Baptized by the Spirit into Christ

Acts 19:1-20

Paul at Ephesus

1 And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?"

So they said to him, "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."
3 And he said to them, "Into what then were you baptized?"
So they said, "Into John's baptism."

4 Then Paul said, "John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus."

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all.

8 And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. 9 But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10 And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

Miracles Glorify Christ

11 Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches." 14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.

15 And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?"

16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18 And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. 19 Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Paul journeyed to Ephesus while Apollos went to Corinth where Paul cleared the way and had laid the groundwork for the gospel in the midst of opposition.  When he came to Ephesus, the apostle ran into several disciples who only followed Jesus in the way of John the Baptist.  They had been baptized with water as they had repented of their sins and vowed to follow the Lamb of God as John had told them to and had also told them that this One coming after him would baptize with the Holy Spirit of God and not merely with symbolic water just as Apollos had (Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, Acts 18:24-25) with John’s baptism.  They had turned from sin to follow Him but had not yet been changed and reborn within.  Therefore, Paul pointedly asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit as all regenerated believers have been baptized into and have as a seal (2 Corinthians 5:5, Ephesians 1:13-14) of God’s presence and ownership.  This is the baptism that changes lives (1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:27) and is not a mere reflection of that work of God that water baptism symbolizes.  God’s Spirit immerses us into Himself and we know from scripture that if we do not have Him, we are not His (Romans 8:9) as these who only knew the baptism of repentance apart from life-changing faith into Christ Jesus.  This is not speaking of a second baptism of God’s Spirit for believers, but the initial once for all immersion into Him that validates and keeps true believers as proof of God’s transformative work in us to make us His with His only stamp of approval as the signet ring of His own hand marking us forever as His own.  Until this moment of change and receiving of His Spirit in the moment we believe and receive Christ by repentance and faith we are still in our sins as these in Ephesus and Apollos who only knew the baptism of repentance were.  When the gospel including Christ as the fullness of John’s message hit their souls, they were converted and filled forever with God’s Spirit with the initial accompanying signs to prove the work was of God in these first groups of Christians from outside of the Jews who were the first to believe at Pentecost.  

Paul then taught this gospel in the synagogue there at Ephesus “reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God” until opposition drove him to move to a school where people who wanted to hear came to know the gospel which he preached.  This he continued to do for two whole years until all Jews and non-Jews in that province of Asia had heard the good news of the kingdom of God in and through Christ to include repentance by faith and sealing of the Holy Spirit who fills all regenerated believers.  There Paul was used with unusual proofs to validate his calling as an apostle with the authority given before Jesus ascended back into heaven (Matthew 28:18) to preach the gospel.  These are not normative for us all as believers but were for him and the first disciples  to prove the message and messengers were to be trusted and believed.  It is dangerous to paint all believers now with the same brush of unusual miracles as if usual now because the word of God has been finalized and it is all the proof we require as testified to by the Spirit in us who is the mind of Christ given us.  This account of people not knowing Him and pretending to act on the authority to Christ like the seven sons of a Jewish high priest is a warning for all who pretend to know Him and do miracles in His name.  They were thoroughly thrashed for their presumptive acts as the demons who knew who Jesus was asked, “who are you?”  This put the fear of God in those who witnessed these things and caused the hearers to count the cost of knowing Christ truly without using their own attempts at doing miracles to prove themselves as false apostles (2 Corinthians 11:12-13, Philippians 3:3, Jude 1:19) and workers of darkness without the light and life of Christ in them.  Only all who are baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ are His and that miraculous work of God proves and validates us as His children without further contrived proof.