Cornelius--A Good Man

The book of Acts is truly an interesting book to read as it follows the early Christians in their spreading of the Good News.  We see early in the book that the Gospel is taken first to the Jews in Jerusalem.  It makes sense that God would give the Jews the first opportunity to find salvation through Jesus since they were His relatives, they were the ones who had been God's special people, and they were also the ones who turned on Jesus and demanded His crucifixion.  So we see in Acts chapter 2 that Peter and the rest of the apostles preached the first Gospel sermon there in Jerusalem to the Jews. 

As time goes on, we see the Gospel being taken to Gentiles; this occurs first in chapter 10 with God's direction.  Acts 10 begins this way:  "There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always."  He is further described in verse 22 as "..a just man, one who fears God and has a good reputation among all the nation of the Jews..."  The first point here is that he was a good, God fearing man in so many ways. 

As the story continues, we see that Cornelius, though a wonderful, God fearing man, needed something else in his life; and, in fact, this is why we see Peter being directed to go to Cornelius and to bring him to another level.  Peter, speaking of Jesus in verse 42, said, "And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.  To Him all the prophets witness that , through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins."  But as we read on, we see that this belief included being baptized; note verse 47: "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?  And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord."

The point of this is to show that, just like Cornelius, the world is full of good people who are so kind and helpful , sacrificial, and even God fearing.  But there is a higher level that is required; one must be a true follower of Jesus, a baptized believer just as Cornelius became.

And I would be remiss if I didn't point out that perhaps the main message of this story of Cornelius is to show that the Gospel is for all; not just for Jews or Gentiles or men or women, not for any one group of people.  It is for all....and this message comes through clearly as we read this story.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!