Cornelius – Could He Lay Hands on Others?
There is no doubt that the apostles received the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. After the apostles received the Spirit, they could lay hands on others, giving them miraculous powers when they also received the Spirit. The question is, did Cornelius and his household have this same ability to impart the Spirit after being baptized in the Spirit?
There is no doubt what the Bible says about what happened in Acts chapter ten when Peter went to Cornelius’ house. In three places he described what happened. “These…have received the Holy Spirit just as we have…the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning…then I remembered how He said, ‘You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit’…“giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us” (Acts 10:47; 11:15-16; 15:8—bold emphasis by dj). The Greek is even more emphatic, but one does not have to know Greek to understand what happened. Peter was at both Pentecost and with Cornelius and he said it was the same.
Having established that it was the same does not answer the question as to whether all those in Cornelius’ household could then do what the apostles did in Samaria, when the Holy Spirit was given to those in that city. To understand this, we must see the difference in the receiving of the Spirit and the manifestation of the Spirit once He was received.
Look at Paul’s first letter to Corinth. He affirms that while every member in Corinth had received the Spirit (v. 7), He was manifested in a different way. It was the same One who gave diversities of gifts, ministries (administrations—KJV) and activities (operations—KJV). He then shows that one man might have more manifestations of the Spirit than the one who had only one (14:13). The fact is that one might have more manifestation of the Spirit, but he did not have more of the Spirit. Paul’s argument is that they all had received the same Spirit. All were equally important in their service to the church (v. 11).
Those in Corinth had received the same Spirit that the apostles received on Pentecost. He was simply manifested in a different way. Why is the receiving of the Spirit called a baptism of the Spirit in Acts 2 and 10? Because they were immersed (overwhelmed) by the Spirit and had no control as to whether they spoke in tongues. Those in Corinth were not overwhelmed for they could keep silent if no interpreter was present. All received the same Spirit, He was manifested in different ways. The manifestation of the Spirit gave the apostles the sign they were apostles by laying hands on others (2 Cor. 12:12). Cornelius is different—He was not an apostle. Men received the same Spirit, He manifested Himself differently!