Week 43 Acts 8 9 10
I compared four back-to-back conversion stories.
When the Samaritans believed in Christ they were baptized-in-water right away. But the Holy Spirit hadn’t come to them yet so Peter & John prayed and then the Holy Spirit came (something else might have happened but Luke doesn’t say what.)
Philip met the Ethiopian man on a deserted road. In that case it looks like the man believed and he was baptized-in-water right away. But nothing is said about the Holy Spirit being part of the mix.
After Saul was blinded on the road to Damascus Ananias came and told him: the Lord Jesus…has sent me so that you may get your sight back and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul was baptized-in-water right away. The story doesn’t say if filled-with-the-Spirit meant Paul spoke-in-tongues.
Near the end of the Cornelius story Peter was talking to the people about the Lord and suddenly: the Holy Spirit fell upon (them). How did Peter know? Because he heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. The people were then baptized-in-water.
So there are three possible features of conversion:
Believing in Jesus Christ
Being baptized-in-water
Speaking-in-tongues (in some cases. Definitely with Cornelius and maybe with the Samaritans. But not with the Ethiopian & only maybe with Saul).
To me the speaking-in-tongues element is a bit of a wild card so I’ll need to keep it on my radar.
Note: quotes from Acts 9:17 10:44 46 (NLT). Samaria Acts 8:4-17. Ethiopian Acts 8:26-39. Saul Acts 9:1-19. Cornelius Acts 10:34-48.