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Acts 19:1-5 PROFESSED BELIEVERS REBAPTIZED 

Introduction:

	In our previous text Luke turned his attention away from the ministry of 
the Apostle Paul long enough to tell us about the ministry of Apollos at Ephesus 
and Corinth.  In out text today Luke turns his attention back to Paul and tells 
us about Paul requiring some professed believers to be rebaptized.  

I.  Paul’s return to Ephesus and his encounter with certain disciples

	V. 1, “And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul 
having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain 
disciples.”  In this text Paul returns to the city of Ephesus and to the church 
which he had earlier organized there.  In our previous chapter Paul had made a 
very brief stop in the city of Ephesus and preached the gospel in the Jewish 
synagogue.  Surprisingly Paul was exceptionally well received by the Jews of 
that synagogue.  A goodly number of them were saved and a church was organized 
even though Paul was only there for a very short period of time.  
	When Paul announced that he must move on to Jerusalem to keep a special 
feast day there he was begged to stay at Ephesus for a longer period of time to 
teach the people more about Jesus.  But it was urgent for Paul to leave because 
of a religious vow that he had made and fulfilled.  The time element in his vow 
was completed and the Jewish law required him to shave his head and burn the 
hair at the altar at Jerusalem.  He had shaved his head back in Cenchrea and he 
wanted to burn the hair on the altar at Jerusalem during the special feast day.  
But before leaving Ephesus he did promise the brethren there that he would 
return. 
	Then Paul left Ephesus and made his journey to Jerusalem where he would 
burn the hair which he had shaved from his head on the altar in keeping with the 
Mosaic law.  After that he left Jerusalem and returned to Antioch of Syria where 
he have a report of his mission work to his sponsoring church.  
	When Paul left Antioch to begin a new missionary tour he was starting his 
third and final missionary tour.  He traveled overland through what Luke calls 
“the upper coasts.”  This would carry him through Galatia and Phrygia.  Luke 
does not say so, but it is almost certain that he revisited churches in those 
areas which he had earlier established and sought to strengthen those churches.  
It is possible that he visited some cities which he had not previously visited 
and established new churches in those cities.  But if he did, Luke says nothing 
about it.  
	Instead, Luke says that Paul moved on through the highlands of Galatia and 
Phrygia and moved to the lower coastland city of Ephesus.  He returned to keep 
the promise that he had made that church when he had left.  
	Luke tells us that upon Paul’s arrival at Ephesus he encounters some 
“certain disciples.”  The word, disciple, means “a learner, a student.”  It is 
generally expected that a disciple within the ranks of Christianity is a saved 
person or, at least had made a profession of faith in Jesus.  So since Luke 
calls these people “disciples” it to be understood that they had at least made a 
profession of faith in Jesus.      

II.  Paul’s question about the Holy Spirit

	V. 2, “He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye 
believed?...”  Paul was not doubting their profession of faith in Jesus.  He was 
not doubting their salvation.  He most certainly was not inquiring whether or 
not they had received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit since the time of their 
faith. Paul was fully convinced that at the point of faith in Christ Jesus the 
Holy Spirit comes into every believer. “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the 
Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not 
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”  Paul believed that every believer has 
the Holy Spirit dwelling within and, since, he did not doubt the salvation of 
these men, he believed the Holy Spirit to be dwelling within them.  
	What Paul was inquiring about was the special miraculous gifts such as 
being able to speak in a language not previously learned, being able to heal the 
sick, give sight to the blind, cause the lame to walk, the deaf to hear and 
raise the dead.  These were very important gifts for the early Christians.  The 
New Testament had not been completed at that time and the Christians did not 
have the New Testament scripture to read or quote to their audience.  Therefore, 
the Christians would declare the gospel message and God, Himself would confirm 
this message to be true by the working of miracles through His people.  Yet 
these special gifts were not bestowed at the point of salvation.  So what Paul 
wanted to know was if these men, whom he assumed to be saved, had received any 
of the special miraculous gifts.  It appears that in the event he should find 
out that they had no such gifts, he intended to lay hands on some of them and 
bestow some of the miraculous gifts to them.  They would need such gifts. 
	Paul must have been surprised by their answer.  He must have expected them 
to answer either “Yes” or “No.”  But they didn’t.  (V. 2), “...And they said 
unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.”  These 
men did not even know that the Holy Spirit exists.  
	This answer seemed strange to Paul and caused him to wonder about their 
baptism.  Jesus, in the Great Commission had instructed the Jerusalem church to 
baptize in the name (by the authority) of the Father, the Son and the Holy 
Spirit.  So every believer baptized by a New Testament church should hear about 
the Holy Spirit at his baptism.  So Paul wondered, Who baptized these people and 
what kind of baptism did they V. 3, “And he said unto them, Unto what then were 
ye baptized?...”  Paul could not understand why they had not heard about the 
Holy Spirit when they were baptized.  
	(V. 3), “...And they said, Unto John's baptism.”  They told Paul that they 
were baptized “...unto John’s baptism.”  The most apparent meaning of that 
statement would be that John The Baptist, himself, baptized them.  And this may 
be the right explanation.    Some, however, believe that the statement could 
mean that John, himself, did not baptize them, but that one of John’s followers 
baptized them.  And there is some room for doubt here.  This, too, could 
possibly be the right explanation.  
	One thing about which there should be no doubt, if these people were saved 
and John the Baptist baptized them they had scriptural baptism.  Some folks say 
that this passage of scripture teaches that John’s baptism was no good, but that 
could not be true.  God authorized John to baptism and that is the highest 
authority one could ever have.  Jesus, Himself, went to John and was baptized by 
him.  Jesus, Himself, recognized that John was authorized to baptize.  
Furthermore, if John’s baptism is no good then none of the twelve apostles had 
valid baptism, because all twelve had John’s baptism.  But if the meaning is 
that one of John’s followers baptized them then that is an altogether situation.  
The Bible gives no indication that John’s authority to baptize was passed on by 
him to any of his followers through him.  

III.  Paul’s explanation about John’s baptism and John’s message

	V. 4, “Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of 
repentance...”  This statement does not teach that John’s baptism produced 
repentance.  Rather it means that John baptized only people whom he had reason 
to believe had already repented.  John’s message was that the people were all 
sinners and that they all needed to repent.  In Matthew 3:1-2 we read, “In those 
days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,  And saying, 
Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  When people came to John 
asking to be baptized those whom John had reason to believe had not repented, he 
refused to baptize.  In verses 7 and 8 we read, “But when he saw many of the 
Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of 
vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bring forth 
therefore fruits meet for repentance.”  If they would bring forth evidence that 
they had repented, he would baptize them.
	(V. 4), “...saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which 
should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”  In addition to preaching that 
men need to repent, John preached that men need to believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ.  In essence John’s message was:  Repent of your sins, believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ.

IV.  The people’s reaction to Paul’s explanation
  
	V. 5, “When they heard [this], they were baptized in the name of the Lord 
Jesus.”  The question is:  When they heard what?   The answer is that they heard 
Paul’s explanation that John’s message required one to repent of his sin and 
place his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  It was at this explanation that they 
responded by presenting themselves for baptism.  
	This indicates several important things.  For one thing it indicates that 
either they had never heard John personally, but had only heard one of John’s 
followers.  If that be the case then they must have been baptized by one of 
John’s followers and not by John himself.  On the other hand, it could indicate 
that they did hear John preach and may have been baptized by John personally, 
but that they had failed to get the point that John was making.  In other words, 
they, like many today, may have gotten baptized by John just because many others 
were doing so.  
	It also indicates that they had never repented of their sin and that they 
had never trusted in Jesus the Christ.  What is more important, it indicates 
that now that they did understand that repentance of sin and faith in Jesus 
Christ is necessary that they did both.  They repented of their sin and they 
trusted in Jesus to save them from their sin.  Having done this, they presented 
themselves to the church there at Ephesus and were baptized.  
	There is another important part of verse 5 that we should take note of.  
Luke said that they were baptized in the name of Jesus.  There are those of our 
day who take this to mean that the instructions which Jesus gave in the Great 
Commission were changed at this point in Christianity.  In the Great Commission 
Jesus instructed that baptism should be done in the name of God the Father, God 
the Son and God the Holy Spirit --- all three.   Yet a large number of people 
today say that this procedure was changed in this text and that it is now wrong 
to baptize in the name of all three --- in the name of the Father, the Son and 
the Holy Spirit.  They say that the procedure has been changed and that we 
should baptize only in the name of Jesus.  They say that the name of the Father 
and the Holy Spirit should not be used.  They make a big issue of this.  They 
are emphatic about it.  
	But what does the expression mean which says that they were baptized in 
the name of Jesus?  It means that they were baptized by the authority of Jesus.  
It means that it was by the authority of Jesus that the church baptizes the 
repentant believer.  Now let me ask another question:  How in the world can a 
church baptize by the authority of Jesus without baptizing by the authority of 
all three?  God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are so united 
that it would be impossible to baptize by the authority of one without baptizing 
by the authority of all three.  So even if the name of the Father and the name 
of the Holy Spirit were not used in the ceremony it would still be in the name 
of all three in the sense that it is by the authority of all three.  

V.  Some lessons which we should learn

	We should learn that salvation should come before baptism.  The men in 
this passage had made a profession of faith and had what they thought was 
scriptural baptism, but they were still unsaved.  They did not even know how to 
be saved.  They did not know that repentance and faith in Jesus Christ is 
necessary for salvation.  They evidently thought that if you make a profession 
of faith and get baptized that you are saved.  They made a profession of faith 
and they got ducked in the water and they thought they were ready for heaven.  
It is a shame that all too many people today think the same thing.  They have 
walked the aisle of a church.  They have taken the preacher by the hand and made 
a profession of faith.  They have been put down into the water and baptized and 
they think they are prepared to die.  But they are not prepared to die and they 
won’t be until they repent of their sin and trust Jesus Christ for salvation.  
	We not only learn that salvation should come before baptism, but we also 
learn that baptism which takes place prior to salvation is not valid baptism.  
Baptism is designed to help show that one has been saved and if one is unsaved 
he does not qualify as a candidate for baptism.  In Acts 8:36 the Ethiopian 
Eunuch asked Philip, “What doth hinder me to be baptized?”  In verse 37 Philip 
answered, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.”  If one truly 
believes in Jesus for salvation, he is saved and because he is saved he 
qualifies for scriptural baptism.  But if one had not believed in Jesus as his 
Savior with all his heart he is still lost and does not qualify for baptism.  If 
he is baptized anyway even though he does not qualify for it his baptism is not 
valid.  God does not consider him to be really baptized.  He was dipped in 
water, but he does not have scriptural baptism.  
	Also from this passage of scripture we learn that valid baptism can only 
be administered by the proper authority.  John The Baptist had proper authority 
to baptize.  I told you earlier in this message that God the Father authorized 
John the Baptist to baptize.  If John did not have the proper authority then 
Jesus would never have come to John asking John to baptize Him.  Jesus most 
certainly had the proper authority to baptize.  In the Great Commission which 
Jesus gave to the church Jesus spoke of Himself and said that He had all 
authority both in heaven and in earth.  Jesus is One of the Holy Trinity.  He is 
Holy God.  He certainly has the authority to baptize or to do anything else that 
He wants to do.  A local scriptural New Testament church has authority to 
baptize.  In the Great Commission Jesus instructed the local church to baptize.  
He who has all authority in heaven and earth authorized a local New Testament 
church to baptize.  Now not everything that calls itself a church has heaven’s 
authority to baptize.  Only those churches which teach and preach and practice 
the basic doctrines which Jesus taught the church at Jerusalem to teach, preach 
and practice qualify to administer scriptural baptism.  Only those churches 
which practice immersion in water scripturally baptize.  Those churches which 
practice baptism to try to help get the candidate into heaven do not qualify for 
baptism.  Only those kind of churches whose doctinal faith and practice dates 
back to the days of Christ on earth can administer scriptural baptism.  
	We also learn that everyone who been saved should be baptized.  Once the 
men involved in this text got genuinely saved they got baptized.  Even though 
they had earlier thought that they already had scriptural baptism, when they 
discovered that they did not have scriptural baptism they got baptized.  In the 
Great Commission Jesus instructed that the gospel be preached to the unsaved.  
He further instructed that once the individual got saved and became a disciple 
of the Lord Jesus that the church was to baptize him.  This implies that the new 
convert is to present himself to the church as a candidate for baptism.  
	Listen, you who are saved who have never been baptized ought to be 
baptized.  You do not have to get baptized in order to go to heaven, but you do 
have to get baptized in order to please the Lord.  He wants every saved person 
to get baptized.  If you were baptized prior to getting saved, your first 
baptism was not a valid baptism and you still need to be baptized.  God wants 
every saved person to be baptized with scriptural baptism and you do not have 
it.  So you still need to be baptized.  If you were baptized by a church which 
was founded by some man (or woman) this side of the time of Christ on earth, 
then you need scriptural baptism.  You still do not have scriptural baptism and 
you need to be baptized.  

Conclusion:  

	When you got baptized did your realize that you are an unworthy sinner 
lost and hell bound?  Did you trust fully in Jesus to save your soul or did you 
depend partly on your baptism to get you into heaven.  If so, then you need to 
Jesus and Jesus only to save your soul.  Then after you do trust Jesus and Jesus 
only to save your soul, you need to come forward as a candidate for scriptural 
baptism and let the church baptize you.  
	Will you come?