A tempest in a teapot. Making a mountain out of a molehill. All hat, no cattle. Never mind, the last doesn’t belong with the first two, but it is so easy to make a big deal about a minor point.
In Acts 8:14-17, we read about when the Samaritan Christians received the Holy Spirit. The apostles heard Samaria received the word, but the Holy Spirit “had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.” As a result, the apostles sent Peter and John to Samaria. Before we go any further into the text, let’s focus on what verse 16 tells us.
The Samaritans had been baptized. Being baptized is tied to receiving the word of God (v.15). That made them fully Christians. Why were they baptized? It is the culmination of receiving the word of God.
Too many today have an aversion to baptism on theological grounds. In the biblical text, however, baptism is intimately linked to becoming a Christian. The Samaritans are not the only example of baptism in Acts 8, and we will look at another example in just a few weeks.
Would you become a Christian? Sit down with me over an open Bible, and let’s study what it means to receive the word of God and the value of baptism.
Photo by eduardo froza on Unsplash
