Atos 19:6

As with the new converts in Samaria, these Ephesian disciples received the Holy Spirit when an apostle, this time Paul, laid his hands on them (cf. Acts 8:17). They did not receive the Spirit by water baptism. In Samaria, this identification of the coming of the Spirit with Peter and John first authenticated God’s giving of the Spirit in a non-Jewish context. Here the identification of the coming of the Spirit with Paul authenticated God’s giving of the Spirit in a town in which demonic religious activity flourished (cf. Acts 19:13-19). As subsequent events would show, the Jesus whom Paul preached was the more powerful deity. These former disciples of John received the Holy Spirit when Paul laid his hands on them thus obviously connecting their endowment with Paul’s message and apostolic authority. There was no delay in the Spirit coming on Cornelius when he believed, and Peter did not have to lay his hands on him to impart the Spirit (Acts 10:44).

There are some interesting parallels between Spirit baptism as it took place in Ephesus in this chapter and how it occurred in Samaria in chapter 8.

The phenomenon of the separate conversion and Spirit baptism experiences of some Christians that Luke recorded in Acts may need further clarification. It seems that God wanted to highlight the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that He would send the Holy Spirit to be in and with believers (John 14:16-18; John 14:26; John 15:26). To do so God made the coming of the Spirit obvious until the church generally appreciated the fact that it normally occurred at the time of regeneration.

"This story has often been used as the basis for doctrines about the reception of gifts of the Spirit subsequent to conversion; but it has no real connection with these. Rather Paul was dealing with an unusual situation which required special treatment. . . .

". . . it is safe to say that the New Testament does not recognize the possibility of being a Christian apart from possession of the Spirit (John 3:5; Acts 11:17; Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:3; Galatians 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:5 f.; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 6:4; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 John 3:24; 1 John 4:13)." [Note: Marshall, The Acts . . ., p. 305. See also Wiersbe, 1:481.]

"It should be noted that the reception of the Holy Spirit [by Christians] in Acts does not follow any set pattern. He came into believers before baptism (Acts 10:44), at the time of or after baptism (Acts 8:12-16; Acts 19:6), and by the laying on of apostolic hands (Acts 8:17; Acts 19:6). Yet Paul declared (Romans 8:9) that anyone without the Holy Spirit is not a Christian. Quite obviously the transitional Book of Acts is not to be used as a doctrinal source on how to receive the Holy Spirit (cf. comments on tongues, 1 Corinthians 13:8 to 1 Corinthians 14:25)." [Note: Toussaint, "Acts," p. 409. Cf. Harm, p. 38.]

"Ephesus was a polyglot city of the Roman Empire. There were many languages spoken there, just as there had been in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. East and West met all along that coast. . . . These men were now able to give the good news about Christ to the entire city." [Note: McGee, 4:597.]

This is the last reference to speaking in tongues in Acts (cf. Acts 2:4; Acts 10:46; 1 Corinthians 12:10; 1 Corinthians 12:28; 1 Corinthians 12:30; 1 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Corinthians 13:8; 1 Corinthians 14). Is this gift still in the church today? Some charismatic Christians believe that it is. They argue mainly from experience, having heard someone, perhaps themselves, speak in what others refer to as tongues. In most cases what they call tongues is gibberish, not known languages. This is different from what the New Testament identified as tongues, namely, known languages (cf. 1 Corinthians 12; 1 Corinthians 14). In a few cases people have apparently spoken in known languages that they have not studied, the type of tongues-speaking that the New Testament describes.

The real issue is what the New Testament says about tongues, not what one may have experienced. It says that they would pass away or cease of themselves, as in petering out (1 Corinthians 13:8, middle voice of pauo). When would this happen? The New Testament does not specify when, but it implies that they would peter out before prophecy would end (lit. be terminated [by God], passive voice of katargeo, 1 Corinthians 13:8). I do not believe that any one verse indicates that tongues would cease or did cease in the apostolic period. However, I think it is safe to conclude that they did for two reasons. (Similarly we believe the doctrine of the Trinity not because there is a verse that clearly teaches it but because many verses lead us to conclude that God exists as a triune being.) First, other New Testament passages imply that they would and did cease then (Ephesians 2:20; Hebrews 2:3-4). Second, the early church fathers wrote that tongues petered out in the early history of the church even though there were rare instances of the phenomenon after that. [Note: Origen (ca. 185-ca. 254 A.D.), "Against Celsus," 7:8 in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 4:614; Chrysostom (347-407 A.D.), "Homily 12 on Matthew," in The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 10:77; idem, "Homily 14 on Romans," ibid., 11:447; idem, "Homily 29 on 1 Corinthians," ibid., 12:168; idem, "Homily 6 on 1 Corinthians," ibid., 12:31; Augustine (354-430 A.D.), "On Baptism, Against the Donatists," 3:16:21, ibid., 4:443; idem, "The Epistle of St. John," 6:10, ibid., 7:497-98; idem, "The Epistle of 1 John. Homily," 6:10, ibid., 7:497-98; idem, "The Answer to the Letters of Petition, to Donatist," 2:32:74, ibid., 4:548; and idem, "On the Gospel of St. John, Tractate," 32:7, ibid., 7:195. See also Dillow, Speaking in . . ., pp. 147-64, for further information about the historical cessation of the gift of tongues.]

How can we explain the instances of people speaking in languages they have not studied today? It may be that God occasionally gives people this ability today, though the evidence of this happening is rare. Practically no one, including respected charismatic leaders, claims that the ability to speak in a language that one has not studied exists today as it did in New Testament times. Obviously the ability to grasp a foreign language readily as one studies it is not the New Testament gift of tongues.

God evidently gave the gift of prophesying to each of these Ephesian disciples to enable them to assume leadership of the church and the church’s mission. This gift involves speaking forth the Word of God and leading the worship of God.