Daily Bread 2010 - Acts 19
Daily Bread 2010 – Acts 19
Paul in Ephesus
1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?"
They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."
3So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?"
"John's baptism," they replied.
4Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." 5On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7There were about twelve men in all.
As Paul returned to Ephesus, he asked the believers if they had received the Holy Spirit. The believers answered, “We have not even heard there was a Holy Spirit.” Some cynics who look at the North American church might ask, “Did they even know there was a Holy Spirit.”
Paul clearly points and gives a theology to the reception of the Holy Spirit and calls it a “baptism of the Holy Spirit”. In Orthodox Christianity we believe there is “one baptism for the forgiveness” of sins”. So what does this then mean as Paul talks about a baptism of repentance and a baptism into the name of the Lord Jesus, and then a laying on of hands which produced manifestations of Holy Spirit?
It is important to realize that the word baptism comes from the Greek word “baptizo”, which means to completely cover or immerse. Whereas believing is an act of the will and mind, being baptized involves a physical thing, being covered or immersed with water. As such sacraments connect the physical with the spiritual through faith in what the symbols mean.
In our modern day, more rational mindset many give pushback to these “spiritual experiences”, and are skeptical wondering how much of this is “psychosomatic”, or driven by emotionalism etc… While we always need to be mindful of such excesses, we know God works in many ways in our whole person: emotionally, physically and spiritually. If we only worship God with our mind, we will miss out of many rich and meaningful experiences including experiencing the person and power of the Holy Spirit.
Although these experiences don’t make anyone more or less spiritual than any other believer, they add up to encountering a living God in three persons who meets us in the every day things of life as we walk the road of faith together!
God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit come and baptize us with all that you are. We long to feel your presence and be kindled with the power of the Holy Spirit and the love of Christ. We long to experience, like the early church, the powerful manifestation of who you are to show the world you are a God who is real and living and active in everyday life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Paul in Ephesus
1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?"
They answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."
3So Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?"
"John's baptism," they replied.
4Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus." 5On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7There were about twelve men in all.
As Paul returned to Ephesus, he asked the believers if they had received the Holy Spirit. The believers answered, “We have not even heard there was a Holy Spirit.” Some cynics who look at the North American church might ask, “Did they even know there was a Holy Spirit.”
Paul clearly points and gives a theology to the reception of the Holy Spirit and calls it a “baptism of the Holy Spirit”. In Orthodox Christianity we believe there is “one baptism for the forgiveness” of sins”. So what does this then mean as Paul talks about a baptism of repentance and a baptism into the name of the Lord Jesus, and then a laying on of hands which produced manifestations of Holy Spirit?
It is important to realize that the word baptism comes from the Greek word “baptizo”, which means to completely cover or immerse. Whereas believing is an act of the will and mind, being baptized involves a physical thing, being covered or immersed with water. As such sacraments connect the physical with the spiritual through faith in what the symbols mean.
In our modern day, more rational mindset many give pushback to these “spiritual experiences”, and are skeptical wondering how much of this is “psychosomatic”, or driven by emotionalism etc… While we always need to be mindful of such excesses, we know God works in many ways in our whole person: emotionally, physically and spiritually. If we only worship God with our mind, we will miss out of many rich and meaningful experiences including experiencing the person and power of the Holy Spirit.
Although these experiences don’t make anyone more or less spiritual than any other believer, they add up to encountering a living God in three persons who meets us in the every day things of life as we walk the road of faith together!
God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit come and baptize us with all that you are. We long to feel your presence and be kindled with the power of the Holy Spirit and the love of Christ. We long to experience, like the early church, the powerful manifestation of who you are to show the world you are a God who is real and living and active in everyday life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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