Acts Commentary - Chapter 19

Acts 19:1-7

In this passage, Paul encounters a group of twelve disciples (Acts 19:7) who had heard John the Baptist's message, repented of their sins, and been baptized. Apparently, they left Judaea and had not heard about Jesus Christ, His death or resurrection. Paul's question, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" (NIV) was intended to clarify the object of their faith. Since they had not yet received the Holy Spirit, they were not yet part of the body of Christ. However, they were what we could call "seekers" today. They had responded to the light of God's word spoken through John the Baptist. They had even heard that Christ was coming and He was to be the object of their faith. They desired to obey God but needed more light. They were in a very similar circumstance to all Jews and Gentiles of faith who lived before the coming of Jesus Christ.

The Bible indicates that if we respond to the light of God's truth that we have, then God will provide more light (Prov. 8:17; Isa. 65:1 ref. Rom. 10:20; Jer. 29:13; Amos 5:4-6; John 7:17; John 5:24). Paul asked about their baptism to understand that they were indeed John the Baptist's disciples (Acts. 19:3). Theirs was a "baptism of repentance" (Acts 19:4, NIV) to prepare their hearts for the imminent coming of Christ. Unfortunately, it appears that they had completely missed the events in the life of Christ.

Paul quickly told them the good news about Jesus Christ. He even reminded them that John the Baptist had pointed people to Christ (Acts 19:4 ref. John 1:15,26-27,29). That they were "baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts. 19:5, NIV) indicates they heard the gospel from Paul, believed, and were baptized. Paul laid hands on the disciples indicating the apostolic affirmation for the disciples of John the Baptist to enter the body of Christ (Acts 19:6). The new believers "spoke in tongues and prophesied," proclaiming the wonderful works of God no doubt.

Charismatics (such as the Assemblies of God, Church of God, and others) use this passage to try and provide justification for several doctrines. By the way, WordTruth Press is NOT against charismatic denominations. The same Holy Spirit who was at work in the first century is the same Holy Spirit at work today. And I do not see clear Scriptural evidence that any of the gifts have ceased. Some have argued this from 1 Cor. 13:8-10 but this does not indicate that they will cease at a particular point in time or in a particular condition of the church locally or as a whole. Therefore, I think it is presumptuous for non-charismatics to be dogmatic on this point (ref. 1 Cor. 14:39-40).

One is that there is an alleged "second blessing" whereby the believer is specially empowered by the Holy Spirit for service. This creates a kind of caste system for Christians: saved but not empowered, saved and empowered. It is a ridiculous notion that not supported anywhere in Scripture. In fact, every believer is to "be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18, NIV). The verb tense used in this verse indicates that believers are continually to be being filled with the Holy Spirit. So the notion of a "second blessing" is quite inadequate. There must be a second, third, fourth, fifth, etc. if one is to obey the command of Eph. 5:18.

The second doctrine frequently proclaimed in charismatic circles (notice this on the 700 club when people are interviewed about their conversion experience) is that of speaking in tongues. They contend that speaking in tongues is a requirement for salvation. This negates, of course, over two hundred verses in the New Testament that indicate salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. The charismatics are not saying that tongues are an "evidence" of salvation. They present tongues as a requirement. In that vein it is totally unbiblical. If one only believes that speaking in tongues is but one of many different possible evidences of salvation, then that would be an acceptable, orthodox view of Scripture. Indeed, over one hundred believers spoke in tongues on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) as did all the believers of Cornelius' household (Acts 10:46). One view of tongues in the book of Acts is that they appear three times to affirm the spread of the gospel to the Jews (Acts 2:3-4), to the disciples of John the Baptist who were in sort of a transition from Judaism to Christianity (Acts 19:1-7), and to the Gentiles (Acts 10:46). Scripture is clear, though, that tongues are given by the Holy Spirit rather than through special training sessions at a church (1 Cor. 12:4-11). The Holy Spirit also does not give every believer the gift of tongues as indicated in 1 Cor. 12:30, 14:5.