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What We Believe and Why - Vol. II
Written by Dr. Lester Hutson

Copyright - Lester Hutson - 1982
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.

Chapter Sixteen
The Prayers of Cornelius

INTRODUCTION: TEXT: Acts 10:1-4

A number of important considerations are raised by the case of Cornelius. His case addresses the issue of racial prejudices, the Charismatic movement, works for salvation, supernatural visions, positive volition and others. However, it is the intent of this lesson to deal primarily with the prayers of Cornelius. He is commonly cited as supposed proof that a lost sinner can pray a prayer that God will honor. In fact, many believe the prayers of Cornelius led to his salvation.

We do not believe that Cornelius' prayers resulted in his salvation, nor that he is an indication that lost sinners should pray.

I. CORNELIUS WAS A LOST MAN WHO HAD TO HEAR THE GOSPEL TO BE SAVED.

A. Many have reasoned that Cornelius was saved.

1. It is true that he was an excellent man from the human viewpoint.

a. Humanly speaking he was a good man. Acts 10:2 will tell you that he believed in the right God, and worshipped Him. He gave alms and prayed. Acts 10:30 says he fasted. Acts 10:33 says he was obedient to do all that he thought and knew he should do.

b. Cornelius was also a great man. He was one in high authority, a centurion of the Italian band. (Acts 10:1) A centurion was a military captain of 100 men, and the Italian band was a group of the most loyal Roman soldiers. Acts 10:22 says that Cornelius was "of good report among all the nation of the Jews." This man had what could probably be regarded as the best reputation of any Gentile alive in his day.

c. Goodness and greatness in a man is a rare combination. Many good men are not very great, and most great men are not very good. Cornelius was both. This gives insight into why he was the first Gentile to receive the gospel. He was a man of great influence and could open the door wide to a full presentation and acceptance of the gospel by the Gentiles.

2. However, it is not human goodness and greatness that produces eternal life.

a. Cornelius' goodness matched the righteousness of the Pharisees. He was a Jewish proselyte and his righteousness met every cardinal point of Phariseeism. They were noted for giving alms, (Matthew 6:2), praying, (Matthew 6:5), and fasting. (Matthew 6:16) But Jesus said, "That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees, 0ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:20) Regardless of how good and great Cornelius was, he wasn't good enough or great enough to go to heaven.

b. A man is only made righteous by God when he believes the gospel. According to I Corinthians 15:1-4 the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus, Paul spoke in Philippians 3:9 of being "found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." All Cornelius had was his own righteousness, which was exceptional, but which was insufficient to give him eternal life.

c. The scriptures say, "He that believeth is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18)

3. So, the goodness and the greatness of Cornelius had absolutely no bearing on whether or not he was a child of God. Only his faith in Jesus Christ could make him a child of God, and until the time that Peter went there and preached the gospel to him, he had not trusted in Christ as his own personal Savior. Thus, he was a lost, worshipful pagan.

B. Cornelius himself knew that he was lost.

1. He wanted to be saved, but he wasn't. He had taken advantage of the divine light that he had, but it was not sufficient to give him life. The fact that Cornelius did not have his faith exclusively in the Lord Jesus Christ is illustrated by the fact that when Peter came in, "Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet and worshipped him." (Acts 10:25) Cornelius still worshipped man.

2. When the angel of God appeared to him, the angel said unto him, "Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; Who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy house SHALL BE SAVED." (Acts 11:13-14) Why would Cornelius need "to be saved" if he already was saved? Obviously, he wouldn't and the fact that he needed salvation is a testimonial that he didn't have it.

C. Peter knew Cornelius was lost, and he preached the gospel to him.

1. Acts 10:30-43 records Peter's encounter with Cornelius.

2. Verses 39-40 of Acts 10 are a clear presentation of the gospel. The death, burial and resurrection are all seen here.

3. Verse 43 of the same text is a clear statement of the fact that salvation is appropriated through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This verse says, "To him give all the prophets witness, that through His name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins."

4. It would certainly not have been necessary for Peter to present these truths to Cornelius if he had already been a saved man.

D. Though Cornelius did many good things and was an exceptionally good man by human standards, he was nevertheless lost, for man is not saved by human goodness, but the goodness of God. (Philippians 3:8-9)

1. A man would be hard pressed to justify from the scriptures that Cornelius was saved, for the evidence indicates he was nothing more than a religious and sincere pagan.

2. Even though the sincerity and earnest desire of Cornelius to know the truth did not make him a child of God, God did see to it that the truth was preached, or presented to him. Thus, Cornelius becomes a good example of God's response to positive volition. It seems that when a lost man truly desires to know the truth of God, God will see to it that the man hears the truth through some media. Acts 8:27-39 show how God sent a missionary Philip to an Ethiopian eunuch with positive volition. God sent Paul to the Macedonians who wanted to know the truth. (Acts 16:9-10)

II. THE ACCOUNT OF CORNELIUS DOES NOT TEACH THAT GOD HEARS AND HONORS THE PRAYERS OF ALIEN SINNERS. INSTEAD, IT IS AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE FACT THAT GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES AND OATHS.

A. The Bible clearly teaches that God does not hear (in the sense of honor) the prayers of lost sinners.

1. Related to the subject of prayer Proverbs 15:29 says, "The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous."

2. John 9:31 says, "Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God and doeth his will, him he heareth."

3. Every alien sinner is continually in unbelief, which is a grievous sin before God, (John 3:18), and David said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." (Psalm 66:18)

4. So, God does not hear the prayers of sinners. It is the child of God, and only the child of God, who can come "boldly to the throne of grace," (Hebrews 4:16), and expect to receive the benefits of the High Priest, Jesus Christ. The only thing God wants from alien sinners is belief of the gospel, not prayers, alms, fasting and the like.

5. Of course, we are saying that God does not hear the sinner's prayer in the sense of "to honor, to grant the requests, or to respond" in the same sense that He does to the prayers of His own children. Yes, God hears the sinners' prayers, in the sense of being "aware" of them. He knows exactly what every sinner prays, for He knows all things. Hebrews 4:13 says, "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." Of God, King David wrote in Psalm 139:1-4, 7-12, "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether...whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; and the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee." Greek authority A.T.Robertson says that, "heard" in Acts 10:31 is in "timeless, first aorist passive indicative" and means "are had in remembrance." As we shall soon discuss more fully, God did what He did, not because of Cornelius' prayers, but because He had long before chosen to do what He did. God was keeping His promise, and Cornelius' prayers were simply a reminder to Him of that long standing promise.

6. Thus, we want to make very clear the point that God's Word is not here teaching something that contradicts what it teaches in other places. This is a problem that those who teach that God heard, or honored, the prayers of lost Cornelius cannot reconcile. God's Word is consistent throughout on who can pray a God-honored prayer and who can't. Cornelius is no exception to the rule that sinners' prayers are not honored by God.

B. The prayers of Cornelius were related to a long standing promise of God that he would preach the gospel to the Gentiles.

1. God promised in Hosea 2:23, "I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God." God does not leave us to guess whether or not this is a direct reference to the Gentiles. It definitely is for Romans 9:24-26 specifically says so. These verses speak of "us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? as he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people: there shall they be called the children of the living God." Osee is Hosea, and under divine inspiration, Paul clearly says that Hosea was predicting the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles.

2. Furthermore, Jesus, prior to His ascension, predicted that the Gentiles must hear the gospel. He said in Luke 24:47, "That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Note "all nations" includes Gentiles as well as Jews. Jesus also told the apostles in Acts 1:8, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria (Samaritans were Gentiles), and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Once again, God's intention to openly preach salvation to the Gentiles is seen. Jesus also said in Matthew 8:11, "And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." Abraham is the father of the Jewish nation, so those who come from the east and from the west are Gentiles.

3. Peter said of salvation in Christ, that it is not for Jews only, but for Gentiles too. For, as he said in Acts 2:39, "The promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall call." That those "afar off" is a specific reference to Gentiles is established in Ephesians 2:11-13, which reads, "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh, made by hands; That at that time, ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having ho hope, and without God in the world; But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." Note well, by comparing verses 11 and 13 that it is Gentiles who were "far off."

4. Paul said in Ephesians 3:3 that the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles was a great mystery. He specifically says in verse 6 that the mystery was, "that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel." And he said in verse 8, that "unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." So, Paul became God's chief voice in spreading the gospel to the Gentiles. Thus he could write in I Timothy 3:16, "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." Acts 15:1-22 is a great discussion of the controversy that occurred over preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, (verse 14), and how the apostles recognized it to be of the Lord.

5. Now, the God of heaven had planned all along to present the gospel to the Gentiles. During the time of Cornelius, it was time for God to keep His word, so, He showed the apostle Peter a great vision to illustrate to him that Gentiles should hear the gospel just as Jews should. The vision is recorded in Acts 10:9-18. Note the unmistakable point of the vision in Acts 10:28. The latter part says, "God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean." Peter rose up from the vision and went to Cornelius the Gentile's house. (Acts 10:19-29) There he preached the gospel to him, (Acts 10:34-43), Cornelius believed it and was saved, (Acts 10:44-48), and this initiated the era of gospel preaching to the Gentiles that was so ably pursued by Paul the apostle. (Acts 15:13-19) Not well from verse 8 that this is what God had known and intended all along.

6. With this background in mind, it is not too difficult to understand God's statements related to Cornelius and his praying.

a. Cornelius (a Gentile) had been earnestly desiring salvation. He had been praying, giving alms, fasting, and doing all he knew to get it. Of course, like the human efforts of any man, it was all to no avail.

b. God, who sees and knows all things, (Hebrews 4:13), observed Cornelius and his praying and held him in remembrance. Not His words in Acts 10:31. God said to Cornelius, "The prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God."

c. Acts 10:4 makes a key statement. God said to Cornelius, "Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God." Note the word "memorial." The Greek word is "mnemosunon" and literally means "are had in remembrance." God was telling Cornelius that his prayers were a memorial, a reminder to Him of what He (God) had previously promised concerning the Gentiles of whom Cornelius was one. God had promised that He would present salvation to the Gentiles through the gospel, and Cornelius' prayers were simply a reminder to Him that the time had now come for Him to keep His promise.

d. A parallel example of God's remembering an event is found in Exodus 2:23-24. These verses say, "And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groanings, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob." Any competent Bible scholar knows God long before promised to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage after approximately four hundred years. Consider Genesis 25:13-14. When the Israelis in Egypt cried or prayed unto God, He simply remembered what He had previously determined to do. He would have done what He predetermined even if they had not prayed unto Him. Their prayers coincided with His predetermined plans and were a reminder to Him.

e. The prayers of Cornelius did not cause God to spontaneously do something He had not intended to do, any more that the cryings of the Israelites caused God to suddenly decide to deliver them. No, both events occurred because God had commanded it all along, not because they were praying. In both cases, the praying was merely coincidental to God's predetermined plans, and thus, was a memorial or reminder to God of His past promises.

CONCLUSION.

Therefore, we do not believe that in telling of Cornelius, the Bible teaches something contradictory to what it teaches elsewhere. We believe that Cornelius was a sincere, but lost, sinner, and that he was saved by hearing and believing the gospel, not by prayers, alms, or other good things he did. This is exactly how all men are saved and none are saved by praying, alms or other good works, regardless of their sincerity.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"