of partition betwixt Jew and Gentile, <span class='bible'>Eph 2:14<\/span>, and distributed his graces to these also, which was signified by the rending of the veil from the top to the bottom, <span class='bible'>Mat 27:51<\/span>, whereby such as were formerly without, might see and enjoy the benefit of those great things which had been hidden under those shadows and types. <\/P> <P>Purifying their hearts, from idolatry, and other impieties in which they had lived; which is the inward circumcision of the heart; and, whosoever is thus cleansed, ought not to be reputed amongst the unclean. <\/P> <P>By faith; faith is the instrument, God is the efficient cause, of our justification and renovation. <\/P> <\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p><P><B>9. put no difference between us andthem: purifying their hearts by faith<\/B>&#8220;Purification&#8221;here refers to &#8220;sprinkling (of the conscience by the blood ofJesus) from dead works to serve the living God.&#8221; (See on <span class='bible'>1Co6:11<\/span>). How rich is this brief description of the inwardrevolution wrought upon the genuine disciples of the Lord Jesus!<\/P><\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown&#8217;s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p><strong>And put no difference between us and them<\/strong>,&#8230;. Neither in the extraordinary gifts, nor special grace, of the Spirit; giving them the same graces of faith, hope, and love, admitting to the same privileges and immunities of the house of God, and giving them a right and title to the same inheritance of the saints in light, though the one were circumcised, and the other were not. God puts no difference as to matters of religion under the Gospel dispensation between Jews and Gentiles, neither on account of Abraham&#8217;s seed, or of circumcision, or of the ceremonial law, or of national adoption; nor would he have any made with respect to conversation, civil or religious; all which Peter knew full well: nor has he made any difference in his eternal choice of persons to eternal salvation, on any of the above accounts, having ordained Gentiles to eternal life as Jews, who in consequence of it believe in Christ; nor in redemption, Christ having redeemed by his blood men out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation; nor in the effectual calling, for they that were called in the first times of the Gospel, were not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles also, to whom the Gospel was alike sent, and made effectual to saving purposes: these shared in the same blessings of pardon, justification, and adoption; their sins were forgiven through the same blood, their persons were justified by the same righteousness, and they were taken into the same family, and were no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens of the saints, and of the household of God; having the same access to God, being built on the same foundation, enjoying the same privileges, and having the same hope of eternal glory.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Purifying their hearts by faith<\/strong>; which was done by implanting faith in them, and leading that faith to the blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin, original and actual, with which men are defiled; for faith has not this efficacy in itself, but as it has to do with the blood of Jesus: and this spiritual purification being what answered to circumcision, made that unnecessary; for this is the circumcision of the heart, of which the other was only typical. The hearts of men are filthy, and need purifying; they are originally polluted with sin; this is the case of all men; and this defilement reaches to all the members of the body, and the faculties of the soul; and especially the heart is the seat of this impurity, which God only can cleanse: he promises to do it, and does do it; and he only can do it, men cannot; for though, they are exhorted to it, in order to make them sensible of their pollution, and their need of cleansing, that they may apply where it is to be had, yet it is not in their power to effect it; to make a clean heart is a creation work, which is peculiar to God: the heart cannot be purified, neither by ceremonial ablutions, nor by works of moral righteousness, nor by humiliations and tears, nor by submission to Gospel ordinances, as water baptism, but only by the grace of God, and the blood of Christ; which the Spirit of God sprinkles upon the heart, and which faith looks to and deals with, and so it is freed from an evil conscience; and this blessing the believing Gentiles enjoyed in common with the believing Jews.<\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: John Gill&#8217;s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p><P> <B>He made no distinction between us and them <\/B> (<span class='_800000'><SPAN LANG=\"el-GR\">      <\/SPAN><\/span>). He distinguished nothing (first aorist active ind.) between (both <span class='_800000'><SPAN LANG=\"el-GR\"><\/SPAN><\/span> and <span class='_800000'><SPAN LANG=\"el-GR\"><\/SPAN><\/span>) both (<span class='_800000'><SPAN LANG=\"el-GR\"> <\/SPAN><\/span>) us and them. In the matter of faith and conversion God treated us Jews as heathen and the heathen as Jews.<\/P> <P><B>Cleansing their hearts by faith <\/B> (<span class='_800000'><SPAN LANG=\"el-GR\">     <\/SPAN><\/span>). Not by works nor by ceremonies. Peter here has a thoroughly Pauline and Johannine idea of salvation for all both Jew and Greek. Cf. <span class='bible'>10:15<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: Robertson&#8217;s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1) <strong>&#8220;And put no difference between us and them,&#8221;<\/strong> (kai outhen diektinen metaksu hemon te kai auton) And not even one thing He distinguished between both us and them,&#8221; in matters of salvation, means by which either or both Jew and Gentiles might be saved, both in the law and church ages, <span class='bible'>Act 10:43<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Act 11:18<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Rom 4:3-5<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Rom 4:16<\/span>. Faith in Christ, as the last Divine and human instrument, means, or agency by which a lost person becomes saved, is here placed in direct contrast with the outward purification of circumcision upon which the Pharisee Judaizers insisted, <span class='bible'>Act 15:1<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Act 15:5<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>2) <strong>&#8220;Purifying their hearts by faith.&#8221;<\/strong> (te pistei katharisas tas kardias auton) &#8220;Cleaning (purifying) their hearts by faith,&#8221; by means, instrument, or the agency of faith, the offered gift of God, to every sinner; <span class='bible'>Heb 11:6<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Eph 2:3<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Eph 2:8-9<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Rom 10:17<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Joh 1:11-12<\/span>. &#8220;The faith&#8221; or system of teaching of Christ, set forth incontestably that a child of wrath becomes a child of God when he has heard the word, repented of his sins, when he, by convicted will, puts, places, or sets that gift of faith to him in Jesus Christ as his Savior.<\/p>\n<p>Note: in no place is one&#8217;s heart ever said to be purified by:<\/p>\n<p style='margin-left:2.755em'>a. The law<\/p>\n<p style='margin-left:2.755em'>b. Baptism<\/p>\n<p style='margin-left:2.755em'>c. Good works<\/p>\n<p style='margin-left:2.755em'>d. Lord&#8217;s Supper observance<\/p>\n<p>e. Moral or ethical conduct, etc., such as is yet taught today by Pharisees of much Protestantism.<\/p>\n<p style='margin-left:1.905em'>1) One is justified by faith, but not by baptism.<\/p>\n<p>2) One is saved by grace thru faith, but not thru baptism.<\/p>\n<p>3) One is a child of God by faith, but not by or thru baptism, or good works or the observance of the Lord&#8217;s Supper, or by moral, ethical, or religious ceremony or rite, <span class='bible'>Eph 2:8-9<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Tit 3:5<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Act 13:39<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Rom 5:1<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Gal 3:28<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Act 16:31<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Rom 1:16<\/span>; <span class='bible'>Rom 10:9-13<\/span>; <span class='bible'>1Pe 1:18-22<\/span>.<\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p> &#8722; <\/p>\n<p> 9.  And he put no difference.  There was indeed some difference, because the Gentiles who were uncircumcised were suddenly admitted unto the covenant of eternal life; whereas the Jews were prepared by circumcision unto faith. But Peter&#8217;s meaning is, that they were both chosen &#8722;  (102) together by God unto the hope of the same inheritance, and that they were extolled into the like degree of honor, that they might be the children of God and members of Christ, and, finally, the holy seed of Abraham, a priestly and princely generation. Whereupon it followeth, that they cannot without sacrilege be counted unclean, sithence God hath chosen them to be a peculiar people, and hath consecrated them to be holy vessels of his temple. For the wall of separation being pulled down, whereby the Gentiles and Jews were divided among themselves, he hath joined the Gentiles to the Jews, that they might grow together into one body, ( <span class='bible'>Eph 2:14<\/span>\ud83d\ude09 and that I may so say, he hath mixed circumcision and uncircumcision together, that as well those of the household as strangers may be one in Christ, and may make one Church; and that there may not be any longer either Jew or Grecian. &#8722; <\/p>\n<p> Seeing that by faith he hath purified.  This member is answerable to that former adjunct which he applieth to God; as if he should say, that God, who knoweth the hearts, did inwardly purge the Gentiles, when he vouchsafed to make them partakers of his adoption, that they might be endued with spiritual cleanness. But he addeth farther, that this purity did consist in faith. Therefore he teacheth, first, that the Gentiles have true holiness without ceremonies, which may suffice before God&#8217;s judgment-seat. Secondly, he teacheth that this is attained unto by faith, and from it doth it flow. In like sort, Paul gathereth, that uncircumcision doth not hinder a man but that he may be counted holy and just before God, ( <span class='bible'>Rom 4:10<\/span>\ud83d\ude09 because circumcision did follow after righteousness in the person of Abraham, and by order of time it was latter, [posterior.] &#8722; <\/p>\n<p> But here ariseth a question, whether that purity which the fathers had in times past were unlike to that which God gave now to the Gentiles? For it seemeth that Peter distinguisheth the Gentiles from the Jews by this mark, because, being content with the cleanness of the heart alone, they need no help of the law. I answer, that the one of them differ from the other, not in substance, but in form, [only.] For God had respect always unto the inward cleanness of the heart; and the ceremonies were given to the old [ancient] people only for this cause, that they might help their faith. So that cleanness, as touching figures and exercises, was only for a time, until the coming of Christ, which hath no place among us at this day; like as there remaineth from the very beginning of the world unto the end the same true worship of God, to wit, the spiritual worship; yet is there great difference in the visible form. Now, we see that the fathers did not obtain righteousness by ceremonies, neither were they therefore pure before God, but by the cleanness of the heart. For the ceremonies of themselves were of no importance to justify them; but they were only helps, which did accidentally (that I may so term it) purge them; yet so that the fathers and we had the same truth. Now, when Christ came, all that which was accidental did vanish away; and, therefore, seeing the shadows be driven away, there remaineth the bare and plain pureness of the heart. &#8722; <\/p>\n<p> Thus is that objection easily answered which the Jews think cannot possibly be answered. Circumcision is called the eternal covenant, or of the world, ( <span class='bible'>Gen 17:13<\/span>\ud83d\ude09 therefore, say they, it was not to be abolished. If any man shall say that this is not referred unto the visible sign, but rather unto the thing figured, it shall be well answered; but there is another answer besides this. Seeing that the kingdom of Christ was a certain renewing of the world, there shall no inconvenience follow if he made an end of &#8722;  (103) all the shadows of the law, forasmuch as the perpetuity of the law is grounded in Christ. I come now unto the second member, where Peter placeth the cleanness [purity] of the Gentiles in faith. Why doth not he say, In perfection of virtues, or holiness of life, save only because men have righteousness from another, and not from themselves? For, if men, by living well and justly, should purchase righteousness, or if they should be clean before God by nature, this sentence of Peter should fall to the ground. Therefore, the Spirit doth in these words plainly pronounce that all mankind is polluted, and with filthiness defiled; secondly, that their blots can by no other means be wiped away than by the grace of Christ. For, seeing that faith is the remedy whereby the Lord doth freely help us, it is set as well against the common nature of all men, as against every man&#8217;s own merits. When I say that all mankind is polluted, my meaning is, that we bring nothing from our mother&#8217;s womb but mere filthiness, and that there is no righteousness in our nature which can reconcile us to God. Man&#8217;s soul was indeed endued with singular gifts at the first; but all parts thereof are so corrupt with sin, that there remaineth in it no drop of pureness any longer; therefore we must seek for cleanness without ourselves. &#8722; <\/p>\n<p> For if any man allege that it may be recovered by merits of works, there is nothing more absurd than to imagine that wicked and coward nature can deserve anything. Therefore, it resteth that men seek elsewhere for that which they shall never be able to find within themselves. And surely it is the office of faith to translate that unto us which is proper to Christ, and to make it ours by free participation. So that there is a mutual relation between faith and the grace of Christ. For faith doth not make us clean, as a virtue or quality poured into our souls; but because it receiveth that cleanness which is offered in Christ. We must also note the phrase, that God purifieth the hearts; whereby Luke doth both make God the author of faith, and he teacheth also that cleanness is his benefit. To make short, he signifieth unto us, that that is given to men by the grace of God which they cannot give to themselves. But forasmuch as we said that faith taketh that of Christ which it transpoureth [transferreth] into us; we must now see how the grace of Christ doth make us clean, that we may please God. And there is a double manner of purging, because Christ doth offer and present us clean and just in the sight of his Father, by putting away our sins daily, which he hath once purged by his blood; secondly, because, by mortifying the lusts of the flesh by his Spirit, he reformeth us unto holiness of life. I do willingly comprehend both kinds of purging under these words; because Luke doth not touch one kind of purging only, but he teacheth that the whole perfection thereof consisteth without the ceremonies of the law. &#8722; <\/p>\n<p>  (102) &#8722; <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>  Utrosque pariter allectos esse,&#8221; that both were in like manner allured. <\/p>\n<p>  (103) &#8722; <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>  Nihil esse absurdi si finem&#8230; imposuerit,&#8221; there is no absurdity in his having put an end to. <\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: Calvin&#8217;s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p>(9) <strong>And put no difference between us and them.<\/strong>It is obvious that this implies the most entire acceptance of the teaching which St. Paul had privately communicated to the three who were as the pillars of the Church (<span class='bible'>Gal. 2:9<\/span>). In <span class='bible'>Rom. 10:12<\/span> we have almost the very words of St. Peter reproduced.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Purifying their hearts by faith.<\/strong>The addition of these words is very suggestive. It was not only in the gifts of the Spirit, the tongues and prophecy, that the Apostle saw the witness which God had borne to the acceptance of the Gentiles, but even more than this, in the new purity growing out of a new faith in God and a new hope. Underlying the words we trace the assertion of a higher ideal of purity than that on which the Pharisees were insisting. They looked on the Gentiles as impure because they did not observe the ceremonial law and the traditions of the elders as to purity. He had learnt to call no man common or unclean (<span class='bible'>Act. 10:28<\/span>) and to see that it was in the heart, and not in the flesh, that the work of purifying was to be accomplished. Comp. in connection with the thought suggested in the Note on <span class='bible'>Act. 15:5<\/span>, the teaching as to purity in <span class='bible'>Tit. 1:15<\/span>.<\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: Ellicott&#8217;s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p> <strong> 9<\/strong>. <strong> <\/strong> <strong> Purifying<\/strong> Peter here touches the vital matter. What is any religion good for but to purify the heart and make it just before God? If Christ can now do it without circumcision, what need of circumcision?<\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: Whedon&#8217;s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p> 8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as <em> he did<\/em> unto us;<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p> 9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. <strong> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><\/p>\n<p> Ver. 9. <strong> Purifying their hearts by faith<\/strong> ] Faith (as a neat housewife) sweeps clean, and suffers never a slut&rsquo;s corner in the soul. It is ever purging upon corruption, and lets out the lifeblood of it; for it shows a man a better project than to lie sucking at the botches of carnal pleasures, or to be basely affixed to earthly profits. Every true believer beareth a brush at his back, as we say of a trim man. His faith consecrateth his heart, and maketh it, of the devil&rsquo;s thoroughfare, God&rsquo;s enclosure. <\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: John Trapp&#8217;s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p> <span class='bible'>Act 15:9<\/span> .     .  .: the thought is described by Zckler as equally Petrine, Pauline, and Johannine; <em> cf.<\/em> <span class='bible'>Act 3:16<\/span> ; <span class='bible'>Act 3:19<\/span> , <span class='bible'>1Pe 1:18-21<\/span> ; Rom 2:24 , <span class='bible'>1Jn 1:8<\/span> ; <span class='bible'>1Jn 2:2<\/span> , <span class='bible'>Rev 7:14<\/span> ; here it stands in contrast to the outward purification of circumcision upon which the Judaisers insisted, <em> cf.<\/em> also <span class='bible'>Act 10:15<\/span> , and for the phrase  .   ., Sir 38:10 . Rendall renders   , the faith, <em> i.e.<\/em> , the Christian faith, and he is no doubt right in this, in so far as the faith is faith in Jesus Christ (Schmid, <em> Bibl. Theol. des N. T.<\/em> , pp. 424, 425), <em> cf.<\/em> St. Peter&rsquo;s language in <span class='bible'>1Pe 1:18-22<\/span> .<\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p>put no difference = discriminated in nothing. Greek. diakrino. <\/p>\n<p>purifying = having cleansed. Greek. katharizo. Compare Act 10:15; Act 11:9. The Heartsearcher is the Heart-cleanser. <\/p>\n<p>faith = the faith. Greek. pistis. App-150. <\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p>Act 15:9.  , by faith) derived from the hearing of the Gospel [not by the law], Act 15:7; Act 15:5 at the end: and this without circumcision, without the law.-, having purified) The heart is the seat of purity. This verb is repeated from the vision, ch. Act 10:15.-, their) He who hath the Holy Spirit and faith (a thing which is apprehended by the spiritual sense itself), hath liberty and purity, and is no longer subject to the law.<\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p>put: Act 14:1, Act 14:27, Rom 3:9, Rom 3:22, Rom 3:29, Rom 3:30, Rom 4:11, Rom 4:12, Rom 9:24, Rom 10:11-13, 1Co 7:18, Gal 3:28, Gal 5:6, Eph 2:14-22, Eph 3:6, Col 3:11 <\/p>\n<p>purifying: Act 10:15, Act 10:28, Act 10:43, Act 10:44, 1Co 1:2, Heb 9:13, Heb 9:14, 1Pe 1:22 <\/p>\n<p>Reciprocal: Num 19:12 &#8211; He shall purify Psa 24:4 &#8211; pure Psa 51:10 &#8211; clean Pro 16:6 &#8211; mercy Pro 21:8 &#8211; but Eze 47:22 &#8211; they shall have Zec 14:20 &#8211; shall there Mat 5:8 &#8211; are Joh 17:17 &#8211; Sanctify Act 10:35 &#8211; in Act 10:47 &#8211; General Act 11:9 &#8211; What Act 11:17 &#8211; as God Act 15:24 &#8211; Ye must Act 26:18 &#8211; faith Rom 10:12 &#8211; there is no Rom 14:3 &#8211; for 2Th 2:13 &#8211; belief 1Ti 1:5 &#8211; a pure Tit 2:14 &#8211; purify Jam 2:14 &#8211; though Jam 4:8 &#8211; purify 2Pe 1:1 &#8211; have 1Jo 3:3 &#8211; purifieth<\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p>9<\/p>\n<p>Act 15:9. He put no difference in that both Jew and Gentile could become pure in heart by accepting the faith of the Gospel and not by the law of Moses.<\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p>Act 15:9. And put no difference between us and them. He no longer made any distinction between the Pagans who were converted and believed in the Lord Jesus, and the believing Israelite, after He had once purified their hearts by faith. The words here plainly allude to the case of the conversion of Cornelius (Act 10:15): What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.<\/p>\n<p>Purifying their hearts by faith. The Jews generally, whom Peter was addressing, held that the heathen were unclean so long as they were uncircumcised; but Peter showed them that God, by bestowing His glorious blessing upon uncircumcised believing Gentiles as fully and freely as He had done upon circumcised believing Jews, had ruled that faith was the true circumcision, the only real means of purification. Through faith we obtain another, a new and clean heart, and God regards us, for the sake of Christ our Mediator, as altogether righteous and holy (Articles of Smalcald).<\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p>See notes on verse 7<\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p>9. And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. This Scripture settles forever the fact that the hearts of the apostles on the day of Pentecost were purified by faith, in order to be filled with the Holy Ghost. It also settles the matter beyond the possibility of cavil that the plan of salvation is the very same for Jew and Gentile, at Jerusalem and in the uttermost parts of the earth. All hearts must be purified by faith after conversion, as in case of the apostles, and then filled with the Holy Ghost.<\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: William Godbey&#8217;s Commentary on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p>Verse 9 <\/p>\n<p>Faith; that is, simply by faith in Christ, without requiring of them obedience to the ceremonial law.<\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: Abbott&#8217;s Illustrated New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n<p>15:9 And put no {d} difference between us and them, purifying their hearts {e} by faith.<\/p>\n<p>(d) He put no difference between us and them, with regard to the benefit of his free favour.<\/p>\n<p>(e) Christ proclaims those blessed who are pure of heart: and here we are plainly taught that men are made pure of heart by faith.<\/p>\n<h4 align='right'><i><b>Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 9. And put no difference ] i.e. made no distinction. The Apostle looks on God&rsquo;s testimony to the Gentiles in two lights. What was given to the new converts was the same which had been given at the first outpouring of the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-acts-159\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 15:9&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27410\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}