Acts 13:48

“And when the Gentiles heard this, etc.] That it was the will of God, and the command of Christ, that the Gospel should be preached to them; by whom are to be understood the Pisidians, the inhabitants of Antioch, who had never been proselytes to the Jewish religion: they were glad; not that the Jews were likely to have the Gospel taken away from them, and be utterly deprived of it, but that it was to be preached to them: and glorified the word of the Lord; not the Lord Jesus Christ, the essential word of the Lord, whom they might not as yet have such a distinct knowledge of; but rather God himself, for his word, particularly his word of command, (<441347>Acts 13:47) as the Syriac and Ethiopic…”

“when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad--to perceive that their accession to Christ was a matter of divine arrangement as well as apostolic effort. and glorified the word of the Lord--by a cordial reception of it. and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed--a very remarkable statement, which cannot, without force, be interpreted of anything lower than this, that a divine ordination to eternal life is the cause, not the effect, of any man's believing.”

“When the Gentiles heard this - Heard that the gospel was to be preached to them. The doctrine of the Jews had been that salvation was confined to themselves. The Gentiles rejoiced that from the mouths of Jews themselves they now heard a different doctrine. They glorified the word of the Lord - They honored it as a message from God; they recognized and received it as the Word of God. The expression conveys the idea of praise on account of it, and of reverence for the message as the Word of God. And as many as were ordained - ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι hosoi ēsan tetagmenoi. Syriac, “Who were destined,” or constituted. Vulgate, “As many as were foreordained (quotquot erant praeordinati) to…”

“As many as were ordained to eternal life - St. Luke does not say fore - ordained. He is not speaking of what was done from eternity, but of what was then done, through the preaching of the Gospel. He is describing that ordination, and that only, which was at the very time of hearing it. During this sermon those believed, says the apostle, to whom God then gave power to believe. It is as if he had said, "They believed, whose hearts the Lord opened;" as he expresses it in a clearly parallel place, speaking of the same kind of ordination, Act 16:14, &c. It is observable, the original word is not once used in Scripture to express eternal predestination of any kind. The sum is, all those and…”

“they: Act 13:42, Act 2:41, Act 8:8, Act 15:31; Luk 2:10-11; Rom 15:9-12 glorified: Psa 138:2; Th2 3:1 and as: Act 2:47; Joh 10:16, Joh 10:26, Joh 10:27, Joh 11:52; Rom 8:30, Rom 11:7; Eph 1:19, Eph 2:5-10; Th2 2:13, Th2 2:14 ordained: Act 15:2, Act 20:13, Act 22:10, Act 28:23; Mat 28:16; Luk 7:8; Rom 13:1; Co1 16:15 \*Gr. Acts 13:49”