Expert: Rev. Stuart Woodward - 2/26/2010

Question
When a person becomes a Christian they receive the Holy Spirit, I think Paul said "Be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit". If this is the case why do some mature Christians need the laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit.
Why do some Christians get "hung up" on the idea of speaking in tongues? Why should speaking in tongues seem to be a necessity to some?

Answer
Hello Peter,
Thank you for your question. You touch on an issue which has been a source of some disagreement between Christians for a long time. I ought to explain that I am English and minister in England where the Baptist scene is a little different from the USA, if that is where you are based.
Some Christians teach that receiving the Holy Spirit at conversion is the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Many of these people also teach that the gifts of the Spirit (such as speaking in tongues) died out once the New Testament was complete. In this view of things those who teach a separate baptism in the Spirit are mistaken and those who claim to exercise spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues are at best fooling themselves and at worst being dishonest. Many but not all US Southern Baptists would take this view.
Traditional Pentecostals teach that there is a second experience after conversion called the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and that the sign that someone has had this experience is speaking in tongues. They see that the norm in the New Testament was that with such an experience people spoke in tongues and where it is not specifically mentioned that is because it is assumed everyone would take it for granted that it happened.
I have a problem with both of these views. Firstly you have to twist scripture quite significantly from its obvious inferences to get it to support the idea that the gifts of the Spirit died out at the completion of the New Testament. I personally believe that it was a doctrine developed to explain lack of personal experience. Many who took this view and then later had a 'baptism in the Spirit' experience, such as Jack Deere, had to adjust their theology considerably and indeed leave the denomination to which they belonged because their views were deemed unacceptable.
Secondly, I can find nowhere in the bible that teaches that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of being baptised in the Holy Spirit. That it often happened is not in my view enough grounds to say it must happen. If the first group have a problem with building a doctrine through lack of an experience, the second have a problem with building a doctrine on experience without it being adequately put into a biblical context.
My own view is best explained in a book by David Pawson (another Englishman) called 'The Normal Christian Birth'. He explains that there are four aspects involved in becoming a Christian that have sadly often become separated when they should be seen together. These four aspects are repentance, personal faith in Jesus Christ, baptism in water and baptism in the Holy Spirit. The central issue is personal faith in Jesus Christ but the other aspects are not always well taught leading to problems. So for some full repentance has to come later as they did not realise how important it was. For some being baptised (immersed) in water comes later as they were not told of its importance and for some (indeed many) the experience of being baptised in the Holy Spirit comes later because either they did not know it was possible or were told it should happen later or not at all.
When a person is baptised in the Holy Spirit, in my experience, they often do speak in tongues but by no means always. I did not use a gift of tongues until many years later.
Speaking in tongues is a gift of the Spirit to be desired.
One of Satan's cleverest tricks is to get Christians nervous about being open to the Holy Spirit but Luke 11:9-13 makes it clear that if we are seeking good things from God we cannot be given anything harmful.
Some of the nervousness about the Holy Spirit has stemmed from Christians becoming unbalanced and extreme in some of their behaviour. This is generally not because there is anything wrong with the experience they have had but because they have not been wisely taught. Yes the flesh can take over and excess can result and yes Satan has his counterfeits but he only bothers to counterfeit that which is genuine and real.
Galatians 5 tells us to live by the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit. Luke 11 tells us we should go on asking, seeking and knocking that God might give His Spirit. We constantly need to be filled. It is in the fullness of the Spirit that we experience intimacy with God and come to understand what it means to call Him Father.
I have endeavoured to share my persecutive on these issues and fully appreciate that some Christian brothers and sisters might disagree with me on some points. However, where we share the same Saviour, the same Gospel of the cross and the same desire to be true to His Word then we belong together. In the UK over the last 25 years there has been a great coming together of the Pentecostals and the Evangelicals, though not all. For most of us we are committed to Word and Spirit as the root of our practice and we try to work through our different theological perspectives.
I hope these comments are of some help and pray that God will bless you and lead you in His way.
Stuart Woodward