The book of Acts contains the story of the apostle Peter and the Roman centurion Cornelius (Acts 10). Cornelius is described as a “devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God.” (Acts 10:2 ESV) In this passage, God tells Peter in a vision that the gospel was not just for the Jews but also for the Gentiles. God also gave Cornelius a vision instructing him to go to a particular city and find someone named Simon Peter, which he did. During their meeting, Peter makes the following statement.
“So Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.’” (Acts 10:34-36 ESV).
This verse seemingly contradicts the Christian doctrine of salvation because it states those who are not Christians are acceptable to God if they fear him and do what is right. In other words non-Christians can be saved and go to heaven; they do not need to believe in Jesus. Why did God place this verse in the Bible?
This passage also teaches that even though Cornelius was acceptable to God, God still went to extraordinary lengths to get the gospel of Christ to him. Evidently, God want everyone to have the full revelation of him. And there are good reasons why. God is revealed to us through nature but that only tells us of God’s eternal power and divine nature (Romans 1:18-20). It tells us nothing of Jesus and his death and resurrection for our sins. Also, the Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning sin, righteous, and judgment (John 16:8). However, like nature, the Holy Spirit tells us nothing about Jesus and his death and resurrection for our sins. Additionally, because of the culture in which we live and because of the wrong decisions we make, our sense of what is right and wrong can be distorted so that we ignore what the Holy Spirit is attempting to teach us (Romans 1:21-23). Thus, we need access to God’s word to be made aware of these distortions.
The issue of how God will deal with those who have never heard of Jesus and his death and resurrection for our sins has always been a stumbling block to many. That a just and merciful God would send people to hell who have not had the opportunity to hear of the gospel just does not make sense. The Bible addresses that concern in this passage in Acts 10 if we will just listen to what the entire Bible teaches us.
