Acts 19v3

And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.

This passage records what happened after the events discussed in the previous section. Apollos continued on his journey to Corinth, and while he was there Paul came to Ephesus. This is the same city where Apollos had been ministering when he met Aquila and Priscilla, as we saw in the previous section.

From verse 1 of this chapter we see that Paul had found “certain disciples”. His immediate question to them was “Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” (v2) – the answer to this question started to reveal where the source of their teaching had been: “We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.” Paul clarified their position with his second question in this current verse – ‘Into what were you baptised then?’ Clearly they had mentioned baptism, as his question pre-supposes the fact that they had been baptised. The implication of Paul’s question is that you might be a believer, but what do you believe in? Where is the source of your teaching, what is the authority that you have for it? You might be a disciple, but a disciple of whom? Whose life have you studied so closely that you know all of his teachings and ways of doing things? Do you have the new revelation of God and His works on your behalf? This all boils down to this single question of Paul’s: “Unto what then were ye baptized?” (v3)

For those that have not received the gift of the Holy Spirit since believing, Paul would sense that there was something missing in their relationship with God. The evidence of speaking in tongues was first promised by Jesus himself, as recorded in Mark 16v17-18, along with casting out devils, healing of the sick by the laying on of hands, taking up of serpents, and not being harmed by any drinks containing poison. All of these signs are to follow all those that believe, so Paul was expecting to see them – when he didn’t, he started his investigation to find out what was wrong. These two questions of Paul’s still ring out to the church through the ages. Paul used them to make sure that they had started off as believers by going in the correct direction. It is very important even today that somebody starts off on the correct foundation, and starts heading in the correct direction. Let me summarise here by repeating Paul’s questions:

Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? (v2)
Into what were you baptised? (v3)

In the two verses immediately following this current one, found in the next two sections, we will find out how Paul himself would have answered these questions. He provided the correct answers as he put these particular Ephesians back on a correct foundation throughout this passage of scripture.