Today’s passage: Acts 8:9-25
Helpful thoughts:
- Simon’s “belief” could be compared to the belief of those in John 2:23-24.
- Simon may have been the first false convert in the history of the church.
- In Jerusalem, the persecution would have prevented others from doing such a thing. In Samaria the positives outweighed any negatives in Simon’s mind.
- Early church fathers claimed Simon as a founder of Gnosticism.
- Simon never repents in verse 24. He simply begs to avoid the consequences.
- The delay in receiving the Spirit in the early church happened when new people groups entered into the church (Acts 10, Acts 19). It happened on these occasions and then did not happen again.
- This benefited the Jews in ending any doubt in their minds that the Samaritans could be their brothers and sisters in Christ.
- It also benefited the Samaritans. They now knew that their faith did not have to exist in isolation, apart from the Jews. The Apostles of the Jewish believers were their Apostles as well. They were now one people in the Kingdom of God.
Questions to consider:
- What was it that attracted Simon to Christianity? What did he value more than Jesus Christ? Was he interested in following Jesus or did it seem he thought he’d found a new and more powerful way to gain more followers for himself?
- What environment was conducive to seeing a first false convert? In what atmosphere might a lost person find it advantageous to play along for personal gain? How have those kinds of conditions existed in different ways throughout history since the days of the early church? (Think Europe, the powers of the Pope in the Middle Ages, Christian nations in the west, etc.)
- What fruit would we have seen had Simon’s conversion been genuine? How would this passage have been different? What does true conversion result in for Christians?