John Calvin Commentary Acts 19:2

"and he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? And they [said] unto him, Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was [given]." — Acts 19:2 (ASV)

Whether they had received the Holy Ghost. The end of the history shows that Paul does not speak in this place of the Spirit of regeneration, but of the special gifts which God gave to various people at the beginning of the gospel, for the common edification of the Church.

But now upon this interrogation of Paul arises a question: was the Spirit common to all everywhere at that time? For if He was given only to a few, why does Paul join Him with faith, as if they were so linked together that they could not be separated?

Perhaps they were not of the common sort, or perhaps because they were a moderate number (that is, twelve), Paul asks whether they were all without the gifts of the Spirit.

Nevertheless, I think this: that so many Jews were present before the Gentiles, not by chance, but by the counsel of God. They were disciples at that time—that is, among the number of the faithful—who nevertheless confessed their ignorance of the principal glory of the gospel, which was apparent in spiritual gifts, so that through them Paul’s ministry might be adorned and advanced.

For it is unlikely that Apollos left so few disciples at Ephesus, and he could have taught them better, since he had learned the way of the Lord perfectly from Priscilla and Aquila.

Moreover, I do not doubt that the brethren of whom Luke spoke before were different from these. In sum, when Paul sees that these men profess the name of Christ, so that he may have a more certain trial of their faith, he asks them whether they have received the Holy Ghost. For it appears from Paul himself that this was a sign and token of the grace of God to establish the credibility of doctrine: I would know of you whether you received the Holy Ghost by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith (Galatians 3:2).

We do not know whether there is any Holy Ghost. How could it be that men, being Jews, had heard nothing of the Spirit, about which the prophets speak everywhere, and whose commendations and titles are found in the whole Scripture? Surely, from this we gather that Paul neither spoke generally of the Spirit, and that these men, when asked, denied that they knew those visible graces with which God had adorned the kingdom of His Son.

Therefore, they confess that they do not know whether God gives such gifts. Therefore, in the word Spirit there is the figure of metonymy. And this interpretation is confirmed by the fact that if they had altogether denied knowing anything concerning the Spirit of God, Paul would not have passed over such a gross error in silence—indeed, an error altogether monstrous.

When he asks for what purpose or how they were baptized, he also shows that wherever Christ had been soundly and thoroughly preached, the visible graces also appeared, so that such worship might be common to all churches.

Therefore, it is no wonder that Paul is surprised that the faithful are ignorant of such glory of Christ, which God intended to be apparent everywhere at that time. And, as an immediate correction, he tells them that they must not remain in those rudiments they had learned, because it was John’s office to prepare disciples for Christ.