The Narrow Path Ministries

Someone asked me the following question:

A Calvinist will say that an unregenerated man can do no spiritual good however prior to coming to Christ these things are said of Cornelius ....vs 2 (God Fearing).....vs 4 (Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God). To me those statements causes problems to the doctrine of total depravity especially vs 4 which is a statement coming from an angel. I am curious to know how the Calvinist would respond to that issue cause it is clear from Acts 11:14 that at this point Cornelius was not saved.

Does anyone have any ideas on how this would be dealt with by Calvinistas?

A God fearer was a title used to describe gentiles who had come to follow the God of Israel, and who were adherants of the synogogue.

Hope that helps

I've so far found three Calvinistic intepretations of this passage, all interesting in different ways:

The story about Cornelius (forum thread)
This short thread on a Calvnist forum contains an interesting post which details different Calvnistic views on regenration ("elongated" versus "all-at-once"). http://www.spurgeon.us/forums/index.php?a=topic&t=945

What God Has Cleansed Do Not Call Common - John Piper
Bro. Piper seeks to show that Cornelius and his house couldn't havebeen saved prior to hearing the gospel. His focus is more on the issue of racism. http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibr ... ll_Common/

"When was Cornelius saved"?
This amusing sermon outline by a very fiery Calvinistic preacher relentlessly pushes "Total Inability" in order to "prove" that Cornelius was already saved. His treatment of 11:14 and 11:18 are pretty ingenious. Anyone who suggests otherwise is a blasphemer, apparently!
http://www.letgodbetrue.com/sermons/pdf ... -saved.pdf

hmm.

21centpilgrim wrote:A God fearer was a title used to describe gentiles who had come to follow the God of Israel, and who were adherants of the synogogue.

Hope that helps

Thanks. Which would imply that Cornelius was already a believer?

A believer of Jehovah but hadn't heard of Christ yet.

21centpilgrim wrote:A believer of Jehovah but hadn't heard of Christ yet.

So what did Peter mean when he said:

13 And he [Cornelius] told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, ‘Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon whose surname is Peter, 14 who will tell you words by which you and all your household will be saved.’ Acts 11

In what sense would Cornelius and Peter have been "saved" (future tense) by these words? In your understanding, had they not already been "saved" well before meeting Peter"?

Cornelius was responding to the light of revelation that had been givin to him, and up to this point he only knew of the types and shadows of the synogogue and Jewish teachings. But because salvation is only found in the name of Christ he was not yet "saved". But Peter was already saved.

vs 17 says " Therefore if God gave them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?"

This seems to say that Cornelius and his household, upon hearing Peter share the good news, came to believe and repent-vs18-( granted by God , at which point the Holy Spirit fell upon them.

If Cornelius was saved just by responding well to the light of revelation that he had why was it necessary for him to know of Christ? Futhermore why should we send out missionaries to the "lost" if they don't really need the good news of Jesus. But Cornelius was obviously being prepared for this salvation by God's soveriegn design.

Hope all of that helps Ely. Grace and Peace

So Cornelius had not yet been saved. But he apparently did some things which "caught the eye" of God. But an unregenerate man can do no such thing, apparently:

4. From this original corruption [in Eden], whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions
Westminster Confessionof Faith, CHAP. VI. - Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment thereof.

3. Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation: so as, a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto. WCF, CHAP. IX. - Of Free-Will.

So again, would you say that although he had not yet been saved, he had been regenerated perhaps? If so, what's the difference between the two (salvation and regeneration)?

As I read the Bible dictionaries, salvation is a process that includes such things as regeneration, justification, repentence and sanctification. There can be other components--those are just 4.

livingink