Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41 He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, 47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. Acts 10:34-48
I once went with a friend to a Church of Christ evening service. Besides the acapella worship being strange, the most interesting thing was that the pastor in his message kept saying things like "The Church of Christ will prevail" or "The Church of Christ will be saved". I finally realized that he wasn't meaning the universal Church of Christ but rather his denomination. They believe in baptismal regeneration referring to the verse in Acts 2 where it says, "Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins". Therefore, if you were baptized for any other reason than to be saved, you aren't saved. The thief on the cross goes against that view but you could argue Jesus made an exception which is His prerogative. This passage however shows that Cornelius and his household were saved before baptism as confirmed with the Holy Spirit coming on them as evidenced by tongues.
My theory was that if people believed then they were immediately baptized as part of the salvation vows and pledge to follow Christ. Baptism was a part of salvation but now we have replaced it with the sinner's prayer as associated with Romans 10 where Paul says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead you will be saved. So, we've replaced baptism with a "repeat after me" and baptism is a subsequent act testifying what you have done. Are we right in doing this or wrong? I'm not sure it matters because these guys were saved before Peter even got to offer the, "With your eyes closed and no one looking around" part. All it took was believing!
The other thing I noticed is that it really wasn't Peter's best message. In fact, they kind of interrupted him with converting in the middle of his message. We often put too much stock in our speaking proficiency when the effort should probably be on our knees ahead of time praying for a move of the Holy Spirit. Anyway, many were saved due to Peter's sensitivity to the leading of the Holy Spirit (granted, it was pretty clear -"Hey you!") and to his obedience to share the gospel. May we follow suit today!
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