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Acts 19 General Notes
Structure and formatting
"So the word of the Lord spread very widely in powerful ways"
This is the major theme of this chapter and the book of Acts overall.
Special concepts in this chapter
Receiving the Holy Spirit
Many scholars believe this events marks the time when the Spirit started to indwell people when they began to believe in Jesus. The Spirit did this in order to assure them and to guide them. Others believe this event gave them the ability to speak in tongues, in addition to indwelling them, but that it is an event that occurs after they come to faith in Christ. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/believe and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/save)
Baptism
There are several baptisms mentioned in this chapter. The baptism of John was about repentance. Christian baptism is about identifying with Christ. The baptism of the Spirit is the same as "receiving the Spirit." (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/repent)
Temple of Diana
The temple of Diana was important for the businesses of Ephesus. Many people came to this city to see this amazing temple and bought statues while they were there. The people's belief in Jesus caused problems for these people because of the affect it had on their businesses.