Filled with the Spirit

Filled with the Spirit:
THE EPHESIAN MEN (ACTS 19:1–7)
Two important and interrelated questions are crucial for a proper understanding of this passage: (1) At the time Paul encountered these men, were they disciples of Christ or disciples of John the Baptist? (2) What did Paul mean when he asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit?” We must remind ourselves that Luke, writing under the inspiration of the Spirit, has accurately given the essence of Paul’s question.

When Paul came to Ephesus, he found “some disciples.” The word disciple (Greek mathetes) occurs 30 times in the Book of Acts. Both before and after this passage, it means a disciple of Christ.7 There is no reason why Luke would have deviated from his consistent application of the word. Some argue that his use of the word some/certain (the Greek indefinite pronoun) implies they were not Jesus’ disciples. But Luke uses the same word in the singular when he speaks about Ananias and Timothy, calling each “a certain disciple” (9:10; 16:1). The simplest explanation for his use of “some” is found in Acts 19:7, which says there were “about twelve men”; Luke was not sure of the exact number.

The situation of these men is comparable to that of Apollos (18:24–28) who was already a believer “speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John” (verse 25). Priscilla and Aquila “took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately” (verse 26). He was a Christian in need of further instruction; so it was with the Ephesian men.

Considerable discussion revolves around Paul’s question: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:2). Some translations have “since” or “after” instead of “when.” A strict translation, and one which lessens theological bias, is: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit, having believed?” (translation mine). In the Book of Acts, the terminology of “receiving the Holy Spirit” is found in the Samaria and Caesarea accounts (8:15,17,19; 10:47; see also 2:38). Paul, therefore, is asking the Ephesian men if they have had an experience of the Spirit comparable to that of the Samaritan and Caesarean believers. Paul was not playing a theological word game with these men. He acknowledges that they had indeed believed. Much has been written about the tenses of the two verb forms in Paul’s question and whether, from a grammatical standpoint, the receiving of the Spirit should be understood as taking place at the moment of believing or, alternatively, at a time subsequent to the believing.8

The context provides the best answer. The experience of the Spirit about which Paul inquired is the experience recorded in verse 6. In this instance it came about by the imposition of his hands and was accompanied by external manifestations similar to those previously experienced by believers (2:4; 10:46). The experience recorded in 19:6 was not coincident with their salvation. Even if one is convinced that Paul, by his question, had reservations about the genuineness of their salvation, the fact remains that this experience of the Spirit followed their baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus and was preceded by the laying on of hands.

It is often maintained that Luke’s portrayal of the Holy Spirit, especially with reference to being filled with the Spirit, differs from that of Paul in his letters. The Ephesus incident, however, shows that Paul, just as Luke, believed in an experience of the Spirit for believers that was distinguishable from the Spirit’s work in salvation.

It is significant that this incident occurred more than 20 years after the Day of Pentecost. Among other things, it teaches that the Pentecostal experience was still available to believers well removed from that day both temporally and geographically.