Please read Acts 8:18-24 for yourself before proceeding to the next paragraph.
Seeing the Holy Spirit fall upon believers by the hands of Peter and John affected Simon the Magician strongly. He had been impressed by Philip’s miracles, but this apparently was the most impressive of all. We assume from his reaction and request, and Peter’s response, that he had not yet received the Spirit. He may have actually interrupted Peter as he was laying his hands on someone else. He offered to pay Peter to give him the same ability — to impart the Holy Spirit to others. Had he become covetous of Peter’s authority? Was this what was in his heart after all as he followed Philip around, watching him? Verse 13 states flatly that Simon believed and was baptized, and for that reason I do not believe his conversion was false. On that basis, I also believe that Simon’s request was made out of a genuine desire to help further the Kingdom. On the other hand, he was a man used to hearing himself referred to as the “Great Power of God”. Peter’s condemnation of him in the next few verses clearly states that Simon was not right with God. Clearly Simon’s offer was not according to the Holy Spirit’s leading!
It is difficult for us today, who receive the Holy Spirit at the very moment we believe, to understand how a person can be a believer (a baptized believer, no less) and not have (let alone obey) the Holy Spirit. The authority with which Peter identifies his sin and condemns him should be familiar to us — we’ve seen him do it before. There are parallels between this passage and the record of Ananias and Sapphira in the 5th chapter of Acts. While Luke does not specifically tell us that Ananias and Sapphira were believers, had been baptized, and had received the Holy Spirit, there is no reason to believe they hadn’t. They were part of the fellowship of the Jerusalem church, and would not have been if they had not been believers. New believers were baptized almost immediately. And Peter accused them of lying to the Holy Spirit. How could they do that if they had not received Him yet? Peter all but demands the same punishment for Simon that Ananias and Sapphira received. I believe Peter is exercising “Kingdom authority” in both passages, and that we have another window on what life in the Kingdom will be like. As I’ve said before, praise God that He is now being patient with men and their sins, and is not dealing with sin as we see in the case of Simon the Magician!
Some may say that Simon was just backslidden, and was calloused toward the Holy Spirit. Believers today can certainly fall into that trap, sinning with apparent impunity. But Simon had not received the Holy Spirit yet, even though he was a believer — so how could he become calloused toward Him? Simon had been a believer for only a few days, and was still in that heady time all new believers experience. When would he have had time to backslide? What’s more, Simon’s response is one of immediate repentance, asking Peter and John to pray for him so that none of Peter’s judgements upon him would happen. I believe that if Simon had not responded in repentance, his fate would indeed have been the same as unrepentant Ananias and Sapphira.
Was Peter being “territorial” about the ability to confer the Holy Spirit upon believers by the laying on of hands? I don’t think so. He possessed, after all, the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. He knew the authority that had been given to him alone, to him and the other apostles, and not to others. But Peter was in for a surprise a little later when preaching to Gentiles in the household of Cornelius in Caesarea…
Our passage closes with verse 25. Following these events in the city of Samaria, Peter and John started the return journey to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel as they passed through villages along the way. (Important Note: Peter and John now have experienced preaching to Gentiles. You’ll need to know this when we study Peter’s vision in Chapter 10!) Philip, however, receives different instructions. Directly from an angel, no less!
