Aaron

Erhardt

minister & author

When persecution against the church in Jerusalem intensified to the point of murder, many of the disciples scattered elsewhere. They did not leave empty-handed, however. They took the gospel with them and ended up increasing the borders of the kingdom.

 

Among those who scattered was a man named Philip. He had been one of the seven men chosen to serve the widows in Acts 6. He went down to an unnamed city of Samaria and began preaching about Jesus Christ. As a result, many of the Samaritans believed and obeyed the gospel. Even a local magician responded favorably to the message being preached. His name was Simon. 

 

Simon has been the source of much controversy. Some deny that he was really saved since he was clearly in danger of losing his soul later in the chapter. Their denials, however, are without merit. There is no doubt that Simon was saved when he obeyed the gospel: (1) The Lord's statement in Mark 16:16 promised salvation to those who believed and were baptized. Simon did that. (2) The phrase "Even Simon himself believed" indicates that his belief was the same as the others in Samaria. If we deny that his belief was sincere, then the other Samaritans must not have been sincere either. (3) Simon was told to "repent…and pray" when he sinned later in the chapter. That is the second law of pardon for erring Christians. (4) Simon was told only to repent for the one sin just committed, not for all the sins of his past life. If he were never saved, he would need to repent of a whole lot more than just that one sin. (5) Some period of time lapsed before Simon sinned. This is proven by the phrase "he continued with Philip" and by the fact that the apostles in Jerusalem had time to receive the news and travel to Samaria before he sinned. Yet there is nothing said about Simon's character during all that time. He was recognized by Philip and the Samaritan believers as a faithful brother in Christ.

 

All agree that Simon's sin was terrible, but so was Peter's sin in Galatians 2:11-14. The fact that someone sins doesn't mean he was never saved. Simon proves that a Christian can so sin as to be lost. Without repentance, he would have perished. There are many examples in the New Testament of men and women who fell from grace: Ananias, Sapphira, Hymenaeus, Alexander, Philetus, Demas, and others. Hope this helps!