If you fast forward to the Jerusalem council in Acts 15, the early church met to discuss the marks of true conversion. One side argued that circumcision was necessary to be saved. The other side objected. After both sides were heard the early church agreed that the Gentiles possessed all the true marks of salvation.
Mark One: The HS (15:8)
Mark Two: Cleansing through faith (9)
Mark Three: Believing that salvation comes through the grace of our Lord Jesus
We cannot steward the gospel well if we do not know what the marks of genuine conversion are. Jesus taught his disciples the genuine marks of salvation and expected his disciples to steward these teachings well. The story of Simon the magician in acts chapter 8 teaches us some valuable lessons on how to steward the gospel well.
Luke means to contrast a false convert named Simon with the other Samaritans who genuinely believed. He had been performing miracles in the city for quite some time and amazed the people and deceived them into thinking that he was someone great (10). The people concluded that Simon possessed the power of God because of his magic. Verse 12 says that the Samaritans believed Philip and were baptized. But again, Luke singles out Simon to contrast him with the others. Even Simon believed and was baptized and followed Philip around (13). Now see verse 14.
14Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit
Question. Why didn’t the Holy Spirit instantaneously fallen on these new believers?
Luke tells us in verse 16..
“They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Don’t let this way of speaking scare you. Luke is not suggesting that there is something insufficient about Jesus’ ability to save. Luke means to communicate an exception to the norm. God had a very good and wise reason to delay the Holy Spirit in this case. The delay afforded the Jerusalem church the opportunity to witness and validate the marks of true conversion. I like the way John Macarthur says it.
“By delaying the spirits coming until Peter and John arrived, God preserved the unity of the church. The apostles needed to see for themselves, and gave first hand testimony to the Jerusalem church, that the spirit came upon the Samaritans. The Samaritans also needed to learn that they were subject to Apostolic authority. The Jewish believers and the Samaritans were thus linked together into one body.”
The Samaritans response to the gospel motivated the apostles to steward these new converts well. The wisdom of God to delay the giving of the Holy Spirit obligated the church to come to an agreement on the true marks of conversion that would later be established at the Jerusalem Council. Notice the care with which the apostles managed these new converts. Verse 15 says they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. The apostles understood that God was the giver of the Holy Spirit, not them. Verse 25 says that they retaught the gospel that Philip had already shared with them. The apostles wanted to make sure that these new believers were nurtured and cared for.
Notice how the apostles Peter and John laid their hands on them. What were the apostles doing? The laying on of hands was an exterior act that endorsed an interior truth. The practice of the laying on of hands in the early church was a symbolic act of great love and endorsement of the person. In Acts 6:6 the Jerusalem church laid hands on those they set apart to care for the widows. In Acts 13:3 the church in Antioch laid hands on Barnabas and Saul before they sent them out as missionaries. In 1 Tim. 4:14 Paul commands Timothy saying,
“Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.”
In our case here in Acts 8 the Apostles were sent to endorse the saving faith of these Samaritans through the laying on of hands. The apostles could then report back to the Jerusalem church that the Samaritans displayed the true marks of salvation. Seeing the way that these apostles cared for these new believers is where the real fruit comes in for us today. The Apostles showed great concern to steward well the gospel entrusted to them by Jesus. Luke’s main point begins to reveal itself when you contrast how the apostles cared for these new believers with how they guarded the church from Simon, the false convert. The application for the church today is to take the example of the early church and steward well the gospel that has been entrusted to us.
3 Reasons the church should steward the gospel well
- Because of the reality of false conversions
Simon possessed the ability to deceive the Samaritans and even Philip into believing that he became a genuine follower of Christ. Peter unmasked him and called him to repentance once he discovered that his true motive was to expand his collection of magic tricks. Recall also the parable of the sower.
Mt. 13:20
“As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself but endures for a while and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word immediately, he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”
And now Jesus warning in Matthew 7…
Mt. 7:21
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Notice that these people are approaching the Lord with the wrong marks of conversion. All of their marks are external and fail to produce the new birth that is required for salvation. Like Simon, they are self-deceived because they did mighty works in Jesus’ name.
- Because of Satan’s power to deceive:
God used miracles to validate the gospel message. Peter and John healed the lame beggar in Ch. 3. Acts 5:12 says, “many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the Apostles.” Stephen was doing great wonders (6:8). Philip was performing miracles in Samaria (8:6-7). What are we to make of this?
However, we also see here that Simon had the ability to perform miracles even before his profession of faith and baptism. And he is not the only one. In Acts 13 Saul and Barnabas on the island of Cyprus come across two magicians. One a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. The second one was called Elymas the magician. He opposed them and sought to turn people away from the faith. Saul full of the Holy Spirit says to him, “you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?” Saul then punishes him with blindness.
My simple point is that miracles are unreliable as a proper mark to evaluate conversion. While God can and does allow miracles to happen through the prayers of his people, this is not the sign we should be looking for. I'm not against miracles. I'm against the abuse of miracles. People who claim such supernatural power for personal gain and deception.
2 Thess. 2:9
“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refused to believe the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them strong delusion so that may believe what is false in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness”
In the end times people will assume that the miracles and the miracle man are signs of God’s favor on them and so assume that they are right with God despite their unwillingness to repent and trust in Christ which is the way a person really becomes right with God. Miracles are unreliable at best and deceptive at worst. They are not one of the true marks of conversion. Third reason the church should steward the gospel well.
- Because Jesus tells us to
Jesus uses the language of binding and loosing to instruct his disciples to steward well the process of receiving new members and, if things should go South, remove them from the assembly. Consider Matthew 18:15-20
Mt. 18
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Consider also 1 Jn. 4:1
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit but test the spirts to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.”
The Apostles were serious about assessing conversions and guarding the church against false ones. We know that Simon was not truly born of the Holy Spirit because Peter exposes his false motives for professing Christ.
Two Mistakes Churches make when examining new potential members:
- Not gladly receiving new professors of faith! The church must guard itself from suspicion, pessimism, and paranoia. Most people that make a profession of faith for the first time are not wolves in sheep’s clothing.
- Being naïve. The church also must guard itself against naively accepting every profession of faith without question. A healthy church understands its responsibility to examine each profession, carefully making sure a person’s repentance and faith lines up with what Scripture says about conversion. While we acknowledge that only God knows the heart, we must follow Christ’s instructions to receive new converts and heed his warnings about false converts. To put it plainly, we should not play around with people's souls. People's eternal state should be of the highest priority and should be handled with the utmost care and responsibility. A new believer receives tremendous assurance from a family of believers who takes the time to care for their soul as a baby Christian.
Prayer: May we steward well the gospel that has been entrusted to us by Jesus
