'Come Out From Among Them'

And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve. And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. - Acts 19:1-12

    In this chapter we follow Paul back to Ephesus, where he had left Aquila and Priscilla (18:19-21). While he was away Apollos had come and spent some time there preaching 'the baptism of John' in the synagogue (18:24-25). As we saw in the previous chapter, Aquila and Priscilla befriended him and instructed him more fully in the gospel of the grace of God (18:26). Apollos then went to Corinth to preach to the church Paul had established there. When the apostle Paul came back to Ephesus he found 'certain disciples' there who, like Apollos, were disciples of John the Baptist. These disciples of the Baptist had come in among and identified them selves with the brethren who were still worshipping with the Jews in the synagogue. Acts 19 opens with Paul meeting these brethren.

    1. A time of transition

    If we are to interpret any portion of the book of Acts properly, we must remember that the history of the church recorded in Acts was a period of transitional development, much like that which we find in the four Gospels. During those early years Christianity was still looked upon as a sect of Judaism. Believers continued to worship with the Jews in their synagogues. Those at Jerusalem continued for some time to worship in the Jewish temple. Many genuine believers remained ignorant of many important gospel truths, some for years, until God sent them a gospel preacher to instruct them in the faith of Christ. We have already seen two examples of this fact.

    Cornelius (10:1-2) was a true believer. That cannot be disputed. The Word of God describes him as a just and devout man who feared and worshipped God (10:2, 4, 22). But he worshipped God only in the light of the Old Testament Scriptures until Peter came and told him that the Saviour for whom he looked had already come, redeemed his people and ascended back into heaven. What he believed before was true. He trusted the Son of God as he was revealed in the types, promises and prophecies of the Old Testament, walking in the light God had given him.

    Apollos had more light than Cornelius (18:24-28), but he too was greatly lacking. He was not misinformed, but uninformed. He knew only the teachings of John the Baptist until Aquila and Priscilla explained the doctrine of Christ to him more fully.

    Neither Cornelius nor Apollos were heretics. They did not embrace a false gospel. They believed the truth as fully as they knew it. They trusted Christ according to the light they had. When God gave them more light they gladly received it, submitted to it and obeyed it. In the opening verses of Acts 19 Paul met another group of twelve men like Apollos. They were true believers who knew only the baptism of John.

    2. The question Paul asked (19:1-3)

    These men were disciples of Christ. They followed the teachings of his servant John the Baptist. They trusted the Lord Jesus, professed faith in his name and were baptized in his name, either by John or his disciples. After some discussion with them, Paul asked, 'Have ye received the Holy Ghost' (according to the Authorized Version) 'since ye believed?' That is a very poor translation. The question is more accurately translated: 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?' (NASV, NIV, NKJV, the Amplified Bible). Their response, 'We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost,' really amounts to: 'Do you mean the Holy Spirit has come?' Certainly, being John's disciples, they knew that the Holy Spirit existed and knew the promise of his descent (Matt. 3:11;Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16). John's disciples were well instructed in the Old Testament prophecies relating to the coming of Christ, the outpouring of, and baptism in, the Spirit by him and the extraordinary signs that would accompany it (Ezek. 36:21-28; Joel 2:28-32; Zech. 12:10; John 7:39). But these men were totally ignorant of the fact that the Holy Spirit had been given. They knew he had been promised, but did not know that he had come. It is a mistake to make more out of the text than this—a mistake that leads to serious error. 'Unto what then were ye baptized?' Paul assumed that since they claimed to be believers they had been baptized (Mark 16:16; Rom. 6:3-6). His question to these men was: 'If you were not baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in what name were you baptized?' They answered, 'Unto John's baptism.' Believing the message of John concerning the coming of Christ, they were baptized.

    Two things need to be clearly understood.

    First, all who truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ have received the Holy Spirit. This is the glaring difference between the true believer and the one who makes a profession of faith but is not truly born of God (John 3:3-8; Rom. 8:9-14; Gal. 5:22-23).

    Secondly, it is the responsibility of every believer to follow the command and example of Christ in believer's baptism (Rom. 6:3-6). By baptism, being immersed in the watery grave and rising up out of it, we publicly confess our faith in Christ and identify ourselves with him.

    3. John's baptism (19:4-5)

    Many teach that John's baptism was not Christian baptism. Dividing verses 4 and 5, they insist that Paul rebaptized these disciples. But the text teaches exactly the opposite. Read the two verses together. Put the whole passage in quotation marks. Both verses are to be understood as Paul's explanation of John's baptism. He is stating that John's baptism is exactly the same as we practise today, the immersion of professed believers in the name of the Lord Jesus.

    In support of this interpretation, it should be observed that there is no indication anywhere in the New Testament that any of John's disciples were rebaptized by our Lord or his apostles, though the opportunity clearly presented itself (John 3:22-36), and there is no indication that Apollos was rebaptized after being instructed in the way of God more perfectly (18:26). Moreover, if verse 5 contained Luke's words describing what Paul had done, it seems most reason able that he would have specified that Paul baptized them, as he specified that Paul laid hands upon them in verse 6. In verses 4 and 5 Luke tells us what Paul said. In verse 6 he tells us what Paul did.

    4. The communication of the Holy Spirit (19:6-7)

    Just as Peter and John laid their hands on the believing Samaritans who had been baptized by Philip (8:14-17), Paul laid his hands upon these twelve men who had been baptized by John the Baptist and they received the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit. Once more Paul was evidently confirmed as an apostle of Christ (Heb. 2:3-4). In the apostolic era many received those gifts, but only an apostle could communicate them to others. Remember Philip, who possessed the gifts, could not communicate them to the Samaritans, but had to wait for the apostles to do so. Therefore, these extraordinary, outward signs necessarily ceased when the apostles were gone, not because God has changed, but because they are no longer needed. We now have the perfect, complete revelation of God in Holy Scripture (1 Cor.13: 10; 2 Peter 1:16-21).

    5. The separation of the believers (19:8-12)

    As stated before, the saints of God at this time met with the Jews in their synagogues. They earnestly sought the salvation of the Jewish people. But there comes a time when those who follow Christ must separate themselves from those who despise him. Light and dark ness cannot abide together. So after three months of faithful instruction, Paul led the saints of God to separate themselves from those who hated the gospel of Christ (2 Car. 6:14-7:1; Rev. 18:4). Paul and his little band were despised by everyone in town. Meeting in a little borrowed room, they were mocked, ridiculed and scorned by the rich, prosperous and powerful religious people of Corinth. But God was with them. He confirmed his gospel, his messenger and his people, clearly demonstrating his pleasure in them. He always does! (See 1 Sam. 2:30).