rookie wrote:This is the testimony we have concerning Cornelius.....................................................................................................Acts 10:30 So Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing, 31 and said, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms are remembered in the sight of God. ...............................................................................................In the above Scripture, Cornelius is told that the Lord has heard his prayers...In the following Scripture we have this precept......................................................................................................Prov. 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But the prayer of the upright is His delight. Prov. 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous. ...................................................................................................According to Scripture Cornelius was righteous because God only hears the prayers of the righteous.How did Cornelius attain this righteous position before meeting Peter?In ChristJeff
TaylorOtwell wrote:So, apparently the Lord was working in Cornelius to draw Cornelius to Himself, even though Cornelius wasn't to the point of understanding about Christ yet.What do you think?With care in Christ,Taylor
Alive-to-God wrote:Hi anonymity,Quote:but it seems here that God came to him because of the good that he was doing? Or maybe those were acts of humility but they were also of love it would seem.Rather, God seeks a face-to-face relationship with man, and accepts the honest seeker Heb 11:6 who acknowledges Him?
but it seems here that God came to him because of the good that he was doing? Or maybe those were acts of humility but they were also of love it would seem.
_________________Adam
Hi Jeff and all,Jeff,"How did Cornelius attain this righteous position before meeting Peter?"Your question brought to mind what Peter said to him before he was baptised with the Holy Spirit:"Then Peter opened [i]his[/i] mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." - Acts 10:34-35(KJV)
_________________Christopher Joel Dandrow
Alive-to-God,"Rather, God seeks a face-to-face relationship with man, and accepts the honest seeker Heb 11:6 who acknowledges Him?"This brings to mind Acts 17:27 and John 12:21.It doesn't at all seem(to me) that those that came to Phillip seeking the Lord Jesus, did so because they hated him. I think that the Lord Jesus indicated that those that would persecute believers would do so because they do not know God, not because they do(John 15:21), and that it was those that had seen Him and all the works that He did, that hated Him(John 15:24). Wish you well,Chris
ChrisJD wrote:Hi Jeff and all,Jeff,"How did Cornelius attain this righteous position before meeting Peter?"Your question brought to mind what Peter said to him before he was baptised with the Holy Spirit:"Then Peter opened [i]his[/i] mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." - Acts 10:34-35(KJV)
ChrisJD wrote:Alive-to-God,"Rather, God seeks a face-to-face relationship with man, and accepts the honest seeker Heb 11:6 who acknowledges Him?"This brings to mind Acts 17:27 and John 12:21.It doesn't at all seem(to me) that those that came to Phillip seeking the Lord Jesus, did so because they hated him. I think that the Lord Jesus indicated that those that would persecute believers would do so because they do not know God, not because they do(John 15:21), and that it was those that had seen Him and all the works that He did, that hated Him(John 15:24). Wish you well,Chris
Matthew Henry wrote:
"Doubtless Cornelius had true faith in God's word,
_________________Jeff Marshalek
Hi tjservant, ChrisJD and all,Thanks for your replies. I do understand that theology is a human attempt to codify truth from scripture, but imho, it falls short in several directions, and can actually lead one to [i][b]miss[/i][/b] truth from God's revelation of Himself through His written word.To Jeff,
According to Scripture Cornelius was righteous because God only hears the prayers of the righteous.
Hi everyone,Alive-to-God, thank you also."I do understand that theology is a human attempt to codify truth from scripture, but imho, it falls short in several directions, and can actually lead one to miss truth from God's revelation of Himself through His written word."I feel much the same way. One of the passages I thought of in meditating on this topic is from Psalm 12 where David asks for God's help because he says, [i]for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.[/i]I noticed today that this is the same place where it says"The words of the LORD [i]are[/i] pure words: [i]as[/i] silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times."- Psalm 12:6(KJV)Thanks again!
Hi again everyone,Jeff and Alive-to-God, a few more things came to mind as I thought about what you wrote more tonight and I wanted to share them with you.First, Alive-to-God,"He appears to have been a 'doer' of the word, as far as he understood righteousness and justice."What came to mind was what the Lord Jesus said in John 7:17 and what Peter said in Acts 5:32."He was not unique amongst Gentiles, either. (Luke 7:4, 5, 6, 7, 8.)"What also came to mind was Mat 12:41-42 and Luke 10:30-36.Jeff,"All that is needed is that one hear and do the word of God."I thought also of Naaman(2Kings 5:10-14), and what Paul wrote in Romans 10:13-14.
Hi again all,I appologise for the multiple posts here.I was wondering if I could share a brief story with you all?I was walking around downtown earlier this evening and was passing through a crowded shopping area. At one point along the street there are some benches where sometimes people that are homeless sit. Tonight as I passed by I noticed one man sitting on a bench in front of me and there was a man lying on the ground in front of another.I looked down as I passed by and saw that he was mostly face down, lying on the ground. I continued to look at him as I went by and was checking the time on my phone and didn't really think too much of it. Besides, I was down there to walk and pray.And then I suddenly caught myself and asked 'what are you doing!?'Its not too uncommon to see people lying on benchs or even on the ground and maybe I've become numb to seeing that and I suppose too that I saw how everyone else was just walking by and even felt a bit self-conscous of stopping to check on him, thinking that he was probably just passed out from drugs or alchol. So anyway, as I kept thinking and began to feel like the priest and the levite from Luke 10, and as I walked along I noticed an older woman on the phone and I suspected that she might be calling someone about the man as she was looking that way. Finally after walking on some more I turned back and went up to the woman on the phone. I asked her if she was calling about the man and she was and I offered to go back and check on him.After asking him some questions and not understanding anything he said, he managed to ask me clear enough to call an ambulance.The woman said they were on the way.Among all the people there, she did a good thing, the right thing.As I walked on I could hear the Ambulance coming in the distance. They were on their way to do a good thing, that was their duty to do.As for me, I thought that I need to examine the tenderness of my heart to the needs of those around me.