John Calvin Commentary Acts 15:7

"And when there had been much questioning, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Brethren, ye know that a good while ago God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel, and believe." — Acts 15:7 (ASV)

And when there had been great disputation. Though grave men were chosen, and those who were public teachers of the Church, yet they could not agree immediately. This shows how the Lord exercised His Church, even then, by the weakness of men, so that it might learn to be wise with humility.

Moreover, He allowed (even in that company and assembly where He was chief) the principal point of Christian doctrine to be variously discussed and handled, lest we wonder, if it ever happens, that men, who are otherwise learned and godly, through lack of skill, fall into error.

For some were not so quick-witted that they could thoroughly perceive the significance of the matter. So when they judge that the law ought to be kept, being rashly carried away by zeal for the law, they do not see into what a deep labyrinth they throw the consciences of other men, and their own as well.

They thought that circumcision was an eternal and inviolable token of God’s covenant; they had the same opinion of the entire law. Therefore, Peter focuses chiefly on this: to show the state of the question, which most of them did not know. And his speech has two parts. For, first, he proves by the authority of God that the Gentiles must not be forced to keep the law; secondly, he teaches that all human salvation is overthrown if the conscience is once caught in this snare.

Therefore, the former part (in which he declares that he was sent from God to teach the Gentiles, and that the Holy Spirit came down upon them) tends to this end: that men did not rashly annul the ceremonies of the law, but that God is the author of that annulment.

And as soon as the authority of God is presented, all doubting is removed, because this is all our wisdom: to rely on the authority, government, and commandment of God, and to value His will and pleasure more than all reasons. Now, it is fitting that we ponder the words of Peter, by which he proves that God granted this to the Gentiles: to be free from the yoke of the law.

You know. He calls them to bear witness (and to them he appeals), lest anyone should think that he is about to speak of some obscure and doubtful thing. The events were well known to them all.

What remained, he shows, was that they were blind even in the clearest light, indeed, because they had not long ago learned what was openly shown. He calls the beginning of the preaching of the gospel 'old days,' or 'the old time,' as if he meant 'long ago,' as it were, since the very beginning of the Church, after Christ began to gather any people to Himself.

God did choose in us. The word choose signifies to appoint or decree. Though Peter comprehends both the free election of God and the choice by which God adopted the Gentiles to be His people, therefore, He chose—that is, as it were, making a choice, so that He might show a token of His free election in the Gentiles—He willed that by my mouth they should hear the doctrine of the gospel.

These words, in us, mean as much as 'in our sight,' or 'we being witnesses,' or 'among us.' For his meaning is that he declares nothing but what they knew very well, namely, what was done before their eyes. The phrase is common enough both among the Greeks and also among the Hebrews, unless we would rather interpret it as some others do: 'He has chosen me out of this company.'

And believe. This was a seal confirming the calling of the Gentiles. The office of teaching was entrusted to Peter by an oracle; but the fruit that came from his doctrine makes his ministry noble and authentic, as they call it. For, since the elect are illuminated into the faith by a special grace of the Spirit, doctrine will bring forth no fruit unless the Lord shows forth His power in His ministers, in inwardly teaching the minds of those who hear, and in inwardly drawing their hearts.

Therefore, since the Lord commanded that the doctrine of the gospel should be brought to the Gentiles, He sanctified them to Himself, so that they might no longer be profane. But the solemn consecration was then complete in all points when He imprinted in their hearts, by faith, the mark of their adoption.

The sentence that follows immediately is to be understood as given by way of explanation, for Peter connects the visible graces of the Spirit to faith, as, assuredly, they were nothing else but an addition to it. Therefore, since the Gentiles are grafted into the people of God without circumcision and ceremonies, Peter concludes that it was not right to lay upon them any necessity to keep the law.

Yet it seems to be but a weak argument to prove their election by this, because the Holy Spirit came down upon them. For these were such gifts that one could not reason from them that these people were reckoned among the godly. But it is the Spirit of regeneration alone that distinguishes the children of God from strangers.

I answer: Though men, who were otherwise worldly, were endowed with the gift of tongues and similar gifts, yet Peter takes as an accepted fact what was known: that God had sealed in Cornelius and his relatives His free adoption by the visible grace of the Spirit, as if He were pointing out His children with His finger.

The knower of the hearts. He applies this description to God according to the circumstances of the present matter; and it implies a hidden contrast: namely, that men are more drawn to external purity because they judge according to their coarse and earthly sense and understanding, but God looks into the heart.

Therefore, Peter teaches that they judge absurdly in this matter according to human understanding, since the inward purity of the heart alone is to be esteemed here, which we do not know. And by this means he bridles our rashness, lest, taking more upon ourselves than we ought, we murmur against the judgment of God.

As if he were saying, if you see no reason for that testimony which God gave them, think to yourself what a great difference there is between Him and you. For you are captivated by external pomp according to your coarse nature, which must be abandoned when we come to the throne of God, where human hearts are known spiritually.

But, in the meantime, we must note a general doctrine: that the eyes of God do not look upon the vain pomp of men, but upon the integrity of human hearts, as it is written (Jeremiah 5:3). Whereas the old interpreter and Erasmus translate it that God knows the hearts, it does not sufficiently express what Luke says in Greek; for when he calls God καρδιαγνωστην, he contrasts Him with men, who judge, for the most part, by the outward appearance. Therefore, they may be προσωπογνωσται, or knowers of the face, if they are compared with God.