Acts 8:37

Acts 8:37 states, And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  Philip said if the Ethiopian believed with all his heart that Jesus Christ died for his sins, he could be bsaptized.  The Ethiopian answered with the only requirement there can ever be for baptism, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."  This is still the only requirement today.  Verse thirty-eight adds, And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.  They stopped the chariot, and the Ethiopian was baptized.  Though baptism is not a requirement for salvation, we should want to follow Jesus’s example and be baptized as soon as possible.  It is symbolic of His death, burial, and resurrection and our acceptance of His gift of salvation.  Verse thirty-nine continues, And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.  Philip was caught up by the Spirit of the Lord, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing. Verse forty concludes, But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.  Philip was led to the desert for one purpose, then was sent on his way, which next was Azotus, where he preached passing through on his way to Caesarea. We need to follow God's leadership, even if it leads us into the desert for only one person, but we must not stay in the desert after we have accomplished God's goal for us.  We, like Philip, must always be on the way God sends us, preaching the Gospel as we go. 

 

When Simon saw what Peter and John were doing, and he perceived that they were in control of the giving of the Holy Spirit, he wanted to buy this gift from them.  We are told that he believed and was baptized.  He was he was continuing to travel with Phillip, but he still had some spiritual growing to do.  We do a great injustice to new believers today when we don't ground them in the Gospel.  This is especially true, I believe, if they have come to Christ because of some miracle or great work that they have seen.  It may lead them to the belief that the gifts of God are for material blessings or self glorification.  Simon evidently thought the gifts of God could be bought, but Peter quickly corrected him.  In the second half of Acts 8: 21, he was told his heart was not right.  He was told to pray for forgiveness, for his heart was in the bond of iniquity.  Even though we are saved once and for all time by Christ's death on the cross, we can and to often do let iniquity into our heart.  Simon asked for their prayers that he might be forgiven, and they prayed for Him.  Simon could have found forgiveness through his own prayers, but sometimes it is good to know that others are praying for you, especially for a new believer.  There is no evidence that Simon was saved again and baptized again.  He repented and was restored.  When we allow iniquity into our heart as a follower of Christ, we do not need to be resaved.  We simply need to repent and be restored, as was Simon.