Read Acts 8:14-25
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” 24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.” 25 After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
As Beverley Gaventa notes, the receipt of the Spirit here, after the Samaritans have already believed, seems to contradict Peter’s Pentecost speech, where it is implied that repentance, baptism, forgiveness of sin, and the gift of the Spirit all come together in that orderly sequence! Further, within his writings, Paul cannot conceive of someone being a follower of Christ without having received the Spirit (see Romans 8:9). However, as we are all aware, life is rarely straightforward nor, often, are conversion experiences. Thus some hear, believe, receive the Spirit and get baptized in one incredible instant whilst others come to faith more gradually. In fact some, my two sisters included, could not tell you the specific point at which they decided to follow Christ they just know that they do now (which is the most important thing!) and that they can’t remember a time when they didn’t. Further, God’s Spirit cannot and will not be controlled – as we come to now![1]
You see it is the desire to buy and control God’s Spirit that is at the demonic heart of Simon’s request. This desire harks back to the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve’s desire to be “like God” in ways that they shouldn’t and thus be free from his rule and reign. It is this desire that provokes Peter’s stern rebuke: “May your money perish with you…” So why, having believed, does Simon make such a huge error? Was he not sincere in this belief?
Beverly Gaventa addresses this question by arguing that it misses the point: “Luke is not concerned about Simon’s interior life, he is concerned about Simon’s connection with Satan. As with Ananias and Sapphire, this is not a story about the degree of an individual’s conviction, but about a conflict of powers...”[2]
There is much to merit this conclusion. However, that said, as the story of Ananias and Sapphira also demonstrates – as does our own personal experience – becoming a believer in Christ does not automatically mean that our hearts and behaviour are then fully aligned with God’s Spirit. Rather, it is the start of a life-long journey; a journey on which we won’t “arrive” until Christ returns (see Philippians 1:6); a journey on which God is constantly working to draw us closer to him and transform us more into his likeness. Thus, I have no problem concluding that Simon’s conversion was sincere, his belief real but that the baggage he carried from his magical past posed a significant barrier to both his relationship with God and understanding of him.
- Are there particular areas in your life that God is working on at the moment? Perhaps areas where your view of him or yourself doesn’t match up to reality; an area of addiction or unforgiveness… Are there people in your life walking with you in this?
If you have a bit longer :-)
- Is there any significance in the fact that a couple of the apostles went out to see Philip and the work he was doing? If so, what can we learn from this?
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