True And False Conversions Series

TRUE AND FALSE CONVERSIONS

Warsaw Christian Church, Richard Bowman, Pastor Emeritus

Text, Acts 8

In Acts chapter 8, we see two conversions. One turns out to be false, the other true. Two men are confronted with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Both say, “I believe.” One is told he is going to hell. The other is a redeemed soul. How can that be?

We begin with a man named Simon. His story begins in chapter 8:9. Phillip goes to the city of Samaria and preaches Christ. Many come to faith, and there is great joy in that city. In the name of Jesus, great healing miracles take place. Simon practiced sorcery and had a reputation as a great magician. He apparently was very good at his trade, as the people of Samaria referred to him as “someone great.”

Simon listens to Phillips proclaiming the name of Jesus. Being a magician himself, he is much impressed with the miracles wrought by Phillip. He professes faith and is baptized. Later, word was sent to the apostles that many converts had been made in Samaria. Peter and John were sent to these new Christians. They had been baptized in water, but the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon them in power. Peter and John lay hands on the Samaritan believers and pray for them, and the Holy Spirit falls upon them with power. Simon witnesses this and is impressed with what he sees when the Holy Spirit is given. We are not told exactly what happened when the Spirit fell, but we can assume, from Pentecost and Cornelius' household, that they spoke in tongues. In any event, something miraculous took place, and Simon is very interested in receiving this power. He wants to add to his bag of magic tricks.

Simon approaches Peter. “Hey Peter, that was a neat trick. I will pay you handsomely if you will teach it to me.” Peter’s response is very direct. “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” (Acts 8:20-23).

Simon sobers up in a hurry when he hears Peter’s words. He responds, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.” (Acts 8:24). What became of Simon we are not told. We do know that his name has come down to us today to define a particular sin. How many of you have heard of “simony?” ------ It is a sin named after Simon the sorcerer. It refers to the act of buying or selling spiritual powers or offices.

If I were to say to you, “If you will give me $1000, I will teach you how to speak in tongues,” I would be guilty of simony. Or, if I were asked to conduct a funeral for a man I had never met and I said to the family, “If you want me to say kind things about the deceased, it will cost you $500,” I would again be guilty of simony. Of course, I would never do any of those things, but you get the idea. Simony is the practice of charging people for spiritual power or favors.

Let us leave Simon for now and return to him later. The second conversion story involves Phillip preaching to an Ethiopian, a very high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He is the Jackie Barb of Ethiopia, in charge of the treasury. The person in charge of the money is always a highly respected, trustworthy individual. Phillip is inspired to go to the Gaza Road and meet this official. Phillip finds that he is reading from the Book of Isaiah. The Ethiopian quotes a passage about a sheep being led to the slaughter and asks Phillip who the prophet is talking about. Phillip let him know that the subject of Isaiah’s prophecy was Jesus, and he preached Jesus to the Ethiopian.

This honest man is truly seeking the truth, and as the Gospel is proclaimed to him, faith is born in his heart. He asks to be baptized, a sign that his faith is genuine. Phillip says this: “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The Ethiopian answers quickly, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” And so, Phillip baptizes him. We hear no more about this Ethiopian official.

Having heard two “conversion” stories, it is time to contrast true and false conversion. The issue is this: what constitutes saving faith? Luke tells us about two men: both believed and were baptized. But one is lost, the other is redeemed. There is an important principle here that we need to extract from the text. Let’s return to Simon.