"But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done."
Yesterday I said that the term "baptized", as it appears in the above quote, could have one of two alternative meanings. It could mean that those who believed Philip were immersed into water in accordance with the old law of the Jews. Remember, that baptism was practiced BEFORE repentance, or UNTO repentance. It could also be a reference to the "baptism" whereby we are made one with Jesus Christ, or a literal baptism into Jesus Christ, through belief in Him as referenced in Galatians 3:26-27.
It is hard to believe that the latter is the definition that should be applied here because Simon was also "baptized" and if the above referenced baptism was a baptism into Christ, Simon and the others would have received the Holy Ghost as soon as they believed, just as Cornelius' and those in his company did in the quote from Acts 10:42-47. We know that Simon did not immediately receive the Holy Ghost, nor did any of the others who believed in what Philip had preached.
Tomorrows lesson will maybe help us shine a bit more light on what actually happened with the Samarians after Philip's sermon.~
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