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Study 08 Cornelius The Centurion (Read-Only)

The document summarizes the conversion of Cornelius the centurion as recorded in Acts 10:1-48. It describes how Cornelius was a God-fearing Roman soldier who received a vision instructing him to call for Peter. When Peter visited and shared the gospel, the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and those with him, and they were baptized as a public confession of their new faith in Jesus. The summary highlights key points about Cornelius' conversion, including that the salvation of sinners is done by God, God reaches people in various ways, God shows no partiality, and that baptism is commanded for new believers.

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105 views2 pages

Study 08 Cornelius The Centurion (Read-Only)

The document summarizes the conversion of Cornelius the centurion as recorded in Acts 10:1-48. It describes how Cornelius was a God-fearing Roman soldier who received a vision instructing him to call for Peter. When Peter visited and shared the gospel, the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and those with him, and they were baptized as a public confession of their new faith in Jesus. The summary highlights key points about Cornelius' conversion, including that the salvation of sinners is done by God, God reaches people in various ways, God shows no partiality, and that baptism is commanded for new believers.

Uploaded by

Ferd B
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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believing had received the Holy Spirit, according to TEN GREAT NEW TESTAMENT CONVERSIONS

Acts 10:45, were now required to be baptized as an F. W. Dixon


open confession of their faith in the Saviour, according Study 8
to Acts 10:47! And, after such a wonderful baptismal
service, no wonder these new Christians pleaded with CORNELIUS THE CENTURION
Peter to remain with them, Acts 10:48! Scripture Reading: Acts 10:1-48

Fight the good fight with all thy might The special appeal about the story of Cornelius is that it is
Christ is thy strength, and Christ thy right; the record of the conversion of a soldier. Cornelius was a
Lay hold on life and it shall be Roman soldier who served under Herod Agrippa. He was a
Thy joy and crown eternally. centurion, which means that he had one hundred men
under his command. Sometimes we are told that to be a
Run the straight race through God's good grace, Christian is all right for women and children, but here we
Lift up thine eyes, and seek His face; have the case of a soldier who became a saint. Another
Life with its way before us lies, interesting thing to notice is that "Cornelius was the first
Christ is the path, and Christ the prize. Gentile, entirely separated from Hebraism, to be admitted
to the Christian Church". Again, this man Cornelius is
typical of thousands in our land, for as we read the
narrative we discover that he was religious, moral, God
fearing and he prayed regularly; but for all that he was not
a Christian. There are many people like this around us who
are good living and God fearing, but they have never
exercised personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and
accepted His gift of eternal life, look up Romans 6:23; and
been born again, look up John 3:3. A number of basic
truths emerge from this incident, all of which will help us
to see how God works in the lives of men and women in
order to bring them to Himself.

1. The salvation of a sinner is the sovereign work of


the Triune God.

We are told that Cornelius was seeking the Lord, but


we can be quite sure that first of all it was the Lord
Who was seeking Cornelius. It is rather significant that
in Acts 8, it is the Holy Spirit Who is prominent, refer
to Acts 8:29. In Acts 9, it is the Lord Jesus Who is
prominent, refer to Acts 9:4-6. But here in Acts 10, it
is God the Father Who is prominent and Who
appeared to Cornelius and spoke to him in a vision,
refer to Acts 10:3-6. The Father planned our salvation;
the Son procured our salvation; and the Holy Spirit
perfects our salvation in our hearts and in our lives, 5. The one condition of salvation is faith in our Lord
look up and compare John 6:44; John 14:6 and Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6. Also rejoice in the truth contained in
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 This is made very clear in Acts 10:43, with which we
should compare Acts 11:17. Salvation, justification,
2. The Lord has a great variety of ways of reaching acceptance before God is through grace, by faith in
and bringing a soul to Himself. Jesus Christ, plus nothing! Look up and compare
John 3:16; John 5:24; Acts 16:30-31; Romans 1:16;
Here again we can compare the three cases in Acts, Romans 3:22 and Ephesians 2:8-10. What is faith?
chapters 8, 9 and 10, and we can say, "God moves in a F-A-l-T-H; Forsaking-All-I-Trust-Him.
mysterious way His wonders to perform". How
different was His approach, first, to the Queen's 6. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the evidence of
Treasurer; then to Saul of Tarsus; and then to salvation.
Cornelius! No two people are converted in exactly the
same way. There is only one way to God, look up John This is made clear in verses 44-45. Salvation is an
14:6 and John 10:9; but there are many ways to Christ. inward experience described as being born again, look
up John 3:3; by the operation of the Holy Spirit, look
3. God is no respecter of persons. up John 3:8. Salvation is the impartation of a new life,
look up 2 Peter 1:4; and this new life is brought to us
We learn this in verse 34. So far as God is concerned, in the Person and through the agency of the Holy
no one, because of position, race, education or social Spirit. At the time of our conversion we are not only
standing, has a better chance than anyone else of being born again by the direct operation of the Holy Spirit,
saved. God has no favorites. This is made very clear but we are:
through the vision given to Peter, read verses 9-16 and
verse 28; and then compare Romans 3:29-30 and (1) Baptized by the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:13.
Romans 10:12-14. Thank God, "whosoever" may be
saved! Look up John 3:16 and Revelation 22:17. (2) Indwelt by the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6:19.

4. A good man needs to be saved just as much as a bad (3) Sealed by the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:30.
man.
(4) Assured by the Holy Spirit, Romans 8:14-16
It is quite evident from Acts 10:2, that Cornelius was a
good man, but he needed to be saved just as much as (5) Made fruitful by the Holy Spirit,
the worst soldier under his command. It is hard to get Galatians 5:22-23.
people to see this; that God has only one way of
salvation. In Luke 18:9-14, we have the case of a good 7. Baptism is a command of the Gospel.
man who was lost and a bad man who was saved! We
are all sinners and we all need a Saviour, look up and It is significant that Peter did not leave this as an
compare Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:23 and James 2:10 and optional matter, but, as verses 47-48 make clear, he
Romans 3:20. There is only one way of escape from commanded them to be baptized! Look up Acts 22:16.
the guilt, the penalty and the power of sin, look up These people who had now been baptized by, or in, the
Acts 4:12 and Romans 6:23 Holy Spirit, according to Acts 10:44, and who by

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