1. Acts 8:16 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Should we expect baptism to precede the coming of the Holy Spirit?

Acts 8:16 (ESV)

16 for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

The coming of the Spirit in two stages was due to the fact that the church is breaking new ground. Jesus Christ is now also gathering his church from the Samaritans. This is new, and the Spirit is making visible that this is God's will and work. The coming of the Spirit in two stages is therefor not a paradigm for later practice.1 Baptism followed by a later coming of the Spirit is thus an exception and not the norm.