Acts 19:1-3 - We have not even heard of the Holy Spirit

19:1,2

We are now going to encounter some more disciples who, like Apollos, needed further instruction. Paul was travelling and arrived at Ephesus, a major city in the region. Paul found some disciples and asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed. There are a couple of things to learn from this. First is that the expectation was that a person would receive the Holy Spirit when they believed. Secondly, they were expected to know whether or not they had received the Holy Spirit, it was no mere doctrinal statement, but something that they would be aware of. They replied that had not even heard of the Holy Spirit. So clearly, the teaching they had received was incomplete. We should teach and preach about the Holy Spirit. There is a balance here. The Holy Spirit’s prime passion and task is to point people to Jesus, to testify to the Son. However, it is also clear that He wants to be deeply involved in the lives of believers and the church as a whole. Acts makes that abundantly clear. So we must teach about the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. Then we are equipped to point others to the Son.

19:3

Paul then asks what baptism they had received. So, there is an expectation that when someone comes to faith they will be baptised. They replied that they had received John’s baptism. Baptism was a common feature of anyone making a key faith decision, this included converting to Judaism. So there were various “baptisms”. These disciples had only received John’s baptism. In John’s gospel in the early chapters there is an emphasis on what John the Baptist taught and the purpose of his mission, ie it was preparing the way for Christ. And John (the apostle) was based on Ephesus for part of his life. This confusion, or incomplete teaching, is the reason why John’s gospel has this emphasis.