48: Why Was The Spirit Not Given At Baptism?, Part 1

Welcome to the Ready for Eternity podcast, a podcast and blog dedicated to inquisitive

Bible students exploring Biblical truths that might not be fully explored in typical sermons or Bible studies.

My name is Eddie Lawrence. The New Testament sets the expectation that the indwelling of the

Holy Spirit happens at the same time that we are baptized, but there are three times in the book of Acts where this didn't happen.

Let's find out why. In the accounts of conversion recorded by Luke in the book of Acts, there are three times when receiving the

Spirit did not coincide with immersion. These were the Samaritans, Cornelius and his household, and the twelve disciples in Ephesus.

This episode will focus on the first two. We'll talk about the twelve Ephesian disciples in next week's episode.

Now, when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them

Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the

Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8, 14 -17. Why was the

Spirit not given at baptism? It is odd that immersion and the giving of the

Spirit didn't happen simultaneously, so much so that the apostles dispatched two of their own to investigate.

The text strongly suggests that the apostles expected the indwelling of the

Spirit to happen during immersion. Notice that the text doesn't connect the timing of the indwelling of the

Spirit to faith, repentance, or confession. For example, it does not say, the

Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them, they had only believed in the name of the

Lord Jesus. No, the expectation was that the Samaritan believers should have received the

Spirit during immersion. The phrase, they had only been baptized, tells us that something was missing.

They had only been immersed in water, and the Spirit did not indwell them during their immersion.

Luke doesn't spell out for us why there was a delay in the receipt of the Holy Spirit. There are several possible answers though.

Is this related to Peter being given the keys of the kingdom? Did the

Holy Spirit delay his indwelling so as to involve Peter? Jesus gave

Peter the keys to the kingdom in Matthew chapter 16. Jesus gave him the honor of opening the door to the kingdom on Pentecost for the

Jews, for the Samaritans who were half -Jews, and for Cornelius who was a

Gentile. It's interesting that the order of these doors being opened is exactly as Jesus had described.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all

Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth, Acts 1, 8.

Was the Holy Spirit waiting on Peter to be present so that he could be involved in the introduction of the gospel to each group of people, just like Jesus said?

Could be. Another possibility is that the receiving of the Spirit would be the proof that God would save someone who was not 100 %

Jewish. The Samaritans were a mixed race which included Jewish ancestry.

They practiced their own brand of Judaism. For both of these reasons, they were social outcasts.

It's not easy for us to understand how much animosity there was between the Jews and the

Samaritans. It's quite possible that many of the Jewish disciples would not have accepted the

Samaritans as brothers and sisters in Christ. However, the involvement of apostles when the

Spirit finally did descend upon them might change some attitudes. One other consideration is that Peter and John's involvement helped to unify the two groups by overcoming the animosity between Samaritans and Jews.

By involving the apostles and other Jews, no one could accuse the

Samaritans of copycatting another religion. Both groups received the same

Spirit. This event may have served as a unifying force in the early church.

It may well have prevented a split which would have resulted in a Jewish church and a

Samaritan church with the two being at odds with each other. Cornelius and those of his household also did not receive the

Spirit during immersion. The Spirit fell upon them prior to their immersion.

Why? Cornelius and his household were Gentiles. It was unthinkable to the

Jews that God would save a Gentile without first converting them to Judaism.

As Gentiles, they were outside of the covenant with God. So strong was the aversion

Jews felt for Gentiles that Peter told Cornelius, You know it's forbidden for a

Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner. Acts chapter 10 verse 28.

In fact, God had to give Peter a vision to prepare him to accept the

Spirit's command to go to this Gentile house in the first place. Peter had a lot of explaining to do in Acts chapter 11 when the apostles and believers in Jerusalem got word of what had happened.

And the Jewish believers criticized him for going into the house of an uncircumcised

Gentile. After explaining the whole situation, the

Jewish believers ultimately accepted that the Gentiles could also have eternal life.

Had the Spirit not been given early, the Jews, Peter included, may never have accepted

Gentiles as fellow believers. Would Peter have even offered to baptize them?

But baptize them he did. Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water.

They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have. So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. Acts 10, 47, and 48.

Even with this event, it took a lot of discussion back in Jerusalem to convince the

Jewish Christians that Gentiles were now a part of the church. These two exceptions with the

Samaritans and Cornelius happened for a reason. In both of these cases, the spirits indwelling did not coincide with baptism.

One group's indwelling came late while the other group's indwelling came early.

In both of these situations, it's not hard to see why the Spirit's arrival didn't happen as expected.

In the next episode in this series on baptism, we'll look at the third group, the twelve disciples in Ephesus, whose indwelling didn't occur when anticipated.

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