Removing Barriers

I consider myself a pretty good person; how about you? I think most people think of themselves that way; they may not be perfect, but they are far from being a “bad”person. Most people even pray regularly; maybe not every day, but they will drop a few words to God from time to time. A lot of people even give generously to charity and church. Giving and praying can definitely be acts of worship and could even be considered attributes of a “devout” person. In fact, in Acts 10, there is a Roman centurion named Cornelius who is described as “devout” and he prayed and gave regularly.

By all accounts, despite the fact that he was part of the despised Roman army, Cornelius was a “good”, godly kind of guy, maybe like you and like a lot of people you know. But is being “good” good enough to make a person right with God? In Acts 10, we see God pursuing Cornelius. He wanted him, and other Gentile people like him, to be a part of His very own family. So God had a plan for Peter to share the gospel with Cornelius, his family and friends so they would have an opportunity to choose to believe… to commit to Jesus as Savior and Lord.

In Acts 10, we learn some powerful faith lessons, including that God wants all people from all nations to be a part of His family! We learn that devotion does not result in salvation and that it is only through Jesus that the religious can be made righteous. The truth is, we are all vulnerable and in need of salvation, no matter how “good” we are, or how good we think we are. The great news for us is that God wants us to be a part of His family and has gone to great lengths to make that possible. We see that in Cornelius’ remarkable faith story found in Acts 10.

To learn more, click here to listen to: Multiply - Part 9 - Removing Barriers.