Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 10:19

"And while Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee." — Acts 10:19 (ASV)

But on the roof of the tanner’s house, Peter was still so deep in thought about the vision that even their shouting and calling out his name failed to rouse him. Rather, the Spirit told him of the messengers’ presence and then urged him to go with them. “For I have sent them,” he said. A question naturally arises about the relation of the “angel of God” that appeared to Cornelius (10:3–6, 22, 30; 11:13), “the voice” that spoke to Peter (10:13–15; 11:7–9), and “the Spirit” who urges him to go with the messengers from Cornelius. But the question, though legitimate, is almost unanswerable because it is by the Holy Spirit that the ascended Christ manifests his presence to his own. That is, we cannot draw any sharp lines between the angel of God, the Holy Spirit, and the ascended Christ (cf. also 8:26, 29, 39; 16:6–7). It appears in even such closely reasoned didactic statements on the relation of Christ and the Spirit as Ro 8:9–11 and 2 Corinthians 3:17–18.