Cornelius

Acts 10:1-8

“Now there was a certain man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish peoples, and prayed to God continually.”

These first two verses of Acts 10 give us a good picture of Cornelius who is recorded as the first gentile convert of the disciples. First, we see that he was a respected military leader. A centurion was an officer who supervised 100 men. To reach this level in the military indicated he must have been a man of intelligence and one who had leadership capabilities.

The second characteristic we notice about him is that he was a Godly man and led his family that way. At this point it is not apparent that he is a Christian, but most likely attended the synagogue and followed the Old Testament scriptures to the best of his knowledge and ability. He gave of his wealth generously and also prayed to God frequently.

Later in this passage we will see that when Peter presented the message of salvation Cornelius trusted Christ as his Savior. We should note here that in spite of the positive characteristics of Cornelius we noted earlier, he was not a Christian. Obviously, his heart had been prepared by the Holy Spirit and he was ready to receive the gospel.

There are many in our community in the same situation. They may even be known as “Godly” people, but they don’t know the Savior. I know personally an individual who appeared to all around him to be a Christian, but at 65 years of age realized he was trying to live a good life in his own strength and trusted Christ as his Savior. It is as important for us to share the gospel with these friends and neighbors as well as those who are obviously not Christians, whether they are our neighbors or in a foreign country.