Since Pentecost (Acts 2), one of the defining characteristics of this present age of grace has been the immediate and permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers.
Before His ascension back to heaven, the Lord had promised His disciples that they would be His witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In fulfillment, the Church began in Jerusalem and spread outward through the known world. The sealing of the Holy Spirit testified that each believer belonged to Christ and was a member of the universal Church (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). Though the gospel was preached “to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16), every believer—whether Jew or Gentile—was permanently indwelt by the Spirit and made an equal member of the body of Christ (Eph. 2:11–22; Gal. 3:26–29).
On the Day of Pentecost, as Christ had promised (Luke 24:49; John 15:26; 16:7), the Holy Spirit was sent (Acts 2:1-11), and the Church was born when the Spirit baptized about 120 Jewish believers (Acts 1:15) into the body of Christ. Soon afterward, about 3,000 more souls were added through the Spirit-empowered preaching of Peter (Acts 2:14-41). Thus, a divine pattern was established. Through faith in Christ, believers were immediately indwelt by the Holy Spirit and placed into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-13).
This same pattern is seen when the gospel was first preached to the Gentiles. God directed a Roman centurion named Cornelius—a devout man who feared God—to send for Peter to hear the message of salvation (Acts 10). While Peter was preaching the gospel, Cornelius and all who believed received the Holy Spirit (v. 44). Later Peter testified, “The Holy Spirit fell on them [Gentiles], just as on us [Jews] at the beginning [Pentecost]” (Acts 11:15).
The same occurred at Ephesus when Paul encountered some of John the Baptist’s disciples (Acts 19:1–7). He asked whether they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed, but they replied that they had not even heard the Spirit had come. Paul then pointed them to Jesus, the One whom John had foretold, and upon believing in Christ, they too received the Holy Spirit. The laying on of hands by Paul was only necessary to underscore his apostolic authority.
This being said, why was there a Samaritan exception? During the Assyrian invasion (722 B.C.), the ten northern tribes of Israel were led into captivity following the capture of Samaria (2 Kings. 17:6-41). Easton notes that the Samaritans was “the name given to the new and mixed inhabitants whom Esarhaddon (B.C. 677), the king of Assyria, brought from Babylon and other places and settled in the cities of Samaria, instead of the original inhabitants whom Sargon (B.C. 721) had removed into captivity (2 Kings 17:24; comp. Ezra 4:2, 9, 10). These strangers (comp. Luke 17:18) amalgamated with the Jews still remaining in the land, and gradually abandoned their old idolatry and adopted partly the Jewish religion. After the return from the Captivity, the Jews in Jerusalem refused to allow them to take part with them in rebuilding the temple and hence sprang up an open enmity between them…The bitter enmity between the Jews and Samaritans continued in the time of our Lord: the Jews had “no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9; comp. Luke 9:52, 53). Our Lord was in contempt called “a Samaritan” (John 8:48).”1
When Philip preached the gospel in Samaria, many believed (Acts 8:4-8, 14-17). However, they did not immediately receive the Holy Spirit. God withheld the Spirit until apostolic representatives, Peter and John, came from the Jerusalem church. After praying and laying hands on the new Samaritan believers, they received the Spirit. The change in John’s attitude here compared to before Calvary is striking (Luke 9:52-54). This event was necessary to demonstrate, by apostolic authority, God’s wholehearted welcome of Samaritans into the one body of Christ. As a result, many more Samaritans later trusted Christ as their Savior (Acts 8:25; 9:31; 15:3). The Book of Acts marks a transitional period from law to grace. In the earliest, most formative days of the Church, it was necessary to show that the gospel crosses ethnic and cultural lines, revealing the unity of the body of Christ.
ENDNOTES
1. Easton, Easton’s Dictionary of the Bible, 1987, Olive Tree electronic version