It’s truly a disturbing story.  Simon was a notable magician in the area, but when he saw Philip come through town and people were healed and delivered, he wanted that power.

At some point he heard the gospel, believed and was baptized. But then his true colors began to show.

Peter and John heard about all the great things happening in Samaria, so they came for a visit.  While there, they laid their hands on the new believers and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!  You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.  Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.  For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

Wow.  Did you see this?  He was a baptized believer. Yet Peter says

• His heart is not right before God
• He needs to repent of the wickedness in his heart
• He is full of bitterness
• He is captive to sin

This was AFTER he had supposedly believed and had been baptized.  The question is, was he truly a believer?

• Perhaps he believed in the power but not in the gospel.
• Maybe, and it would seem like this was the case, he did not repent when he believed
• His heart was not right before God so clearly he did not understand the true gospel

We really do not know which of these options is the right one, or if it all of them or something else.  But the issues were beyond him just being a baby Christian.  It seems like he did not truly understood the gospel.

That’s going to happen.

It doesn’t mean we stop preaching.  Nor stop baptizing. Onward we go.

But it does show us that just because someone claims faith and is baptized does not mean that they have given their hearts and lives fully to the Lord.

By their fruits, we will know them.

Acts 8:9-25

Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great,  and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.”  They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.  Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria.  When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,  because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!  You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.  Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.  For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

After they had further proclaimed the word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.