<p>8:13- see on Acts 2:42.</p><p><i>And Simon also himself believed, and being baptized, he continued with Philip; and seeing signs and great miracles done, he was amazed<em>- </em></i>It was probably clear that Simon's motivation was less than sincere, but they still baptized him. Simon appears to have been an onlooker at the baptisms of Acts 8:12, and &ldquo;himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip&rdquo; (Acts 8:13). Here we see again how belief and baptism were so closely connected. We see here another fulfilment of the great commission of Mt. 28:19,20- the basic Gospel was to be preached, people baptized, and then they were taught further. This seems the sense of how the convert Simon &ldquo;continued with Philip&rdquo;, for to &lsquo;continue with&rsquo; someone was an idiom for being a student of them (Mt. 15:32; Jn. 8:31; Acts 2:42; 14:22; 15:35; 18:11; 19:10; Phil. 1:25; Col. 1:23; 1 Tim. 4:16; 2 Tim. 3:14; 1 Jn. 2:19). In Simon&rsquo;s case, one gets the feeling that his motives for baptism were likely almost visibly suspect from the start; he saw the opportunity for financial gain. But that was no reason to not baptize him. We can never know the motives of those who seek baptism. Over the course of a few thousand baptisms I have arrived at the simple conclusion that it&rsquo;s so often those who appear to be so well motivated, so brimming with knowledge and zeal, who don&rsquo;t stay the course. And it&rsquo;s those whose motivation would appear suspect- getting baptized because the boyfriend is baptized and from an established family of believers, or from the apparent motive of material benefit- who despite many traumas and difficulties in their lives, endure to the end. And it is endurance to the end which is of the essence. Simon&rsquo;s baptism should surely sink for all time the &lsquo;forbidding of water&rsquo; to people because we doubt their motives. We barely know our own motives, so how can we pronounce with confidence upon the motives of other hearts, to the point of denying them baptism? For <em>Amazed </em>see on :9 <em>Amazed the people of Samaria</em>.</p>