From yesterday’s verse we learned that Apollos was “fervent in spirit.” The word “fervent” is from the Greek word zeo. When applied to liquid, it means “to boil.” When applied to metals, it means “to glow.” Apollos was so passionate about what he knew of Christ; he was “boiling over.” His zeal was so great it was “red hot!”

Apollos “spoke and taught diligently (or accurately) the things of the Lord.” We all could learn from Apollos here. This is why today’s verse and memory verse is so important. 

Apollos was “rightly dividing” or “cutting straight” what he knew about Jesus, but his knowledge was limited. We know this is true because of the next phrase, “he knew only the baptism of John.” “The baptism of John” was not the same as Christian baptism or believer’s baptism. It symbolized people washing clean in order to present themselves to the Messiah when He appeared. Apollos didn’t understand that believer’s baptism represents the fact that the Messiah is now alive in our hearts.

I think this comment may only illustrate the lack of Apollos’ knowledge, that perhaps there were many areas in his teaching that needed to be updated. This is where Aquila and Priscilla come into play. I am so thankful for godly mentors. 

Apollos was so new in his faith that he simply did not know enough; yet, two mentors came into his life to help him grow and mature. This is such an important lesson for us. We need to have mentors and we need to be mentoring. Be that workman that is not ashamed and will rightly, correctly disseminate the Word of God.