Acts 18:25Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The baptism of believers grants remission of sins. The believer is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and is washed from the errors that preceded baptism.

If those baptized by John did not have the Holy Spirit, then how did Apollos, baptized only with John's baptism, burn with the Spirit?

In that case, even if he burned with the Spirit, he still did not have the Holy Spirit. He neither spoke in various tongues nor prophesied.

It is one thing to burn with the Spirit, and another to have the Holy Spirit. The one who has the Holy Spirit has Him dwelling within himself.

The Spirit Himself speaks to him from his heart, as He spoke to the Apostles, now forbidding them, now commanding them to speak the word.

But the one who burns with the Spirit does something under the guidance of the Spirit, through illumination and instruction from without. From the perceptible one must infer the invisible.

He had already been instructed in the beginnings of the way of the Lord (v. 25). Namely, he had already been baptized with the baptism of John and understood its preparatory significance for Christ, and specifically for Jesus Christ. Therefore, although he was not yet a Christian, he spoke and taught correctly about the Lord. By character he was a fiery preacher of his convictions. When he arrived in Ephesus, he taught about the Lord boldly and with inspiration in the synagogue. Yet his teaching was not complete, since he knew only the baptism of John, and consequently did not yet know the baptism of Christ. At this same time Aquila and Priscilla were in Ephesus. They had come there from Corinth with the Apostle Paul when he returned from his second journey (vv. 18-21). When they heard Apollos and noticed the incompleteness of his Christian knowledge, they received him into closer fellowship with themselves. They explained the way of the Lord to him more accurately. The writer of Acts does not tell us here that Apollos received Christian baptism. Yet there is no doubt that he received this baptism here. After this, when he arrived directly in Achaia, he appears already as a Christian herald acting with grace (v. 27). After receiving baptism, Apollos intended to go to Achaia, and more particularly to Corinth (Acts 19:1). There he was active while the Apostle Paul, after passing through Galatia and Phrygia, arrived in Ephesus. Since in Achaia he had no acquaintances among Christians who could introduce him into fellowship with the believers, the Ephesian Christians entrusted him with a letter of recommendation. By it they disposed the Achaian Christians to receive him with confidence. In Achaia, by the help of God's grace, Apollos greatly assisted the believers in their struggle against the Jewish enemies of the faith of Christ. For he powerfully refuted the latter publicly, proving to them from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. The writer of Acts does not say what relation the apostolic activity of Apollos had to the history of the Apostle Paul. But we see this from Paul's epistles to the Corinthians. Apollos' activity in Corinth was especially fruitful. The eloquent speech of the learned Christian preacher aroused great sympathy there among a certain part of the Christian community, namely, the educated part. By his activity Apollos greatly helped the believers in Corinth to a fuller unfolding of the Christian meaning. The Apostle Paul recognizes in him the continuer of his work there. He says that Apollos watered what he had planted (1 Cor 3:6). But after Apollos' departure from Corinth (1 Cor 16:12), it became clear that his apostolic activity there had not been without some sad consequences, though this was against his will. A division into parties arose in the Christian community there. Some considered only the Apostle Paul, the founder of the Corinthian Church, to be a true apostle. Others considered only Apollos such. Still others considered only Cephas, or Peter, such. These were the Judaizers. Finally, a fourth group opposed all these parties. Those parties were based on exclusive reverence for one particular apostolic authority. This fourth group contemptuously rejected apostolic authority altogether in the religious and moral guidance of Christian communities. They called themselves Christ's (1 Cor 1:12). The authors of this division were probably Judaizing false teachers. They usually followed closely in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul, trying everywhere to destroy his work. Having come to Corinth, they argued there that Paul was not a true apostle like Peter or James. They succeeded in drawing some completely to their side. In others they only managed to shake respect for the authority of the Apostle Paul. These latter either acknowledged themselves followers and admirers of the wise and eloquent Apollos, or formed the party of "Christ's." This disorder in the Corinthian Church, among other things, prompted the Apostle Paul to write two epistles to it. Both were written during this third journey of his.

Of course, he also lacked the gift of the Holy Spirit. See the note on Acts 19:2-5.

Despite this insufficient instruction in Christian truths, he burned in spirit, Rom 12:11. That is, he had fiery zeal to instruct others also in the way of the Lord.

He spoke and taught correctly about the Lord. Knowing John's baptism, he of course knew that this baptism was a baptism of repentance for faith in the Messiah coming after him.

See Mt 3:1 and following, and parallels. Consequently, he had a concept of Jesus the Messiah, though an incomplete one.

Therefore he could teach correctly, but incompletely. Incompleteness of knowledge and teaching is not incorrectness of knowledge and teaching.

It had already been passed through by Christ. Therefore one must follow Christ, not John. As a prudent man, Apollos did not reject the teaching of simple people.

"Behold, learned men also begin to preach," exclaims Saint John Chrysostom. "Do you see the success of the preaching? Probably he was baptized.

At least, if the other disciples of John were baptized again after their baptism, see Acts 19:2-5, then these disciples also had to do the same."

Blessed Theophylact notes that this is the Apollos about whom Paul wrote: "As for brother Apollos, I strongly urged him" (1 Cor 16:12). He also wrote, "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase" (1 Cor 3:6).

Theophylact adds that Apollos was later bishop of Corinth.

"There is nothing surprising in Apollos having received a serious education in his native Alexandria. He also received a direction under the influence of the Jewish-Hellenistic theologizing of Philo and others like him.

According to the testimony of the holy writer of Acts, he was an eloquent man. By this name, Saint Luke wants to convey both Apollos's general scholarly education and his oratorical talent.

Apollos possessed the latter to such a degree that later in Corinth, through it, he acquired among some people a fame greater than even the Apostle Paul himself enjoyed.

Evidently, this was a richly gifted nature, able to remain on the true path in the study and understanding of the Scriptures.

When reports about John the Baptist reached Apollos, John who preached about the Messiah coming after him, he fervently and sincerely believed this preaching and received John's baptism.

Having unwaveringly believed in the truth of John's preaching, he came to Ephesus to proclaim it. Now he is in the Ephesian synagogue.

Without going beyond the limits of the Johannine instruction he had received, he began to speak somewhat about the Lord.

The eloquence and heartfelt ardor of the convinced evangelist made a strong impression on the hearers. But the content of the preaching itself was not new.

Aquila and Priscilla, who attended the synagogue, became close to him. They brought him into the Christian community that had formed around them and explained the way of the Lord to him more accurately."