Page 69 - Pneumatology - Student Textbook

Study Section 13: Is speaking in tongues evidence for having been
baptized by the Holy Spirit?

13.1 Connect

Someone might come up to you and ask you if you have ever been baptized by the Holy Spirit. If
that should happen, the caution flag should go up. We have learned that every believer has
been baptized by the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation. If a person does not have the Holy
Spirit, then he is not saved! Period!

The person asking you this question has probably misunderstood this doctrine and is confused
about the works of the Holy Spirit. So, you can take this opportunity to tell him that you have been
baptized by the Holy Spirit and give him your testimony. Most likely, he will want to know if you have
spoken in tongues, which he believes is a sign of the Holy Spirit’s baptism. So, if you carefully study the
information in this course, you should be able to give a defense of the truth of Scripture and help this
believer understand how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. Let’s get started.

13.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to defend a Biblical position on speaking in tongues and the
baptism of the Holy Spirit.

2. The student will learn about the Latter Rain Movement within Pentecostalism.

3. The student should be able to explain what praying in tongues is and why it is not necessary for a
believers prayer life.

13.3 Is speaking in tongues evidence for having been baptized by the Holy Spirit?

The modern Charismatic movement teaches that when a believer speaks in tongues (ecstatic
utterances), the tongues are a validation that the person is not only saved, but has moved up the
ladder of sanctification to a new level of being baptized by the Holy Spirit.

There are three occasions in the book of Acts where speaking in tongues accompanied the
receiving of the Holy Spirit—Acts 2:4, 10:44-46, and 19:6. However, these three occasions are
the only places in the Bible where speaking in tongues is an evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit.
Throughout the book of Acts, thousands of people believe in Jesus and
nothing is said about them speaking in tongues (Acts 2:41, 8:5-25, 16:31-
34, 21:20). Nowhere in the New Testament is it taught that speaking in
tongues is the only evidence a person has received the Holy Spirit. In fact,
the New Testament teaches the opposite. We are told that every believer
in Christ has the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians
1:13-14), but not every believer speaks in tongues (1 Corinthians 12:29-
31).

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