RECEIVING THE SPIRIT, Acts 19 and
ACTS 19 AND RECEIVING THE SPIRIT
Virgil Warren, PhD
“And it-came-to-pass in [the] Apollos’ being in Corinth (that) Paul, having-passed-through the upper parts, came-down into Ephesus and found some disciples, and said to them, “[If] did-you-receive (the) Holy Spirit, having-believed?” But they (said) to him, “But we-did┘ not-even └know whether there-is (a) Holy Spirit.” And he-said, “Into what then were-you-baptized?” And they said, “Into the baptism of-John.” And Paul said, “John baptized (a) baptism of-repentance, saying to-the people that they-should-believe on the-one coming after, that is, on [the] Jesus.” And having-heard, they-were-baptized into the name of-the Lord Jesus. And [the] Paul having-laid┘[the] hands └on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they-began-to-speak with-tongues and prophesy. And all the men were about twelve” (Acts 19:1-7).
The episode helps on several counts. It indicates some things about receiving the Spirit, about baptism, and about the connection between them. The text provides a basis for distinguishing two significances for the expression receive the Spirit and implies something about the association between baptism, believing, and conversion.
The first observation on 19:1-7 is that (1) Paul ended up doing what he intended to do at the beginning when he asked whether they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed. Presumably if the twelve men had said, “No, we have not ‘received the Spirit,’” Paul would have laid hands on them, and they would have spoken in languages and prophesied. But there was an added step because they did not know anything about the Holy Spirit—or about receiving the Spirit, depending on how we translate the text. What he does with them next is parenthetical; it brings them up to the point where he assumed they were in the first place. Having taken care of that deficiency, he “gave them the Spirit.”
The second observation is that (2) there is an association with the Holy Spirit that is not uniform with Christians. Paul comes to people he assumes are Christians already and them the Spirit. Acts 19:1-7 is like Romans 1:11, where Paul tells people who were already Christians that he wanted to impart to them some spiritual gift to “established” them, as he puts it. Acts 8 illustrates a similar occasion (next entry).
A third observation is that (3) the expression “receiving the Spirit” can refer to a supernatural gifting of the Spirit in addition to any uniform, normal usage the terminology has. A similar comment occurs in the account of the Samaritan mission. After Philip had baptized many of them, “Peter and John . . . prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because as yet he had ‘fallen on’ none of them; they had only been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.”
A fourth observation is that (4) there is a connection between baptism and having the Holy Spirit in some sense. Otherwise, Paul would not have used his test question to find out where these twelve were coming from: “Into what then were you baptized?” One difference between John’s baptism and Jesus’ baptism must have been that the former had no associations with the Holy Spirit, but Jesus’ baptism did (cp. Matthew 3:11 = Mark 1:8 = Luke 3: 16 = John 1:33 = Acts 1:5 = 11:16). The question implies that if the twelve had been baptized into Jesus’ baptism, they would have known about the Holy Spirit.
A fifth observation is that (5) baptism is associated with believing and forgiveness rather than with visible church membership, which people often picture as coming later than forgiveness. Visible church membership is frequently distinguished from invisible church membership (salvation); baptism is then associated with the former and is performed after salvation when a person gets associated with a body of believers. But baptism is a mark of the Christian more than a mark of the church. It belongs to primary identification with Christ rather than to a secondary consequence. Other texts are perhaps clearer on “water” baptism, but this passage has the advantage of showing that the term baptism is not a shorthand expression for a supernatural “baptism in the Holy Spirit” as is sometimes thought because people fear that connecting it with forgiveness would contradict salvation by faith.
A sixth observation on Acts 19:1-7 is that (6) the previous “receiving of the Spirit” accompanies the original believing, or trusting in, Christ. “Did you receive the Holy Spirit, believing” (19:2; cp. 11:17). Paul’s question to the Ephesian twelve answers a question that could be raised about Acts 2:38. How can we tell that what Peter meant by “the gift of the Spirit” is not something that happens later than the forgiveness of sins—a supernatural gift or experience given in connection with prayer and the laying on of hands? Baptism into Jesus could still connect with the later receiving of the Spirit because baptism would be a prior condition for it. Peter would be mentioning that gift in connection with conversion because it becomes potential at conversion rather than because it occurs at conversion.
There is a receiving of the Spirit in Acts and elsewhere that goes with laying on of hands. A while after they believed and were baptized (Acts 8:9-15), the Samaritans “received the Spirit” when Peter and John came down from Jerusalem and prayed and laid hands on them (Acts 8:14-18ff.). Paul’s comment to the Romans (Romans 1:11) was a long time after his readers had become Christians. The last stage of this event in Acts is another example (19:5-7; cp. also 1 Corinthians 14:13). In all these cases, “receiving the Spirit” means receiving (a manifestation of) the Spirit. The argument could then run that “the gift of the Spirit” refers to something that involves a supernatural experience or gift and that it is available to all Christians because Peter’s promise on Pentecost was directed to a general audience.
However, (a) there is no need to insert a time lapse between forgiveness and the gift of the Spirit in Acts 2:38. If not, the text cannot provide a basis for the existence of such a gap nor for the idea that a supernatural gift is normal for Christians. We more naturally understand that the gift of the Spirit occurs alongside forgiveness since (b) Peter promised both benefits conjointly and since (c) Peter mentions no additional act for the second benefit. From a literary standpoint, this last observation is significant because Acts 2:38ff. gives the first statement of expectations for salvation, the gift of the Spirit, and church membership. The writer has no previous context he can depend on to supply his readers with additional details beyond what his present account makes clear. From an interpretation standpoint, we more naturally read his subsequent accounts of salvation-plus-the-Spirit in light of his first presentation than vice versa.
Furthermore, (d) it stands to reason that with the removal of sin, nothing separates the person from God the Spirit. If “the gift of the Spirit” means basic interpersonal relationship, forgiveness and gift belong together and lead to interpersonal relationship with all others who have identified with Jesus Christ (church membership). Forgiveness, vertical relationship, and horizontal fellowship comprise a natural set that happens at the same time.
(e) As far as the wording goes, a person could likewise argue that forgiveness comes later than identification with Christ: “Repent and let each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ unto remission of sins” (Acts 2:38).
Moreover, (f) there is no basis for showing that every Christian in the first century had a supernatural gift. The claim that every Christian did have a supernatural gift may be hard to disprove, and it is not necessary to do so because the burden of proof lies on the positive. Nevertheless, some observations do come close to disproving the idea. The rest of the New Testament shows that not everyone spoke with languages, for example (1 Corinthians 12:29-30). Most conversions in Acts say nothing about such matters. Presumably not all the Galatians had miraculous experiences or did miraculous things; otherwise, Paul would not have asked them, “Does the one who supplies you the Spirit and works miracles among you do it by works of law or by hearing/obedience/preaching of faith?” (Galatians 3:2). The account does not read as if Simon was not one of the Samaritans that had received a supernatural gift and spoke in languages (Acts 8:17-24). Romans 1:11 speaks of imparting some spiritual gift, not only showing that these long-time Christians (16:7) did not have what Paul wanted to give them, but implying that not everybody would be getting one if Paul got to Rome. Not all the “gifts” listed in Romans 12:6-8 sound like capacities that need a supernatural origin; yet members of the body use them to make their contribution to the operation of the body. The kingdom of heaven does not consist of having supernatural capacities, but of having personal relationship with God and other people.
Acts 19:1-7 indicates several things about conversion and the experience of the Spirit. It shows that (1) the terminology “receiving the Spirit” can cover a basic benefit that is uniform for all Christians at conversion as well as something special and non-uniform that assumes the prior level. The first we identify as real interpersonal presence while the second is a supernatural endowment. (2) The second-level “gift of the Spirit” is what may be separated by time from the conversion event and associated with the laying on of hands; so, the first-level “gift of the Spirit” is contemporary with conversion, which means that on Pentecost Peter did not intend his hearers to insert a time gap between forgiveness and what he meant by “receiving the gift of the Spirit.” (3) Baptism is associated with believing, that is, with initial identification with Christ, conversion, forgiveness, rather than with a subsequent secondary specific like church membership.
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