Apollos: A Learning Teacher

KEY VERSE: “He began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.” —Acts 18:26

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Acts 18:24-28; I Corinthians 3:5-9

APOLLOS was a Jew of Alexandria, Egypt who was a very eloquent speaker, with a sound knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures. (Acts 18:24-28) The account states that he was instructed in the way of the Lord and it seems probable that one of John’s disciples had taught him concerning Jesus but he knew only of John’s baptism. Apparently while Apollos was speaking to the Jews in the synagogue Aquila and Priscilla heard him and they took him to their home and “expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.”—vs. 26

It will be remembered that Aquila and Priscilla were husband and wife who lived in Corinth and were tentmakers by trade. When Paul arrived there Aquila and Priscilla warmly received him into their home. A very close friendship developed between them as they worked together at their common trade of tentmaking and in building the church at Corinth. Aquila and Priscilla were thus very well qualified to instruct Apollos and apparently he was receptive of mind, for the account continues, “When he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace: for he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, showing by scriptures that Jesus was Christ.”—vss. 27,28

As the account tell us that Apollos knew only about John’s baptism, we know that he was not aware of the heavenly hope held out in the Scriptures to Christians. Those who were immersed into John’s baptism were Jews who realized they were sinners and could not attain unto righteousness and gain salvation through the Law. By John’s baptism they were simply demonstrating awareness of their sinful condition and were looking forward to forgiveness that was to be provided by God through the Messiah.—Acts 19:4

Baptism into Jesus Christ, on the other hand, demonstrates that the candidate recognizes forgiveness of sins and that justification comes now, during this age, only by faith in the shed blood of Christ, and this by the grace of God. In order for the candidate to be acceptable under this arrangement, it is necessary that he make a full and unreserved consecration to God, and agree to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, laying his life down in sacrifice by serving the Lord, the truth, and the brethren. The reward for fulfilling these requirements is life on the divine plane of existence and to share with our Lord a place in the heavenly phase of the kingdom. Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”—Matt. 19:28

With this added knowledge and heart appreciation of the truth, Apollos apparently intensified his effort among the unbelieving Jews and was a great help to the brethren in Corinth. Unfortunately, about the time that Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians, factions had developed in the Corinth church. Each faction was following a different leader. The account reads, “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (I Cor. 1:12,13) The point the apostle was making is that the leaders are of no importance; they are simply servants of the Lord, and honoring him and his purposes is the ultimate objective of all servants as well as those who are served.

The apostle in I Corinthians 3:4-7 explains the place of the Lord’s servants in his arrangement, “For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planted anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”

The various factions and divisions did not cause a breach between these two wonderful servants of the Lord for they both were used mightily by him.

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