Without Validation

What would change in your life if you were able to live directly from God’s authority without validation from earthly authority?

Acts 8:17

Then [Peter and John] laid their hands on [the Samaritans] and they received the Holy Spirit.

In this passage, we see that–despite believing in the word of God proclaimed to them by Philip and being baptized–the people of Samaria could not receive the Holy Spirit until they came in contact with Peter, who was a known authority figure in the church.

A question one could ask is whether or not it was the Holy Spirit that was delayed or whether the people were delayed in their receiving. It says that the people had only been baptized in the name of Jesus and that is why the Spirit had not befallen them. And yet, in Mark 16 it says that baptism and belief are sufficient.

Perhaps like many of us, the new believers needed a stamp of approval before knowing that they were worthy of receiving the gift that was their birthright.

What would change in your life if you were able to live directly from God’s authority without validation from earthly authority?

– Pedro Silva