One of the most popular religions on earth is the religion of being good enough. It is the belief that God does exist, that right and wrong exists, and that one is O.K. with this God as long as one is trying to be a nice person, polite and friendly, and not so bad as some other folks. I used to subscribe to this religion, believing that if everyone on the planet were as nice and as well-educated as me, this world would be a wonderful place, free of wars and famine and bigotry. However, eleven years ago I discovered by encountering the pure holiness of Jesus of Nazareth, that others in the world are indeed just like me, and that is in fact what is wrong with the world. I had only a thin veneer of nicety, a surface coating of goodness. Like my old rusted out yellow Datsun pickup that I tried to put a coat of paint on, the rust just kept showing through. And all it would take for me to show my true colors is to put me in a morally challenging or stressful situation.
The Bible tells in Acts 10 the curious story of how God brought two men together, Cornelius and Peter. It describes Cornelius as a devout man, one who feared God, a generous giver to charity, and one who prayed continually. At first it sounds like Cornelius had it all together, and was in need of nothing, a "good person" by the world's standards. Then why did God have to go to all that trouble to orchestrate a meeting between Cornelius and Peter? Obviously this "good person" was missing something extremely fundamental that God wants all of us to have if we will genuinely seek Him and cooperate with His plan. The first point to notice is this: a person can be devout, believing in the existence of God, a generous giver to charity and a good deed doer, even pious, and still lack the most fundamental thing that Jesus came to give us - the New Life in Christ through the receiving of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said "unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God", that "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourself." John's first letter says that "he who has the Son has life, he who does not have the Son does not have life." Cornelius is a representative of the natural man, the very best that this world has to offer, while Peter represents the spiritually reborn man. The difference between them outwardly is not much, but in the supernatural unseen realm it is like the difference between two species, the difference between a thoroughbred and a mule. You could groom up a mule and get his coat really glossy and bright and enter him in the Kentucky Derby, yet when you opened the chute he would just lope out like a mule. He couldn't keep up with the most poorly-kept thoroughbred. So what is it that Cornelius and his household and all others like him lack? Acts 11:14-18 informs us that he needed three things. He needed someone to speak the word to him by which he could be saved. He needed to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and he needed the repentance that leads to life, the God-kind of life.
The second startling point here is that God couldn't directly bring salvation to Cornelius without the agency of the word preached by a spiritually reborn person. Why didn't God directly minister to Cornelius in his bedroom? Why didn't He simply come down and get him filled with the Holy Spirit right there? Why didn't the angel? That's what people want to believe. We say, "Well if God is really real, why doesn't He just appear to me?". We want a personally customized do-it-yourself religion on our own terms. That way we don't have to fool with these church folks, preachers, religious people, etc. I'll just sit in my dorm room, light a candle, and wait to receive enlightenment. That's human pride talking. There is a definite humility required in bowing to receive the word of truth being transmitted to us by a peer. Certainly God is present everywhere as Spirit, but at some point the ministry of God's human agent is needed for people to receive salvation, be born again, and filled with the Spirit.
The final point to notice is that after hearing and believing the preached word concerning Jesus of Nazareth, Cornelius and all his household were dramatically transformed. They received the Holy Spirit, accompanied by powerful supernatural manifestations of God's presence. The Holy Spirit "fell upon all those who were listening to the message." The gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them. The Holy Spirit is not a doctrine or a theological concept. Doctrines and concepts don't fall upon people. These Spirit-filled Christians were "speaking with tongues and exalting God". The partaking of the divine nature released an unquenchable joy and a boldness in them. An empowerment is available to Christians that is not to be found in any other religious pathway.
I believe there are many of us today, even attending church, who are nice people, devout, givers to charity, well-meaning, who have never actually received this life-transforming experience of being born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. Could this be because we have not heard the word preached with authority and accuracy and power? Perhaps we have only heard polished moral essays, human wisdom, popular psychology, philosophy, tradition, and good advice. Or perhaps we have indeed heard the word but have denied the power of it. The life-transforming encounter with God through the preached word and through His Holy Spirit is an objective reality that no one should want to miss. This is supernatural Christianity.
@ copyright 1991 by Scott H. Northrup. All rights reserved.