CONVERSIONS IN THE BOOK OF ACTS

I once had a conversation with a friend of mine who was a charismatic Catholic concerning the subject of speaking in tongues. He had been taught that it should follow a profession of faith as perhaps a necessary sign of salvation. While I, as an evangelical Christian, was hoping to convince him that water baptism was the event that should follow a conversion experience, rather than happening before conversion. We decided to go through the Book of Acts to see what it had to say on this matter.

In our study we excluded the summary statements in Acts which give no details other than just say a number of people believed and were added to the church. That left us with the following occasions discussed below:

Acts 2: At the day of Pentacost we are told that about 3,000 believed the apostles, were baptized, and devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. The breaking of bread, according to most commentators consisted of what we would call a church pot-luck dinner at which communion was celebrated. This emphasis on table fellowship is seen by the repetition of the phrase “breaking of bread” in vv. 42 and 44, and is probably also included in the word “fellowship” in v. 42. Although the apostles obviously spoke in tongues on that occasion, there is no mention of any of their followers doing so. In addition, this type of tongue-speaking appears to differ from that seen later in the church. (See my post entitled “Tongue Speaking: Pentacost [Acts 2:1-21].”)

Acts 8:12-13: These verses mark a major expansion of the gospel in that Philip preached to a group of Samaritans, who accept the word and are baptized. When Peter and John hear about this event later, they visit those new converts and pray that they will receive the Holy Spirit. At that point the converts begin to speak in tongues.

Acts 8:34-39: Later in ch. 8, Philip has the opportunity to preach to an Ethiopian eunuch. As a result, the eunuch believes and expresses the desire to immediately become baptized. His first response after rising from the water is to rejoice.

Acts 9:18-19: After Ananias preaches to the blinded Saul, the latter is baptized and eats food with Ananias as his first response.

Acts 10:44-48 describes the first definite conversion of a group of Gentiles (Cornelius, his family, and his friends). Peter and his companions witness the giving of the Holy Spirit to those who believed, evidenced by the Gentiles speaking in tongues. Water baptism then followed and an invitation for Peter and companions to stay with them. Peter is criticized (Acts 11:1-3) for eating with such Gentiles on that occasion.

Acts 16:11-15: Following Lydia's conversion, she is baptized and sets food before Paul and Silas to eat. She is said to have rejoiced.

Acts 18:8: Crispus and his house become baptized after hearing the message and responding.

Acts 19:1-7: Some Ephesian disciples of John the Baptist who had been earlier baptized with the baptism of repentance are given further revelations regarding Jesus Christ by Paul. When they accept Christ, Paul baptizes them in the name of Jesus and lays his hands upon them for them to receive the Holy Spirit. At that point, they begin to speak in tongues and prophesy.

In case you haven't been keeping track, water baptism is the common factor in all eight cases; four times baptism is followed by desire for fellowship with other believers, all involving a common meal; twice it states specifically that the converts rejoiced; and three times speaking with tongues was involved. Concerning the last occasions, it has often been pointed out that each case marked a major advance of the gospel to a different people group (Samaritans, Gentiles, and followers of John the Baptist) in which it appeared necessary that some apostle be present in order to witness the occurrence and report it back to the home church in Jerusalem. These three occasions also depart from the usual pattern in Acts in other ways:

    Acts 8:12-13: There is a considerable lapse of time between the Samaritans' baptism and their speaking in tongues.

    Acts 10:44-48: In the case of Cornelius, speaking in tongues actually precedes baptism.

    Acts 19:1-7: With the followers of John, speaking in tongues follows what is in effect a second baptism for each of them.

So, although we should always be cautious in regard to taking an historical pattern and turning it into a prescribed behavior for today's situation, it is safe to say that a true believer should also be baptized and find a group of fellow believers with whom to have fellowship.