Acts 10:2

Cornelius lived a moral life because he feared God, as did the other members of his household. His generosity to the people (Gr. to lao, i.e., to the Jews) and his prayers (Gr. deomai, lit. begging) were further evidences of his respect for Israel’s God. His relations with God and people were admirable (cf. Matthew 22:37-39). Cornelius had not become a full Jewish proselyte (Acts 11:3), but he did pray to the Jews’ God. The Jews called full Gentile proselytes who had undergone circumcision "proselytes of righteousness." They referred to Gentiles who adhered to Judaism to a lesser extent without submitting to circumcision "proselytes of the gate." Luke called these latter people "God-fearers." Cornelius may have been one of the latter proselytes or "God-fearers," and the Ethiopian eunuch may have been another (cf. Acts 8:27). This type of Gentile constituted fertile soil for the gospel seed (cf. Acts 8:26-40). It was mainly such God-fearing Gentiles who responded to Paul’s ministry.

Scholars debate the existence of the God-fearers as a distinct group. [Note: See, for example, the series of articles featured in Biblical Archaeology Review 12:5 (September-October 1986) under the general title, "The God-Fearers-Did They Exist?": Robert S. MacLennan and A. Thomas Kraabel, "The God-Fearers-A Literary and Theological Invention," pp. 46-53; Robert F. Tannenbaum, "Jews and God-Fearers in the Holy City of Aphrodite," pp. 54-57; and Louis H. Feldman, "The Omnipresence of the God-Fearers," pp. 58-63.] The scriptural evidence points to their existence (cf. Acts 10:2; Acts 10:22; Acts 10:35; Acts 13:16; Acts 13:26; Acts 13:43; Acts 13:50; Acts 16:14; Acts 17:4; Acts 17:17; Acts 18:7), and this has been the opinion of the majority of scholars over the years.

Some students of Acts have contended that Cornelius was a believer (i.e., an Old Testament saint) before he sent for Peter. [Note: E.g., Ironside, Lectures on . . ., pp. 245, 268.] Some scholars argue that Cornelius was righteous before he heard Peter’s gospel message, so it is unnecessary for people to hear the gospel to be saved. [Note: E.g., John Sanders, "Inclusivism," in What about Those Who Have Never Heard? Three Views on the Destiny of the Unevangelized, p. 40; but see 10:43; 11:14). For refutation of this view, see Ramesh Richard, "Soteriological Inclusivism and Dispensationalism," Bibliotheca Sacra 151:601 (January-March 1994):85-108.] It seems to many others, and to me, that in view of what we read in this chapter and the next he was not truly saved (i.e., justified) until Acts 10:44 (cf. Acts 11:14).