9 A man named Simon had been a sorcerer there for many years, amazing the people of Samaria and claiming to be someone great. 10 Everyone, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as “the Great One—the Power of God.” 11 They listened closely to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his magic.
12 But now the people believed Philip’s message of Good News concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. As a result, many men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself believed and was baptized. He began following Philip wherever he went, and he was amazed by the signs and great miracles Philip performed.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. 15 As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power. 19 “Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!”
20 But Peter replied, “May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought! 21 You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right with God. 22 Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts, 23 for I can see that you are full of bitter jealousy and are held captive by sin.”
24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon exclaimed, “that these terrible things you’ve said won’t happen to me!”
25 After testifying and preaching the word of the Lord in Samaria, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem. And they stopped in many Samaritan villages along the way to preach the Good News.
The Holy Spirit is Not for Sale
In this passage, a former sorcerer named Simon converts to the Christian faith. Not unlike many new Christians, Simon is eager to grow in his faith. He sees the "veteran" Christians Peter and John laying their hands on believers and bestowing upon them the power of the Holy Spirit, and then he decides he wants this power too. He offers Peter and John money to obtain this power.
Peter was aghast! He rebukes Simon saying that his heart is not right. Simon is repentant and asks for prayer to be forgiven. I guess you could say Simon made a rookie mistake thinking he could by the power of the Holy Spirit.
But the mistake Simon made is duplicated millions of times everyday in our modern society. People think that if they "do" more, they can gain God's power or favor. Sometimes people think they can buy God's favor or power, as Simon thought. For example, when people need God, they tend to donate more money to a church or ministry, hoping they will win God's favor. Sometimes people try to achieve this by going on a missions trip or going to church more frequently or even going back to Harvesters.
But that's not how God works. There is nothing we can "do" to win God's favor... not our money, not our time, not our deeds. Our blessing depends entirely and 100% on Jesus alone. Simon learned this 2,000 years ago, hopefully we will learn this too.
- Brian Hall
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