In
Acts the tenth chapter, we read a wonderful story about a man named
Cornelius. He was not a Christian yet,
since the Gentiles had not received the gospel at that point. But he was described as a centurion who was
God-fearing, devout, upright, a generous giver, prayerful, and “well spoken of
by the whole Jewish nation” (Acts 10: 1-2; 22).
Cornelius was a great example for his household, his community, the
people of God, and even all people two thousand years later. He was a man who lived the kind of life every
Christian should live. What can we learn
from Cornelius?
The
story of Cornelius teaches us that there are great men and women in our world
that are trying to obey God. What if
your neighbor is like Cornelius? I’ve
heard Christians talk about reasons why certain people “would not be responsive
to the gospel even if they were taught.”
But even though the Bible teaches us that the way to heaven is difficult
and there will be few who follow it (Matt 7:14 ), it also teaches that we are to spread the gospel to
all people without partiality (Mark 16:15 -16).
Cornelius’s
story also shows that if there is a non-Christian’s prayer that God will answer,
it is a genuine prayer of one who is trying to “feel their way toward [God]”
(Acts 17:27) and who desires to obey Him as Lord (Acts 10:31). God will not save a person based on prayer alone (For example, Saul of Tarsus
prayed and fasted 3 days and nights and his sins were not yet forgiven – Acts
9:9,11; 22:16), but sincere prayers for help in finding the will of God will be
heard.
Finally,
this story teaches us that water baptism is a command of God that must be
obeyed. Even though Cornelius’s case involved
a special encounter with the Holy Spirit (like had only been seen one other
time in Acts 2), Peter still commanded Cornelius and his household to be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. God
expects the same reaction from people to day when they are ready to make Him
Lord of their life. A sad ending for a
person like Cornelius would be that they look for Jesus, hear what he expects
from them, but are unwilling to move on what He asks of them. How have you
responded when God has answered your prayers?
----Darrell Powell
