Cornelius was a centurion, a captain with authority over 100 Roman soldiers. He came from a background of pagan religion and superstitions, but something was happening to Cornelius and everyone living in his house. Cornelius “feared God with all his house,” and he “gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.”

He must have been influenced by what he observed of the devotion of the Jews and he abandoned his gods so completely that he not only wanted a relationship with God for himself, but for everyone in his house and all of his friends.

His worship of God led him to be both a charitable man and a man of prayer, and the Lord saw this as evidence of sincerity in Cornelius. Although he genuinely worshipped God, there was something amiss in his life, and an angel came to him in a vision, telling him to send for the apostle Peter in Joppa. “He shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do,” the angel said.

As the Lord prepared the first Gentile to receive the gospel, He was also preparing Peter to be the one to deliver the good news. Peter saw in a vision all kinds of unclean animals, and the Lord told him to kill and eat these animals. The apostle said he had never eaten those kinds of things before, and he heard a voice say, “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.”

At the end of this vision, the three men sent by Cornelius arrived at the house where Peter was staying. “Behold, three men seek thee,” the Holy Spirit said. “Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.”

The men explained why they sought the apostle, telling him Cornelius was “warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.” The following day they all departed for Caesarea. When they drew close, Cornelius gathered his family and friends to receive Peter and to hear his teaching. The centurion could not control himself, and he fell down at Peter’s feet and worshipped him, but Peter said, “Stand up; I myself also am a man.”

Many people were in the house, and Peter reminded them it was unlawful for a “Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.” Cornelius then shared his vision with Peter.

It became clear to Jew and Gentile that God had put together this meeting, and there should never be any doubt that He opened the way for Gentiles to be saved. The apostle Paul later wrote, “For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all” (Romans 11:32). There is no “clean” or “unclean” person because everybody needs the salvation found only in Christ Jesus.

Cornelius was like some people today. He was a good man with a good reputation. He prayed and worshipped God, but unlike some people he came to understand that his good works were not enough. Cornelius needed salvation, and salvation came to him and his household that day.