Acts 19:1-6
1-3. while Apollos was at Corinth—where his ministry was so powerful that a formidable party in the Church of that city gloried in his type of preaching in preference to Paul's (1Co 1:12; 3:4), no doubt from the marked infusion of Greek philosophic culture which distinguished it, and which the apostle studiously avoided (1Co 2:1-5).
Paul having passed through the upper coasts—"parts," the interior of Asia Minor, which, with reference to the seacoast, was elevated. came to Ephesus—thus fulfilling his promise (Ac 18:21). finding certain disciples—in the same stage of Christian knowledge as Apollos at first, newly arrived, probably, and having had no communication as yet with the church at Ephesus.2. Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?—rather, "Received ye the Holy Ghost when ye believed?" implying, certainly, that the one did not of necessity carry the other along with it (see on Ac 8:14-17). Why this question was asked, we cannot tell; but it was probably in consequence of something that passed between them from which the apostle was led to suspect the imperfection of their light.
We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost—This cannot be the meaning, since the personality and office of the Holy Ghost, in connection with Christ, formed an especial subject of the Baptist's teaching. Literally, the words are, "We did not even hear whether the Holy Ghost was (given)"; meaning, at the time of their baptism. That the word "given" is the right supplement, as in Joh 7:39, seems plain from the nature of the case.1-3. while Apollos was at Corinth—where his ministry was so powerful that a formidable party in the Church of that city gloried in his type of preaching in preference to Paul's (1Co 1:12; 3:4), no doubt from the marked infusion of Greek philosophic culture which distinguished it, and which the apostle studiously avoided (1Co 2:1-5).
Paul having passed through the upper coasts—"parts," the interior of Asia Minor, which, with reference to the seacoast, was elevated. came to Ephesus—thus fulfilling his promise (Ac 18:21). finding certain disciples—in the same stage of Christian knowledge as Apollos at first, newly arrived, probably, and having had no communication as yet with the church at Ephesus.4. Then said Paul, John . . . baptized with the baptism of repentance—water unto repentance.
saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him—that is, who should baptize with the Holy Ghost. The point of contrast is not between John and Christ personally, but between the water baptism of John unto repentance, and the promised baptism of the Spirit from the hands of his coming Master unto new life. As to all the facts, or at least the significancy, of this baptism, which made the whole life and work of Christ another thing from what it was conceived to be before it was vouchsafed, these simple disciples were unenlightened.5-7. When they heard this—not the mere words reported in Ac 19:4, but the subject expounded according to the tenor of those words.
they were baptized—not however by Paul himself (1Co 1:14). in the name of the Lord Jesus—into the whole fulness of the new economy, as now opened up to their believing minds.6. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them . . . they spake with tongues, &c.—See on Ac 10:44,45.
Romans 8:16
16. The Spirit itself—It should be "Himself" (see on Ro 8:26).
beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children—"are children" of God—The testimony of our own spirit is borne in that cry of conscious sonship, "Abba, Father"; but we are not therein alone; for the Holy Ghost within us, yea, even in that very cry which it is His to draw forth, sets His own distinct seal to ours; and thus, "in the mouth of two witnesses" the thing is established. The apostle had before called us "sons of God," referring to our adoption; here the word changes to "children," referring to our new birth. The one expresses the dignity to which we are admitted; the other the new life which we receive. The latter is more suitable here; because a son by adoption might not be heir of the property, whereas a son by birth certainly is, and this is what the apostle is now coming to.Romans 8:23
23. And not only they, but ourselves also—or "not only [so], but even we ourselves"—that is, besides the inanimate creation.
which have the first-fruits of the Spirit—or, "the Spirit as the first-fruits" of our full redemption (compare 2Co 1:22), moulding the heart to a heavenly frame and attempering it to its future element. even we ourselves—though we have so much of heaven already within us. groan within ourselves—under this "body of sin and death," and under the manifold "vanity and vexation of spirit" that are written upon every object and every pursuit and every enjoyment under the sun. waiting for the—manifestation of our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body—from the grave: "not (be it observed) the deliverance of ourselves from the body, but the redemption of the body itself from the grave" [BENGEL].1 John 3:24
24. dwelleth in him—The believer dwelleth in Christ.
and he in him—Christ in the believer. Reciprocity. "Thus he returns to the great keynote of the Epistle, abide in Him, with which the former part concluded" (1Jo 2:28). hereby—herein we (believers) know that he abideth in us, namely, from (the presence in us of) the Spirit "which He hath given us." Thus he prepares, by the mention of the true Spirit, for the transition to the false "spirit," 1Jo 4:1-6; after which he returns again to the subject of love.