The Holy Spirit is a Person
October 14, 2019
Commentary
Paul arrived in Ephesus, one of the greatest commercial centers of that time, as it was located on the main trade route between Rome and the east. It was also the center of Satan worship, and the place where the temple of Diana stood. This temple has been described as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. When Paul arrived in Ephesus, he started a conversation with a dozen men to find out just where they stood in relation to the Gospel. These men were evidently Jews who lived in Ephesus and had gone to Jerusalem for the feast days many years before. They had met John the Baptist and had been baptized by him, but from all indications the news had never reached them that Jesus the Messiah had come, had lived, and died, and risen again. Paul asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed. They replied: “We have never heard of the Holy Spirit“ (v. 2). Paul knew that it is impossible to be a believer in Jesus Christ without having received the baptism of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13). He explained to them how John’s baptism had been for repentance and had been meant to point people to Jesus, the one who was coming after him (v. 4). After hearing this, they agreed to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus (v. 5).
There is a popular, but false, teaching today, that believers must ask God to give them the Holy Spirit. However, the gift of the Spirit is one of the benefits of becoming a believer that happens at the moment of conversion (Rom. 8:9). We shouldn’t ask God for something we already have, and we shouldn’t ask God for more of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Person, and we cannot receive Him by installments. Tongues speaking was a gift of God, that enabled the participants to speak in a known language which they did not know, not some gibberish or unknown language (v. 6).
For three months Paul had an open door to preach in the Ephesian synagogue (v. 8). The Gospel has both a saving and a hardening effect. As happened in Corinth, Paul eventually had to move out of the synagogue, relocating to the lecture hall of Tyrannus (v. 9). Paul continued in this arrangement for two years (v. 10).
Application
I wonder how many times I have been hampered in my spiritual life by inadequate teaching? The only sure way to know that I am being taught correctly is to search the Scriptures myself.
Acts 19:1– 10 (NET)
1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul went through the inland regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples there 2 and said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 So Paul said, “Into what then were you baptized?” “Into John’s baptism,” they replied. 4 Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, 6 and when Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. 7 (Now there were about twelve men in all.)
8 So Paul entered the synagogue and spoke out fearlessly for three months, addressing and convincing them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some were stubborn and refused to believe, reviling the Way before the congregation, he left them and took the disciples with him, addressing them every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all who lived in the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.