Summary retelling of Acts 8: 14-17:
The
apostles in Jerusalem have heard about Philip’s work in Samaria. And to be honest, they can’t believe that the
Samaritans – half-Jews at best – are receiving access to God without becoming
fully Jewish first. To check out what is
going on, the apostles send Peter and John to investigate. When Peter and John arrive, they find the
account to be true and they pray over the new disciples and ask that they might
receive the Holy Spirit. They lay hands
on them and they do receive the Holy Spirit.
Thoughts for Today:
First Thought:
It
is really a big deal that the Samaritans receive the Holy Spirit. Up until now, in order to become a Christian
you had to become a Jew first. Here, we
don’t see any mention of them converting to Judaism. The Samaritans were a people who had Jewish
roots, but they had forsaken true Judaism and mixed in the religions of the
Canaanites, Persians, Greeks, and other nationalities in the area. What we see here in Acts is the first step
that the early church has to take in order to accept the fact that God can even
embrace the Gentiles – a people who have absolutely nothing in common with the
Jews.
Have
you ever thought about the fact that you didn’t have to convert to Judaism to
believe in Jesus? What does that really
mean?
Second Thought:
Here
we find that the Holy Spirit plays an important role in the process of becoming
a follower of Jesus. The reception of
the Holy Spirit is what “seals the deal.”
The reception of the Holy Spirit is the only proof we have of God’s
presence within us. The Holy Spirit is
the guarantee of our salvation until we receive the promise in the life to
come.
As
important as the Holy Spirit is to the life of a Christian, can you say for
certain that you have the Holy Spirit within you? How do you know?
Third Thought:
Today
we see a picture of baptism, and in this case baptism clearly comes before the
reception of the Holy Spirit. This is an
important fact to note. There are groups
who believe and teach that baptism must be a response to salvation. Baptism is indeed a response, but it is not
necessarily a response to a person’s salvation.
Rather, baptism is a response to God’s promise of salvation. We baptize because God has promised to save
those who genuinely believe that salvation only comes from Him.
Can
you remember your baptism? Given what
I’ve spoken about the point of baptism, is this even an important question to
ask? If being able to remember your
baptism isn't important, what might be important about baptism?
Passage for Tomorrow: Acts 8:18-19
2 comments:
I see what you mean when you say that baptism can come in either order because it has come in both in the same book, has it not?
Indeed. In fact, there are technically 3 ways it can happen (but see my last comment about the technicality of the third way):
1. Water before Spirit
2. Spirit before Water
3. Spirit and Water virtually simultaneously
Water before Spirit is this particular story in Acts. We also likely see an example of this reality in the story of Paul meeting Lydia (and her household) in Acts. A third place in Acts that we see this story is when Paul meets the "disciples" (disciples of John the Baptizer, that is) in Ephesus.
Water after Spirit is a case where we actually see less often in Acts. It is most clearly seen in the story where Peter goes to Cornelius' house. It is also likely that the next story we read in Acts (Philip and the Ethiopian) is a case of Spirit before water.
Water/Spirit simultaneous is a category that I am personally wondering if it should be phased out. I used to use the Ethiopian story to show this, but in reality I think the Ethiopian had the Spirit for a good while before water baptism. So I'm not really sure if this category genuinely exists. In theory a person could ear about Jesus for the first time, dedicate their life to him, and be baptized on the spot. In theory it is possible, but I don't typically find that it works that way.
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