Acts 18-19

Prior to the event recorded in 19:1-7, Paul had left Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus (18:18,19) and the disciples Paul met were probably the result of their ministry. When asked if they had “received the Holy Spirit when they believed,” they answered negatively from ignorance of theology, not lack of genuine conversion. “When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues” (v6 NIV).

The Holy Spirit indwells, lives in, every person from the moment he or she “believes,” not from the moment when they receive the anointing of the Spirit associated with Pentecost. The first empowers one to become a child of God (Jh. 1:12); the second empowers effective witness (Acts 1:8).