If Cornelius was saved when the Holy Spirit fell on him, he was saved without faith

Peter relates in Act 11:15 that he had just began to preach the gospel when the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius. We know from Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing the word of God. Cornelius could not have been saved by faith when the Holy Spirit fell on him and his family, because Peter had not yet preached his gospel sermon.

It is clear from several passages that the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles, without the laying on of the apostles hands (Act 8:14-18), for the purpose of convincing Peter and the six brethren of the Circumcision that the Gentiles were also acceptable to God (Act 10:28, 45; 11:15-18).

Upon hearing the Gospel sermon Cornelius and his household were baptized, just like the Jews in "the beginning," on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38-41)


"All that the South has ever desired was that the Union, as established by our forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth." – Robert E. Lee