John Calvin Commentary Acts 10:4

"And he, fastening his eyes upon him, and being affrighted, said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are gone up for a memorial before God." — Acts 10:4 (ASV)

And he beheld, and was afraid. Luke expresses his attentiveness in plain words, so that we may know that it was no empty illusion that came upon the man while he was sleeping or doing something else. The fear with which he was seized proceeded from perceiving the majesty of God; for as soon as people conceive of God's presence, they must necessarily be afraid and overwhelmed by fear.

And while His words do not terrify us at all, that must be attributed to our sluggishness, because we do not know or perceive that it is God who is speaking. But the godly, to whom God reveals Himself in His word, tremble when they hear it, as Isaiah says (Isaiah 66:2, 5).

Furthermore, the sight of God is terrible to them, not so that they may always remain confounded and be swallowed up by fear, but only so that they may humbly prepare themselves to reverence Him.

What is it, Lord? It appears plainly from this answer that Cornelius’s mind was touched with religion and that he knew he was dealing with God. Therefore, the common translation has it wrong: Who are you, Lord? And it is likely that what is read there was substituted for this, since in the Greek text there is no ambiguity by which the interpreter might be deceived, and all the copies agree on this reading, τι εστι. And certainly, when Cornelius perceived that it was God, he submitted himself to obey, for his question was essentially a request for a command.

Thy prayers and alms. Because God seems to be, in a way, deaf unless He answers our petitions immediately, hence comes the saying that our prayers come to Him and that He is mindful of them. Furthermore, the angel assigns this as the reason why God condescends to show Cornelius the light of His gospel: because He has heard his prayers and accepted his alms. From this we gather that virtues and good works not only please God, but are also adorned with this excellent reward: that He heaps upon us and enriches us with greater gifts for their sake, according to that saying, To him that has shall be given (Matthew 13:12). And again,

Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful in a few things, I will set you over many things (Matthew 25:21).

For God does in this way extol His own by a continual series of His gifts, as it were, by certain steps, until He brings them to the summit.

But the Papists abuse this passage in two ways. First, because God regarded the prayers and alms of Cornelius, so that He endowed him with the faith of the gospel, they wrest that to support the preparations they have invented, as if a person could obtain faith by their own industry and power, and could precede the grace of God by the merits of works.

Secondly, they infer, generally, that good works are meritorious in such a way that God’s graces are increased in every person as they have deserved. In the former point, they are quite childishly deceived when they imagine that the works of Cornelius were acceptable to God before he was illuminated by faith.

And we need not seek far for a proof to refute their ignorance, for he could obtain nothing by prayer unless faith preceded it, which alone opens the gate for us to pray. Augustine considers that well and wisely, deriding Pelagius because he said that faith was obtained by prayers before it existed in a person in any measure: "Who," he says, "will seek a physician unless he is already healed in some part?"

And it is the health of faith that teaches us to knock. Furthermore, the fear of God and godliness plainly prove that he was regenerated by the Spirit. For Ezekiel gives this praise to God alone, that He frames the hearts of men to fear Him (Ezekiel 32:40 [sic]). And Isaiah says that the Spirit of the fear of God rests in Christ (Isaiah 11:2), so that we may know that He can be found nowhere except in His members.

Therefore, it is utter folly to imagine a man in the person of Cornelius who, having nature as his guide, can attain eternal life or endeavor to reach it. Therefore, they reason foolishly that we are able to precede the grace of God with the merits of works.

Concerning the second error—when they imagine that each one of us is increased with greater graces as we have deserved—it may easily be refuted.

1. We deny that we have any good works that God has not freely given us.
2. We say that the right use of gifts also comes from Him, and that this is His second grace: that we use His former gifts well.
3. We deny that we deserve anything by our works, which are always flawed and corrupt.

Good works do indeed obtain for us the increase of grace, but not by their own merit. For they cannot be acceptable to God without pardon, which they obtain through the benefit of faith. Therefore, it is faith alone that makes them acceptable. Thus Cornelius obtained more perfect knowledge of Christ by his prayers and alms, but the fact that God was favorable and merciful towards his prayers and alms depended on faith.

Furthermore, if good works are esteemed by faith, it is out of mercy, and not merit, that God approves them. For because faith finds nothing worthy in us by which we can please God, it borrows from Christ what we lack.

And this is utterly perverse: that though the Papists have this word “merit” constantly in their mouths and do not cease to puff up fools with an empty confidence, yet they offer nothing by which people’s endeavors may be motivated to do good.

For they always leave their consciences in doubt and command people to doubt whether their works please God or not. Must not people’s minds necessarily faint when they are possessed with such fear?

But as for us, though we take merit away from works, yet when we teach that there is a reward laid up for them, we spur people forward with an excellent and sharp incentive to desire to live well.

For then we joyfully commit ourselves to serve God when we are persuaded that our labor is not in vain. And if today there appears no such plentiful abundance of the gifts of the Spirit, but instead, the greater part rather withers away, we have our own unthankfulness to thank for that.

For just as God crowned Cornelius’s prayers, alms, and holiness with the most precious pearl of His gospel, so there is just cause why He should allow us to starve, being brought to abject poverty, when He sees us abuse the treasure of His gospel wickedly and ungodly.

Yet here a question may be asked: Does faith require the knowledge of Christ, or is it content with the simple persuasion of God’s mercy? For Cornelius seems to have known nothing at all concerning Christ.

But it can be proved by sound arguments that faith cannot be separated from Christ. For if we lay hold of the bare majesty of God, we are more likely to be confounded by His glory than to feel any taste of His goodness.

Therefore, Christ must come between, so that the human mind may conceive that God is merciful. And it is not without cause that He is called the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), because the Father offers Himself to be seen in His face alone.

Moreover, since He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), wherever you go without Him, you shall be enveloped on every side by errors, and death shall meet you on every side.

We can easily answer concerning Cornelius. All spiritual gifts are offered to us in Christ. And especially, from where does regeneration come, if not from our being grafted into the death of Christ, so that our old man is crucified? (Romans 6:5–6).

And if Cornelius was made a partaker of the Spirit of Christ, there is no reason why we should think that he was altogether devoid of His faith. He had not embraced the worship of the true God (whom the Jews alone worshiped) without also hearing something of the promised Mediator; though his knowledge of Him was obscure and confused, he still had some.

Whoever came into Judea at that time was bound to hear something of the Messiah; yes, some report of Him was spread through countries far off. Therefore, Cornelius must be placed in the catalogue of the ancient fathers who hoped for salvation from the Redeemer before He was revealed.

And the statement, sometimes attributed to Augustine or perhaps even made by him, that Peter established Cornelius’s faith is incorrect, since it already had a firm foundation. Augustine, however, essentially thinks as we do on the matter itself, for he affirms plainly that Cornelius could not pray unless he had faith, in his book On the Predestination of the Saints and in other places.