<p>10:45 <i>And t<em>he believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed</em></i>- Peter had just quoted Old Testament scripture regarding how all the prophets taught that &quot;everyone&quot;, literally 'anyone', who believes in Messiah receives forgiveness. And that 'anyone' embraced Gentiles. But when &quot;even... Gentiles&quot; were given the Holy Spirit as a sign of their acceptance by God... the Jewish believers were utterly amazed. Again, we see how the meaning of the most basic and simple words in the Bible can be so hard to accept and therefore to understand- because we carry with us so much baggage of presupposition and assumed understanding.</p><p><em>Because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles</em>- The pouring out of the Spirit elsewhere refers to an internal process of renewal (Tit. 3:5,6; Rom. 5:5; the same words are used for 'pouring out'). But in the context here, it was critical that Peter and the Jewish brethren were aware of this. And you can't usually know what's happening in the heart of another; therefore in this case, there was a visible manifestation of the Spirit's activity. The Greek for &quot;poured out&quot; is usually translated &quot;shed&quot; with reference to the shedding of the Lord's blood. One achievement of His death was the shedding of the Holy Spirit; His mind / Spirit, His breathing and thinking, became available to all who are in Him. For His death was His ultimate act of identification with us.</p>