Theme: THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Text: “And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy spirit.” – Acts 19:1, 2. New King James Version.
Comment: This passage underlines the importance of the empowerment from the holy spirit to enable believers to be Christians indeed. When St. Paul learnt that the knowledge which the 12 believers at Ephesus had was limited to what John the Baptist taught, he expounded to them the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, for which reason they signified their faith in Christ through baptism. He laid hands on them and they spoke in various languages and prophesied or preached the word of God, showing that they had received the holy spirit. – Acts 19:3-7.
Be that as it may, the question asked the new disciples in Ephesus by Apostle Paul in the text for today is one question all disciples of Christ need to sincerely ask and answer by themselves. It is abundantly evident in the Scriptures that the hallmark of the true disciple is the presence of the holy spirit in one, hence the emphasis by Paul and other Apostles on the need to have it. (Ephesians 1:16,17; Galatians 3:14; 1 John 4:13; 3:24) All true disciples of Christ must realise that God Almighty always gives His holy spirit to all who are repentant and are willing to overcome sin. The Bible says: “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” – Romans 6:16.