Acts 8:1–25 records the great persecution of the church by Saul and the consequent spread of the gospel to Samaria through Philip. “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ” (Acts 8:5), and “there was much joy in that city” (Acts 8:8; cf. 8:6–7).¹

Prior to Philip’s coming, “a man named Simon” had wowed Samaria with his magic (8:9–11). “But when they believed Philip” (Acts 8:12), so also “Simon himself believed,” was “baptized,” and even “continued with Philip” (Acts 8:13). Whereas Samaria was once “amazed…with his magic” (Acts 8:11), it was now Simon who was “amazed” at Philip’s “signs and great miracles” (Acts 8:13).

After Simon’s apparent conversion, however, he made a troubling request, indicating that he had never truly become a Christian. Peter and John had come to see the salvation of Samaritans, “laid their hands on them,” and “they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:17; cf. 8:14–17). Simon then “offered them money, saying, ‘Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 8:20). For the next four verses in Acts 8:20–23, Peter rebuked him in multiple ways:

Simon was condemned: “May your silver perish with you”—Simon himself would perish, and his silver stood as a part for the whole of why he would perish—his hope to use it to purchase the Spirit to benefit himself by being seen as great like the apostles (cf. Acts 8:9–11). It was previously (and obviously inaccurately) said of him as a magician, “This man is the power of God that is called Great” (Acts 8:10). His request, “Give me this power,” seems to betray his desire for a power that shows him as great in the eyes of others (Acts 8:19).

Simon’s theology was corrupt: “you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money”—if ever the NT gives us an example of the prosperity gospel, it is here. Give silver to God, and He will give the Spirit’s power to me, Simon thought. But a gift cannot be purchased. The Spirit comes with faith. And in this unique transitional episode in Acts, faith came first, and the Spirit came with the laying on of the apostles’ hands.

Simon had no share in the Spirit: “You have neither part nor lot in this matter”—these words indicate that the “matter” of the Spirit was something altogether outside Simon’s experience. He was not one who possessed or would receive (or let alone give) the Holy Spirit.

Simon’s heart was in the wrong: “your heart is not right before God”—his intentions were sinful (see below).

Simon had not repented: “Repent”—his request was something to acknowledge as sin and indicated that he had never turned from sin to begin with.

Simon’s request was wicked: “this wickedness of yours”—this is a further description of his view of the Spirit’s work as something to buy as a means to enhance his greatness.

Simon’s desire was sinful: “pray…that…the intent of your heart may be forgiven you”—it was not just the request, but more than that, it was the sinful intention of his heart that needed forgiving.

Simon was idolatrous: “you are in the gall of bitterness”—this description echoes the OT and needs a bit of explanation. Deuteronomy 29:18 uses a metaphor to describe the person who turns from God to follow the stubbornness of his heart, even in the midst of God’s people—he is “a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.” Such a description had undertones of the coming judgment of God for the person who was this root (cf. Deut 29:20–21; Heb 12:15 speaks to this effect as well). For Simon, despite his presence among the new believers in Samaria, he was still following the unbelieving stubbornness of his heart. Remembering that gall is a bitter liquid (whether bile or something just as bitter; cf. Matt 27:34), Simon was himself the root bearing the gall of bitterness, so much so that he was “in” it. His idolatrous heart led to the rotten produce of treating the Spirit as something to purchase for him to use for his promoting his own personal greatness.

Simon was in bondage to sin: “you are…in the bond of iniquity”—this self-explained phrase parallels and helps to explain the one before it. Just as Simon was “in the bond of iniquity,” so also he could be said to be “in the gall of bitterness.”

With this litany of indictments, Peter’s rebuke makes one thing certain—Simon was not a true believer. But what is not certain for some is how to understand Simon’s response in Acts 8:24, “And Simon answered, ‘Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” Did Simon finally become a Christian at this point?

Some conclude that Simon was so humble that he would not pray for himself but asked for Peter to do so now that his sin was exposed. Surely such humility indicated his now-penitent heart. On the other hand, others point out that Simon dodged the personal responsibility of praying himself, disobeying Peter who had commanded him to do so (Acts 8:22, “Repent… and pray to the Lord”). Rather than taking a third and unsatisfying view that the text is indecisive, that Simon sees no conversion in Acts 8 is best for multiple reasons found within the text.

First, despite Simon’s apparent conversion in Acts 8:13, we find out that he never truly believed the first time around. This fact nudges us to understand his otherwise elusive response in Acts 8:24 in the same way.

Second, Simon never did what Peter commanded him to do—pray and repent (Acts 8:22). We are left to assume that Simon was thus never forgiven.

Third, looking more closely at Simon’s request in Acts 8:24, it was for Peter to intercede for the sake of removing judgment. Given Simon’s background and request to purchase the Spirit’s power, it seems that, just as he saw the apostles as vendors who could sell the Spirit, so also he carries on seeing them as talismans to pray for his protection.

Fourth, in the flow of Acts, our last episode in dealing with something like this was Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1–11). Just as they were false worshipers in the midst of God’s people, so also it seems Simon was as well.

In the end, from his own words, Simon neither repented nor prayed and merely wished to escape judgment. As best we know, he never believed and was judged accordingly. Such is the unfortunate and sad case of Simon the magician.

May Simon’s case be a warning to all of us—many profess Christ, are baptized, and continue to be among the true children of God. May God give them a Peter or John to point out their sins in this life, leading to true repentance, something more than a mere desire to escape judgment. Otherwise, the hidden sins of their heart will appear in their day of judgment, leading to an eternally unhappy end.

1. All biblical quotations are from the ESV. [↩]

What did it mean that Stephen’s “face was like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15), and why did it look this way?

We first meet Stephen as a deacon, “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5). He was appointed to coordinate meals for widows (cf. Acts 6:1–7), but he was also an evangelist. He was “full of grace and power…doing great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8). This grace and power go together and describe the boldness of Stephen and God’s confirmation of his witness through wonders and signs (cf. Acts 4:33). The mention of grace likely implies that God extended His saving grace to others through the witness of Stephen (cf. Acts 11:23).

When opposed by others in his endeavors, Stephen refuted his aggressors, and “they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking” (Acts 6:10; cf. Luke 21:15). So, they lied, stirred up the people, arrested him, falsely tried him, and eventually stoned him, making him the first martyr of the church (Acts 6:8–7:60). His story has echoes of the final days of Jesus.

At the outset of his trial, as Stephen prepared to speak once again full of wisdom and the Spirit, the Bible records what everyone saw when looking at Stephen: “And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15). What did this angel-like face mean?

In answering this question, we recall that angels can be brilliant, shining creatures. Remember the angel at Jesus’ empty tomb—“His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow” (Matthew 28:3). If Daniel 10:6 describes an angel (some say the preincarnate Son of God), “his face” is “like the appearance of lightning.” If Revelation 10:1 describes an angel (and again, some say the now-incarnate Son of God), “his face was like the sun.” The angelic creatures who guided the heavenly chariot in Ezekiel’s vision had four faces each, and as to their faces and even their whole beings, “their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning” (Ezekiel 1:13). The point of similarity between the face of Stephen and the face of an angel was most likely this—it was a shining face.

A shining face is seen on other humans in the Bible as well. In descending from Sinai with the tablets in hand, “Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God…behold, the skin of his face shone” (Exodus 34:29).This shining apparently was somewhat frequent at this time. “Whenever” Moses spoke with God while on the mountain, “the skin of Moses’ face was shining” (Exodus 34:34–35).  

Consider also the face of Jesus. At the Transfiguration, while Jesus “was praying, the appearance of his face was altered” (Luke 9:29), meaning “his face shone like the sun” (Matthew 17:2). When John saw Jesus in his vision many years later, “his face was like the sun shining in full strength” (Revelation 1:16).

Putting this all together, we can easily conclude that the alteration of Stephen’s face was an act of God to make it shine. The purpose for doing so seems to be along the lines of what took place with Moses—just as the shining of Moses’ face indicated to Israel that Moses spoke on behalf of God because he spoke directly to Him, so also the shining of Stephen’s face indicated to Israel that Stephen spoke on behalf of God as well.

Digging further into the context of Exodus 34 and Acts 6–7, perhaps we could also suggest that, just as Moses gave the law and was confirmed as God’s spokesman with a shining face, so also Stephen’s face indicated that was speaking on behalf of Christ who came to fulfill and thus “change the customs that Moses delivered” (Acts 6:14). A new era had come, and God was giving evidence to this through His messenger’s words and even His messenger’s face.

What a sobering thing it is to see hearts this hard—the Jews rejected the gospel proclaimed from a mouth in the midst of a shining face. While we are not prophets who will speak with shining faces today, may we learn from the example of Stephen to boldly give and defend the gospel by the wisdom and Spirit of God.