David Bahn – Reflections

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Acts 8:1-13

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶ for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, ¹⁹ saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” ²⁰ But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. ²² Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. ²³ For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” ²⁴ And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”

²⁵ Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

I recall reading Martin Luther’s explanation of the third article of the Apostle’s Creed for the first time. I love how it puts the grace of God on both sides of the salvation equation: God gave his Son to be our Savior, and he gave us the Holy Spirit so that we would believe in Jesus Christ, trust in him and come to him.

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church he daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day he will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.

Beautiful!

We see this in action now here as Peter and the apostles do great miracles and people are brought to faith through them. God is calling and gathering his people into his church. But whats’ this about miracles through the apostles’ hands? It’s not specifically mentioned here, but the rhythm in Acts is that when the Holy Spirit is given to new groups of people there is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and a visible identifiable manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s influence. Where is that in Luther’s explanation of the work of the Holy Spirit?

We’ll leave a discussion of Luther’s understanding of miracles (he believed in them!), the gift of the Holy Spirit, and any other more controversial aspects of the Holy Spirit’s work to another time. But suffice it to say that the most important work of the Holy Spirit is two-fold not just one-sided (calling us to faith).

God gives us the Holy Spirit to call us to faith.

God gives us the Holy Spirit so that we can help gather the people of God into the church.

Simon saw this as something he could use to further his career, or impress people. Peter knew it was a gift to be received and given.

We have the gift of the Holy Spirit by which we believe. Let’s embrace the second facet of the Holy Spirit’s work by doing all we can to plant seeds of the Word to bring others to faith.