Why did the angel appear to Cornelius?

In Acts 10:3-6, an angel appeared to a good man named Cornelius. Cornelius was a "devout man, and one that feared God with all his house" and he "gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway" (Acts 10:2).

Most people would say that an angel appearing to them would save them. However, in Acts 10:6, the angel said that Peter would "tell thee what thou oughtest to do." If we combine that verse with Acts 11:14, we see that angel would "tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." So the angel was not there to miraculously save Peter. He was merely there to direct him to send to Joppa for Peter.

The word of God saves us, not some miraculous manifestation of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or an angel. Peter, much later in his life, wrote, "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit …" The word of God, revealed by the Holy Spirit (John 16:13), saves you! Don't be fooled by people who don't know the scriptures into believing that some great event will occur. If you will study and obey, you can be saved! Don't fall for the delusion that you must "feel" your salvation. Many thousands (or millions) of people have felt thoroughly inadequate or depressed because they never "felt" the Holy Spirit or an angel "fill" them. All we need is to have the indwelling word within us and follow it (Colossians 3:16).

Kyle Campbell