There are several instances of salvations described in Acts. Only one of them involved people receiving the Spirit prior to being baptised. The others have people being baptised prior to receiving the Spirit. This should tell us that the Gentile experience in
Acts 10 is unique. In fact, it IS unique because it breaks from the pattern Luke established in
Acts 2 and 8.
It is also unique in that these were Gentiles. God had to sovereignly and directly intervene just to get a preacher to even talk to the Gentiles. The preacher and his ministry team had no expectation of any conversions taking place. They were absolutely astonished that the Gentiles received the Spirit. Up to that point all Christians thought that Gentiles would have to be Jews (ie cease being Gentiles, and be circumcised and enter the 'covenant') before Messiah would do them any good ie before they could be saved.
So God had to go outside what the church was willing to do. By giving them the Spirit, the church had no way to deny that Gentiles could be saved apart from being circumcised. Peter then asked 'can any man forbid water that they should be baptised?' All of those who came with Peter would have forbade such a thing, if they had not witnessed the Holy Spirit being given to uncircumcised (in flesh) Gentiles. Seeing that nobody had anything to say, Peter 'commanded them to be baptised in the name of the Lord.'
Thus, the one single time in scripture where people received the Spirit prior to being baptised in water, is a singularly unique event, with unique and extraordinary circumstances. Extreme situations call for extreme measures. The situation was extreme, for no Christians would bring the gospel to uncicumcised Gentiles to be saved. So God had to act. God poured out his Spirit on these Gentiles, proving they did not have to become Jews in order to be saved, but that God was willing to take them as they were.
And what exactly were they? Devout people. Cornelius loved YHVH so much, prayed so much, gave alms, lived a righteous life in the fear of the one true God, and God sent an angel to him to tell him his alms and prayers had come up as a memorial before God. He got God's attention! And God sent Peter some visions to seal the deal.
To use this as somehow doctrinally normative for an ordo salutis is the epitome of 'spoof texting' and ignoring both the immediate and the larger contexts of the narrative.
That people do indeed receive the Spirit prior to baptism says more about our methods of evangelism than it does about God's plan of salvation.
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