When God confronts us with our sin, the right response is to fear the Lord, confess and openly disclose what we’ve done, and destroy our old ways. In Acts 19, two groups in Ephesus faced the same message about Jesus. New believers who had practiced sorcery confessed and burned their expensive magic scrolls, and the word of the Lord spread powerfully. Idol makers, on the other hand, blamed Paul, defended their trade, and started a riot that ended in confusion.
Setting the Scene in Acts 19:1-41
At the end of Acts 18, Paul briefly visited Ephesus and promised to return if God willed (Acts 18:1-28). Now, on his third missionary journey, he kept that promise and stayed for about three years, longer than anywhere else on his travels (Acts 20:31).
Ephesus was one of the greatest cities of the Roman province of Asia, a major port and home to the temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. It was also famous for magic. Ancient writers referred to the “Ephesian letters,” mysterious words believed to have magical power, which people wrote on amulets and recited as spells. This was a city where people tried to control spiritual power for their own benefit.
Disciples Who Hadn’t Heard
When Paul arrived, he found about twelve disciples who seemed to be missing something.
Acts 19:2-6 …and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Like Apollos in the previous chapter, these men knew only John’s baptism. They had responded to John’s call to repentance but hadn’t understood that the one John pointed to had come. Once they heard about Jesus, they were baptized in his name, and when Paul placed his hands on them, the Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Christians understand this scene in different ways. Some see it as a pattern of a second experience after conversion. Many others see it as one of several unique moments in Acts, alongside Pentecost, Samaria, and Cornelius’s house, when God visibly confirmed that a new group belonged to his church. For more, see What Is Baptism of the Holy Spirit? and Is Speaking in Tongues Biblical?
Jesus Is Not a Magic Word
Paul taught in the synagogue for three months, then moved to the lecture hall of Tyrannus, where he taught daily for two years. Some ancient manuscripts add that he taught from about 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., the hottest part of the day when many people rested. As a result, people throughout the province of Asia heard the gospel. Churches in nearby cities like Colossae and Laodicea may have started during this time.
God also did extraordinary miracles through Paul. Even sweat cloths and work aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and they were healed (Acts 19:11-12). In a city obsessed with magic, God showed that his power was greater than any spell. But some people missed the point.
Acts 19:13-16 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
These traveling Jewish exorcists treated Jesus’ name like one more magic formula. They had no faith in Jesus. They just wanted his power. No Jewish high priest named Sceva is known from other records, so he may have been from a priestly family or simply claimed the title to impress people. Either way, the evil spirit wasn’t impressed: “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” Using God’s name without submitting to him is the very definition of misusing the Lord’s name (Exodus 20:7). Jesus can’t be controlled. He is Lord.
The First Group: Confess and Destroy
News of the beaten exorcists spread fast, and it led to a remarkable response.
Acts 19:17-20 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
Notice the three parts of this group’s response. First, they feared the Lord. They recognized his power and holiness with reverent awe, the same healthy fear we saw in the early church (Acts 4:32-5:11). Second, they confessed and disclosed their sin. The Greek phrase describes people openly confessing and disclosing their practices. To confess means to agree with God about our sin. To disclose means bringing it into the light. They didn’t minimize it, rationalize it, or blame someone else.
Third, they destroyed their old ways. Magic scrolls were valuable, and the total was fifty thousand drachmas. Since a drachma was roughly a day’s wage, that was a fortune. Some believers may have kept their scrolls as a backup plan, in case faith in Jesus didn’t work out. Burning them meant there was no turning back. The result was that the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. Real repentance always has a powerful effect.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
God doesn’t ask us to confess so he can shame us. He asks so he can forgive and cleanse us.
The Second Group: Defend and Deflect
Not everyone welcomed the change. As people turned from idols, the local economy felt it.
Acts 19:24-27 A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”
Demetrius made silver shrines of Artemis, probably small souvenir models of the goddess or her temple. The temple of Artemis was enormous, far larger than the Parthenon in Athens, and it drew pilgrims and money from all over the world. Demetrius’s speech is revealing. He started with money, then wrapped his concern in religious devotion.
His group’s response was the opposite of the first group’s. Instead of fearing God, they feared losing money. Instead of confessing, they pointed fingers at Paul. Instead of disclosing their sin, they defended it. And instead of destroying their idols, they worshiped them more loudly, chanting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” for about two hours in the city’s huge theater, which could seat around 25,000 people.
Luke adds a humorous detail: most of the crowd didn’t even know why they were there (Acts 19:32). The word for this “assembly” is ekklēsia, the same word usually translated “church.” When we respond to sin with more sin, we join a different assembly, one marked by confusion. Finally the city clerk calmed the crowd, pointing out that Paul’s companions hadn’t robbed temples or blasphemed the goddess, and he dismissed the gathering before Rome could accuse the city of rioting.
What This Means for Us
We all sin, but our response to sin makes all the difference. When God exposes something in our lives, we can respond like the second group: defend it, blame others, and end up confused. Or we can respond like the first group: fear God, confess and disclose our sin, and get rid of whatever keeps pulling us back.
For most of us, it won’t be magic scrolls. It might be an app, a relationship, a habit, or a source of income that pulls our hearts away from Jesus. The question is whether we’re keeping a backup plan. Burning the scrolls is costly, but it brings freedom, and it lets the message of Jesus have a powerful effect through our lives.
The Takeaway
How should we respond when confronted with our sin? Like the new believers in Ephesus: fear the Lord, confess and openly disclose our sin, and destroy our old ways. The idol makers defended their sin, blamed others, and ended up in confusion. But when we respond with real repentance, God forgives us, and his word spreads with power.
