Was Cornelius Already Saved When Peter Was Sent to Him?

QUESTION: Was Cornelius saved when Peter was sent to him? If so, what does Acts 11:14 mean, "Who shall speak unto thee words, whereby thou shalt be saved?"

ANSWER: Living up to his best light pagan Cornelius was an acceptable candidate for Christian salvation (see Acts 10:35 R.V.) He was what Wesley calls a servant and not consciously a son of God. Before his heart-warming in the Moravian chapel, Wesley says he was a servant of God and safe, but did not know it. His new experience of the witness of the Spirit enabled him to say, "Now I am a child of God and know that I am safe." All those pious pagans that have the spirit of faith (the disposition to receive Christ, the object of faith, when he is presented) and the purpose of righteousness (the disposition to keep all of God's commandments when revealed), are safe according to Romans 2:14, 15. Wesley says, "They are saved through Christ, though they know him not." The saving efficacy of the atonement extends beyond the knowledge of Christ. If it were not so, justice would demand a probation after death in order to save infants and such pious pagans as we have just described.

— Steele's Answers p. 56.