And I looked and
beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren
by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and
wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the
seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land. (1 Nephi 13:12)
The traditional interpretation of this
prophecy is that this verse is speaking of Christopher Columbus. For the sake
of this post, I will accept this interpretation, and even for the sake of
argument, agree that the man was evil, a mass-murderer, and so forth. The issue
I wish to address in this post is this:
Can the Holy Spirit use spiritually questionable,
if not spiritually dead, people?
Firstly, one should note that the
ordinance wherein one is confirmed with the gift of the Holy Ghost is not the
same as being influenced by the Holy Ghost to do a particular task. One should
not confuse the Holy Spirit influencing/guiding a person with their spiritual
status, let alone conflate it with the ordinance we call Confirmation. Indeed,
we believe the Spirit works in and through people, convicting them of the truth
of the gospel, prior to their baptism and confirmation.
Secondly, the Bible alone presents many
examples of the Spirit using people as instruments of God in
"non-salvific" contexts.
For example, in Acts 10:44-48, we read the
following:
While Peter yet spake
these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of
the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter,
because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,
Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have
received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in
the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
Based on the above, some argue that, as
Cornelius and his companions "received the Holy Ghost" (v. 47) prior
to baptism, they were justified without this ordinance.
Answer- Acts 10:47
does not say that Cornelius and his companions were justified without Baptism.
Nothing there says that their sins were remitted or that they were “saved,” a
phrase frequently used to describe those who have been justified by Baptism.
The context of Acts 10 is dealing with receiving the Holy Ghost by receiving
the gift of speaking in tongues, not having one’s sins remitted. Acts 10:47,
therefore, is merely speaking of Cornelius and his companions having received
the gift of tongues. The description “receiving the Holy Ghost” or “being
filled with the Holy Ghost” is actually used to describe a person making a
godly prophecy or receiving some spiritual gift. It does not necessarily mean
that one has received the remission of sins. The following two passages are
examples of the phrase “filled with the Holy Ghost” being used to describe a
spiritual gift (prophesy, etc.), not the remission of sins.
Luke 1:41-42 “And it
came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant
leaped in her womb: and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she cried
out with a loud voice . . .”
Luke 1:67: “And
Zachary, his father, was filled with the Holy Ghost, and he prophesied, saying
. . .” (Peter Dimond, Outside the Catholic Church There is Absolutely No
Salvation [2d ed.; Fillmore, N.Y.: Most Holy Family Monastery, 2006], 169-70,
emphasis in original)
Further, we do know that Cornelius was not regenerated prior to meeting Peter.
In Acts 10:1-4, we read the following:
There was a certain
man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian
band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much
alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. He saw in a vision evidently about
the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto
him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it,
Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a
memorial before God.
In the above, Cornelius not only has a
vision of an angel, but according to this angel, Cornelius’ devotion, alms, and
prayers were received by God, not as dirty rags (or “menstrual garments” per
the underlying Hebrew of Isa 64:6), but as a “memorial.” The Greek term used is
μνημόσυνον mnēmosynon. This is a technical term in the LXX, often used
in the sense of a memorial sacrifice or a placard used to perpetuate memory of
a person or an event (in the Torah alone, see Exo 3:15; 12:14; 13:9; 17;14;
28:12, 29; 30:16; Lev 2:2, 9, 16; 5:12; 6:8; 23:24; Num 5:26; 17:5; 31:54; Deut
32:26). While this would may lead some errant commentators to think that this
means that Cornelius was in a saved state at the time, he was not. As Kermit
Zarley noted:
Luke has two decisive
texts indicating Cornelius was not saved prior to meeting Peter. First, Luke
says that soon after this Cornelius episode, “When Peter went up to Jerusalem,
the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, ‘Why did you go to the
uncircumcised men and eat with them?’” (Acts 11:2-3). Peter then related that
Cornelius “told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying,
‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; he will give you a message
by which you and your entire household will be saved’” (vv.13-14).
Second, Luke implies
that at this time in Jerusalem, Peter spoke to “the apostles and the believers”
(Acts 11:1). Then Luke says regarding what Peter said to them, “When they heard
this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given
even the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life’” (v.18).
Thus, Cornelius was
not regenerated-saved prior to hearing Peter preach. (Kermit Zarley, Solving
the Samaritan Riddle: Peter’s Kingdom Keys Explain Early Spirit Baptism
[Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf & Stock, 2015], 137)
The example of Cornelius and his companions, on its own, refutes such a naive reading of 1 Nephi 13:12.
Catholic apologist Karlo Broussard, in his
discussion of water baptism, its efficacy, and Cornelius, provided many other
examples which are apropos to our discussion:
Reception of the Holy
Spirit doesn’t always indicate that salvation has been accomplished.
The challenge assumes
that because Cornelius and his companions received the Holy Spirit they were
saved. But receiving an outpouring of the Holy Spirit doesn’t necessarily mean
someone is saved.
Consider, first of
all, that the Spirit can be given for other things beside salvation. One such
thing is artistic skill. For example, God fills Bezalel, son of Uri, with “the
Spirit of God” (Exod. 31:3) “to devise artistic designs, to work in gold,
silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for
work in every craft” (vv. 4-5).
To others, God gave
his Spirit to empower them with special strength as exemplified in the life of
Samson (Judg. 14:6, 19; 15:14) and to empower for leadership (see Num. 27:18;
Deut. 34:9; Judg. 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 1 Sam. 11:6-7; 16:13-14).
Just as in the Old
Testament God gave his Spirit for purposes beside salvation, it’s possible that
in the New Testament God gave his Spirit to Cornelius and his companions for
some purpose besides salvation.
The context of the
passage seems to suggest this. We’re told that when the Holy Spirit fell upon
Cornelius and other Gentiles present the “believers from among the circumcised
who came with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been
poured out even on the Gentiles” (v. 45). They knew this had happened because
“they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God” (v. 46).
It seems that God
gave his Spirit in order to convince the circumcised what Peter had said at the
outset of his speech in verse 34 that “God shows no partiality” and that “in
every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”
Matthew 7:22-23
provides another example of how having the outpouring of the Spirit doesn’t
guarantee that someone is saved.
On that day many will
say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons
in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then will I declare
to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.”
To prophesy and cast
out demons requires the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet according to Jesus,
having such power doesn’t guarantee salvation.
Just because the
power of the Holy Spirit falls upon Cornelius and his Gentile companions prior
to baptism and empowers them to speak in tongues, it doesn’t follow that they
were saved at that moment. Therefore, this passage doesn’t prove that baptism
is not necessary for salvation. (Karlo Broussard, Meeting the Protestant
Challenge: How to Answer 50 Biblical Objections to Catholic Beliefs [El
Cajon, Calif.: Catholic Answers Press, 2019], 110-12, emphasis in original)
It should be clear that, allowing for Columbus to be the figure in view in 1 Nephi 13:12, does not mean he was regenerated. It just means that the Holy Spirit used him to carry out a specific purpose in the plan of God.
As an aside, as the topic of baptism and its salvific efficacy (one of my favourite topics to discuss), see, for e.g.:
Refuting Douglas Wilson on Water Baptism and Salvation
Baptism, Salvation, and the New Testament: John 3:1-7
Christ's baptism is NOT imputed to the believer
