The next conversions in the book of Acts are the conversions of Cornelius, Lydia and the Philippian Jailer. All three of these were discussed in previous podcasts. Let’s quickly mention them and then move on to the next full blown narrative which deserves full discussion, the conversion of Apollos.
A Quick Review
As a reminder, we are in the middle of the last section of our study about baptism and unlike the anti-baptism arguments which rarely use scriptures that mention baptism, we are focused almost solely on scriptures which use that word. It is difficult to craft a good argument if we avoid the very scriptures which mention the word we are trying to explain.
Our first quick review is the conversion of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion. We studied this conversion story, in great detail, back in Podcast 031 – Pagans with Spirit. Please go back to that podcast or blog post where the issue of baptism is dealt with thoroughly.
The next conversion in the book of Acts is the conversion of Lydia in Acts 16. There is not much to say about this conversion other than to note that baptism is involved but infants are not. After this, in the same chapter, we read about the conversion of the Philippian Jailer. This is another major conversion story and we dealt with this in Podcast 017 – Anti Baptism Scriptures Part 3. Please review the details of that conversion in that blog post or podcast.
The Conversion of Apollos
Now, we come to the conversion of Apollos. There are two very distinct and separate parts to this story. Let’s dive in.
Acts 18:24-28
Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.
When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
Analysis of the story.
This is quite a story. Apollos is probably a Grecian Jew; the name gives that away. He was very intelligent and had a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. These of course, would have been the Hebrew Scriptures or the Old Testament. At some point in time, Apollos learned about Jesus. He had been given enough information about Christ to come to a belief that Jesus was indeed the Christ. Apparently, this fired him up enough to begin speaking to people about his discovery. But how do you think that happened? What might have happened to bring Apollos to a point where he became a preacher of Christ?
I suspect the case of Apollos is not an unusual case. John the Baptist preached for quite a while in Judea and the surrounding area. We know he had a pretty good following. All of the people who followed John believed the Christ was eminent and were baptized by John in preparation for that event. Many of these folks would have been around when John declared Jesus as the Christ, “the one who’s sandals he was not worthy to untie.” Some of those same people left John and began following Jesus.
But, not everyone who was a part of John’s ministry was able to stick around and see the complete fulfillment as Christ suffered, died and was resurrected. Apollos may have been one of these transients who did not know the rest of the story. In essence, these people got all fired up and went off half cocked! John proclaimed the Messiah had arrived and that is exactly what they continued doing after they left Judea but before the conclusion of Jesus ministry..
Eventually they would learn the rest of the story. This is the case with Apollos. He is a disciple of John and is about to see the bigger picture.
Regardless of how Apollos came to be in the position he is in, it does leave him with an interesting problem. Apollos is not a Christian! Apollos has not yet obeyed the Gospel. He knew “only” the baptism of John. He did not know about baptism into Christ.
Inadequate and Inaccurate
Pricilla and Aquila had just spend a good amount of time with the Apostle Paul. Strong convictions regarding doctrinal issues of the new church would have been fresh in their minds. Apparently, they hear something in Apollos’ synagogue message which concerns them. Whatever they heard, they felt it was important enough to invite Apollos to their home. We assume they painted the rest of the picture. The Bible sums this up as, “they explained the way of God more adequately” to him. “More adequately,” means Apollos’ version of the Gospel was somehow, “inadequate.”
Webster says inadequate means, “Not equal to the purpose; insufficient to effect the object, incomplete, defective…”
There was something defective, incomplete and insufficient in what Apollos was preaching. It’s hard for us to accept this because we see Apollos as such an amazing preacher. We have great respect for him. Even his credentials are amazing. The Bible says he was a learned man, he had a thorough knowledge of the scriptures, he had been instructed in the way of the Lord and it even says that he taught about Jesus accurately. And yet, Pricilla and Aquila identify something inadequate in his message!
The Reason for the Story
Apollos is the perfect archetype for all of those God loving, God fearing, sincere people who have made serious professions of faith in Jesus, but hold the same inadequacies.
Just as it is difficult for us to accept that Apollos had any shortcomings, it is difficult for us to accept the notion that anyone who is living a sincere dedicated busy life in Christ could be doing something which is inadequate. That does not sound right! Is it possible to give up everything you have, preach for the Lord and still not be right with God? Sure it is? Salvation is not attained by our good works, right?
Are there any other examples of situations like this in the Bible? Yep! Consider those very sincere, very dedicated believers, fully committed to serving Jesus back in Matthew 7:21. Despite all their efforts and wholehearted devotion to Christ, Jesus called them “evildoers!”
We carefully reviewed this amazing account way back in Podcast 006. In that podcast, we learned that something or someone cut these sincere believers off, right before they began their relationship with Christ. Whoever told them about Jesus, set them down on the wrong path. Like Apollos, they knew all about Jesus and were fighting for the cause but that is not enough. We must start the race on the correct path!
Apollos was actively preaching what he knew was right. Pricilla and Aquila get a hold of him and correct an error. He did not know about the baptism of Jesus. He knew only about the baptism of John. Do you think they might have told him about the baptism of Christ?
This is a really important question. We can only make a conclusion based on an assumption. The scriptures do not tell us what Pricilla and Aquila taught Apollos. We should be cautious about making assumptions based on things which are not in the scriptures, right? But, is our assumption reasonable? Can we glean enough information from what is stated to form a reasonable and sound conclusion? I think so. Let me explain.
Incomplete Conversions
Apollos is an excellent example of an incomplete conversion due to missing information. He was never told about Christian baptism. This is the logical conclusion we assume by the statement, “he knew only the baptism of John.” So, do we ever find out that Apollos is baptized into Christ? Yeah. I think it’s right there in the rest of the story.
Acts 18:27-28
When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
Apollos decides to go to Achaia. The church at Ephesus endorses the idea and provides letters of introduction. He arrives in Achaia and becomes a valuable asset to the church. By this brief addition to the story we learn the church in Ephesus is perfectly content and confident in sending Apollos out, to a sister church. They had no qualms, they had no quiet reservations, they encouraged him. This would not have happened if he was still teaching an incomplete Gospel, a gospel which included only the baptism of John.
But why would they be so convinced that he was now preaching the right things and would not just go back to preaching what he had been preaching? How could they be so sure?
Well, because they saw Apollos get baptized into Christ. This is the only thing he was missing. Once he obeys the Gospel, he is on the right track and the church is confident that his new understanding and he receives their blessings.
The Humility of Apollos
You know… Apollos must have had a really humble heart. Think about it. When Apollos is confronted with the fact that he is doing something wrong spiritually, do you think he got all defensive? Do you think he said to Pricilla and Aquila, “Who are you to judge me? I know what I am doing.”
Do you think he pulled out his spiritual resume as proof of his secure relationship with Christ? “Why… I’ve been working for eight years preaching the Gospel! I have preached to some really important people. I started orphanages and soup kitchens to help the poor! Who are you to tell me I am not a Christian?”
That is not Apollos’ attitude at all, is it? He is apparently humble enough to at least entertain the ideas which Pricilla and Aquila present, digest them, and come to the agreement that he needed to learn God’s ways more “adequately.”
Why can’t we be more like Apollos? Why do we have to dogmatically state that we have this all figured out and nobody can teach us anything new? We all agree, nobody is a Christian until they are Born Again, right? We can’t be Born Again if we only know the baptism of John. It does not matter how much we know about the scriptures. It does not matter how many years we have been preaching and teaching the Bible one verse at a time. It does not matter how much we have given up or how much we have risked for the sake of Christ. It is all worthless if we are unwilling to obey the Gospel correctly.
Apollos may not have had many Technicolor sins to repent of before he was baptized, but he did need to give up some erroneous beliefs. When someone is in the position where they have been living a committed life for Christ but have never obeyed the form of teaching to which Apollos was entrusted, they must make the same easy choice Apollos made. They must repent of inadequate beliefs and obey the truth in baptism.
I’m pretty sure God knows what He is doing by allowing people like Apollos to work, maybe for years, at a ministry which is not teaching the Biblical Plan of Salvation. Once the truth is presented, these people have the same opportunity and obligation to obey and teach the Gospel correctly. Unfortunately pride is an ugly beast which raises its defenses and wants to point to that spiritual resume as proof of salvation instead of realizing that God has very patiently brought us to a point in our life where we can now obey accurately. He is very patient and very gentle.
One of the issues which comes up in this discussion is whether or not a person needs to be baptized again since they were baptized as an infant or were baptized in a denominational church, such as the baptist church, where full immersion baptisms occur. We will tackle this issue in depth in a future podcast. For now, I would just ask you one important question. “Which baptism did you receive?”
Enjoy!
Dana Haynes