Good catch that Cornelious was aware. Would have been more accurate to say he was aware but excluded from pursuing salvation because he was not Jewish. Good catch!
I am not sure what you mean when you say that he was excluded from pursuing salvation because he was not Jewish. Excluded by who? God or man? Certainly not by God because many, many Gentiles had long before been saved through faith in Christ.
I agree with your statements on God correcting Peter and the Jew's theology only I don't think you go far enough. If Jesus had not stepped in and immersed them in the Holy Spirit, with the hindsight given by Gal:2:11-21, I think Peter would definite not have baptized them.
I agree with you, but I did not go further simply because I am trying to maintain a dialogue with you, and not seeking to write a book. To that point, I am sincerely enjoying our civil dialogue on this matter, so thank you for your participation in it.
I agree that Cornelius et. al. believed/were saved/given knowledge of salvation in Christ and faith as they heard Peter's message. But I do not see in verses 46-48 (or any other scripture) where God/Jesus ordered Cornelius et. al. to be water baptized. Peter did. It may have been prudent on Peter's part to do so, knowing that the community of Jewish believers would react negatively to Peter's preaching the gospel to gentiles, let alone water baptizing them. But Jesus had already cleansed them when He baptized (immersed) them in the Holy Spirit - from that perspective there was no need for a second cleansing by water (Jesus baptizing in the Holy Spirit trumps Water Baptism. John the Baptist essentially states that in Luke 3:15-18; Mark 1:7-8; Matthew 3: 11-15; John 1:26-35.) I honestly believe that Peter ordered water baptism to mollify the Jewish converts and because it was what he was used to doing.
I would have to strongly disagree with you where water baptism is concerned.
Hebrews 6:1-2
"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment."
The principles of the doctrine of Christ include the doctrine of baptisms, plural, and I believe, with precedence from both the Old Testament and the New Testament, that these baptisms include both water baptism and Holy Ghost baptism. In other words, it is not a matter of either/or.
In his first epistle, Peter said:
1 Peter 3:18-22
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him."
Peter said that water baptism is the answer of a good conscience towards God, and it is directly related to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is gone into heaven, and is one the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him. I could write a very long dissertation on this topic, but, for now, I will simply say the following. During his incarnation, the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. Prior to that, the Word, or Jesus, was only God. In and after his incarnation, Jesus became both God and man, and this is very important. During his incarnation, Jesus was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. After his crucifixion, burial, and resurrection from the dead, Jesus ascended back to the Father's right hand in heaven as one who is both God and man. The man part is very important because he was made heir of all things in his humanity, and that is how we, as humans ourselves, can be made to be joint-heirs with Christ. If we have this understanding, or if we understand that angels, and authorities, and powers were made subject unto Christ in his ascension back to the Father's right hand as a man, then the answer of a good conscience is to be water baptized because this signifies our own burial, resurrection, and ascension to be seated in heavenly places in Christ. On the other hand, a refusal to be water baptized with this understanding is the answer of a bad conscience towards God.
As to Galatians 2:11-21, where Paul rebukes Peter. The rebuke seems to be for more than just incorrectly making a distinction between Jews and Gentiles. Verse 11 states that Peter stood condemned. Verse 12 states that Peter was afraid of those who belong to the circumcision group. Verse 13 charges Peter (along with the other Jews and Barnabas) with hypocrisy. And verse 14 indicates that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel. Seems that Peter was still not clear about the meaning of the vision given him in Acts 10: 11-16.
I have long agreed with what you said here. Again, I just wanted to show in my initial response that Peter had a problem in this area. In other words, I was not seeking to write some sort of exhaustive essay on the matter.