![]() This would, if carried through, bring great grief on all the people of the city, just as poison does-imagine, if their former leader had been able to do similar miracles to those of Philip and Peter, except that these miracles would be in his own name rather than in the Name of Jesus! His “bitterness” (literally, poison) was related to a lust for power and self-exaltation, along the very same lines as Deuteronomy 29:18-19. Instead, he wanted to use the Holy Spirit as a commodity to advance his personal position, reputation, and sense of power. He wanted to pay for the ability to work miracles that Peter and Philip exhibited, but wasn’t at all interested in the love and transformation that was essential to it. Simon wanted the gifts of the Holy Spirit without any understanding of the Holy Spirit. That’s the backdrop to the words of Peter later in the chapter. It seems pretty clear from the context that Simon wanted to keep the control over the people that he had formerly had and now saw slipping away. Simon was astonished by Philip’s miracles too, followed him, and claimed to be a believer. When the Christian missionary Philip arrived, though, the people forgot about Simon, listened to Philip, saw Philip’s miracles, believed in Jesus Christ, and were ultimately baptized. The story in the preceding part of the chapter helps to make it clear what Simon’s “bitterness” was.Īcts 8 presents Simon as a sorcerer before whom everyone in his city stood in awe because of what they thought were his supernatural powers. Was it unforgiveness, or resentment toward God, as many people preach? Was it discontentment and an unwillingness to accept God’s will for his life, as Bob Wood preached in the BJU chapel in 2010? īut what was Simon’s “bitterness”? Was it “active hatred,” as the Oxford English dictionary says? Was it “stinging, cutting, harsh, virulent” words? Was it “intense overt hostility”? But here Peter makes it ever so clear he wasn’t a real believer in Jesus Christ. One might have thought that Simon had simply made a mistake, but from Peter’s Spirit-inspired words, that is clearly not correct.Īcts 8:13 had said that Simon believed Philip and had even been baptized. This is a pretty shocking statement, on the face of it. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” ~Acts 8:20-23 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Whatever it was that happened when they received the Holy Spirit (the Scripture doesn’t say), one new believer named Simon was so completely bowled over with astonishment and wonder and awe that he immediately offered to pay Peter to show him how to do the same thing. In Acts 8 Peter came to a certain city-where Philip had been preaching and working miracles, where there were now many new Christians-and laid his hands on the new Christians, who received the Holy Spirit. ![]() The first post in this series addressed the “root of bitterness” in Hebrews, explaining how it isn’t unforgiveness, as it’s often presented to be, but is something else instead. The second in a series addressing the concept of bitterness in the Bible and what it really means in context, considering that this is a term that is is used to shame and blame victims of abuse who are seeking help from their churches.
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