QUES. 2.-In Acts 8 :13 it is said, "Simon himself believed also; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip," etc. Then in verse 23 Peter says :" I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." How could Simon be a believer and then be "in the bond of iniquity ? "

ANS.-You will see the same thing in John 2 :23-25 :"Many believed in His name, when they saw the miracles which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, … for He knew what was in man." There is a vital difference between a convicted soul believing in Jesus, coming to Him as the Saviour of sinners, and those attracted by miracles, who believe on Jesus as a great prophet, or one endowed with wonderful powers. Simon was such an one. He had bewitched the people of Samaria by his remarkable tricks and sorcery. But when he saw the miracles done through Philip, and demons cast out of persons, he perceived there was a power at work there with which his tricks and sorceries could not compare ; he believed in the superior power of Jesus whom Philip preached, and he became a professed believer in Jesus. Yet his heart was unchanged. He was the same Simon as before. There was no repentance as to sin, no crying to God for forgiveness, no new birth therefore. So when Peter and John came, and Simon saw that by the laying on of their hands the Holy Spirit was given (with the then usual accompanying manifestations, probably), Simon coveted to have this power too, and offered money to buy it. He thus discovered himself to Peter's spiritual discernment as a man who, though a professed believer in Jesus, was still in his sins, ignorant of God. and "in the bond of iniquity." This shows how many professed adherents to the Christian religion may be strangers to God and His forgiveness, unconverted, yet in their sins, deceiving others and themselves too in a measure, until the mask is torn away ! Then, alas, in the end they will hear the awful words, "I never knew you:-Depart from Me ye that work iniquity" (Matt. 7:23).