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Bible Question:
You say that Cornelius and his family were saved at the time
when the Holy Spirit came upon them in Acts 10. But in Numbers
24:2, the Spirit of God also comes upon Balaam, yet there is
every indication from other verses about Balaam that he remained
devoted to divination both before and after that event (See
2 Peter 2:15, Revelation 2:14, and finally Joshua 13:22). Deuteronomy
23:5 makes it clear that God intervened to make Balaam bless
the Israelites; the blessing was not motivated by any kind of
true repentance on his part. My contention is that Cornelius
and his family were not saved when the Spirit came upon them.
They were saved by their faith during water baptism afterward.
Bible Answer:
You are correct, the Holy Spirit did come upon Balaam to move
him to bless Israel.
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When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel,
he did not go as at other times to seek omens but he set
his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his
eyes and saw Israel camping tribe by tribe; and the Spirit
of God came upon him. And he took up his discourse and
said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, And
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened; the oracle
of him who hears the words of God . . ." (NASB) Numbers
24:1-4
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You are also implying that this does not mean that Balaam was
a Christian and you are correct. Jesus made this point while
He was here on this earth. The Holy Spirit is active in the
lives of non-Christians and Christians. His goal is to bring
them to Christ. The Holy Spirit influences people. That is the
message of Jesus' words.
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And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning
sin, and righteousness, and judgment; concerning sin,
because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness,
because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me;
and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world
has been judged. (NASB) John 16:8-11
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Cornelius.
When we come to
Acts 10, we find Cornelius, who is described as a God fearing
man (Acts 10:1-2), seeking to know God. God responds and moves
the apostle Peter to go to Cornelius for the purpose of telling
him about Jesus Christ Acts 10:34-43 records the words that
Peter shared with him and his family.
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. . . Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the
Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing
good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil;
for God was with Him . . . And they also put Him to death
by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third
day, and granted that He should become visible . . . Of
Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name
everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”
(NASB) Acts 10:38-40, 43
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While Peter was sharing this truth, the Holy Spirit "fell
upon" all those who heard.
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While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit
fell upon all those who were listening to the message.
And all the [Jewish] believers who had come with Peter
were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been
poured out upon the Gentiles also. For they were hearing
them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter
answered, "Surely no one can refuse the water for
these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit
just as we did, can he?” (NASB) Acts 10:44-47
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