ded, viz.,
the uncertainty of Peter concerning the _fact_ of the reception of the
Gentiles into the kingdom of God, and his uncertainty concerning the
_mode_ of their reception. Considering the condition of the Old
Testament prophecy, the latter is easily accounted for; but the former
cannot. To state only one from among the mass of arguments which prove
that Peter could not be ignorant of the _fact_, we observe that the
very manner in which, in Acts iii. 25, he quotes the promise given to
Abraham, that by his seed the nations should be blessed, proves that he
regarded the Gentiles as partakers of the kingdom of Christ. This is
rendered still more incontrovertible by the [Greek: proton] in ver. 26.
To understand, by [Greek: eis makran], foreign Jews, is inadmissible,
for the single reason that these were present in great numbers, and
hence, were included in the term [Greek: humin]. Now Peter, throughout,
addresses all those who were present. How then could he have here
confined himself, all at once, to a portion of these I There is,
moreover, a plain allusion to the close of Joel iii. 5, which the LXX.
translate [Greek: ous Kurios proskekletai]. This allusion contains, at
the same time, a proof of the concurrent reference to the Gentiles,
which is not in express words contained in the prophecy, provided we do
not put an arbitrary interpretation upon [Hebrew: bwr]. Attention is
thereby directed [Pg 349] to the fact, that, In that passage,
salvation, which requires, as its condition, a participation in the
outpouring of the Spirit, does not depend upon any human cause, but
solely upon the call of God--upon His free grace. In a manner entirely
similar, does St Paul, in Rom. x. 12, 13, prove, from the beginning of
Joel iii. 5, the participation of the Gentiles in the Messianic
kingdom: [Greek: Ou gar esti diastole Ioudaiou te kai hEllenos. ho gar
autos Kurios panton, plouton eis pantas tous epikaloumenous auton. Pas
gar hos an epikalesetai to onoma Kuriou, sothesetai.] If the calling on
God were the condition of salvation, access to it was as free to the
Gentiles as to the Jews. But if the prophecy has a distinct reference
to the still unconverted Jews, their children and the Gentiles, it is
then evident, that, according to the view of the Apostle, it did not
terminate in that one instance of Its fulfilment, but that, on the
contrary, it extends just as far as the thing promised--as the
outpouring itself of the Holy Spirit.