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“Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And…they believed Philip…and…they were baptized…Then Simon himself believed also: and…he was baptized” (Acts 8:5,12-13).
Here we find another example of a man who believed with his head, but not in his heart. He was a man who used sorcery, which means that he impressed people with Satan’s power. But when he saw the power of the Holy Spirit exhibited by Philip, he realized that this was a greater power than he had. People were healed of their diseases, and were filled with the Holy Spirit by the laying on of Philip’s hands.
But then Simon offered money to the apostles, asking them to give him the power to lay his hands on people and have them receive the Holy Spirit. This showed clearly that he was not really saved, and Peter addresses him very faithfully, pointing out that Simon was in the “bond of iniquity.” This simply means that he was not saved, but still in his sins. We do not know whether he eventually got saved or not, for we do not hear of him again. We hope that he did repent and come to the Lord Jesus.
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