[!--QuoteBegin--][/span][table border=\"0\" align=\"center\" width=\"95%\" cellpadding=\"3\" cellspacing=\"1\"][tr][td]Quote [/td][/tr][tr][td id=\"QUOTE\"][!--QuoteEBegin--]By the way, spiritual gifts were bestowed by men other than apostles, according to 1 Tim. 4:14:"Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of hands of the eldership." [/quote]
I. Timothy's spiritual gift had been imparted to him through the apostle Paul. "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands" (2 Tim. 1:6). Our text indicates that the presbytery (the eldership) was involved in the operation in some way.
1) The elders joined with Paul when he actually imparted the gift; they did not have the ability to impart the gift, for only apostles had that power (Acts 8:14-17; 19:6; Rom. 1:11). On the occasion in which Timothy received the gift, Paul laid hands on him to impart the gift; the elders also laid hands on him, but for another purpose.
2) Another explanation offers the proposal that there was a prophecy regarding Timothy and his reception of the gift, and that this was the elders' connection with the case; that they laid hands on him in connection with the prophecies that were revealed concerning Timothy. "This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare" (1 Tim. 1:18).
Acts 19 Continued:
"Verses 3-4: "And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus."
a. Because of their answer to his opening question, Paul saw something was wrong. He asked them about their baptism. They had been baptized according to John's baptism. The apostle accepted as a basic premise that they had been baptized, because they had believed. Nothing had been said about baptism till now, but their belief included baptism. However, the baptism they received was not the baptism of the Great Commission.
b. Paul properly appraised John's baptism; it was valid for a time. But when it was being practiced with God's approval, it pointed forward in time to the coming of Christ. New Testament baptism (Mark 16:15-16; Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:36-38) points back in time to the fact that Christ has come and has completed his mission.
c. This relatively "small" matter was sufficiently important to make their immersion inadequate. Many today think that believers are to be immersed, but assign to baptism a role that is unscriptural: "One is first saved by faith only, and then he is immersed as an act by which he joins the church; baptism is, they say, an outward demonstration that he has been saved."
d. But since it was the case that these disciples had been baptized, being told to believe on Jesus who was to come, and since their immersion was flawed, the immersion of believers for the wrong purpose today nullifies their immersion. For baptism to be correct and beneficial, it must be done by the right people (people who believe and repentCHeb. 11:6; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38), it must be done in the right manner (immersion in water), and it must be done for the right purposes (Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3f; 1 Pet. 3:21; Mark 16:16). Anything short of this makes it ineffectual. One cannot be taught wrong and be baptized right!
e. John's baptism was for the remission of sins (Mark 1:4); the remission offered was prospective, in that it looked forward to the death of Christ (Heb. 9:22; 10:1-4; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 1:5; Col. 1:13-14; Eph. 1:7). It looked to the coming of Christ and the completion of his mission (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:7; Luke 3:16; John 1:15).
f. It is clear from the context that these disciples had been taught and baptized by Apollos (18:24-28; 19:1). At the time he worked with these individuals, all he knew was John's baptism. We speak of being "re-baptized," but that is a misnomer. If one has been baptized, he is baptized correctly; if he has received sectarian "baptism," he has not been scripturally baptized; he is no better off than these disciples were. Those who received John's baptism when it was valid, were not subsequently immersed again; but these who received it after it was replaced by the Great Commission, were.
"When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve."
a. When these men learned this new and updated information, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. That is, they submitted to the authority of Christ fully, and for the first time received the baptism of the Great Commission. Matthew 28:18-20.
b. After their genuine conversion, Paul laid hands on them; they received the gift of tongues and of prophecy. Notice that the Spirit did not, apart from the apostle's actions, come automatically upon them; it was necessary that Paul lay hands on them.
c. If the gift of the Spirit was a natural indwelling, such as many maintain is taught in Acts 2:38, Paul would have had no need to ask; that would have been assumed. But the apostle had in mind the miraculous gifts which the early saints needed. In those passages where the "gift of the Holy Spirit" is exemplified or discussed in detail, the gift is miraculous (Acts 8:5-24; 10:19-48; 11:1-18)."
