Grace in Focus returns with insightful discussions on pivotal theological questions. This episode challenges listeners to reflect on the nuances of faith experiences in the New Testament. Hosts Bob Wilkin and Sam Marr explore significant spiritual phenomena, dissecting the difference in beliefs held by early Christians and those after the Gentile inclusion in Acts 10. The duo also tackles the topic of baptism and its place in soteriology, referencing their broader ministry mission, all while setting the stage for upcoming events at the Grace Evangelical Society.
00:00:00 Introduction and Grace Evangelical Society Update
00:00:51 Question About Receiving the Holy Spirit in Acts 8
In some parts of Acts, it doesn’t seem that receiving the Holy Spirit happens at conversion, even though this is true in most of the rest of the New Testament. Why is this? Welcome friend to Grace in Focus. This is the radio broadcast and podcast ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Please go to our website faithalone.org to learn more about us, including our online seminary where you can earn an MDiv degree. That is at faithalone.org. And our annual national conference is coming up soon, May 19th through the 22nd. Get registered. Find out details at faithalone.org. Now with today’s question and answer discussion, here’s Bob Wilkin along with Sam Marr.
SPEAKER 02 :
All right, Bob, we have a question from Taylor. Can you please explain to me how in Acts 8, 12 through 17, the people were born again but had not yet received the Holy Spirit? Romans 8, 9 says that without the Spirit of Christ, you are not His.
SPEAKER 01 :
Okay, yeah, that’s a good question. I think Taylor’s point is, in Acts chapter 8, Philip goes to Samaria, and he preaches Christ. In fact, verse 12 says, “…but when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.” So what happened is they believed, they were born again, they were baptized. But then the apostles heard about this and they sent Peter and John down there. And we read in verse 17, then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. So how does that correspond to Romans 8, 9, where what does Paul say? If you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you’re not his.
SPEAKER 02 :
If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, I think the answer, I’ve mentioned this on other occasions on this program, but there are four major ministries of the Holy Spirit at the moment of faith in the church age, starting with Acts chapter 10. And you can remember it from the word ribs. Regeneration at the moment of faith or born again. indwelling. At the moment of faith, we’re permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit. B, baptism. We’re baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Not water baptism, but spirit baptism. And S, sealing. We’re sealed forever by the Holy Spirit, meaning we are secure forever. The Old Testament believer had regeneration and sealing. But they did not have permanent indwelling, and they were not part of the body of Christ, so they weren’t baptized into the body of Christ. These new believers in Samaria, until Peter and John came down and laid hands on them, were like Old Testament believers. They were regenerated, they were sealed, but they were not yet part of the body of Christ. They had not yet been baptized by the Holy Spirit, and they were not yet permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Now, how does that relate to Romans chapter 8 and verse 9? Paul is writing in Romans 8 and 9 to people after Acts chapter 10. In other words, the experience of all believers after Acts chapter 10 was at the moment of faith they were regenerated and dwelt, baptized, and sealed. So if you didn’t have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, you were not Christ. So I think that’s the simple explanation. Well, first of all, that’s part of the explanation. The other part is you still have to ask the question, okay, if these people who were new believers in Samaria were regenerated and sealed by the Holy Spirit, did they have the Holy Spirit? What’s the word in Romans 8 and 9? Is it indwelt?
SPEAKER 02 :
It’s have. Now, if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah. So the question is, did they have the spirit of Christ even before they were permanently indwelt? I don’t know. I would assume probably so in the sense that they were born again by the work of the spirit. They were sealed by the work of the spirit. But you have to ask the question, what does have the Holy Spirit mean? It’s kind of vague in my estimation, but clearly at the time Paul is writing, it would have included R-I-B-S, the regenerating, dwelling, baptizing, sealing. But would he have said of the new believers in Samaria that they weren’t yet Christ?
SPEAKER 02 :
Or the disciples didn’t receive the Spirit while he was on earth with them, but…
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s a good point. He said to them, the Holy Spirit has been with you, but he will be in you. Well, does with you meaning have the Holy Spirit?
SPEAKER 02 :
I would think so.
SPEAKER 01 :
If so, then you could even say of Old Testament believers that they were Christ, even though they weren’t part of the body of Christ, they weren’t part of the church, but they were Christ. Anyway, this is something worth tailoring. We’re glad to get the question from you. Glad you’re thinking about spiritual things. But this is a good question, and I’ll try to give it more thought, and we’ll see if we can come up with something. Well, let’s go with another question. Do you have another one there, Sam?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yep, this one’s from Rich. Do you have to be baptized to be saved?
SPEAKER 01 :
No. The answer is no, and let me explain why. And this comes up a fair amount, especially from the churches of Christ, where the churches of Christ are very big on baptism being one of the requirements of being born again. The reason people get confused is because they look at certain passages which seem to be connecting baptism and salvation. And then they build their doctrine based on that. And then they go to a verse like John 3, 16, which says nothing about baptism, and they import it.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s coming. It’ll be here before you know it. What am I talking about? The Grace Evangelical Society’s National Conference 2025, May 19th through 22nd at Camp Copas, an absolutely beautiful campground in North Texas, right on the lake with lots of recreation, great food, a great place to stay, wonderful fellowship, and wonderful Free Grace Bible teaching. Information and online registration now at faithalone.org slash events. First timers waive registration fees. faithalone.org slash events
SPEAKER 01 :
I remember I debated a Church of Christ pastor, Larry Ray Haefeli, probably about 30 years ago, somewhere around 95, something like that, in Baytown, Texas. In the course of the debate, he said you had to believe in Christ, you had to obey Christ, you had to be baptized, you had to repent of your sins. So believe, obey, and you had to confess Christ. Believe, obey, confess, repent, be baptized. All except the baptism needed to be ongoing. Baptism was a one-time thing. And so I remember I said to him, is there any verse in the Bible that lists all five of these elements? He said, no. I said, well, isn’t that strange? I mean, when Paul is asked directly, what must I do to be saved? He says nothing about four of your five elements. The only thing he says is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Mm hmm. When the Lord Jesus is talking to people and telling them what they must do in order to have everlasting life or in order to be saved, he only mentions believing in him. He doesn’t mention your other four points. And I said, how do you deal with that? And his answer was, well, God expects us to be careful students of his word, and we have to search it out. So we find certain elements here and certain elements there, and we put them all together. And so he said, ultimately, believing in him in John 3.16 includes the other four elements. Even though they’re not mentioned there, they’re understood. Well, the problem with that view is Paul’s giving the wrong answer in Acts 16.31. The Lord is saying the wrong thing in John 3.16. And the same thing goes all the way to the end of the book of Revelation. Revelation 22, 17. If anyone wishes, let him take the water of life freely. And taking the water of life is a figure of speech for believing in the Lord Jesus Christ for the free gift of everlasting life. So, Rich, it’s a good question, but in Acts 2, 38, we find a verse that’s often used to say you must be baptized to be saved. Would you read that, Sam?
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, so a lot of people, they will say, well, this verse clearly says you’ve got to repent, so there’s one. And number two, it says you’ve got to be baptized. Now, notice it doesn’t say anything about believing or confessing or obeying, which are three of the other five elements in the Churches of Christ.
SPEAKER 01 :
But the issue here is that Peter has preached Christ to them. These were an audience of people who had been in Palestine at the time Jesus was crucified. They knew his message. They knew his promise that whoever believes in him had eternal life, and they rejected it, and they rejected him. But now he preaches Christ to them and they get it. They realize that, yes, this is the Messiah. And so what happens is in verse 36, Peter says, Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.
SPEAKER 02 :
Right. He’s holding them to account for his crucifixion. Right. Whom you crucified.
SPEAKER 01 :
Right. And then notice verse 37. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?
SPEAKER 02 :
Right. So they were cut to the heart. They already believed. And then Peter is saying, here’s the things you do after you’ve believed.
SPEAKER 01 :
Because there’s a dispensational issue here. Whereas starting in Acts chapter 10 with the salvation of Cornelius and his household, the After that, at the moment of faith, everyone receives the forgiveness of sins and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, baptized in the body of Christ. But at this point, they were born again the moment they were convinced that Jesus is the Messiah who guaranteed their eternal destiny. But they were not yet forgiven and they were not yet permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit. There were some conditions put on that. They had to repent. They had to be baptized. And the repentance was specifically repentance concerning their rejection of Christ and their crucifixion of Christ. But it also would include a willingness and a desire to turn from all of their sins so that they would be in fellowship with God. Well, after this point, starting in Acts 10, that wasn’t required of Cornelius. He and his household didn’t have to repent or be baptized in order to receive forgiveness in the Holy Spirit. So, Rich, the reason why people get there is verses like Acts 2.38. But here’s the quick, simple answer. Always understand the difficult passages in light of the simple. John 3.16, simple, doesn’t mention baptism. In fact, the entire Gospel of John never says anything about the need to be baptized to have everlasting life, not once. And we don’t find it in Ephesians 2.8 and 9 or Galatians 2.16 or Revelation 22.17. There’s no verse that teaches that. We have some articles at faithalone.org. Two of them are by Lanny Thomas Tanton, former Church of Christ minister evangelist. One’s on Acts 2.38 and one’s on Acts 22.16. These are 20-page journal articles. They’re free. So check it out at faithalone.org. And in the meantime, let’s keep grace in focus.
SPEAKER 03 :
Be our guest and subscribe to our 48-page magazine, six issues per year, also called Grace in Focus. It’s free by emailing your name and snail mail address to ges at faithalone.org. That’s faithalone.org. Maybe you’ve got a question or comment or feedback. If so, please send us a message. Here’s our email address. It’s radio at faithalone.org. That’s radio at faithalone.org. And when you do, please make sure your question is as succinct and clear as possible. That would be a great big help. On our next episode, which Bible translations are most free grace friendly? Please join us for that, and until then, let’s keep grace in focus. The preceding has been a listener-supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.
