Acts 19:18

And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Acts 19:18

The NKJV cleared up several errors from the KJV, but it is still better translated as, “And many of those having believed, were coming, confessing and announcing their deeds.”

The previous verse noted that the matter of the man with the evil spirit overpowering the false exorcists became known to all the Jews and Greeks in Ephesus and that fear fell on them and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Because of that, it next says, “And many of those having believed.”

The verb is a perfect participle. They had believed and that was an accomplished fact. When they believed they were saved through that belief. Their confession then is a follow-up to their belief (at which time they were saved), not a precursor to it. The ESV does a good and understandable paraphrase by saying, “many of those who were now believers.”

As can be seen, belief does not necessarily mean living rightly. Proper doctrine and properly aligned faith, leading to a proper walk before the Lord, takes time. No person is saved and is then suddenly a noted theologian. Rather salvation is a one-time and for-all-time matter, but there is much more to follow as a person learns what is right. Of these that had believed, they “were coming.”

The verb is imperfect, and it shows an ongoing procession of people coming forward. What is possibly the case is that someone was convicted of not living rightly for the Lord. In seeing what happened with the false exorcists, he realized he had been accepting falsities into his life.

In his coming forward, another came. After that, another and another came. Each realized as he saw the others coming forward that he also needed to adjust his walk to be a proper and pleasing follower of the Lord. Because of this, they were coming forward “confessing and announcing their deeds.”

Of these words, Vincent’s Word Studies says, “The two words denote the fullest and most open confession. They openly (ἐξ) [ek: from out of] confessed, and declared thoroughly (ἀνά, [ana: upwards] from top to bottom) their deeds.”

Nothing is said about where the confession was made, but it is obvious from the actions of the next verse that it was public. This then has no similarity to the closed confessionals of some churches. Forgiveness and cleansing don’t come from a priest or from works, but from Christ. From there a clear conscience won’t hide what has been forgiven. This was also the case at the time of John the Baptist’s ministry –

“Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.” Matthew 3:5, 6

It is also something that goes back to the time of Solomon. In the Proverbs, he wrote –

“He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” Proverbs 28:13

Likewise, James speaks of the power of confession –

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16

Life application: The people that came forward were saved believers. The use of the perfect participle clearly shows that at some previous point, they were saved, and that salvation adhered to them like glue. And yet, it now acknowledges that they had been caught up in wrong practices. They were convicted, and they came forward to acknowledge that. As noted, this line of thought will continue into the next verse.

So, which sins were the ones that removed their salvation from them? Obviously, we have no idea what things they had been doing wrong after being saved, and that appears to be purposeful on Luke’s part. He understood that the litany of transgressions that were confessed had not brought them to a loss of salvation because he understood that salvation is a covenant made by God in Christ and accepted by the one who believes.

Because the covenant is initiated and granted based upon faith, and that it is initiated the moment that faith exists, and because He – at that time – seals the believer with His Holy Spirit, that salvation – by default – is eternal. God, unlike us, does not violate His covenant. Pick your sin that you believe supposedly separates a saved believer from God and try shoving it into the confessions announced in this verse. Oops. Too late. The verb form noted that they were saved and continued in that salvation.

Salvation, by default, is an eternal proclamation by God. If you disagree, you are rong.

Lord God, thank You for saving us despite ourselves. You have entered into a covenant relationship with us through the giving of Your Son. You already know that we will fail and that if it was up to us, our salvation would be lost. But it is by grace and through faith, not by deeds we may or may not do. Thank You for our eternal salvation in Christ. Amen.