"Then what baptism did you receive?"

(Acts 18-19)

Today's reading contains a telling of a story that might confuse many. At the end of Chapter 18, we are introduced to Apollos, a Jew who had been taught by either John the baptizer or one of his disciples. He was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and doing so "accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John" (Acts 18:25) He comes to Ephesus and begins to "speak boldly in the synagogue."  When two Christians, Aquila and Priscilla "heard him, the invited him to their home and explained to him the way of the Lord more adequately." (v 26)

There are several things we can learn from this encounter, first we see a preacher who needed conversion. Apollos was clearly a fine man, well schooled in the scriptures, but he had not learned about being baptized into Christ. He taught accurately about Jesus, but was teaching error about baptism. Secondly, we see that Apollos was a man with an awesome heart. Although he was well educated and knew the scriptures, he didn't think he knew it all. He held firm convictions, but when he was presented with truth, he listened. He loved truth and truth was more important to him than pride. These are rare qualities in a man. After his conversion, he was of great help to the disciples and helped convert many to Jesus.

In Chapter 19, we are introduced to some "disciples" of John the baptizer in Ephesus. Again, they had either been taught by Apollos (many believe this) or some other disciple of John. Paul encounters them and immediately ascertains their spiritual status. He asks them questions that make it clear what their current condition is. His first question is “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Simple question with eternal consequences. No one is a Christian without the Spirit. (Acts 2:38, Rom. 8:9, Tit. 3:5, Heb. 6:4) When they respond that they did not know that the Spirit was given, Paul moves to the next question, “Then what baptism did you receive?” (v 3) Paul understands that the Spirit is given in baptism (Acts 2:38) and so he questions their baptism. They respond that they only knew of John's baptism.

Luke gives us the "Readers Digest" version of Paul's teaching, but he records their response to what they heard. "On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." (v 5) The twelve men who had been baptized into John's baptism were baptized again, this time into Christ. Why? If baptism means little or nothing and they had already been wet once, why do it again? Why had Paul connected their lack of having the Spirit to the baptism that they had obeyed?

John 3:5 tells us that "no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." Paul understood that even though they knew about Jesus and even though they had been immersed into John's baptism, they were not yet Christians. (unless someone can be a Christian without having the Spirit) Again, like Apollos, we see that these twelve men were more concerned with obeying the good news than debating with Paul. Each of them were baptized again, this time for the remission of sin, in the name of Jesus. They were men of sincere hearts, wanting to be obedient to the truth regardless of the personal costs. Embarrassment... who cares when we are talking about eternity. Pride..... all of us only know what we have been taught. They wanted to be right with the Lord! I like that!

May we all be just like these thirteen men. May we be willing to change our beliefs whenever we find them in conflict with the scriptures. May we put aside pride and accept the pure truth of the Gospel. If you are like these men, if you find that you have been taught something that conflicts with God's word, make it right, make it right now!