Comments on Spiritual Gift

Timotheos,

Yes, I believe you have correctly understood my intention concerning the "spiritual gift" Paul desired to give to the Romans. Acts 8:14-24 is crucial for rightly understanding the necessary distinction between an apostle and an associate of the apostles. Philip was an evangelist but not an apostle. He could not do what the apostles Peter and John could do. Philip could heal the sick and cast out demons, for he had received the laying on of the apostles' hands (Acts 6:1ff). But only the apostles could convey to others the power to work extraordinary signs and wonders. This is why Simon Magus recognized that the two apostles could do what Philip could not do.

The one "exception" you mention, namely the outpouring of the Spirit upon the household of Cornelius, is, as you correctly note, the Gentile Pentecost, for it is the Gentile version of what happened in Jerusalem on Pentecost.

So, I agree with you on Acts 8 and on what Paul is speaking of in Romans 1:11.

Paulos