As we come to Acts 19:1, Paul has embarked on his third missionary journey (18:22-23) and has now made his way back to Ephesus (remember, he was there briefly in 18:19-21). The first thing that happens is he meets some disciples of Jesus. And, evidently, after talking to them Paul must have discerned there was something missing in the conversation, prompting him to ask, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they answered, “We haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” (Verse 2)
Then Paul asked them what baptism they had received and they told him it was John’s baptism (verse 3). To which Paul answered, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance and he told the people to believe in the One Who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” So, let’s stop right here and look at this. Here are some disciples of Jesus who had been baptized in John’s baptism of repentance, but knew nothing about the Holy Spirit.
It’s not clear where or when they received this baptism. It could be they were actually baptized in Jordan by John himself some 25, or so, years earlier; or, someone like Apollos, who knew only the baptism of John (18:25) could have baptized them at a later time. If John himself baptized them, they obviously had forgotten what he promised regarding the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11, Luke 3:16, John 1:31-34), or they did not understand and it had never been explained to them. And, the very fact that Apollos did not understand it either after all this time, tells us there were most probably some others preaching Jesus, but with limited knowledge of baptism and the Holy Spirit. However, this is reasonable given the time it took for Peter and Paul to understand this truth, as I pointed out in the series on baptism and progressive revelation.
Now, here’s a question that must be asked (and answered), did these disciples of Jesus have the Holy Spirit, but just not recognize it? Is it possible to have the Holy Spirit and not know it? Of course the answer is, yes! You probably don’t remember by now, but in a previous lesson I explained Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3:1-8 when Jesus told him he must be born anew (verse 3) and Nicodemus questioned how he could be born (again) when he is old (verse 4). To which Jesus answered, “I’m telling you the truth, unless a man is born of water, even the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. The flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” (Verses 5-6)
In verse 8 Jesus emphasizes again that He’s talking about the Holy Spirit. And just to be clear, Jesus’ reference to “water” refers to “even the Spirit”, not to any form of water baptism. “Water” is simply a metaphor He often used to illustrate the Holy Spirit as is clear from John 4:10, 14 and 7:37-39. The point I’m making and that must be applied to these disciples in Ephesus is that since the Holy Spirit is the agent of the new birth as Jesus had explained, they did have the Holy Spirit.
And just to be clear, I’m not saying Paul’s question to these disciples showed a misunderstanding or lack of understanding on his part. Paul certainly knew perfectly well the connection between the Holy Spirit and the new birth. So, what did Paul actually mean when he asked the question, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” What Paul was looking for in his conversation with these disciples was evidence they had any experiential knowledge of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
Let’s continue in Acts 19, this is verses 5 and 6, “And on hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then, when Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.” As I have already noted in the series on baptism, this is the last reference to Paul (or anyone else) baptizing in water. It is reasonable to assume from the description of these events that Paul recognized the fact that the Holy Spirit did not come upon these disciples when they were baptized in water, but only when he laid hands on them. And, as I mentioned in the last lesson, it is only a matter of months from this point that Paul disavows water baptism altogether in his first letter to the church in Corinth.
Also, I want to make it clear just what happened in verse 6 when the Holy Spirit came on them and they “spoke in tongues and prophesied.” “Tongues” is from glossa, and means, language. This is the same as the “other tongues” in Acts 2:4-13 at Pentecost, when devout men from every nation under heaven were both confused, and amazed, because every man heard these Galileans speak the wonderful works of God in so many different languages. This is not the supposed “spiritual language” practiced by some. It is the “unknown tongues” Paul talks about in I Corinthians 14, where the word “unknown” is always in italics, indicating it is not found in the original manuscripts, but was inserted for clarification. The intent of the translators using unknown was probably the meaning of “unlearned”.
And, I want to emphasize again the meaning of “prophesied”. This is from propheteuo, and means, to declare truths through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that may or may not be predictive in nature. The use of this word in the New Testament more often than not has nothing to do with predicting future events, though there are some today who wrongly use “prophecy” exclusively to describe the foretelling of future events. Those who practice this type of “prophecy” tend to do it to get attention and gain a following with fraudulent predictions.
So, now these disciples have experienced firsthand some very obvious, outward manifestations of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, but further clarification is still needed. Let’s be practical here, what is described here and in other places in Acts is not the experience of believers today, nor has it been since around 55 AD. And, if I’m wrong here, someone needs to explain to me why at least some believers today don’t come up out of the water at their ritual baptism speaking in unlearned foreign languages and accurately declaring Godly truths. It is obvious that such outward manifestations of the Holy Spirit were simply teaching tools used by God to help these early believers understand something that was previously unknown to them.
The Lord used an outward, obvious experience to begin to teach the apostles and others the reality of the Holy Spirit and eventually bring them into a balanced understanding of the Spirit’s ministry to believers.
And it will become increasingly obvious as we look at what Paul and others write in the months and years to come that the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is not about outward manifestations, but inward change and spiritual stability and strength. With the exception of I Corinthians 12, 13 and 14 where Paul gives some instruction regarding spiritual gifts, limits the practice of tongues (still languages) and asserts the benefits of true prophecy, there is little or no mention of them. Instead, these letters will be about the unrighteousness of man and the righteousness of God, man’s need of God’s deliverance, doctrine, Christian conduct, correction, edification, encouragement and comfort in the face of persecution and suffering, clarification of future events and exciting promises of an eternal life with God – all with a generous amount of information and instruction about the ministry of the Holy Spirit.