Lesson 395

(Lesson 395)(09-13-12) Acts 19:1-7, "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."

This lesson further demonstrates, along with yesterday's, how the intent of "John's baptism" had been misinterpreted by some of the earliest disciples.That misinterpretation still exists among some religious beliefs today. There are those who strongly, but wrongly, still believe water baptism is required to achieve eternal salvation.

This lesson should provide clarification as to how that erroneous interpretation of the gospel might have come into being and why many, without having made a thorough study, could so readily accept it.

Those disciples, mentioned herein, were asked if they had yet received the Holy Ghost. It is vividly clear that they could not have yet been correctly taught God's plan for eternal salvation, through a resurrected and glorified Jesus, because God's true plan for salvation could not have been taught without explaining the coming of the Holy Ghost to those who believed. They had only been taught what John was pre-ordained to preach, that message being,"prepare the way" for the coming of the Messiah, and in so doing, there was a requirement, under the law, that part of that preparation was to be immersed in water (Cleansed of and repenting the old in preparation for the new).

After realizing their error, Paul pulled them aside and, just as Aquila and Priscilla had done with Apollos, he taught them the correct gospel of Jesus Christ crucified and how through Him, (His name) they would be worthy of receiving the Holy Ghost, "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."

Note what happened to those disciples AFTER Paul had correctly explained the true gospel and identified that Jesus was the Messiah referenced by John and that he had already come, " they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on CHRIST JESUS."

The text says, "When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." After they had correctly been taught that Jesus had made a one-time-fits-all sacrifice for thier sins, those disciples were "baptized" in the name of the Lord Jesus (enveloped within the name of the Lord Jesus.)
The term "baptized" as it is applied in the latter portion of this text clearly indicates an immersion into the name (complete identity and testament) of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It should be noted also that instead of the Holy Ghost just simply coming down on these believers, Paul presented the Holy Ghost by laying his hands on them. Maybe, at some point, we will learn why Paul did that.~