The First Question

To Genuinely Imitate Christ, We Must Die to Self.

Acts 8:9-25

INTRODUCTION

The ability to do a great impersonation entertains me. It's amazing how an actor or a comedian can adapt a famous person's facial expressions, physiology, and vocal inflection. The first comedic impersonation I remember was back in the 1990s when Dana Carvey impersonated George Bush senior. It was so good and funny. Even the former president loved it himself. Frank Calendo can do more impersonations than anyone I have ever seen. Impersonations can be hysterical. The only time an impersonation isn’t funny is when you’re trying to do one, and that person walks in on you. My teenage sarcastic impersonation of my dad to my brother, which my dad walked in on, apparently wasn’t funny.

But there is a difference between impersonations and imitations. An impersonator tries to sound and look like another person, while an imitator not only tries to sound like another but also models their behavior, attitudes, and entire lives. An imitator wants to become like the person they model. An impersonator wants you to think they are the person, an imitator wants to be just like the person.

Occasionally, when you read the Bible, you'll come across a verse that jumps out and overwhelms you by virtue of its sheer impossibility. For example, when Jesus said, "Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." I don't know about you, but that one hasn't been easy to pull off for me. I’m 0 for 51.5 years on that one.

Throughout the New Testament, there is a repeated call to be imitators of Christ. There's more to imitating Jesus than just talking the talk, going to church, or even walking an aisle or through a baptistry. We are called to be imitators of Chris, but I’m afraid, at times, we become more impersonators who want to be perceived and sound like Christ but not become like Him. An example of this in scripture can help us understand the difference between impersonators and imitators. This story concludes our series of “More to The Story” by looking at the first question raised about our faith in Jesus: Are we imitators of Christ or just impersonators?

Acts 8:9–25 ESV

But there was a man named Simon, who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called Great.” And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed. Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.

SCRIPTURAL ANALYSIS

Up to Acts 6 the original apostles play a prominent role in Luke’s record of the life of the church. But at 6:7, the emphasis shifts to a second generation of leaders, like Stephen, Philip, and Paul. Chapter 9 describes the conversion of Paul, whose ministry dominates the rest of Acts. In fact, from now on, except for Peter's pioneering work in the home of Cornelius, these newer leaders have been the standard-bearers of the advance of the kingdom. They become the initiators of the mission to spread the gospel. In a beautiful sequence, Peter and John follow the lead given by Philip and preach the gospel in many Samaritan cities.

Verses 9-13

Following Stephen's martyrdom, the church scatters and Philip takes the gospel to Samaria. This, of course, is very significant as it continues Christ's instructions to be His witnesses in Jerusalem and Samaria. When Philip came to Samaria, he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. In Samaria, Philip is seeing great results. Then, a couple of events take place that Luke records, which makes these events important.

Luke clearly depicts Simon of Samaria as a magic worker and a fraud who made money from his sorcery. Early church father Justin Martyr from the second century was himself a Samaritan. He wrote that Simon, the Samaritan, was worshiped by “almost all” of the Samaritans of that day. Many traditions revolve around Simon the Sorcerer. It is alleged that he was the founder of the Gnostic heresies, which believed there are these series of manifestations of God called mediators where God self-discloses Himself. It is alleged that he went to Rome and perverted Christian doctrine there and that he became involved in a miracle contest with Peter but lost. At any rate, this Simon of Samaria did practice sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria.

Verses 12-13

When Philip came to Samaria, he preached the good news. To preach the Good News about the name of Jesus Christ would mean “to preach the Good News about Jesus Christ,” and in the present context, specifically the Good News that Jesus was the Messiah.

In bringing the name of Jesus and the liberating power of his message to Samaria, Philip had invaded the stronghold of the occult. Had Philip known what lay ahead, he might have said to his comrades, “I’m off to see the wizard,” for that is precisely what Simon the sorcerer proclaimed and precisely what people around him believed.

The Samaritans, both men and women, were baptized as evidence of their faith. Amazingly, Simon himself believed and was baptized. Was Simon saved? Luke did not specify this clearly, but a few facts suggest that Simon was not born again: The verb “believe” does not always refer to saving faith, and Luke never stated that Simon received the Holy Spirit. So why has Simon been baptized? Left without followers, Simon thinks it best to join the man who is now outdrawing him. It was the popular, expected thing to do. It was motivated by self-promotion and preservation.

Verses 14-17

With the news of these events reaching Jerusalem, it was necessary for the apostles in Jerusalem to commission Peter and John to go to Samaria. Peter and John are sent from Jerusalem to verify what a second-generation leader is doing.

Then something strange happens (v15-17): When they arrived, they prayed that they might receive the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is connected with becoming a Christian, but it presents no set pattern in Acts. Sometimes, the Spirit is connected with the laying on of hands, sometimes not. Sometimes, the coming of the Spirit precedes baptism. Sometimes it follows. The Spirit “blows where it wills,” according to John 3.

The current passage is the most difficult case of them all. Why was the receipt of the Spirit so disconnected from the Samaritans’ baptism? Here is why: The Samaritans had to know that salvation started with the Jews; the Jews, in turn, had to understand that the same salvation had now come to the Samaritans. Jesus said in John 17 that the world would know that Jesus came from the Father when the world saw the unity of the body of Christ. With the tremendous hatred that existed between the Jews and Samaritans for centuries, God demonstrated to both sides that they would be united together as one church. The dependence of the Samaritans upon the Jews to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit was the healing sign that the two sides were to become one. This delay is about unifying the church under the banner of Christ through the Holy Spirit. There was a real danger that the church in Jerusalem might retain ideas of Jewish superiority and that they might continue to have no dealings with their Samaritan brethren. The Holy Spirit was the unifying factor that would bring Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles into one body.

Verses 18-25

The word saw simply means that Simon perceived what was happening, so he wanted in on the benefits. When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given when the apostles placed their hands upon people’s heads, he also wanted to have that power. Simon foolishly believed that Peter and John were in the same business as he had been (sorcery and magic), so he offered money for the power. But Peter strongly rebukes Him. The reason for such strong language was Simon’s failure to understand grace, the free nature of God’s salvation and blessings. The language of this verse, “You have no part or share in this ministry,” implies Simon was not a Christian.

Simon asks them to pray for him instead of repenting himself. Apart from his repentance, Simon’s state would remain one filled with the “gall of bitterness” and captivity to the “bonds of sin.”

Peter and John were so convinced of God’s work among the Samaritans that when they returned to Jerusalem, they, too, shared the gospel with Samaritans, in fact, in many Samaritan villages. They continued The Great Commission as instructed at Jesus's ascension.

TODAY’S KEY TRUTH

To Genuinely Imitate Christ, We Must Die to Self.

APPLICATION

Simon is a good example of misplaced religion. He believed and was baptized, but it was obviously an inadequate change of heart. He sought God’s power without any apparent interest in developing a relationship with God. Simon The Samaritan’s “belief” was superficial, like the belief of those described in John 2, who were excited by Jesus’ miracles but were not committed to Him. History is filled with many people who look at Jesus and see the benefits yet fail to understand what it means to be saved. They say the right words, present the right image, and even live moral lives, but they fail to embrace the truth.

True salvation is not only based on faith, it is based on faith built on truth. It is based on a faith grounded in biblical theology. Now, when I say theology, I mean doctrine produced from Scripture. A faith based on faulty doctrine is faulty faith. It isn’t enough to say—Well, so and so believes in God, so and so believes in Jesus. What we believe matters. That’s the point. What we believe about God and what we believe about Jesus matters. Simon believed, Simon was baptized, but Simon’s belief was based on faulty doctrine. In the text, we see that he held four wrong views. He had a wrong view of self; he had a wrong view of salvation, he had a wrong view of the Spirit, and he had a wrong view of sin. And when you’ve got a wrong view of all those basic things, you have a false faith.

That’s not being judgmental. That's saying our faith has standards. The Bible gives us standards. If those standards aren’t met, then it's not real. While our culture tries to diminish standards about almost everything, God’s standards never change. The standard that Simon is missing is that Simon believes faith in Jesus is about Simon, not Jesus. That’s why he wants to buy the power of the Holy Spirit for himself.

All false faith exalts individuals instead of God. Whether it is Jim Jones, David Koresh, Marshall Applewhite, Joseph Smith, modern prosperity preachers, or Simon of Samaria, they fail to see that true faith begins with surrendering to Christ fully and dying to self. Authentic Christianity exalts Jesus, not the individual. Authentic Christianity exalts Jesus, not wealth, pleasure, or material possessions. Authentic Christianity exalts Jesus. Take John the Baptist; when Jesus became increasingly popular, he said, “He must increase, I must decrease.” Paul says this, “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake,” in 2Corinthians 4. According to scripture, we are to exalt Christ by dying to self.

We want Jesus on our own terms without fully surrendering our self-determination to run our own lives. This is pointedly exemplified in Simon’s response to Peter. He completely sidestepped the challenge to surrender by repenting. Simon asked Peter to pray that none of the things with which he confronted him would happen, but he did not do the one thing that could prevent it — repenting and dying to self! Simon was still in charge of Simon and received neither the initial blessing Philip preached nor the fullness of Peter and John. He was left with the same old Simon and a city that was no longer impressed by his assertions of greatness. He didn’t surrender, and nothing changed. Simon tried to be an impersonator instead of being an imitator of Christ, who died himself to save humanity.

To Genuinely Imitate Christ, We Must Die to Self.

CONCLUSION

The implication for us and for the people around us is that just as it is possible to believe in Jesus and not be filled with His Spirit, it is also possible to want His Spirit’s benefits while living our own self-controlled lives without surrendering and total commitment to the Lord. Neither works nor saves. That is impersonating a believer, not imitating Christ. An impersonator wants you to think they are the person, an imitator wants to be just like the person.

The concept of “dying to self” is found throughout the New Testament. It expresses the true essence of the Christian life, in which we take up our cross and follow Christ. Dying to self is part of being born again; the old self dies, and the new self comes to life. Dying to self is never portrayed in Scripture as something optional in the Christian life. No one can come to Christ unless he is willing to see his old life crucified with Christ and begin to live anew in obedience to Him. The Christian lifestyle is intended to be one where the believer lives not in service to self but in service to God and other people.

One way we die to self is by living more like Christ and less like ourselves. This means we try to incorporate more Christ-like traits into our thinking and being. Literally, this means more of God and less of us. To be crucified with Christ is to allow our flesh to die and make room for the Holy Spirit within. On the Cross, Jesus died for our sins. Thus, to imitate him, dying to ourselves, will cast our sins off and let them die.

Think back to Simon the Samaritan one last time as we think about dying to self. As we die to self, we no longer try to get our own way or try to get people to look to or admire us. Dying to self makes life easier because, for example, we can be content even when overlooked. Dying to self means our priorities, our ideas, and our passions are all set aside to follow what Christ is calling us to. Quite simply, when we die to self, we’re no longer obsessed with self. It was the failure to die to themselves and trust in God that led to Adam and Eve’s original sin. It’s at the root of all sin in our lives. To have a saving faith means we die to self.

To Genuinely Imitate Christ, We Must Die to Self.

When we look at the complete book of Acts, we can be in awe and wonder at the faithfulness of the disciples that we may think it is impossible to live in such a way. In reality, in order to live under the Lordship of Christ, we must learn to die to ourselves daily, and we must live with a compassion that reaches out to people in our community. Dying to self will keep us humble and drive us to reach our community.

To Genuinely Imitate Christ, We Must Die to Self.

The first question we must ask ourselves is, are we imitators or impersonators? Who are we living for? As disciples of Jesus, we are called to carry our crosses on a daily basis so as to follow Him.  Jesus told His disciples in Luke 9, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” In our generation, where there are many self-centered ways of living, such as self-sufficiency, self-effort, self-dependence, and self-determination, a lesson on dying to self seems awkward. But God has not called us to live “our lives.” Jesus has called us to live His life. And in order to live His life, we must first die to ourselves.

To Genuinely Imitate Christ, We Must Die to Self.