Fuzzy Faith - Acts 18:25-26

"This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught the things about Jesus accurately, although he knew only John’s baptism. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. After Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained the way of God to him more accurately. (Acts 18:25-26, HCSB)

Apollos was from Alexandria, Egypt, a city of great learning. However, his knowledge of the gospel of Jesus was deficient since he apparently was a disciple of John the Baptist.

Apollos arrived in Ephesus and spoke boldly about Jesus, but it was not enough because you must accurately understand your faith in order to convince others to embrace it.

A very similar situation occurred in the following chapter of Acts. When the Apostle Paul arrived at Ephesus on his third missionary journey, he met some disciples who said they were baptized with John's baptism and had not even heard of the Holy Spirit (vs. 19:1-4).

When Christians are fuzzy about the gospel, then it really may not have any transforming effect on their lives.

So, it’s really about transformation--the more accurately you understand the gospel, the more it transforms your life. You become enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And, to share the gospel effectively, you have to be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

A fuzzy faith is not very productive for the Kingdom of God!

So the end of the story is that both Apollos and the disciples at Ephesus demonstrated the transformative effects of having a more accurate understanding of the gospel of Jesus.

Apollos left Ephesus and went to Corinth where "he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah" (vs. 27-28).

The Ephesus disciples were baptized in the name of Jesus. Then Paul laid his hands on them, the power of the Holy Spirit came upon them and they began to speak in other languages and prophesy (vs. 19:6). Soon thereafter, a powerful moving of the Holy Spirit occurred that subdued many of the demonic practices taking place in Ephesus.

"We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18, HCSB).