Acts 10 · a question people ask
Cornelius "feared God" and "always prayed to God" (10:2). Why was he told to send for Peter?
Here is what this chapter and Peter's telling in the next one say. Cornelius was "a devout man, and one who feared God with all his house, who gave gifts for the needy generously to the people, and always prayed to God" (10:2). The angel said, "Your prayers and your gifts to the needy have gone up for a memorial before God." (10:4), and "Now send men to Joppa, and get Simon, who is also called Peter." (10:5). The men he sent said he "was directed by a holy angel to invite you to his house, and to listen to what you say" (10:22). In Cornelius's telling, the one who stood before him said, "When he comes, he will speak to you." (10:32). Peter said, "in every nation he who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him" (10:35), and "through his name everyone who believes in him will receive remission of sins" (10:43). When Peter tells it again in Jerusalem, he gives the angel's words as "who will speak to you words by which you will be saved, you and all your house" (11:14). Christians read these verses in more than one way; the chapter doesn't settle it, and these notes choose no reading and apply the verses to no one today.
The verses
“a devout man, and one who feared God with all his house, who gave gifts for the needy generously to the people, and always prayed to God.”
“He, fastening his eyes on him and being frightened, said, “What is it, Lord?” He said to him, “Your prayers and your gifts to the needy have gone up for a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa, and get Simon, who is also called Peter.”
“They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God, and well spoken of by all the nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to invite you to his house, and to listen to what you say.””
“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 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God. Send therefore to Joppa and summon Simon, who is also called Peter. He is staying in the house of a tanner named Simon, by the seaside. When he comes, he will speak to you.’”