Acts 8:14-17\u00a0<\/b>\u2013\u00a0When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria\u00a0had accepted the word of God,\u00a0they sent Peter and John\u00a0to Samaria.\u00a015\u00a0When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,\u00a016\u00a0because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them;\u00a0they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.\u00a017\u00a0Then Peter and John placed their hands on them,\u00a0and they received the Holy Spirit.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria\u00a0had accepted the word of God,\u00a0they sent Peter and John\u00a0to Samaria<\/i>.\u201d\u00a0 Peter and John were sent to Samaria.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Of course it would be foolish to think that any man fully knows all of God\u2019s reason for what He does, but it is thought that the reason for Peter and John to be sent to Samaria was to be witnesses that the Samaritans, who were long detested by the Jews, were indeed welcome to the Kingdom of God, just as the Jews were.\u00a0 And if they were accepted, then who next?\u00a0 We must remember that the Apostles had thought that Jesus came to save Israel.\u00a0 Certainly they were right that Jesus came to save the Jews, but it was not only them that He came to save (John 3:16<\/b>), but rather to them first and then the rest of the world (Romans 1:16<\/b>).\u00a0 Peter would later be sent by God to bring the Gospel to a gentile and his family and afterward he would fully understand that God accepts people from all nations who fear and obey Him (Acts 10:1-48<\/b>).\u00a0 This, however, was the first time the Apostles were to see God saved someone that they did not consider a Jew.\u00a0 Yes, the Samaritans had broken with The Law, but Jesus had not come to re-bring The Law, but to bring grace that was more powerful than sin.\u00a0 Peter and John needed to see that Samaritans were being saved and they needed to let the others know that the grace of God was not restricted, but was available to all who would accept the Truth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16\u00a0because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them;\u00a0they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.<\/i>)\u00a0 Why hadn\u2019t these new believers received the Holy Spirit?\u00a0 Some would expound that perhaps Philip did not have that gift of laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 After all, we all don\u2019t have the same gifts.\u00a0 Maybe Philip needed to call out Peter and John who did have that gift.\u00a0 Of course the question that then arises is when does a person receive the Holy Spirit?\u00a0\u00a0 Does it required the laying on of hands by someone who has that \u201cgift?\u201d\u00a0 We know that when we receive Jesus as our Savior and Lord the Holy Spirit comes into our heart and seals us as ones who belong to Jesus and as a guarantee that we are the recipients of the blessings and promises of God (2 Corinthians 1:22<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0Romans 10:9-10\u00a0<\/b>states \u201cIf you declare with your mouth, \u201cJesus is Lord,\u201d and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.\u00a010<\/a>For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0The word used for believe in this verse is the same word used in\u00a0Acts 8:12<\/b>\u00a0to say that the Samaritans believed.\u00a0 So we can understand that the Samaritans believed with a belief in the way that Apostle Paul later states is required to be saved.\u00a0 Family, these Samaritans were saved by faith in Jesus after hearing Philip preach the Gospel.\u00a0 Since they were saved, we know that they had the Holy Spirit within them.\u00a0 But the Word here clearly states that they had not yet had the Holy Spirit \u201ccome on any of them<\/i>.\u201d\u00a0 Is this a contradiction within the Bible?\u00a0 Family, there are no contradictions within the Bible.\u00a0 Perhaps we need to look more closely at what was meant by \u201ccome on any of them<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen Peter and John placed their hands on them,\u00a0and they received the Holy Spirit.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 Before we do, let\u2019s recognize that it was after Peter and John place their hands on the Samaritans and prayed for them that Word of God, the Truth, says they received the Holy Spirit. What does all this mean?<\/p>\n I really don\u2019t want to stop here, but I think I must.\u00a0 I will continue this next time. If I were to continue this right now, this Devotion would be very long, and I have been told that I should \u201ckeep it short\u201d and so that I try to do (not always successfully!).\u00a0 So, Family and Friends, I will continue this next time.<\/p>\n As always \u201cLet everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i>\u00a0\u201c<\/p>\n Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Acts 8:14-17\u00a0\u2013\u00a0When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria\u00a0had accepted the word of God,\u00a0they sent Peter and John\u00a0to Samaria.\u00a015\u00a0When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,\u00a016\u00a0because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them;\u00a0they had simply been baptized in the name of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[82,129,100,94,17,10],"class_list":["post-1572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-corinthians","tag-john","tag-micah","tag-psalm","tag-romans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1573,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1572\/revisions\/1573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}