The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick (living) and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. ~ Acts 10:36-43

This is the gospel message that Peter preached to Cornelius and his house. You may notice that it sounds quite different than many of the messages that are called the gospel in our time.

Did Peter just not know how to preach the gospel because it was so new, or have we strayed from the message that we ought to be preaching? Now, consider that Peter says that after Jesus was raised from the dead, he commanded those he ordained as witnesses of his resurrection to testify that he (Jesus) was ordained by God to be the judge of the living and the dead.

When was the last time you heard that preached?

Now, what’s missing in Peter’s sermon? Missing is the appeal to Cornelius that he needs to repent of his sin or he’s going to hell. Peter does not tell Cornelius that his sins have offended a Holy God but Jesus stepped in and took his place suffering the wrath of God upon himself so that Cornelius could go free. You won’t find the gospel preached in this manner anywhere in the book of Acts, and we have a lot of gospel sermons in the book of Acts.

Peter doesn’t emphasize Cornelius’s need for repentance because he is a sinner. Sometimes that may be necessary, but it wasn’t here because Cornelius was a devout man who feared God, and Peter acknowledges Cornelius works of righteousness, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. ~ v. 34-35

Now, I know that pointing this out may step on the theological toes of some, but we have to stop building theology with isolated proof-texts and calling such the gospel. Cornelius was not a totally depraved individual before hearing the gospel. He was a devout man who feared God, and as a result he prayed often, and gave much alms to the poor, but he did not yet know that Jesus is the Messiah. Cornelius was actually fasting when the angel of the Lord appeared to him and commanded him to send for Peter to tell him the words of salvation (v.30). 

In every gospel message in the book of Acts, the central focus of the message is that Jesus is the Messiah. It was not how much of a sinner the people were, or how to get to Heaven after death, or Jesus became their substitute taking the wrath of God which they deserved, etc. The message was that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, and this is why the gospel that was preached in Acts includes his ministry, his sufferings, his resurrection, exaltation and his glory as the righteous one by whom God will judge the world.

I challenge you to examine Peter’s message to Cornelius because God sent Peter to tell him those words and those words are the framework of the gospel we ought to be preaching.

The problem with our modern gospel is that we have often lifted the message of the cross out of the context of the gospel which proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah and placed it into another context surrounded with our proof texts. The cross belongs in the context of the gospel as was preached in Acts, not in the context of TULIP or any other theology devised by man.

Over and over again, the appeal of scripture in the New Testament is that we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ, the one ordained of God, and the only mediator between God and man. The appeal of the New Testament is to point us to the man, Jesus Christ, and when the cross is kept within the framework of the revelation of the person of Jesus Christ, it is correctly understood.

Peter declares to Cornelius the message that God sent to the children of Israel by Jesus Christ, and God’s anointing of Jesus, and how God was with him, and how Jesus was killed by the people, and raised again by God, and how he communed with his disciples after his resurrection, and instructed them to testify that he is the one appointed by God as the judged of all. Regarding all this, Peter then says, To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. ~ v. 43

The gospel is the revelation of Jesus the Messiah, from the baptism of John until the judging of the living and the dead. Between his introduction by John the Baptist and the judging of the world he revealed God to us, he gave his life for us, he conquered death and rose victorious and was exalted at the right hand of God.

May we all hunger more for the authentic gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord!