Spiritual Gift

Paulos,

It is good to hear from you! As you know from my last note, I was planning on writing about Romans 1, but I believe I will reserve those comments until my next post on Friday. Also, I will attempt to make that post the last one I make on Romans 1. I am doing this because I want to make sure that I understand what you are saying regarding the spiritual gift that Paul sought to give to the Romans. I believe I understand you, and I am in the midst of being persuaded by your thoughts, but I want to make sure that I am understanding you. So I will not post on Romans 1 tonight, instead I will seek clarification on this issue.

What I am hearing from you regarding the spiritual gift is that Paul intended to give to the Roman Christians the spiritual gift, which comes by way of the laying on of hands by an apostle. As I read you, I believe this spiritual gift would be marked by manifest wonders, most likely speaking in tongues. Would this fit your thoughts? If this is so, then what I hear you describing is similar to my reading of Acts 8, with the Samaritan Christians. Here's the text:

¹⁴ When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. ¹⁵ When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶ because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money ¹⁹ and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." ²⁰ Peter answered: "May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. ²² Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. ²³ For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." ²⁴ Then Simon answered, "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me" (Acts 8:14-24, NIV).

As I understand it from this text, since Philip was not an apostle, he was not able to bestow on the Samaritan Christians the Holy Spirit. Thus, to bring solidarity between the Jerusalem Christians and the Samaritan Christians Peter and John are sent, so that the gift of the Spirit would be given to them by the laying on of hands by the apostles. Simon the Magician saw in Peter an authority or 'gifting' that was not in Philip, because Philip was not an apostle, so Simon asked Peter to give him the ability to give the Spirit. So, hypothetically speaking, if Peter would not have gone to Samaria, the converts there would be baptized in the name of the Lord, but they would not have received the gift of the Spirit, since that can only come by way of an apostle (The only exception for this rule that I can think of is with Cornelius, and that episode is significant, because of its ties to Pentecost, since the Gentiles received the Spirit just as the Jews, that is without the laying on of hands.).

So, then, do you see what Paul is saying in Romans 1 regarding the spiritual gift as consistent with my reading of Acts 8? Or I suppose the first question should be do you agree with my reading of Acts 8, and then if so, do you see Paul's desire as consistent with Acts 8?

Thank you for your time, Paulos! May God grant blessings to you!

Your understudy,

Timotheos