Lesson 2783

(Lesson 2783)(08-07-19) 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.”

   A casual reading of today’s quote can leave one to believe that those twelve men Paul encountered at Ephesus were Christian men when Paul met them; However, a closer study reveals that they could not have been Christians because they had only been exposed to the teachings of John the Baptist.
    The most critical part of this lesson is exposed when Paul said, “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.”
    At the time John the Baptist began preaching his “baptism” he didn’t even know who Jesus was. He only knew, and he knew that beyond all doubt, a Savior was coming in whom they should believe. He had no idea that the Savior’s name would be Jesus. We know that because John sent messengers from the prison wherein he died to find out if Jesus was indeed the Messiah.
    John’s “baptism”, his message to the Jews, was that they were to prepare themselves for the coming of the Messiah by ritually washing themselves according to Jewish law and custom. That ritual washing had nothing to do with eternal salvation, as is duely noted in today’s quote as well as many other placed in the New Testament text.
    In the latter part of the quote says that Paul, as with what happened between Aquila, Priscilla and Opollos, taught those twelve men the true plan of salvation after which they were “BAPTIZED IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS”. That “baptism” must have occurred when Paul laid his hands upon them. ~
NOTE: There will be more on this subject as these lessons continue.