Before Peter could preach the gospel to the Gentile Cornelius and those in his house, the Holy Spirit had to prepare Peter to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. For Peter to try to add Gentiles to the church would not be received well by the Judaizing Christians that inhabited the church. However, since the Holy Spirit told Cornelius to send his men to get Peter, that same Holy Spirit had to prepare Peter to go to Cornelius to preach.

The key to salvation is that we remember that salvation was accomplished for us on Calvary’s Cross by the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by His suffering and death, paid the penalty that we owe for the sins that we have committed. The devil wants mankind to want to reject that fact, and to take at least partial credit for our own salvation due to the good works that we have done.

I am reviewing the relationship between the Heavenly Father and His earthly sons, using the stepping off point of the parable of the Prodigal Son.

We are all sinners, saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And although we are saved by the goodness and mercy of the Lord, we all still have the sin nature, that carnal man that we inherited from Adam. But it is ours to recognize our shortcomings, and to do all that we can to avoid sin and improve our situation.