Acts 19:1-7

Some Disciples Who Were Reimmersed

From Corinth, Paul went on to Ephesus. He met a group of disciples and asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit. Apparently they were some of those who had been taught by Apollos prior to the time he had been taught the way of the Lord more perfectly. They were disciples of Christ, because Apollos "taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John" (Acts 19:1-2; Acts 18:24-25). They answered Paul's question about receipt of the Holy Spirit by saying they did not even know there was a Holy Spirit. McGarvey thinks the word "given" ought to be supplied after "We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." He points out that a similar understanding is needed in reading John 7:39 or else the Lord could be understood to be saying the Holy Spirit did not yet exist.

A failure to know about any gift of the Holy Spirit whatsoever would truly point out a flaw in the instructions they had received, so Paul asked, "Into what then were you baptized?" Their having been baptized in John's baptism would not have presented a problem when that baptism was valid prior to the death of the Lord. However, Paul said John told people to repent, be baptized and believe on the Christ who would follow him. For those who would be Christians, belief in Jesus would precede one's repentance and baptism under the authority of his name for the remission of sins (Acts 19:3-4; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38).

Having heard further about John's directions, those disciples were baptized under the authority of Christ. The apostle then laid his hands on them and they received miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit which enabled them to speak in languages they had never studied and proclaim God's will. Luke told Theophilus there were twelve men in the group (Acts 19:5-7).