Acts 15:8

God always knows what people are thinking, and when those people that are not Jews believed in Jesus, God gave them the Holy Spirit to show them that he wants them in his family too. You see, at first he gave the Holy Spirit to us, then he gave the Holy Spirit to those people that are not Jews.

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us;

In Context

7They talked about it for a long time, and then Peter stood up and said to them, “My friends, you know that God picked me, and I was the first person to go to the people that are not Jews to tell them the good news about Jesus. God did that so that they could hear about Jesus and believe in him.

9He did the same thing for them that he did for us. They believed in him, and he made them clean from the wrong things they did.

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Cross References

John 2:24But Jesus knew everything about all people. He didn’t need anyone to tell him what people are like. And he knew that those people only believed in him after they saw him do powerful things, and that they might stop believing in him soon. So Jesus didn’t trust them.

John 21:17After that, Jesus asked him again, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Then Peter got a bit upset because Jesus asked him 3 times, “Do you love me?” So Peter said, “Sir, you know everything, and you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “All right, you have to look after my people properly, just like a shepherd takes his sheep to good grass for them to eat.

Matthew Henry on Acts 15:7-22

The Council at Jerusalem. 6 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. 7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

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