I understand that, but we do not know when the others in the room received the indwelling. My point was that we do know when the Apostles received the indwelling, and we know that Cornelius received the Spirit "just as we [the Apostles] did" (in tongues of fire, with speaking in tongues and praise) which does not indicate the indwelling.
Yes. Good point. Water baptism would have been a witness from man. The baptism en the Holy Ghost a witness from God. Imagine Peter had baptized them with water, had the gentiles not been first baptized with the Spirit.
Acts 11:15-18 - "And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 Therefore, if God gave them the same gift as He also gave to us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”"
Again that is an assumption. You cannot just assume that spiritual manifestation were without the indwelling of the Spirit
But you must look at why it was problematic for the Gentiles to be included in the Church. Many of the Jews felt that salvation in Christ was only for the Jews (as some still do today), and so Paul always points back to God's sign that He was willing to give the Gentiles the works of the Spirit just as He did to the Jews to show that it was not Peter's or Paul's choice to bring Gentiles into the Church, they were just following God's example.
What testimony would there be if just the impartation of a spiritual gift was in view
Taking Acts 15 in context, we see that Peter is making the point that there is no difference between the Jews and the Gentiles in terms of salvation. Everyone is saved in the same way. All of us have our hearts cleansed by faith, not by the falling of the Holy Spirit on us. The coming of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles in the same way as He did on the Jews was a sign of equality in the Church. It was not a sign that they were already saved. They were saved when Peter had them baptized immediately after the Holy Spirit came in power on them.
So you say, but that is not what Scripture says. 1 Pet 3:21 says that it is in water baptism that we are saved. Acts 8:36 shows that water baptism was a key point in Phillip's teaching, because it was the Eunuch who asked to be baptized in water. Matt 28:19 says that baptism is an action that the teacher must do, and Mark 16:16 (same event, different writer) says that those who believe the Gospel message and are baptized by the teacher will be saved. And Eph 4:5-6 says that there is only one baptism (of any significance) in the NT Church. That one baptism, the one that saves, is water baptism, not having the Spirit fall on us in tongues of fire.
No, my position has not been refuted. All Scripture is equally valid, but not every passage of Scripture says the same thing. So you must search the Scriptures to find the passages that speak about the subject we are discussing. Not every answer can be gleaned from reading a single verse.
Wrong. The baptism of the Holy Spirit in tongues of fire (Acts 2:4 and Acts 10:44) only ever happened these two times. It is NOT the ONE baptism of the NT Church.
That is the opinion of the writers of that dictionary, but that is not Scripture. Scripture says we are saved (become members of the one Body of Christ) through water baptism.
Rom 5:5 is talking about the Holy Spirit indwelling us. It is not the same as the Holy Spirit coming on us in tongues of fire. Acts 2:33 is speaking of the gift of tongues, not the indwelling (which cannot be seen or heard). Just because the same Spirit is being poured out, does not mean that He interacts the same way every time.
And yet we're both indwelled by the Holy Spirit (assuming that you've been Born again). So obviously Thomas' absence isn't an issue at all.
When a person receives the indwelling, yes, they become a Christ Follower and the Holy Spirit (love of God) in their heart.
But that does not happen just because the Holy Spirit was poured onto them. "All the Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been poured out on the Gentiles." The Holy Spirit was poured out ON them, not into their hearts.
Please give the evidence you have that shows he did not already have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit before Acts 2:4.
Acts 2:4 isn't an "Indwelling. it's the Holy Spirit coming UPON the disciples, who were already indwelled by him.
