ACTS

In this section:

ACTS 5 ANANIAS & SAPPHIRA, ACTS 8 SIMON THE SORCERER, ACTS 13:8, 14:22

Coming into the book of Acts, there are certain specific points concerning salvation, and belief, that need to be addressed. Namely, there is a more comprehensive biblical understanding of belief, than many in the NEST will choose to admit. Foremost, it must be understood that salvation is demonstrated in the Bible, as not merely being belief that Jesus is the Messiah. We find this demonstrated clearly in various Bible passages. We see it in the parable of Luke 8:13, where Jesus describes particular types of people concerning the announcement of the kingdom;

"13 Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away." (Luke 8:13 emph. mine)

Jesus is describing rocky soil Israelites who reject the Messianic kingdom that Jesus is proclaiming. This type of person initially receives the news that the promised Messiah has come according to the Davidic covenant, as Jesus says, "when they hear," and so it is at that point of "joy" at initial hearing that the prospect of there finally being the Messianic rule and reign in Israel's midst that they, as Mark says concerning the initial excitement,

"when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy." (Mark 4:16 emph. mine)

This type of person receives the word (the announcement) quickly in psychological exuberance at the prospect of a Messianic kingdom. They believe the announcement for a while, but, they do not believe in, and receive, Messiah, through supernatural spiritual rooting as a miracle work of God--the rooting that endures as a matter of eternal spiritual salvation. So, when the testing of true salvation comes, those rocky hearted Jews, who were always rocky hearted Jews, fell by the wayside, which revealed that they believed in the heralding of the kingdom, yet did not have true, saving faith in the King of the kingdom. They have no "firm root" in themselves as we read,

"16 In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places [which is the rocky "heart" according to Matthew 13:19], who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away." (Mark 4:16-17 emph. mine)

Believing does not matter unless the firm root is there, as Mark says, "in themselves." Salvation is a miracle. The firm root is not placed in anyone's own self by humanistic self effort. It is placed there by the sovereign hand of God. We find a similar example of unsaving belief in Messiah spoken of in John 2. The context is that Jesus just healed a man, and this action really amazes the Israelite crowds. Listen to the detail,

"23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed [Greek, ejpivsteusan, pisteuo] in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. 24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting [Greek, ejpivsteuen, pisteuo] Himself to them, for He knew all men, 25 and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man." (John 2:23-25)

We must notice that the same Greek word used to describe the Israelites believing in Messiah's name because of seeing the signs, is the same Greek word used to describe that Jesus, on His part, did not believe, as in entrust Himself to those same Israelites. The reason is because Jesus knew what was really in man. He knew which people had rocky hearts, and which ones did not. If there is no firm root of true saving faith that comes from God's effectual call, in such hardened superficial people, then Jesus does not believe in these superficial believing Jews. Jesus was not surprised by what was in people. He always knew what kind of heart, and what kind of rooting was really there. We find other examples of deficient belief recorded for us in the scriptures. For example, such deficient belief is demonstrated in the kind of belief that the demons have, where we read James describing its deficiency,

"19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder." (James 2:19)

The demons believe in Christ enough to shudder, but of course, they are lost--doomed forever. Clearly, there is a type of belief, that is not belief that occurs by miracle in salvation. Further, we see unsaving temporary belief that comes from the unsaved that is absent of Holy Spirit persuasion, being demonstrated in the profession of faith of the unsaved woman who followed Paul around announcing her demonically inspired herald, where we read in Acts 16,

"It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortunetelling. 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, 'These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.' 18 She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment." (Acts 16:16-18)

The woman's statement of faith was a demonically inspired statement of faith, and yet the very statement was completely accurate;

"These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." (Acts 16:17)

The reason why those who believe in the NEST, do not use this passage to try and prove that one can lose salvation, is because there are too many details in the passage to demonstrate that this pagan woman was never actually saved at any time (NASAAT). Nevertheless, in this passage, we see a lost woman declaring the gospel truth in a statement of faith, but her belief is coming from a demon, rather than a saved heart, which comes by a miracle work of God. Another example is seen in those Judaizers that Paul kept running into within the first generation of the New Covenant. They are first mentioned in Acts 15. Paul rebukes them in His Galatians epistle as separating themselves from the justifying work of Messiah by seeking to be justified by works. They were Israelites who believed the basic preaching of the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, (cf. the message in Acts 8:12). They believed in Jesus as the promised Messiah; they believed He was the Son of God, they believed about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, but they also believed that keeping the Old Covenant Law was necessary for justification. Therefore, they were not saved. In Galatians, Romans, and so many other epistles, Paul makes it crystal clear that such people, though having a type of belief in Christ, are lost--severed from Christ and His justifying work. The point is that there is belief in Jesus described in the Bible that does not save. So when we read such passages as,

"I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies," (John 11:25)

"so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:15-16)

then we realize that such passages are asserting that believing in Jesus, must be the type, and kind, of belief concerning Jesus that actually does save. This fact is so important, because the fullness of the rest of scripture demonstrates to us today, that salvation is our reconciliation to God through the atoning, propitiating, sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ that occurs by miracle. Salvation is where we are made righteous through that atonement and propitiation through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, (cf. Romans 3:22-25, Galatians 2:16). Salvation is being made "sons of God through faith," (cf. Galatians 3:26, John 1:12). Salvation is Christ dwelling in our hearts through faith, (cf. Ephesians 3:17). Salvation is not just through faith, but by faith, of which we are declared righteous, (cf. Romans 5:1). It is by faith that our hearts are cleansed, (cf. Acts 15:9). Being sanctified occurs by faith in Christ, (cf. Acts 26:18);

"We are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith." (Romans 3:24-25)

God shows us over and over again, that saving faith is not the salvation itself. Salvation is a free gift from God that comes through, and by, faith for the salvation. Salvation comes from faith in Jesus Christ, as we read the order in Romans,

"if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (Romans 10:9-10)

Notice that believing in one's heart, which is the definition of true saving faith, comes first; the righteousness that only comes in the sphere of salvation is the result. This type of belief is the opposite of that superficial belief that can not take root, as Jesus says, in the rocky heart. This is what we see in Ephesians 2:8;

"8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus ..." (Ephesians 2:8)

We have been saved, not as faith, but rather through, and by faith that is a gift from God (see footnote 1 below). But, the question remains then, that if we are unsaved and in bondage to sin, can we, and do we, freely believe? In other words, while not saved, do we freely believe in the same manner that we freely choose? The answer is "yes we do." But the problem is that while we are not saved, and absent of any enabling help from God, we freely believe according to our singular sin natures. An unsaved person believes, but believes according to a sin nature that is bound in complete rejection of, and separation from Jehovah. Therefore, an unsaved person freely believes according to the person's bound nature. And so the person will not, left to himself, believe in Christ Jesus for biblically defined salvation. Rather, the person, bound to the sin nature, will believe in false gods, a false idea of Jesus, and in false methods of salvation. The unsaved can freely believe that Jesus was a man, and even a prophet of God who performed miracles, like Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims believe; and many Judaizers, believed. The unsaved can superficially believe the preaching of the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, but, the problem is that the unsaved can freely believe from their singular sin bound natures, in every way, except for believing in the supernatural way of salvation. The unsaved will not freely believe in Christ Jesus unto salvation, unless they are enabled to do so through supernatural intervention. The question then, is how does this happen? It happens, in that while sinners, God enables them to believe unto salvation through a supernatural work, in which He cosmically rescues them against their bound state, and their previous willing, thus changing them, enabling them, and guaranteeing (effectually) that they will freely receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. In other words, faith in God, and His way of salvation, is not something that the unregenerate are able to generate, create, do, or will from their own lost selves. Faith is a gift of enablement that God bestows unto His elect, so that they will be empowered to, and will definitely, practice in freely choosing Him with great pleasure at what they are doing, thus being certainly redeemed in His effectual call. We do not invent these facts, because they come from God's revelation to us as we look to God's word to understand,

"8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus ..." (Ephesians 2:8 emph. mine)

Paul is saying that the grace that saves us, the salvation itself, and the faith that we are saved through, are all three gifts from God. We give ourselves none of them, we generate none of them on our own, and none of them are a result of our own works. You take away any credit from man for any of those three: grace, salvation, and the faith through which you have been saved, then you take away any fodder for humanistic boasting (See footnote 1 at bottom for Greek syntax). People who recognize these facts, are people that glory in God alone. Peter explains the same thing concerning the unique gift of saving faith as he addresses his second epistle, saying,

"To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:" (2 Peter 1:1 emph. mine)

Saving faith is a grant to us that we receive from God. As saving faith, it is a faith of the same kind as the apostle's faith. So, in humbleness, we recognize that our faith in Christ for salvation is by grace; our salvation is by grace, and so we do not boast in generating our own faith. Paul says it to the Philippians,

"29 For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, ... to believe in Him," (Philippians 1:29 emph. mine)

Paul is directing this to the saved Philippians. Additionally, saving belief is not merely granted to us for our sakes, but it has been granted for Christ's sake. Further, we do not grant it to ourselves. More, we do not grant it from ourselves to God. No, God grants it to those whom He elected, thus demonstrating that to believe in Messiah, in saving faith, is granted from God, who takes away a heart of rock, and puts a heart of flesh in its place as a matter of miracle, as was foretold by God in the ancient prophecy of Ezekial 36:26-27. We see Jesus stating the same principle in John,

"28 Therefore they [Christ's students] said to Him, 'What shall we do, so that we may work the deeds of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the deed of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." (John 6:28-29 emph. mine)

Savingly believing in Him, whom God has sent, is the deed of God. Belief is what man does, yet it is God who works it in those whom He elects, both to will and to work for His own good pleasure, or as the great baptist commentator of 1700's England, John Gill, as he so eloquently expounds on John 6:28-29, says,

"... this is of the operation of God, which he himself works in men; it is not of themselves, it is the pure gift of God: "that ye believe on him whom he hath sent;" there are other works which are well pleasing to God, when rightly performed, but faith is the chief work, and others are only acceptable when done in the faith of Christ. This, as a principle, is purely God's work; as it is an act, or as it is exercised under the influence of divine grace, it is man's act: "that ye believe"; the object of it is Christ, as sent by the Father, as the Mediator between God and men, as appointed by him to be the Saviour and Redeemer; and believing in Christ, is believing in God that sent him."--John Gill

It is a beautiful lesson for us to learn from Christ's own words, that saving faith is a gift, and yet it is a work, but it is the work of God which he himself works in men. In Romans 3, Paul says that we are not justified by "works of the Law," (cf. Romans 3:28), but rather by the "law of faith," (cf. Romans 27), and of course, we are not justified by merely human works, but the very fact that we have faith unto salvation is a demonstration that we are working the work of God in our God softened hearts which He, as His work, has placed there which fulfills the "law of faith."

All of these things concerning belief, are important details to consider as we approach the analyzation of certain historic characters mentioned in the Acts chronicle.

ACTS 5 (ANANIAS & SAPPHIRA)

Our first passage is out of chapter 5, and it primarily has to do with a husband and wife named Ananias;

"a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife's full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles' feet. 3 But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.' 5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it. 6 The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him. 7 Now there elapsed an interval of about three hours, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter responded to her, 'Tell me whether you sold the land for such and such a price?' And she said, 'Yes, that was the price.' 9 Then Peter said to her, 'Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.' 10 And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things. 12 At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people;" (Acts 5:1-12)

There are some who believe in the NEST, who particularly like to make determinations concerning certain Bible characters in respect to declaring their salvation status, and they like to do it as if it is a matter of clear cut fact. The practice is manifested in the theory that at one time the various characters in question were actually spiritually saved, and then later on, they lost their salvation. Adherents to the NEST practice this type of assertive speculation even when there is not sufficient evidence to conclusively prove the salvation status of the individuals that are pointed to. Ananias and Sapphira are two such people. What is suggested concerning Ananias and Sapphira, is that it is a certainty that they were spiritually saved, and that they, (according to unquestionable certainty), must have lost their previous state of spiritual salvation. The NEST is wrong, and this is easy to recognize from the only data that we have concerning Ananias and Sapphira, which is our Acts 5 text under study.

As a first consideration, there is no proof of certainty found anywhere in the text that Ananias and Sapphira were spiritually saved--spiritually saved meaning that they must have been born again people under the New Covenant. For starters, in Acts 5:3, Peter speaks of Satan filling Ananias' heart to lie to the Holy Spirit. A good question to ask concerning Peter's comment, is, "Does Satan have the power to fill the hearts of saved people?" If any Christian answers "yes" to that question, then we must ask; If Satan has the power to fill your heart to lie against the Holy Spirit, how do you know that you are not doing such a thing right now? Maybe you are lying to yourself, everybody else, including the Holy Spirit, but the problem for you is that you do not know. You do not know, because after all, Satan (the prince of liars) may have filled your heart, and so you may be deceived. So, in your deception, you can not even discern whether or not you are truly saved, whether you are telling the truth, or whether you are lying.

The truth of the matter is that if you are truly saved, you can be assured that Satan has not filled your heart, or any truly saved person's heart to lie to the Holy Spirit. Further, the Bible has no teaching in it that states that Satan mystically fills the hearts of God's elect. Nevertheless, let us say, for the sake of argument, that Peter is only being symbolic in what he said. In other words, he is using metaphoric styled poetic language, so he is just speaking of the evil thought in the evil intending heart of Ananias, and Peter does not really mean that Satan actually put it there. This might explain verse 4, where Peter says,

"Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.'" (Acts 5:4)

Ananias is not Satan, and yet Peter clearly says that Ananias is the one who conceived in his own heart what Satan filled his heart to do. So, maybe Ananias was not saved, but then again, maybe he was. Maybe both he and his wife were saved, and so they, as saved people, conceived the evil deed in their hearts. Maybe being saved is why Ananias and Sapphira gave money to the apostles. Yes, they gave money to the apostles, but we must be honest and ask; since when is giving money to other Christians supposed to be decisive proof of anyone's salvation? There are people who are not Christians, who give money to Christians all the time. Giving money to other Christians, does not make those people any more saved or unsaved than they already are. It is presumptuously illogical to conclude that someone is saved simply because they give to Christians.

More questions emerge:

A) Did not great fear come upon the whole church at God striking down these two, dead? (cf. Acts 5:11)

B) Does the fact that the "whole church" experiencing great fear mean that Ananias, and Sapphira were truly saved?

Certainly, great fear came upon the whole church when Ananias, and Sapphira were struck down dead, but great fear among Christians concerning the supernatural killing of two people does not constitute decisive proof that these two were truly spiritually saved, or not truly spiritually saved. Fear comes for many reasons. The church may have feared because such a morbid thing was unexpected, and since they probably knew Ananias and Sapphira personally, such death was rather shocking. Further, there was no revelation from God concerning when, or if, this might happen again, and so lack of doctrinal stability in the blossoming church of the first months of the New Covenant, would logically have the whole church wondering whether other unexpected deaths may occur. It is more than likely that the early church had never seen or heard anything like this happening in their midst. The point is that the church may have feared for any number of reasons. Actually, according to verse 5, everyone who heard the story feared, which at the point of verse 5, the church is not yet mentioned. The point is that such a verifiable story would bring chills to both the unsaved, and to the saved.

The main point is that there is nothing in the esoteric text to decisively prove that the two were saved. The presumptuousness of the NEST is mere speculative bias at this point if indeed it is asserted as a matter of fact that Ananias and Sapphira were spiritually saved. But, then again, maybe they were spiritually saved. So, let us say, for the sake of argument, that Ananias and Sapphira were spiritually saved under the New Covenant by grace through faith; meaning that they were born again, and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. If such be the case, then where do we find anywhere in this text that they lost eternal spiritual salvation? We do not! Just like all NEST oriented philosophies, it is only assumed that Ananias and Sapphira were saved, and then the assumption goes to greater heights of speculation to assert that somewhere in the Bible, it is said that they lost their salvation. In actuality though, what the text really says is that when Ananias,

"heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last." Acts 5:5

Clearly, Ananias died. We do not usually think of instant death as a good thing, but it certainly is not the worse thing to happen to someone. Spiritual lostness is the worse thing. But notice that neither spiritual salvation, or lostness, is mentioned anywhere in the text concerning Ananias. It is not mentioned about him, and it is not mentioned about Sapphira either, as we read,

"Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.' 10 And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead," (Acts 5:9-10)

With the above considerations in mind, we recognize that this passage does not remotely teach that one can lose eternal spiritual salvation, gain salvation by meritorious self effort, or maintain keeping one's salvation secure by humanistic deeds, which of course demonstrates that this passage is in line with the rest of Scripture, which proclaims and defends the great truth of being Once Saved In Eternal Spiritual Salvation (OSIESS), also known as once saved always saved (OSAS), eternal security, and perseverance of the saints.

ACTS 8 (SIMON THE SORCERER)

"5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. 6 The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. 7 For in the case of many who had unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 So there was much rejoicing in that city. 9 Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; 10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, 'This man is what is called the Great Power of God.' 11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. 13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. 14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, 'Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.' 20 But Peter said to him, 'May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Therefore repent of [turn from] this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness [Form the NET Footnotes: "63 tn Gr. “in the gall of bitterness,” an idiom meaning to be particularly envious or resentful of someone. In this case Simon was jealous of the apostles’ power to bestow the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, and wanted that power for himself. The literal phrase does not convey this to the modern reader, and in fact some modern translations have simply rendered the phrase as involving bitterness, which misses the point of the envy on Simon’s part. See L&N 88.166. The OT images come from Duet 29:17-18 and Isa 58:6.] and in the bondage of iniquity [bound to sin].' 24 But Simon answered and said, 'Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.'" (Acts 8:12-24)

In the legacy of determining the state of salvation of particular Bible characters based upon speculation at best, and speciousness at worst, we find people who believe in the NEST being consistent with Simon. What is typically asserted by some who believe in the NEST, is that since Simon believed Philip, and was ceremonially immersed in water, then Simon must necessarily have been truly spiritually saved. The NEST asserts that any kind of belief, when accompanied by baptism, must equate to salvation. Accordingly, with the presupposition that Simon was born again in true spiritual salvation, it is pointed out that Simon goes on to seek to pay for the apostolic ability to lay hands on people so that people can receive the Holy Spirit. Those who believe in the NEST go on to assert that Simon lost salvation.

Starting out, it is important for us to recognize the immediate error of the NEST, which is the same error of presumptuousness concerning the salvation status of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. In other words, according to the data, it is really only a matter of speculation to assert that Simon was truly spiritually saved at any time, which of course means that it is just as speculative to assert that Simon supposedly lost such said state of spiritual salvation at a later time.

/1/
This leads us to our first necessary consideration concerning the only details that we have available on the matter. The Holy Spirit tells us through Luke, (who we believe was moved by the Holy Spirit to write the book of Acts), that Simon believed, but that does not necessarily mean that the Holy Spirit is saying that Simon was spiritually saved. In fact, we must take into account that nowhere in this text do we find the statement being made that Simon was spiritually saved. Simon, could very well be like the people who are mentioned in Luke 8:13; meaning that he could be a rocky soil type person, whose heart is hard, was hard, and always remains hard as rock. If such be the case, then he never experienced the sovereign work of God that God promised to His elect under the New Covenant, as stated in the prophecy given in the Old Covenant;

"26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances." (Ezekial 36:26-27)

What we recognize concerning such people who do not have the heart of stone removed, is that in immediacy, and emotionally, such people receive the word with joy at certain prospects that they want to hear about Messiah and His kingdom, (cf. Mark 4:16), but such people have no firm lasting root of supernaturally bestowed ability, so they only believe for a short while, and then fall away. Testing comes, and so the demonstration of the fact that their heart was really always hardened like a rock is made manifest in the fact that they did not endure in believing in Messiah till the end. It is a demonstration of that same unsaving belief in Messiah that we recognize in John 2:23-25, where the Israelites believed in Messiah after observing His signs He was doing, yet Messiah did not "believe" in them. The demons believe and shudder, (cf. James 2:19), but big deal. Shuddering does not save, or prove you are saved. The unsaved woman who followed Paul around announcing her demonically inspired profession of faith in Acts 16, was lost, but she was believing the facts that "These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming ... the way of salvation." The Judaizers that Paul fought at every turn, believed the preaching of the good news about the Messianic kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ too, but they were cultic infiltrators in God's New Covenant church who also believed that they must be justified in works based righteousness. So, the first consideration is the huge point that Simon is not necessarily being described as being saved anywhere in the text, and further, Simon may be in the same biblical hall of fame of those that demonstrate deficient belief, and so Simon may not really be saved.

/2/
This leads to a second consideration, which concerns Peter's words in chastising Simon. There is evidence in those words that indicates that Simon was not really saved when approaching Peter, as we read,

"20 But Peter said to him, 'May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Therefore repent of [turn from] this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness [poisoned by bitterness] and in the bondage of iniquity [bound to sin, NET].' 24 But Simon answered and said, 'Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.'" (Acts 8:12)

Peter seems to be, in fact, pointing out that Simon never was born again, and that Simon was not really spiritually saved, by saying to him that Simon's heart is not right before God. According to the Biblical doctrine of the regenerating work of salvation, such language is easily and logically applied to demonstrating that Simon's heart was never made right before God in that regenerating miracle. According to Jesus' parable in Luke 8, Simon's heart could be an unsaved heart which believes for a moment, but later on is exposed as having no firm root of salvation. Simon's heart may have been an unsaved heart of rock that God decided not to make into a heart of flesh in his effectual call, according to Ezekial 36:26-27. We also must notice that Peter says to Simon, that he is in the gall of bitterness (as in, poisoned by bitterness), which is an idiomatic expression that means, to be particularly envious or resentful of someone. By way of investigation, we see how this makes sense, because Simon was the big-name sorcerer of dark paganism in that day and area. He used to amaze everyone with his magic tricks. Now, Simon is one who is amazed along with everyone else who is amazed at what the apostles are doing. What Peter says here may reveal Simon's true intentions all along. In other words, Peter's curse would reveal that Simon believed, but Simon only believed concerning what he wanted to see, and hear. There is enough information to indicate the strong possibility that Simon believed that what he had heard and seen was the answer to making him even greater. The text strongly indicates that Simon thought that belonging to the Christian movement, was the means to becoming powerful like the apostles who follow the Son of God in His spiritual kingdom. The text demonstrates to us that Simon, who was in the trade of doing signs and wonders for people, had been convinced of the reality of the power coming from the apostles. He believed that the signs and wonders that the apostles were doing were real, and so because it was all based upon Jesus and His kingdom, it is conceivable from the way the whole text is worded, that Simon merely wanted in on the action. Simon was obviously convinced of certain details, as he believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, yet herein lies the point; Simon, a Samaritan, believed Peter in respect to the kingdom things of Jesus as the Messiah, but even unsaved Judaizers believed these kinds of things too. Such a belief did not save the Judaizers. Such a belief did not necessarily save Simon the sorcerer. For Simon, such beliefs may have been simply because he wanted in on the source of the power that was astonishing people from the beginning of Philip's arrival, as the scriptures state, (cf. Acts 8:6). We must not overlook the fact that the text states that signs are what the Samaritans were initially impacted by when Philip came to Samaria. The people were not initially impacted by preaching alone, as we read the crucial details of the timeline of events;

"The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing." (Acts 8:6)

The crowds were listening to Philip's words, but something else was going on; they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. Believing and baptism, according to the account, does not come till later, (cf. Acts 8:12), and the bestowing of the Holy Spirit of salvation does not come till even much later, (Acts 8:15-16). As we will see in examining this further, Simon, who is one who is familiar with performing in front of people so as to amaze them with apparent miracle-like demonstrations of his magic arts, shows that in personally giving attention to what was said by Philip as he saw the signs, it was impossible for him to deny the power behind what he was seeing. Being familiar with magic tricks, He believed that the crowd astonishing signs were better than his "arts." In other words, he thought they were real. To get in on the action of being enabled to perform these same kinds of astonishing things, then, the first step for Simon to do would have been to do as the others did, and that is to get baptized, which he did. The next step would be for Simon to follow around the men Simon wants to get power from, so that he can bolster his own portfolio of amazing demonstrations, "as the great power of God," (cf. 8:10), that he was used to being called. It is not eisegetical speculation to point out both the timeline, and the fact that the text shows that Simon immediately did these types of things, (as we read in verse 13). Such motivations and actions would certainly explain what Peter said, quite sufficiently, and at the same time remain in line with the rest of Scripture which asserts the great doctrine of being once saved always saved in eternal spiritual salvation.

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Nevertheless, this leads us to a third consideration, and that is that Peter is not finished rebuking Simon. Peter continues, and tells Simon that he is "in the bondage of iniquity," which Paul the apostle explains is to be bound to sin as one's master. Paul expresses in Romans 6-8, that to be bound to sin, is to be in the state prior to being saved. But, once saved, people are released from their slavery to sin, and are now slaves of righteousness. Truly saved people are slaves of Christ. They are not in the bondage of iniquity. What Peter says here strongly indicates that Simon was never saved. Peter also says to Simon, "may your silver perish with you." Peter is wishing to curse Simon with perishing. It is very probable that Peter is referencing perishing eternally in damnation, because the Greek word used here, (apoleia) is stronger than death when typically used in respect to people in New Testament writings. The word, when used to describe people, is virtually always associated with the unsaved (cf. 2 Peter 2:1, Matthew 7:13, John 17:12, Romans 9:22 "destruction," Philippians 1:28, 3:19, Hebrews 10:39, 2 Peter 2:3, 3:7, 3:16, Revelation 17:8 & 11).

Next, we notice that Peter says for Simon to repent (which means, to turn) and pray for forgiveness, though Peter is not sure that Simon will be forgiven. This is really an amazing point in the record. We must realize, and not ignore, that the apostle Peter says, "if possible." Being unsure of forgiveness of sin through prayer to God, would be a strangely extraordinary thing for Peter to say to someone he thought was truly saved! After all, the cross, and true salvation is all about being forgiven of our sins. On the other hand, Peter may think that faking Christianity to merchandise off of God's miracle work, is something that may only be "possible" to be forgiven. In other words, Peter may not have any direct revelation concerning someone's future forgiveness who is currently a scheming fake Christian--someone who wants the Holy Spirit to build up his own fame among the people. Further, the text actually states that Peter said this to Simon concerning, "the intention of your heart" (cf. 8:22). This intention may indicate that Simon had this evil scheme brewing in his heart all along, and so Peter, through supernatural revelation, knew it. If all of this be the case, then this story would not be a demonstration of losing salvation, but rather it would demonstrate that people such as Simon, can believe in the miraculous power of God's apostles, that Jesus is the Son of God, and can even be baptized, but nevertheless, not really be saved.

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This leads us to a fourth consideration and that is that the consistent tradition of the early church, seen in the writings attributed to men like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Jerome and others, was that Simon was not ever saved, and in such a state, he was unable to acquire God's power, and so, in his lostness, he went on to manifest through the rest of his life that he was a heretic who continued to develop his system of magic arts. The ancient history tradition records that Simon went on to develop his false teachings as a cultic religion known as gnosticism (a word that means the secret knowledge). In gnosticism, Jesus was believed in, but in a heretical way, as a mystical spirit being who had no true fleshly material nature. The gnostics claimed they believed that Jesus was Messiah, but not in the way that the apostle's taught. Certainly, this historic record concerning Simon would reflect the details of the Acts account very precisely as demonstrating that Simon was never really saved.

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This leads us to a fifth and related consideration. We must recognize that Simon did not receive the Holy Spirit at belief, and even later at baptism, as we read,

"16 For He [the person of the Holy Spirit] had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts 8:16)

We know that one is not eternally spiritually saved without the indwelling Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is given to us as a seal in salvation according to Ephesians;

"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise," (Ephesians 1:13)

"Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." (Ephesians 4:30)

Unlike what had happened prior to this, at the preaching of Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit came down on the crowds of Israelites at conversion, the apostles in Jerusalem sent Peter and John to these people, and so through the early apostolic work of laying on of the apostle's hands, those converts finally received the Holy Spirit they were predestined to receive. Simon, even though there in the midst of all who are receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, is never said anywhere in the Bible to have actually received the same gift himself, as we read,

"18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, 'Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.'" (Acts 8:18-19)

The text explains that Simon "saw" (as an observer) that the Spirit was bestowed. It does not say that Simon was a recipient. Such sparse facts concerning whether Simon personally received the seal of salvation (which is the the Holy Spirit) appear to indicate that he had not been a recipient. This seems to at least strongly indicate that Simon, operating in lostness, was manifesting another motive all along, which was to acquire the means to do the fantastic feats of mystical type manifestations that were amazing the crowds. Additionally, it seems to indicate that Simon was skipped over in receiving what only God's elect receive in New Covenant salvation. Further, the text indicates in Acts 8:15-17, that more than likely, all the harvest of the truly saved in Samaria actually did experience receiving the Holy Spirit by the apostle's hands at that time. The point is, that the text indicates that Simon saw this happening, as if he was a bystander looking at it all, yet did not actually experience it himself.

/6/
A sixth consideration has to do with some important questions:

a) "If Simon lost salvation, then when did he lose it?"

b) "Did he lose it when he wanted to pay the apostles money to receive the authority to lay hands on people so that they could receive the Holy Spirit?"

The answers to these questions are not found in the data provided in the passage. The text does not point out a time when Simon supposedly lost salvation. Neither does the text state that this incident that occurred in Peter's presence is a condition that made Simon lose anything that he previously had, like salvation. Such a presupposition, of losing anything that was a previous attainment, must be brought to the text. Rather, what we see is that Peter is simply pointing out the facts concerning the state of Simon that Simon is already in, where he says,

"21 You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Therefore repent of [turn from] this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity." (Acts 8:21-23)

To push beyond this, and attempt to formulate a time when something erroneously called losing salvation supposedly happened to Simon, is purely eisegetical speculation on the part of the NEST.

Therefore based upon all the considerations above, along with the rest of God's word, we recognize that using this passage in an attempt to build an argument of insecurity in Christ, is purely driven by speculative reasoning from the NEST. In truthfulness, the text is not cornered by the NEST into an interpretational arena asserted to be the only clear and evident meaning of the information provided. Instead of necessarily meaning that Simon lost salvation, the text demonstrates that it probably is necessarily meaning that Simon was never truly saved to begin with. Additionally, this passage does not demonstrate that it clearly teaches that one can lose eternal spiritual salvation, gain salvation by meritorious self effort, or maintain keeping one's salvation secure by humanistic deeds, which of course demonstrates that this passage should be interpreted in line with the rest of Scripture that proclaims and defends the great truth of being Once Saved In Eternal Spiritual Salvation (OSIESS), also known as Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS), eternal security, and the guaranteed perseverance of the saints. Further, such a passage more than likely reinforces the fact that there are people who believe in certain details concerning the historical Jesus, but nevertheless they do not believe in the historical Jesus unto eternal spiritual salvation.

ACTS 13:8 & 14:22

There is a particular phrase that is utilized heavily in Acts by Luke, and it is used by Paul the apostle in his Timothy epistles. One can find it all throughout the New Testament; but Acts, and the Timothy epistles, are particularly known for the expression. The expression is, the faith.

When the phrase is used, it primarily is referring to the doctrines and practices of Christianity. The phrase does not mean, your faith, or our faith, or my faith, his faith, her faith, their faith, or something like that. The phrase is not referring to believing, or having faith in something. To see how the terminology, the faith, is used in Acts, we notice the following examples;

"The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the students continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith." (Acts 6:7 emph. mine)

Here we see that many Jewish priests were becoming obedient to the faith, meaning they were becoming obedient to the doctrines and precepts of Christianity. They were not becoming obedient to believing, or becoming obedient to having faith.

Another example is Acts 16:5;

"So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily." (Acts 16:5 emph. mine)

The churches is a reference to perhaps hundreds of people. The churches were not being strengthened in believing in Christ, or in having faith in Christ. The fact that they were churches means that they were made up of people who already believed, and who already had faith. They were simply being strengthened by the apostles in the doctrines, precepts, and practice of Christianity in general.

This leads us now to two passages that are sometimes used by those who believe in the NEST to suggest that salvation is not stable;

"But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith." (Acts 13:8)

"strengthening the souls of the students, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, 'Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.'" (Acts 14:22)

Once we know the difference between the faith, and having faith, or our faith, my faith, and so forth, we quickly see where the mistake (equivocation) is made by those who believe in the NEST.

In Acts 13:8, Elymas the magician is not said to be trying to turn the proconsul away from belief, or from having faith, but rather from the faith, which is the doctrinal, and practical realm of Christianity.

In like manner, the souls of the students were being encouraged by the apostles to continue in the doctrines and precepts of Christianity. One of the doctrinal truths being that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

With a proper understanding of what the terminology, the faith means in the above passages, we recognize that nowhere in Acts, as nowhere in the Bible, is it suggested that anyone can lose salvation, gain salvation through meritorious effort, or maintain keeping salvation secure by meritorious effort.

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FOOTNOTES:
(1) Greek scholar Dr. E. Campbell words this very well in his commentary on Ephesians,
"With reference to the statement, 'For by grace you have been saved through faith,' Paul says, 'And this is not of you.' Both of the Greek words rendered 'grace' (cariti) and 'faith' (pistews) are in the feminine gender, but the Greek pronoun translated 'this' (touto) is in the neuter gender. If this pronoun refers back to the words 'grace' and 'faith,' as we have suggested, why isn't it in the feminine gender? The answer is in the latter part of this verse, where Paul considers both the grace and faith as a 'gift' (dwron), a Greek noun which is in the neuter gender, and as such, is the antecedent of the pronoun 'this' (touto). In other words, looking at the two essential ingredients involved in God's saving of sinners, Paul refers to the same as a gift which is 'not out of you' (ouk ex umwn). This verse clearly teaches that neither the grace not the faith are of human origin, they are not out of nor from those being saved (cf. v. 5; 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:5) but are from an outside Divine source." pp. 70-71