So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. (I Cor 10:31-32).

As I was thinking on this text earlier today, it struck me in a way that profoundly affected me. In trying to live as one holy and set apart from this world, I have actually forsaken the delight of sharing Christ with other people. Not that being set apart means inevitable separation from non-believers — actually it’s quite the contrary. Rather, my approach to holiness has become flawed: ‘So they think I’m weird? So they find it hard to talk to me? Well of course they do. I’m holy. I’m not of this world.’ In biblical reality, Paul sets the example here that being holy means that Christians behave themselves in such a way that they are approachable. While we should be obviously different to non-believers, our desire to see them come to Christ means that we become the kind of person that pleases non-believers. Holiness does not equal unfriendliness.

I think one of the reasons why I fall into this way of thinking and practice is because the labels of introversion and extroversion are too firmly rooted in the way I think about myself and others.

In fact I’ve often considered myself to be an introvert. I’ve even been labeled by numerous personality tests as an introvert. I’m not the kind of person who usually looks for a conversation when I’m in a crowd, and I’m certainly not accustomed to or desirous of being the center of attention in almost any setting. Usually I’m the one who breaks awkward moments of silence, not because I want to do so, but because I simply don’t like feeling awkward.

Sometimes I catch myself thinking that my personality is a legitimate excuse to avoid conversations with people. Such thoughts take place in the dimly lit part of my mind, whereupon first glance there appears to be no one and nothing there, but if more careful attention is given, I can hear a very small voice whispering with the quietest sound humanly possible. That voice is saying to me, “Seth, you are an introvert. Just be yourself. It would be against your nature to go and speak to that person. Don’t trouble yourself. Besides, you have important things to do, like drive home and eat lunch.”

But what exactly is introversion? For that matter, what is extroversion? These are two concepts that the general population readily accepts as true and meaningful in defining the varieties of human nature. Truth be told, these actual terms were not coined until twentieth-century psychiatrist Carl Jung. Although the observation that different personalities exist is not new, the contrast between extroversion and introversion, as the concepts are strictly defined, is quite new. That being said, I think it is very important to avoid liberal use of these terms in a biblical context. Albeit these are handy little words, and we seem to be fond of using them often. “Oh, don’t mind Uncle John, he’s just a bit more extroverted than other people.” “Oh, don’t think that Susan’s quiet nature means she doesn’t like you, she’s just introverted.” Could it be that John’s so-called extroversion is more accurately defined as rudeness or obnoxiousness? Could it be that Susan’s so-named introversion is more precisely labeled selfishness?

I don’t mean to suggest that these concepts are necessarily wrong. In fact, I think that they can be quite useful. I think it is fairly apparent that God made some to be more reserved and internal, while He made others to be more outgoing and gregarious. I am merely suggesting that for a proper biblical understanding of human personality, Christians ought to carefully consider the concepts of introversion and extroversion. They are, after all, secular ideas, derived from the mind of a non-believer, and in case it isn’t obvious, the concepts of these words are in fact non-biblical.

So that brings us back to the biblical text. How does this particular text address the issue of personality? Interestingly, it says nothing about Paul’s personality and instead places the emphasis on everyone else around Paul. Paul does not focus on relationships with non-believers in the context of his personality. Rather, Paul’s relationships with the lost are based on who they are and what he can do to please them. He approaches relationships with non-believers based on who they are. He accomodates their personality querks and preferences in order to become closer to them.

So often in difficult discussions with lost people (or anyone for that matter) I find myself thinking things like, ‘I’ve asked them everything about who they are. How do they expect the conversation to continue if they don’t return the questions to me? Oh well, I tried.’ Or, ‘I guess this relationship isn’t going anywhere. We both seem to be very quiet people. I need this person to give a little more if this is going to work out.’

But this isn’t the mindset of Paul. His actions are the desires of outward compulsion. He is compelled to do things for others because his selfless nature drives him to do so. When he seeks a relationship with a non-believer, it is out of a desire for their best interests, so that they might know the joy of living in Christ. Paul wants to accommodate himself to their interests — not in a sinful way, but in a way that allows him to build a relationship with them. In so doing he overcomes the limitations of what may be natural tendencies of his own personality.

Consider a child who learns that by obeying his parents, he receives a reward, perhaps a small piece of candy. In later years that same child, now a teenager, discovers that by paying compliments and committing other acts of kindness he is able to capture the admiration of girls his age. In the eyes of the world, these acts are considered selfless deeds of service, but they weren’t truly selfless. He’s simply acting upon the result of certain cause-effect relationships. He acted in such a way only to fulfill his own personal appetites. To be truly selfless, one must act with a disposition that is completely disinterested in his own gain and is instead only interested in the glory of Christ.

The application that I’m making from this passage, then, is that our approach as Christians to reaching the lost cannot be based on who we are, but rather on who they (the lost) are. Are you challenged by someone who is quiet? Stimulate him to discussion. Overcome your fears. Find out what he’s interested in, and he might just start jabbering away. Are you challenged by someone who is cynical and sees through insincerity? Find issues where you have similar views. Be authentically sincere, and by the grace of God a doorway will be opened to share the gospel with him.

In conclusion, I think there is a real danger in using labels. The Bible is clear that God makes everyone different, but concepts like extroversion are not discussed. Rather, the example set before us is simply to become whoever we need to be, within God’s law, in order to reach the lost. We cannot associate our weaknesses and fears with extroversion or introversion and call it quits. We overcome. We persevere. We rise to the challenge. Not for our own sakes, but for the glory of Christ.

And now I have to practice what I’ve preached. Oh man is this going to be hard!

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (1 Cor 9:19-23).
Notice the section in bold. I never noticed this before, but Paul is making a distinction between the “law” of the Jews and the “law of God” or the “law of Christ.” Paul became someone both inside and outside the law of the Jews, but not outside the law of God. What, then, is the law of the Jews? In Romans 2 Paul talks about the Jews who consider themselves true Jews because they follow the law of physical circumcision. Paul explains that true circumcision is of the heart, “not by the written code.” In Galatians 3 Paul talks about how the purpose of Jewish law was to bring us to Christ in faith (Gal. 3:24). But the law is not a means to salvation in itself. Salvation is only by grace through faith in Christ. Our hope cannot be in Jewish law, because it is a dead end.

So what exactly is being “under the law of Christ?” Paul makes this very plain in Romans 6:

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”

In retrospect, this is actually a great passage for heretics who proclaim an anti-nomian type theology, which attempts to give freedom to commit all sorts of sin. But this passage will not allow for that type of lifestyle. The contrast between grace and law has nothing to do with what we can “get away with,” but everything that we are and should be as sinless instruments of righteousness. To live in grace, to be free in Christ apart from Jewish law or any law is simply to obey and follow Christ. True living is to live freely from the passions and lusts of our flesh. It is the freedom to choose against our self-centered will, and instead live as the servant-minded creatures we were made to be. We were created to live outwardly — to give, to love, to bring, to help, doing all of these things not with a self-serving attitude or purpose, but rather with the purpose of loving Christ and being free in Him.

Acts 10:34, “So Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.’”

In this verse, one can either learn wonderful biblical truths, or one can become greatly confused. One one hand, Peter clearly communicates that God does not favor any particular race of people — salvation is for everyone. On the other hand, the second half of Peter’s statement almost sounds like a man can become acceptable to God by his works. How should a Christian interpret and apply this verse and its context, while not ignoring difficulties?

One of the questions that often arises in one’s mind after reading this verse is, “Was Cornelius already saved?” The response to this question has been answered in different ways for centuries. Both Augustine and Calvin wrote that Cornelius had saving faith prior to Peter’s coming. Recent theologian John Piper gives good reasons why Cornelius did not have saving faith. My own own investigation of this question has ended still in mystery, to a degree. I see a case to be made for both sides of the argument, and I will discuss this later on.

Solving this mystery, however, is not the point of the passage. Regardless of Cornelius’ state of salvation prior to Peter’s coming, Acts 10:34 and the surrounding context reveal very important truths about Christ, the gospel, and missions.

One of the most important truths taught is that there is salvation through no one else but Jesus Christ. One cannot find salvation through “highways” of different religions. Acts 10 is a great illustration of the fact that faithfully following a non-Christian religion is not good enough for salvation.

Let me explain why. As I have stated in the past, proper biblical study considers not just a word, a verse, a chapter, or even an entire book. One must consider the purposes of the whole Bible — all 66 books, in order to even come close to interpreting a passage properly. That being said, one must remember that over 4,000 years of events have occurred leading to this point in the history of Christianity. Wars have been fought, sons have been born, kings have been assassinated, Israel has been exiled twice, and prophecies have been fulfilled. All these plus many other events have led up to the coming of Christ, Who came to fulfill the old covenant and establish a new covenant.

I say these things to support my next statement: What happened to Cornelius was part of the fulfillment of promises made by God thousands of years beforehand, and these were promises of a Messiah, a Savior, and a Redeemer who would come and save people from their sin. In the book of John 8:56, Jesus spoke about how Abraham looked forward to His coming as Messiah. Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” Peter also wrote of how the prophets waited for the fulfillment of Messianic promises: “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.”

These verses must be considered carefully. It is immensely important to realize that Abraham, the prophets, and many others waited thousands of years for salvation through the Messiah to come. Most men consider an engagement period of six months or even a year to be an eternity. Sellers of antiques will have to wait at least fifty years for modern-day items to become valuable treasures. The people of China waited over two thousand years for the Great Wall of China to be completed. Yet the lengths of all these events are nothing compared to four thousand years of waiting for salvation through the promised Messiah.

The weight and gravity of the promises hoped for is so deep that to suggest salvation in God can be gained by following another religion or god is laughable. Even to hint at the idea that a man on a deserted island can come to faith without Christ is to deny a foundation of promises so longstanding, that only an unlearned or ignorant person would dare suggest such a possibility.

God promised to the saints of old the coming of Christ and all that He brings in His person,

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

And in speaking of His plan to bring salvation to the whole world, God says through Isaiah the prophet,

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6).

What is meant by this “light for the nations”? It speaks of the coming of Christ and the message of salvation to the whole world through Him. After a wait of thousands of years, this and many other promises erupted into the worldwide explosion of the gospel as we see recorded in the events of Acts. Starting with the apostles, the gospel would be preached to the Jews, who mostly rejected it, and then received by the Gentiles, in fulfillment of Isaiah 49:6. Notice what Paul says in Acts 13:47 and the response of the Gentiles: “For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.”

This is astounding. This event, which Isaiah had prophesied about some eight hundred years earlier, was now becoming a reality. And what was this reality? That a message of hope and salvation would come through Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and many other religions? No. God had not designed these events and carried them out so that Christ’s coming was of little consequence. Instead, salvation came through the climactic conclusion of salvation alone through Christ. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved,” said Peter.

We must understand this! There is no other name, no other person, no entity, no spirit, and not anything under heaven that can save us accept Christ. And in case there is confusion in the interpretation of the word “name” here, let there be no mistake. Grammatically, the Greek word “onoma,” according to Thayer’s lexicon means “the name is used for everything which the name covers, everything the thought or feeling of which is aroused in the mind by mentioning, hearing, remembering, the name, i.e. for one’s rank, authority, interests, pleasure, command, excellences, deeds etc.”

There is no room for misinterpretation here. Any idea, thought, or feeling that even is associated with anything else other than Christ cannot save a man. Salvation is through Christ alone.

God revealed Christ to Cornelius through the appearance of an angel, a vision, and the sign of the Holy Spirit. Cornelius needed Christ, otherwise God would not have gone to such trouble to reveal Christ to Cornelius. If Judaism is an alternative path to Christ, then why bother with 4,000 years of promises and prophecies of a Messiah? Judaism is not an option, and neither is any other religion or religious figurehead. That is because Cornelius, along with every other human, needs a redeemer for their sins so that they may have a right standing before God. They need salvation, and that salvation comes only through the name and person of Jesus Christ.

“But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name’” (Acts 9:15-16).

Many Christians are familiar with this passage that refers to God’s calling of Paul to become a servant of Christ. Paul was to be God’s chosen instrument of the gospel to both the Jews and the Gentiles. What is particularly interesting and wonderful here is the insight into the way God planned to use Paul. By that I mean that God intended for Paul to “suffer” for His name’s sake.

God’s usage of the word “suffer” is crucial to an understanding of what it means to walk with God.

The form of “suffer” used here is the Greek word “pascho.” It refers to a real tangible experience, and is used almost always to refer to a bad experience. This same Greek word is used in Matthew 16:21 where Jesus prophesied that He would “suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” Mark also recorded that “the Son of man must suffer many things. . .” (Mark 8:31). The point I’m making is that Paul’s future experience as a servant of God was not going to be easy. In fact, it was going to be the opposite. Paul was commissioned to suffer hardship after hardship for the purpose of proclaiming the gospel, and these hardships meant experiencing real distress, real trials, real burdens, real tiredness, real exhaustion, and real pain. Paul was called to suffer for Christ in an experiential way.
It is imperative that modern-day Christians realize that suffering is a necessary part of being a Christian. In reference to Christians in America, we have become accustomed to many comforts, and our lives have been so pampered, that it is often easy to avoid suffering for Christ. Yet, we are called to suffer in a real tangible way for the name of Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 7:8-10 Paul writes, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” Peter also writes in 1 Peter 4:1-2, “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.”

It is evident from these passages that those who are truly Christ’s disciples have a desire to experience suffering for His sake, in order that we might submit our total will to God and that Christ may live through us and be glorified. Christians do not suffer merely for the sake of suffering, but God has a true purpose in calling Christians to suffer. In calling Paul, God said that he would show Paul “how much he will suffer for the sake of my name.” In the 2 Corinthians 7 passage mentioned above, the purpose given for suffering is “so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” Christians are called to suffer for the glory of God and His name. All of our difficulties, no matter how small or great, are set in order by God so that we might bring worship to Him.

Another more well-known passage that has this same line of thought is found in Mark 8:34 where Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Notice the phrase “deny himself.” According to Thayer’s Lexicon, the word “deny” here literally means “to affirm that one has no acquaintance or connection with someone” and “to forget one’s self, lose sight of one’s self and one’s own interests.” In the context of this passage, it can be concluded that Christ calls Christians to forget their own interests. Christians must literally lose acquaintance with their own desires and strive to use every cell in their bodies so that, as Paul says, “the life of Jesus may also be manifested in their bodies.”

This essential Christian teaching is in stark contrast to the false “health-and-wealth” doctrines preached by numerous pop-culture evangelists. Astonishingly, some preachers present the idea that God’s will on earth is for His children to be financially and physically prosperous. Creflo Dollar, pastor of World Changers Church International, is one of many health-and-wealth preachers of our age. To his credit, Dollar is biblically sound in many areas. Some of his sermons have excellent content. In a number of ways, Dollar is a man of integrity. However, I believe he has fallen prey to the belief that if a Christian follows a certain set of instructions, he can be financially secure and physically healthy. This ideology contradicts the Bible’s teaching about Christian suffering and sacrifice for Christ.

As stated on his website, Dollar believes that “poverty is not the will of God for any believer.” He also says that Christians “have every right to live wealthy and possess material riches-clothes, jewelry, houses, cars and money — in abundance.” What is his Scriptural support for these statements? Ultimately he has none, but in order to bring these false teachings out in the open, it is important to look more closely.

To prove that poverty is not God’s will, Dollar first turns to Ephesians 3:20, where Paul states, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Obviously, Dollar is emphasizing the part that I have underlined. Dollar’s interpretation: God can do anything immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, including bring a person out of poverty. There’s a big problem with this interpretation: This passage has little to do with finance and everything to do with the proclamation and knowledge Christ’s name. If the context of Ephesians 3:20 is read, the spirit of the verse becomes crystal clear. Notice the verses immediately before the verse Dollar selected:

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

The immeasurable gifts of God referred to by Paul make coming out of poverty pale in comparison. Paul wanted the Ephesians to know Christ through faith, to grasp the vastness of His love, and the be filled with the fullness of God! To even attempt vaguely associating this verse with struggles of financial poverty is, quite frankly, absurd.

Dollar also states that one can “seize and command wealth and riches to come to [him].” His Scripture for this statement comes out of Deuteronomy 8:18, which states, “But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.” This is one of the poorest examples of biblical study I have ever seen. Actually this verse refers to part of the laws that God was speaking to the people of Israel through the mouth of Moses. This particular verse is in reference to the enjoyment of the rich land of Canaan that God had given to Israel. God was making it clear to His people that it is the work of His hands (not man’s) that has provided the accumulated wealth of Israel. The Israelites did not seize or command anything here. They were only able to “produce” wealth because God had provided the wealthy land of Canaan to them.

This “contextual raping” occurs time and time again by health-and-wealth preachers like Dollar. Moreover, what Dollar fails to see is that these particular teachings do not have their ultimate focus on God. God does make promises to work all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called by Him (Romans 8:28), but sometimes what is good for some of His children is that they are not prosperous. Instead desiring material prosperity, we should strive to have the same attitude as Paul who said, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12-13). Also see 1 Timothy 6:6-11: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.”

Wanting to be wise with money, free from debt, financially stable, and physically healthy are all great desires that God is pleased with, but He never guarantees these things for us. We cannot seize or demand these things. What He does guarantee is a life of joy in Him that is eternally superior to anything we can have on earth. He guarantees us a place with Him in His kingdom forever and ever.

Scripture is clear that to follow Christ, we must give up any desires devoted solely for ourselves and redirect our passions for God’s glory. Most of us will never suffer as Paul did for Christ, but all Christians must suffer in the sacrifice of the lusts of the flesh that the world indulges in every day. We will be seen as strange and out of touch with reality. We will be perscuted verbally and sometimes physically for our love of Christ. But we must remain steadfast, because we know that having life in Christ and glorifying Him is worth suffering any hardship and trial. And so we must “lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1).

Further Reading:

See John Piper’s sermons on suffering

In my reading today, I came across this passage that is often misconstrued: (Acts 7:14-16) Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Explanation:

A standard belief of true Christianity is that when a person receives Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells in us and lives through us. Romans 8:9 could not be any clearer about this fact: “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”

Although this teaching is obvious, why does the passage in Acts seem to separate the receiving of Christ and the receiving of the Holy Spirit? Are they two separate events, as some have suggested? Can a person receive Christ without being indwelt by the Holy Spirit?

Absolutely not. As with any single passage, Scripture must be interpreted by Scripture. By that I mean that the more difficult passages can be dealt with more easily by looking at passages that are easy to understand. Once that is done, then an explanation can often (but not always) be found for the difficult passage. A confusing or unclear passage should never be used to materialize a biblical belief. To do that would be to build on a shaky foundation.

The passage in Romans mentioned earlier gives some insight about the relationship between receiving Christ and receiving the Spirit. Notice Paul’s next statement in Romans 8:10: “But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Aha. There is no wiggle room there! Paul clearly links the presence of Christ with the presence of the Spirit in a believer. Paul is using these two truths interchangeably. Paul says that Christians are not of the flesh if the Spirit resides in them. Interestingly, Paul then immediately states that having Christ within means being dead in the flesh but alive in the Spirit.

In other words, if you’ve received Christ, you’ve received the Spirit. If you’ve become a true follower of Christ, then you already have the Spirit within you. These are not two separate events.

So what then is to be done about the Acts passage which clearly separates the two events? It must be realized that the book of Acts records the events leading to the message of salvation being brought outside the people of Israel and into the whole world. Amazing events were occurring as never before. One of those amazing events was the supernatural distribution of the gospel, seen in Acts chapter two. This event occurred through the astonishing phenomenon of Pentecost. And what was Pentecost? It was the coming of the Holy Spirit in a way never seen before.

More particularly we see that even though the Spirit was present before Pentecost (i.e., Ex. 31:3, Num. 11:17, etc.), the Spirit had never before worked in the way that He did at Pentecost. Here it is seen the apostles receiving the Spirit in the form of tongues of fire, then supernaturally proclaiming the gospel so that people of mulitiple dialects simultaneously understand men speaking in only one language!

This event is crucial, because it clearly distinguishes one act of the Holy Spirit from another act of the Holy Spirit. On one hand, the Spirit dwells within the believer, changing him and guiding him to live in Christ and not according to the flesh (Rom. 8:9-10). On the other hand, the Spirit brings about the incredible proclamation of the gospel to peoples of many different languages at one time (Acts 2:1-4). These are two separate events of the Holy Spirit’s work.

In other words, the Holy Spirit was working in a way that He had never worked before. No one had seen anything like it. It is almost as if the Spirit was working through Christians by giving them special “superhero” powers to accomplish the proclamation of the gospel in a special way. We see that even the famous magician Simon (Acts 7:18-19), who had amazed others with his own inferior tricks, was mesmerized by the workings of the Spirit and wanted these abilities for himself.

So the explanation to the puzzle of the passage in Acts is that the Spirit came down in a special ministration, unlike ever before. It can be concluded then, that if Paul, under inspiration of God, says that receiving Christ and the Spirit are one in the same event, the receiving of the Spirit mentioned in Acts 7:16 is a ministration of the Spirit different than the ministration of the Spirit which occurs at salvation. Paul says that when one is in Christ, the Spirit is in him, yet the Acts passage states that some having come to Christ had not yet received the Spirit. Both statements cannot be true at the same time, because they contradict each other. The only explanation, then, is that the Spirit can be received in different ways.

This truth is solidified when Simon’s true motives for wanting the Spirit are examined. Was Simon interested in the power of the Spirit that brings about an inward change of new life in Christ? Is this what he wanted to buy? Not at all. Peter would not have rebuked Simon for wanting to live according to the Spirit. Simon was rebuked because he wanted the special “power” that he had seen in the apostles and others. He wanted it for his own personal gain and profit. He wanted to be able to perform signs and miracles for his own glory.

So then, it is important to distinguish between the different ministrations (or workings) of the Spirit. When the Bible speaks of people receiving the Spirit, we must look at the context of the passage to determine in what way the Spirit is received. In fact, we should consider any biblical passage in this way, no matter the topic.