As I’ve stated, I came into the knowledge of the Son of God doctrine from a Oneness Pentecostal background. One of the things I discovered is that there are a good number of Son of God believers who, for one reason or another, do not hold the same “Pentecostal” view as I (and a number of others) do. Accordingly, I thought it would be useful to make this position known, in brief, and answer some views against it.

The word “Pentecostal,” like most titles, is described in different ways by different Christian groups. For our purposes, the term Pentecostal means the belief that the gift of baptism of the Spirit, accompanied by speaking in other languages just as on the day of Pentecost, is considered to be the normal and expected experience to this day. This appendix briefly explains why many of us strongly support the Pentecostal experience, and expounds on a few of its often overlooked significances.

To begin with, a number of verses clearly state this position…

The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit”. (John 3:8)

¹Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place. ²Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. ³Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them. ⁴They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak. (Acts 2:1–4)

…and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he [Jesus] has poured out this, which you now see and hear. (Acts 2:33)

³⁸Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”. ³⁹For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all who are far off”, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” (Acts 2:38–39)

¹²But when they believed Philip preaching good news concerning” the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized”, both men and women.¹³Simon himself also believed. Being baptized, he continued with Philip. Seeing signs and great miracles occurring, he was amazed. ¹⁴Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, ¹⁵who, when they had come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit”; ¹⁶for as yet he had fallen on none of them. They had only been baptized” in the name of Christ Jesus. ¹⁷Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money”, ¹⁹saying, “Give me also this power, that whoever I lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 8:12–19)

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word. ⁴⁵They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the nations. ⁴⁶For they heard them speaking in other languages and magnifying God. Then Peter answered, ⁴⁷ “Can any man forbid the water, that these who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we” should not be baptized?” ⁴⁸He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay some days…
^11:2When Peter had come up to Jerusalem… ⁴…Peter… explained to them in order, saying… ¹² The Spirit told me to go with them, without discriminating. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house. ¹³ He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house, and saying to him, “Send to Joppa, and get Simon, whose surname is Peter, ¹⁴who will speak to you words by which you will be saved, you and all your house.” ¹⁵As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning”. ¹⁶I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷If then God gave to them the same gift as us, when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God?” (Acts 10:44–11:17)

¹It happened that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples. ²He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They said to him, “No, we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ³He said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” ⁴Paul said, “John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.” ⁵When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with other languages and prophesied”. (Acts 19:1–6)

What can’t be denied in these passages is that some converts clearly displayed “other tongues” (or languages) when they received the gift or baptism of the Spirit, and those other languages were taken as a sign by the apostles. The questions that arise, then, are whether or not such an experience is or was normal for all, and whether or not these experiences were only for that time period.

We Pentecostals generally believe these passages represent the normal process” of events that accompanies conversion. As Peter said, we are to repent, be baptized into the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of sins, and we shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the promise is unto all that believe. Jesus had claimed that there would be a sound evident in everyone who was born of the Spirit (John 3:8), and Peter claimed that the gift of the Spirit was both seen and heard.

As we see through later outpourings in the book of Acts, the single event in Acts 2 did not automatically apply to all, as, for example, the giving of the law on Mt Sinai did. The giving of that law was one event in which all future children of Israel partook indirectly. Such was not the case in Acts, where the event did reoccur with later conversions. As we also see in Acts, the apostles stated specifically that they knew their new converts had received the Spirit, “for they heard them speaking in tongues and magnifying God.” These verses seem to be rather conclusive.

There is no other corresponding statement to the contrary. Those who deny that speaking in tongues is “the” initial, outward sign of receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit are left to their own imaginations. Certainly, the fruits of the Spirit must and will manifest themselves in all believers, but we don’t find anyone in the Scriptures stating, “They received the Holy Spirit for we witnessed them…” exercising the gift of faith, or the word of knowledge, or the fruit of goodness or gentleness. Only the sound of speaking in other tongues was ever clearly and specifically given as the sign of the initial gift, or baptism of the Holy Spirit.

We are talking about a specific sign that is meant to accompany a particular event and experience. Jesus called that particular event a new birth, or more literally, a birth from above. Thus, Jesus gives us a reason to explore the metaphor of a natural birth in comparison. When a baby is born, we don’t say it is born the moment we can hear its heart beating, or when it has sensory perception like feeling or hearing, or because it seems to be thinking on its own or reacts to stimuli. All of these things are discernible in babies both before they are born and after. Rather, the one sign that indicates immediately and conclusively that a human birth has taken place is when a baby takes its first breath, which is usually accompanied by the definitively audible sound of crying. This is a specific sign that accompanies a specific event, and that is how tongues were used in the explanation and example of the apostles. That isn’t to say, either in the natural or spiritual realms, that this is the only time or reason a baby or child would ever breathe or cry. So it is with tongues, where the initial sign isn’t the only purpose that speaking in tongues serves.

Through the verses we’ve quoted, we can also see that the apostles did not consider belief or confession to be synonymous with having received the promised Spirit. In Acts 8, Philip made converts who believed and were promptly baptized, and yet the apostles still came down to pray with them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because they hadn’t yet received the promise! In practice, none of the elements of belief, repentance, water baptism, or Spirit baptism, were necessarily considered to be the same event. Just because one had happened, it didn’t necessarily mean the others had happened. Sometimes a person was water baptized first, whereas others were water baptized after having received the Spirit. In fact, the gift of the Spirit is something a believer should ask for, according to Jesus: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:11).

A Sign of the Rest and Refreshing

Furthermore, the Scriptures even state that tongues are a sign,” and what they are a sign of. Note carefully what both these passages explain for us…

¹¹But he will speak to this nation with stammering lips and in another language; ¹²to whom he said, “This is the resting place. Give rest to weary;” and “This is the refreshing;” yet they would not hear. (Isaiah 28:11–12)

²¹In the law it is written, ‘By men of strange languages and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people. Not even thus will they hear me, says the Lord”.’ ²²Therefore other languages are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to the unbelieving”; but prophesying is for a sign, not to the unbelieving, but to those who believe. (1 Corinthians 14:21–22)

When we read these passages together, we obtain a more complete picture and explanation (just as we do when reading the synoptic gospels, for instance). These verses clearly state that stammering lips (called “languages like as of fire” in Acts 2:3) and another tongue would be a sign of “the rest” and “the refreshing,” which the nation who is supposed to receive “would not hear.” Those are the “unbelievers,” who are clearly identified in Isaiah 28:11–12: those who don’t believe that this is the rest and refreshing. This is why Paul said “tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to the unbelieving.”

Now, notice what Paul says in this passage:

²³If therefore the whole assembly is assembled together and all speak with other languages, and unlearned or unbelieving people come in, won’t they say that you are crazy? ²⁴But if all prophesy, and someone unbelieving or unlearned comes in, he is reproved by all, and he is judged by all. ²⁵And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed. So he will fall down on his face and worship God, declaring that God is among you indeed. (1 Corinthians 14:23–25)

Paul had said, above in 14:22, that speaking in other tongues was a sign to the unbelievers, whereas prophecy was a sign to believers. But then he turns right around and says that if you speak in other languages to the unlearned and unbelieving, they will think you are crazy. So which is it? Paul lived in a multicultural world, so most people would have been exposed to speakers of other languages. Judea itself was overrun by soldiers of the Roman army. So why would anyone presume that speaking in another language was crazy? However, it would be a different story if someone tried speaking to you in a language you didn’t know and expected you to understand. It’s not hard to imagine that would cause you to think they were a little crazy. And that is why Paul provided the following explanation:

²For he who speaks in another language speaks not to men, but to God”; for no one understands; but in the Spirit he speaks mysteries”. ³But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification”, exhortation, and consolation. ⁴He who speaks in another language edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the assembly. ⁵Now I desire to have you all speak with other languages, but rather that you would prophesy. For he is greater who prophesies than he who speaks with other languages, unless he interprets, that the assembly may be built up. (1 Corinthians 14:2–5)

So here Paul explicitly says that he who speaks in another language speaks not to (or toward) men but to, or toward, God. This is a spiritual principle. There is another that goes along with it:

²⁷“If any man speaks in another language, let it be two, or at the most three, and in turn; and let one interpret. ²⁸But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the assembly, and let him speak to himself, and to God.” (1 Corinthians 14:27–28)

So then, the biblical standard for speaking in tongues within the assembly” is not to speak as if unto men in tongues unless it is interpreted, and not to speak unto the assembly except by two or at the most three, and only if it is interpreted.

The way non-Pentecostals often interpret 1 Corinthians 14 implies that the saints in Acts 2:1–4 were out of order and acting against these biblical standards! Why? Because they point to Paul’s instructions in the assembly and claim that anything other than two or three speaking with an interpreter is out of order. But in Acts 2 all 120 of them were speaking in other languages, and there was no interpreter; the unbelievers all understood in their own languages! So then, it is ridiculous to interpret 1 Corinthians in a way that makes Paul out to be condemning or correcting the actions of the saints on the Day of Pentecost! And yet that is what they do who claim 1 Corinthians 14:27–28 applies to all circumstances of speaking in tongues.

The point is, what was happening in Acts 2 was not the only type of speaking in other tongues that Paul was addressing. The sign of speaking in other tongues when receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is simply not the same particular event or circumstance as ministering the gifts to other believers in a Christian assembly.

The Law Written on the Heart

One significance of the NT gift of the Holy Spirit is to represent the law being written on our hearts:

You are a letter of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in tablets that are hearts of flesh”. (2 Corinthians 3:3)

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,” says the Lord, “I will put my laws into their mind, I will also write them on their heart. I will be to them a God, And they will be to me a people.” (Hebrews 8:10)

Can anyone then actually be of “His people” if His laws are not written in their heart? This is important because of the components (turbulence, fire, voice, lawgiving) that were involved in the law being written on stone and what the Bible has to say about that event:

¹⁷Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the lower part of the mountain. ¹⁸Mount Sinai, the whole of it, smoked, because Yahweh descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. ¹⁹When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice. ²⁰Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up… ^20:1 God spoke all these words, saying… (Exodus 19:17–20:1) [and thus the law was given by God to Moses who delivered the words to the people of Israel].

Consider how that experience is described in the following passages through key statements highlighted in italics below:

³Our God comes, and does not keep silent. A fire” devours before him. It is very tempestuous around him. ⁴ He calls to the heavens above, To the earth, that he may judge his people: ⁵“Gather my saints together to me, Those who have made a covenant” with me by sacrifice.” (Psalms 50:3–5)

Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct” you: and on earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. (Deuteronomy 4:36)

²He said, Yahweh came from Sinai… At his right hand was a fiery law” for them. ³Yes, he loves the people; All his saints are in your hand: They sat down at your feet; Everyone shall receive of your words”. ⁴ Moses commanded us a law, An inheritance for the assembly of Jacob. (Deuteronomy 33:2–4)

Now let’s compare the sequences of events (from the above). The best way to demonstrate and compare the elements involved is to show them in a table and compare them alongside each other as follows.

While considering the chart, let’s now look at these passages in Acts:

Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear”. (Acts 2:33)

⁴⁵They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the nations. ⁴⁶For they heard them speaking in other languages and magnifying God. (Acts 10:45–46)

⁷Don’t marvel that I said to you, You must be born anew. ⁸ The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:7–8)

When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with other languages and prophesied. (Acts 19:6)

¹¹But he will speak to this nation with stammering lips and in another language; ¹²to whom he said, “This is the resting place. Give rest to weary;” and “This is the refreshing;” yet they would not hear. (Isaiah 28:11–12)

²¹In the law it is written, “By men of strange languages and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people. Not even thus will they hear me, says the Lord.” ²²Therefore other languages are for a sign. (1 Corinthians 14:21–22)

In light of the aforementioned scriptures, in addition to asking you the scriptural question (Acts 19:2)— “have you received the Holy Spirit”—allow me to ask you this:

Have you had the law written on your heart?

Don’t be deceived. This Law being written on the heart is to be a glorious experience in the heart and soul, of which, as the scripture says, the other languages are only an outwardly sign:

⁷But if the service of death, written engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly on the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which was passing away: ⁸ won’t service of the Spirit be with much more glory? ⁹For if the service of condemnation has glory, the service of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. ¹⁰For most assuredly that which has been made glorious has not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasses. ¹¹For if that which passes away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory. (2 Corinthians 3:7–11)

This passage in particular is why we must remain adamant that speaking in tongues is just an outward sign. Being born again by the baptism of the Spirit is analogous to being born in the natural; speaking in tongues is analogous to the sound of a baby’s cry. In the natural, as with the spiritual, the outward cry isn’t what is notable or spectacular; it is the life that the sound represents that is the true substance of the miracle! A midwife doesn’t tell the father, “your baby cried,” she says, “you now have a daughter” or “your daughter was born perfectly healthy.” It is what is happening in the life of the newborn that is significant, just as it is in the spiritual new birth.

On the other hand, medics can take a stillborn and put it on artificial respiration for as long as they like, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they have instilled new life into the baby. Unfortunately, in the same way, in the spiritual, tongues can be artificially induced, and imitated. The problem, or shortcoming with that, is, that the Bible describes the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a truly glorious experience:

⁷But if the service of death, written engraved on stones, came with glory”, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly on the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which was passing away: ⁸won’t service of the Spirit be with much more glory? ⁹For if the service of condemnation has glory, the service of righteousness exceeds much more in glory”. ¹⁰For most assuredly that which has been made glorious has not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasses. ¹¹For if that which passes away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.” (2 Cor 3:7–11)

Those who say the spirit comes without observation have no real explanation for this glory that Paul is explaining here.

Born of Promise Versus Born of the Flesh

We have given scriptural examples, explanations, and even prophecy regarding the use of speaking in other tongues as an initial, outward sign of receiving the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. It is notable that there are no other corresponding signs, nor any other Bible verses in prophecy or explanation, that express an alternative view, and that is yet another shortcoming with any non-Pentecostal position.

When God told Abraham that he would have a son and become the father of many nations, Abraham got impatient and figured out a way to receive a son outside of God’s perfect plan. This method is called humanism, and biblically it is called “of the flesh.” This isn’t to say something isn’t or can’t be obtained in this manner; it is to say that what is obtained by the flesh is not what God intends.

²¹Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, don’t you listen to the law? ²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the free woman. ²³However, the son by the handmaid was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise. ²⁴These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar. ²⁵For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children. ²⁶But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all. ²⁷ For it is written, “Rejoice, you barren who don’t bear. Break forth and shout, you that don’t travail. For more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband.” ²⁸Now we, brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise. ²⁹But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. (Galatians 4:21–29)

Inasmuch as the gift of the Spirit is a promise, it should be received as a gift and as a promise and not as if it were automatically inherent, nor should it be taken according to man’s inherent ability within his natural means. In the biblical record, the apostles simply did not presume people had received because they believed, and thus neither should we.

Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear”. (Acts 2:33)

³⁸Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For to you is the promise”, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.’ (Acts 2:38–39)

¹It happened that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples. ²He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” (Acts 19:1–2)

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