Speaking in Tongues in the Book of Acts: Should Modern Churches Imitate the First Century Church’s Practice of Speaking in Tongues?

 

 

 

 

 

The Arrival of the Holy Spirit to the First Disciples

His arrival was unmistakable and His presence illuminated the room. The author of Acts said that it sounded like a rushing mighty wind as the Spirit of the living God filled the bodily temples of every believer in the Upper Room that Pentecost morning. The faithful had been earnestly praying for forty days and as always God did not disappoint. The Spirit of God appeared as tongues of fire resting upon each disciple giving them the ability to speak in different languages. Assuming the authorship of Acts to be Luke, this letter to the excellent Theophilus is the only record of what happened immediately following the execution of Christ Jesus. Serving as part two to the book of Luke, we see the church at its infancy, at the crucial moment in History when Jesus is ascended and the Holy Spirit descended. Jesus told them to wait on the Holy Spirit who would empower them to be His witnesses from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). They could not fully realize how the living Spirit of God would enable their witness to travel through both space and time. Because of their obedience the world and its new generations continue to be evangelized. The readers of Luke's report are empowered today by the same sovereign Spirit that fell upon the first disciples. Now the modern church struggles to determine the significance and doctrinal implications surrounding the miracle of speaking in tongues among the three occurrences recorded in the Book of Acts.

The Context of Acts

The book of Acts is a letter that most scholars agree was written by Luke to Theophilus. Like with any letter read by a party who is not the intended addressee, the subjects, topics, intent and overall purpose of the letter must be read in its intended context to be fully understood. Reading a letter is a lot like overhearing one side of a conversation between two other parties. As modern readers of Acts we must use Historical context, consider the literary genre and biblical context surrounding the subject to reveal the context of this piece of literature (Duvall 2005).    

So what was Luke trying to convey in this letter? Bock reveals,

Acts narrates God's work in establishing the church through Jesus' activity… Luke, a sometime companion of Paul, put the content of tradition into His own words. He did this in order to indicate how a new movement emerging out of Judaism came to incorporate Gentiles into the community of God. At the core of the activity and preaching stands the work of God through the now exalted Jesus, who in turn distributes the Spirit as a sign that the new era and salvation have come to both Jews and Gentiles (Bock 2007).

 

    Luke, by the Spirit, records the History of the early church in a letter to Theophilus, illustrating how God established His church including both Jews and Gentiles in salvation plan set forth from the beginning. Acts' theme can be found in the first chapter of Acts in verse 8, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Luke beautifully narrates how the Holy Spirit moves the gospel from region to region beginning with the Jews and ending with the Gentiles in Rome. With this theme in mind, Luke immediately moves to the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

 

    What was the significance of tongues in Acts in relationship to the purpose of the letter? Now that we have established the context Acts let us examine more carefully the content. There are three occurrences of speaking in tongues in Acts. The first happens when Jews and proselytes gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost forty days after the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:1-5). Jesus tells His companions to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit who would empower them to be His witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Luke sets the in this introduction the foundation for the entire book of Acts and the purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit. In the upper room the disciples experience the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Luke says there was a sound like a rushing mighty wind. Boice says that there is symbolism in the use of the term wind which in Hebrew is ruach. This word represents the spirit or wind and symbolizes the creative, moving, dynamic breath of God. He says that this breath is a divine, life giving wind that blew across the waters in the beginning (Boice 1997). Johns 3:5-8 says, "…No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and spirit. Flesh gives birth to Flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to the spirit… the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going, so it is with everyone born of the Spirit." According to Boice,

Just as the beginning God breathed into Adam so that he became a living physical being, so also in our day if a person is to be saved God must breath into him or her by His Spirit once again from above, just like the first time so that the person might become spiritually alive." With this symbolism Luke demonstrates the authority and power of the Holy Spirit. God uses His spirit who is able to carry out His will to evangelize the earth. The very first act was to enable the disciple to speak in a new tongue.

The coming of the Holy Spirit was a pivotal moment in church History, marking transition into fulfilled prophecy. How significant is the miracle of tongues in relationship to the pivotal moment? When the Holy Spirit arrived on the day of Pentecost, he empowered the first church to do the extraordinary including speak in tongues. There is no doubt that the speaking of tongues was used to communicate the gospel to the people on the day of Pentecost. Strauss writes,

This purpose of the gift of tongues, namely to communicate God's message to Israel, is verified in the three passages in Acts where speaking in tongues is mentioned. In Acts 2 tongues-speaking was used as a missionary or evangelistic tool in fulfillment of Isaiah 28:11. There was no need for the disciples to learn other languages before they could communicate the Gospel. God overcame the language barrier through the miracle-gift of tongues. … Observe that they were "Jews" from other countries who spoke many languages and dialects, and yet each heard the Gospel in His own tongue.

    Some scholars believe that when the events in the Book of Acts ended so the practice of speaking in tongues should have ended as well. The reasons include the fact that they first disciples did not have the completed word of God and therefore needed signs and miracles. Now that the scriptures are completed, anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Strauss n.d.). The second reason has to do with the overall cessation of the sign miracles in this day in age.     

    The second and third occurrences of speaking in tongues occur in Acts 10:46 and 19:6. Both incidences happen when Gentiles are converted. One conversion happened with Peter and the other with Paul's conversion of twelve Gentiles. These occurrences are taught to be validations of the Spirit accepting the Gentiles as the Jews were accepted. Strauss argues that the tongues that were spoken amongst the Gentiles were a sign to the Jews who were always present at their conversions. So not only was the tongues used to convey the gospel message, they were also a confirmatory sign. The manner in which Luke structure acts is to show the parallelism between Peter's ministry and Paul's ministry perhaps in order to validate Paul's apostleship. So the latter display of tongues by the Gentiles parallels the conversion of Cornelius.

The Tongues in Acts vs. Tongues Other NT Scriptures

    Some confusion about tongues stems from the other scriptures on the subject chapters 12-14 of 1 Corinthians is dedicated to spiritual gifts and how the gift of tongues rank among the other gifts of the Spirit. Paul says that all do not have the gift of tongues and others have the gift of interpretation, but they do not supersede the gift of prophesy in the edification of the body (chapter 12). Chapter 13 begins,"Though I speak with tongues of men and angels…" What is the tongue of angels? How does Paul know it? 1 Corinthians speak of two types of spiritual tongues. There was obviously the kind that should be spoken alone and one that should be spoken in assembly. There has to be a heavenly language somehow imparted to men by the Holy Spirit with which men can communicate more effectively with God. 1 Corinthians 14:2 says that "he who speaks in tongues does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him: however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries." Paul tells us to keep tongues to ourselves when there is no interpreter in church. Verses 13-15 and 28 implies instances when the Holy Spirit will impart the gift only to be used between that individual and God.

The book of Acts does not make clear if the tongues that the gentiles spoke were incomprehensible or interpreted, but they were used as a sign to those who were skeptical of their conversion. Assuming that the tongues spoken by the gentile converts were speaking were interpretable, the utterances had to sound like babbling to the speaker and to those who did not speak the language.

    Jesus says in Mark 16:17 the His believers will speak with new tongues and cast out demons. The believers in the Book of Acts did both. That was the sign to the new believers, especially where the scriptures were not available.

Pentecostalism

Some scholars argue that though tongues were prevalent in Acts with regards to the arrival of the Holy Spirit, that tongues was not the focal point of the book. But that the prophecy was fulfilled validating further Jesus as the Messiah and the power of the Holy Spirit to further the gospel to the ends of the earth through His disciples. The Spirit arrived as a helper and that the result of the having been filled was that they were able on this occasion to speak in languages other than Aramaic (Smith 1948). Perhaps, if God them to do something else maybe the Holy spirit would have empowered them with a different gift. In other words the ability to speak in tongues in acts was a byproduct of the mission given to the disciples.

Is the modern church supposed to imitate the church in Acts? Pentecostalism, a movement in the US in early 1900's, is mostly responsible for today's trend of speaking in tongues among some churches. The belief that manifestations of the Holy Spirit should play a major role in the life of the church is held by Charismatic churches today and has its roots in Pentecostal Movement (Hill 2006). Hill writes:

[Pentecostalism] had its roots in the Holiness movement, a trend that spread through the churches of the USA- especially the Methodists – in the second half of the nineteenth century. .. Its members stressed that the evangelical life involves two conversions… repentance and forgiveness of sins and the second involves full sanctification, the dedication of oneself to God and the living of a holy life.    

...Charles Parham (1872-1929), Ran a Bible school in Topeka, Kansas. Here, on 1 January 1901, His student Agnes Ozman started speaking in tongues', strange languages that made no sense. It began when Parham had His students study what the New Testament said about the blessings of the Holy Spirit, and Parham became convinced that that those blessings were being suddenly bestowed upon His group.

    At what was called the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles in 1906, the preaching of William Seymour (1870-1922), had an extraordinary effect on the people in attendance. Miracles, speaking in tongues and dancing overtook the services everyday for three years. People were healed and there crutches covered the wall of the church. New churches sprang up all over the United states, including the Church of God in Christ, and the Assemblies of God (Hill 2006).

    Pentecostalism inspired what is called the Charismatic Movement among other churches but they are usually the voice of reform among the larger denominations without seeking to start new denominations (Hill 2006).

    So do the Pentecostals and Charismatics have the correct view of a new dispensation that involves the manifestations of spiritual gifts as evidence of the Holy Spirit? Gordon Fee, an ordained Assemblies of God minister, believes that Pentecostals were incorrect in their theological exegesis of the scripture surrounding the baptism of the Holy Spirit and says that they needed biblical foundation for the experience that they were having. However, he maintains that they are correct in their quest to experience the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the modern church (Fee 1985).

    Strauss argues that:

It is a mistake to assume that speaking in tongues is synonymous with the baptism of the Holy Spirit." …All the believers at Corinth received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, however all did not speak in tongue." The baptizing work of the Spirit is not an experience in the believer subsequent to salvation. Rather it is that act of the Holy Spirit which joins the believing sinner to the Body of Christ. More emphatically, there is no other means whereby one can become a member of the Church which is Christ's Body. All saved persons have been baptized by the Holy Spirit, but not all saved persons speak in tongues. The baptizing work of the Spirit places the believer in the Body positionally.

    What Fee says makes sense that the early church was used to see the Holy Spirit make His presence known. The writers of the New Testament were writing to the first century church not to later churches that are not used to a demonstrative Spirit. Fee writes:

I think it is fair to note that if there is one thing that differentiates the early church from its twentieth century counterpart, it is in the level of awareness and experience of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Ask any number of people today from all sectors of Christendom to define or describe Christian conversion or Christian life, and the most noticeable feature of that definition would be its general lack of emphasis on the active, dynamic role of the Spirit (Fee 1985).

 

    Some scholars argue that the word of God is the final authority and fulfillment of revelation to the church. There is no need for God to speak directly to individuals through signs, dreams, miracles and such because His word is complete in the canon. Within this battle about the sufficiency of the Bible, scholars question whether accepting new revelations of the Holy Spirit implies that the bible is no longer the infallible sovereign word of God (Allen 1998). Arguments for modern spiritual manifestations like speaking in tongues made by Jonathan Edwards include:

1. The Holy Spirit did not die with the first century church.
   
2. The emphasis of depersonalization of God by the church is causing emphasis on knowledge over relationship.
   
3. The Holy Spirit's guidance is still needed in discerning the will of God.
   

Charismatic churches today say that there is a genuine move of the Holy Spirit in their services and their lives that others characterize as mere emotionalism. Dr. Matthew Allen makes the case that there should be balance in churches today. "We are responsible to offer 'something more' than either sterile rationalism or destructive emotionalism. We must offer a person, real relationship with Jesus Christ."

When the Holy Spirit arrived on the day of Pentecost, he empowered the first church to do the extraordinary including speak in tongues. The modern church struggles to find answers about the mystery of speaking in tongues among the scarce accounts in the book of acts. The modern church needs to know where to place the importance of speaking in tongues in relationship to the evidence of the Holy Spirit.

It is not determined what created that cessation of Spiritual gifts from the time of Acts until today, but I conclude that cessation alone is not reason to discount that speaking in tongues and any other work of the Holy Spirit. God is sovereign and he gave Spirit to be a helper to us to the church to spread the gospel. The facts are that the entire world is not yet evangelized, it has been two thousand years since the writings of the canon and God is still moving in the lives of His believers. God has not stopped speaking to us because His word is living, eternal, and is inside of every believer. Jesus said the woman at the well , "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." John 4:23-24. Jesus prophesied in Mark 16: 16-17, "Go into the entire world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;"

As believers, we cannot limit God; we must worship God in spirit and truth. I agree that we must be temperate and balanced in our worship. Sterile, stoic worship was not representative of the worship that the Father expected from the chosen Israelites; why then would He expect it from His Church today?

Furthermore, we should judge that our worship is in truth and if the gift of tongues is displayed that it is to be done according to the guidelines that the Word mandates. God's inspiration in the book of Acts intended to show us that the presence of the Holy Spirit is unmistakable. You don't have to wonder whether the Spirit has arrived because when He falls he empowers the believer to be his witness. Speaking in tongues is not the evidence of the Holy Spirit, a born again life that bears the fruit of witness is the evidence of the Holy Spirit. However, only the Holy Spirit can give the power to speak in tongues that is new to the speaker and interpreted by another.

When one learns to read the bible daily for oneself, it is understood that His Holy Spirit aids in interpretation and revelation of His word. God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we can ever ask or think. With the age of the internet we can evangelize faster and further than ever before. Perhaps God empowered this generation with his spirit because of its ability to go to the ends of the earth. The Bible is patterned by events that show how God moves after centuries of being silent. The call of Samuel, The birth of John the Baptist, and Israel's freedom from bondage in Egypt are all examples of this. God has a way of showing up big after long periods of time. Two thousand years after the church in Acts later God could be pouring out His Spirit on His church to expedite the coming of Christ by our witness.

 

 

    

 

Bibliography

Allen, Matthew. Excited Utterances: A Historical Perspective On Prophecy, Tongues and other manifestations of Spiritual Extasy. Tampa, Florida: Biblical Studies Press, 1998.

Bock, Darrell. Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academics, 2007.

Boice, James Montgomery. Acts: an expositional commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997.

Crossan, John Dominic. The Birth of Christianity: Discovering the Years Immediately Following the Execution of Jesus. New York,: Harper Collins Books, 1998.

Damboriena, Prudencio. Tongues As of Fire. Washington & Cleveland: Corpus Books, 1969.

Davies, G. Henton, Alan Richardson, Charles Wallace, ed., ed. The Twentieth Century Bible Commentary. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers, 1955.

Durasoff, Steve. Bright Wind of the Spirit: Pentecostalism Today. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1972.

Duvall, J. Scott, Hayes, J. Daniel. Grasping God's Word: A Hands'on Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. Graad Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005.

Fee, Gordon D. "Baptism in the Holy Spirit: The Issue of Separability and Subsequence." PNEUMA: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. 1985.

Hill, Jonathan. Zondervan Handbook to the History of Christianity. Oxford, England: Lion Publishing Plc., 2006.

Hindson, Edward E., General Editors., ed. The KJV Parallel Bible Commentary. . Nashville , TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1994.

McCone, R. Clyde. Culture and Contoversy: An Investigation of the Tongues of Pentcost. Philidelphia and Ardmore, PA: Dorrance & Company, 1978.

Melbourne, Bertram L. Acts 1:8 Re-Examined: Is Acts 8 Its Fulfillment? Atlas.

Ralph, Margaret Nutting. Discovering the First Century church: The Acts of the Apostles, Letters of Paul, and the Book of Revelation. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1991.

Schwartz, Daniel R. The End of the ΓΗ (ACTS 1:8): Beginning or End of the Christian Vision? Jerusalem, Israel: Department of Jewish History, Hebrew University, 1986.

Smith, Miles w. On Whom the Spirit Came: A study of the Acts of the Apostles. Philidelphia: The Jusdson Express, 1948.

Strauss, Lehman. "www.bible.org." www.bible.org. http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=393 (accessed September 30, 2008).

 

Works Cited

Allen, Matthew. Excited Utterances: A Historical Perspective On Prophecy, Tongues and other manifestations of Spiritual Extasy. Tampa, Florida: Biblical Studies Press, 1998.

Bock, Darrell. Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academics, 2007.

Boice, James Montgomery. Acts: an expositional commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997.

Crossan, John Dominic. The Birth of Christianity: Discovering the Years Immediately Following the Execution of Jesus. New York,: Harper Collins Books, 1998.

Damboriena, Prudencio. Tongues As of Fire. Washington & Cleveland: Corpus Books, 1969.

Davies, G. Henton, Alan Richardson, Charles Wallace, ed., ed. The Twentieth Century Bible Commentary. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers, 1955.

Durasoff, Steve. Bright Wind of the Spirit: Pentecostalism Today. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1972.

Duvall, J. Scott, Hayes, J. Daniel. Grasping God's Word: A Hands'on Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. Graad Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005.

Fee, Gordon D. "Baptism in the Holy Spirit: The Issue of Separability and Subsequence." PNEUMA: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. 1985.

Hill, Jonathan. Zondervan Handbook to the History of Christianity. Oxford, England: Lion Publishing Plc., 2006.

Hindson, Edward E., General Editors., ed. The KJV Parallel Bible Commentary. . Nashville , TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1994.

McCone, R. Clyde. Culture and Contoversy: An Investigation of the Tongues of Pentcost. Philidelphia and Ardmore, PA: Dorrance & Company, 1978.

Melbourne, Bertram L. Acts 1:8 Re-Examined: Is Acts 8 Its Fulfillment? Atlas.

Ralph, Margaret Nutting. Discovering the First Century church: The Acts of the Apostles, Letters of Paul, and the Book of Revelation. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1991.

Schwartz, Daniel R. The End of the ΓΗ (ACTS 1:8): Beginning or End of the Christian Vision? Jerusalem, Israel: Department of Jewish History, Hebrew University, 1986.

Smith, Miles w. On Whom the Spirit Came: A study of the Acts of the Apostles. Philidelphia: The Jusdson Express, 1948.

Strauss, Lehman. "www.bible.org." www.bible.org. http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=393 (accessed September 30, 2008).

 

Are the Sign Gifts Still Alive Today?

It is my personal opinion that the signs gifts are present today, maybe not as much as in the early church but there are plenty of occurrences. I hold this position for three reasons. First I have experience the sign gifts abundantly. Secondly, there is no clear teaching in scripture that says that the sign gifts were only for the early church. And finally, the sign gifts of the Holy Spirit accompany the gospel as a clear sign to validate its message. Christ said that where his gospel is preached, signs would follow. When the Holy Spirit arrived on the day of Pentecost, he empowered the first church to do the extraordinary including speak in tongues. The modern church struggles to find answers about the mystery of speaking in tongues among the scarce accounts in the book of acts. As believers, we cannot limit God; we must worship God in spirit and truth. I agree that we must be temperate and balanced in our worship. Sterile, stoic worship was not representative of the worship that the Father expected from the chosen Israelites; why then would He expect it from His Church today?

I believe that there are plenty of sign gift manifestations in the church today. I just believe that miracles are easy to be explained away when you are not the subject or receiver of the miracle. There are many counterfeit miracles, and false teachings that stifle the legitimacy of some sign gifts. I also believe that God works his gifts and signs seasonally. There may be a cessation of gifts for now but there is not biblical evidence that insists that the canon was the line of demarcation for gifts. I think that because we have seen less spiritual gifts manifested in the church today that people need a reason to attribute the less frequent events to some biblical explanation. But there is none. Why limit God. God always has the power to use miracles at any time in the present or the future.

It is not determined what created that cessation of Spiritual gifts from the time of Acts until today, but I conclude that cessation alone is not reason to discount that speaking in tongues and any other work of the Holy Spirit. God is sovereign and he gave Spirit to be a helper to us to the church to spread the gospel. The facts are that the entire world is not yet evangelized, it has been two thousand years since the writings of the canon and God is still moving in the lives of His believers. God has not stopped speaking to us because His word is living, eternal, and is inside of every believer. Jesus said the woman at the well , "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." John 4:23-24. Jesus prophesied in Mark 16: 16-17, "Go into the entire world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;"

Charismatic churches today say that there is a genuine move of the Holy Spirit in their services and their lives that others characterize as mere emotionalism. Agree with Dr. Matthew Allen who makes the case that there should be balance in churches today. "We are responsible to offer 'something more' than either sterile rationalism or destructive emotionalism. We must offer a person, real relationship with Jesus Christ." Gordon Fee, an ordained Assemblies of God minister, believes that Pentecostals were incorrect in their theological exegesis of the scripture surrounding the baptism of the Holy Spirit and says that they needed biblical foundation for the experience that they were having. However, he maintains that they are correct in their quest to experience the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the modern church (Fee 1985).

    Strauss argues that:

It is a mistake to assume that speaking in tongues is synonymous with the baptism of the Holy Spirit." …All the believers at Corinth received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, however all did not speak in tongue." The baptizing work of the Spirit is not an experience in the believer subsequent to salvation. Rather it is that act of the Holy Spirit which joins the believing sinner to the Body of Christ. More emphatically, there is no other means whereby one can become a member of the Church which is Christ's Body. All saved persons have been baptized by the Holy Spirit, but not all saved persons speak in tongues. The baptizing work of the Spirit places the believer in the Body positionally.

    What Fee says makes sense that the early church was used to seeing the Holy Spirit make His presence known. The writers of the New Testament were writing to the first century church not to later churches that are not used to a demonstrative Spirit.

Some scholars argue that the word of God is the final authority and fulfillment of revelation to the church. There is no need for God to speak directly to individuals through signs, dreams, miracles and such because His word is complete in the canon. Within this battle about the sufficiency of the Bible, scholars question whether accepting new revelations of the Holy Spirit implies that the bible is no longer the infallible sovereign word of God (Allen 1998).

The Gift of prophecy as well as all of the sign gifts, is alive and well today. Paul admonishes everyone in the body of Christ to prophesy. Speaking in tongues is a tricky subject but I do know that though I do not personally speak in tongues I have the gift of interpretation of tongues. I think that tongue speaking has become a cultural emotional type practice. And I caution people not to speak in tongues in that manner because that practice shines a negative light upon the true occurrences. However, I believe that if the tongues that are spoken in public are genuine, there will be an interpretation.

    Furthermore, we should judge that our worship is in truth and if the gift of tongues is displayed that it is to be done according to the guidelines that the Word mandates. God's inspiration in the book of Acts intended to show us that the presence of the Holy Spirit is unmistakable. You don't have to wonder whether the Spirit has arrived because when He falls he empowers the believer to be his witness. Speaking in tongues is not the evidence of the Holy Spirit, a born again life that bears the fruit of witness is the evidence of the Holy Spirit. However, only the Holy Spirit can give the power to speak in tongues that is new to the speaker and interpreted by another.

When one learns to read the bible daily for oneself, it is understood that His Holy Spirit aids in interpretation and revelation of His word. God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we can ever ask or think. With the age of the internet we can evangelize faster and further than ever before. Perhaps God empowered this generation with his spirit because of its ability to go to the ends of the earth. The Bible is patterned by events that show how God moves after centuries of being silent. The call of Samuel, The birth of John the Baptist, and Israel's freedom from bondage in Egypt are all examples of this. God has a way of showing up big after long periods of time. Two thousand years after the church in Acts later God could be pouring out His Spirit on His church to expedite the coming of Christ by our witness.

 

Bibliography

Allen, Matthew. Excited Utterances: A Historical Perspective On Prophecy, Tongues and other manifestations of Spiritual Extasy. Tampa, Florida: Biblical Studies Press, 1998.

Bock, Darrell. Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academics, 2007.

Boice, James Montgomery. Acts: an expositional commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997.

Crossan, John Dominic. The Birth of Christianity: Discovering the Years Immediately Following the Execution of Jesus. New York,: Harper Collins Books, 1998.

Damboriena, Prudencio. Tongues As of Fire. Washington & Cleveland: Corpus Books, 1969.

Davies, G. Henton, Alan Richardson, Charles Wallace, ed., ed. The Twentieth Century Bible Commentary. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers, 1955.

Durasoff, Steve. Bright Wind of the Spirit: Pentecostalism Today. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1972.

Duvall, J. Scott, Hayes, J. Daniel. Grasping God's Word: A Hands'on Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. Graad Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005.

Fee, Gordon D. "Baptism in the Holy Spirit: The Issue of Separability and Subsequence." PNEUMA: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. 1985.

Hill, Jonathan. Zondervan Handbook to the History of Christianity. Oxford, England: Lion Publishing Plc., 2006.

Hindson, Edward E., General Editors., ed. The KJV Parallel Bible Commentary. . Nashville , TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1994.

McCone, R. Clyde. Culture and Contoversy: An Investigation of the Tongues of Pentcost. Philidelphia and Ardmore, PA: Dorrance & Company, 1978.

Melbourne, Bertram L. Acts 1:8 Re-Examined: Is Acts 8 Its Fulfillment? Atlas.

Ralph, Margaret Nutting. Discovering the First Century church: The Acts of the Apostles, Letters of Paul, and the Book of Revelation. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1991.

Schwartz, Daniel R. The End of the ΓΗ (ACTS 1:8): Beginning or End of the Christian Vision? Jerusalem, Israel: Department of Jewish History, Hebrew University, 1986.

Smith, Miles w. On Whom the Spirit Came: A study of the Acts of the Apostles. Philidelphia: The Jusdson Express, 1948.

Calvinism vs. Arminianism

The view of salvation that makes most sense to me travels past both roads to Calvinism and Arminianism. I believe both views are too narrow thus neglect the true context of salvation history. Both paint God's plan from a human perspective, limiting God to the way humans experience salvation from our inside perspective bound by time looking out towards God's ability to save man. Rather, they should be looking at salvation from eternity inside to our history as God intended it. God's specific plan to save mankind while destroying all sin in both heaven and earth for good, begins in salvation's history with a seed in Genesis 3:15 and ends with a harvest which is a number no man can number Revelations 7:9. The correct view of God's salvific plan is not found within the confines of either the Calvinistic View or the Arminian view, but, it lies outside of human perspective, taking in account His original eternal plan to save mankind through His Son, while bringing judgment upon the earth.

Predestination and Salvation's Plan

God chose not to destroy the earth immediately without first retaining a remnant. And he uses His remnant as seed. This pattern has been repeated throughout the history of earth in the bible. From the Garden of Eden through the flood in Noah's day, through Sodom and Gomorrah, electing the children of Israel and finally to the present church, we can see that God always elects the few to be a seed for a greater harvest of believers. God's plan of salvation chooses to use the way he created earth to operate as a sign of His work in the earth over time. Every way that the father intervenes into earth's history has been in this pattern. It helps believers to identify His work in the earth. So, yes, God elected some to be saved. But, the proper context to view this fact is that he elected a few to be a seed to harvest a multitude of people that could not be numbered by man. More specifically, God intervened many times in history, by choosing individuals to carry out His will within the earth according to His plan to save mankind. Yes some are lost and some are blinded but all according to His plan.

Predestination and Choice

I don't look at predestination from the defense of Arminians who believe that God would be unfair to predestinate some and damn others. Nor do I choose to look at it from the Calvinistic viewpoint that God because both predestinates those he saves and knows which ones who are going to be save at the end, that those who are predestinated have to choose to be saved. That argument seems to me to be a logical fallacy.

Being predestinated neither takes away your choice to accept God's invitation of salvation, as Armenians choose to view, nor does it mean that being predestinated means that you are automatically saved. For example, I could predestinate my friend to go to Las Vegas on New Year's Eve 2010. I equip her with a ticket headed for Las Vegas to arrive December 30th, 2009, in time for the celebration. Not only can she choose not to go, but she can also choose to go after rejecting the offer at first. She could, change her mind and arrive in Vegas and turn around and come back. She can even change the ticket to another destination altogether. Her choice not to follow the original plan, in no way negates the fact that she is predestinated to arrive in Vegas at the appointed time. If she follows the plan of action, she also does so because she is predestinated.

More specifically, predestination means that God chose to show you the truth of His salvation plan, giving you the privileged choice of life with him in eternity or eternal damnation. If you choose eternal life through Christ Jesus, it was your destiny all along. If you choose to stay bound after being presented the truth, you simply did not follow your destiny.

This leads me to double predestination. Predestination in my definition, is not the mechanism the damns people to hell. It is the Judgment of Christ that determines your qualification for damnation (John 12:44).

Predestination and Free Will

The choice that you make once enlightened to the truth is a choice that you previously did not have. He does not trample a free choice that you innately have. Instead, He offers you a choice that you otherwise would be oblivious to. I think that this view would fall in favor of the Calvinistic view point. Although I do not agree with the "Total Depravity" stance, I do also deny the Arminian "free will." The rationale is that at the time of the fall Adam had a true free will. A choice to obey the Father or relinquish His will to Satan. After that all mankind inherited a will in bondage to sin. The truth is that salvation frees you from that bondage. For, Christ came to set the captives free from the bondage of sin according to John 8:36. There is freedom in the Word of the Lord. If you abide in the word and the word abide in you then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:32). In sin you are bound, you are lost, you are dead, in Christ there is liberty. It is the love of God that shows mercy on your soul. And His loving kindness that predestinated you to be saved.

Eternal Security vs. Conditional Security

Why does the security have to be labeled with such constraints- eternal or conditional? The bible makes it clear that you are saved upon very specific criteria. I agree with the Arminian whose viewpoint says that one sin cannot get you out, and that the only way to get out is denying the way you got in. I also recognize the severity of falling into a pattern of specific sin whose spiritual consequences, in relationship relative to spiritual warfare; can lead you dangerously towards denying Christ. God's way to salvation is so perfect, so simplistic. It only involves your belief. Even the smallest measure of faith with in the minimal understanding of the Truth can obtain it according to John3:16. The, "Once saved always saved" of the Calvinist is a blanket belief that does not take into account the obvious possibility that you can lose your salvation in a way specifically spelled out in scripture- to deny the one who saved you. The security of your salvation lies within the Father's infallible plan. It is infallible because he is infallible and that no one can snatch you out of His hand once you have made the decision. His criteria are not going to all of a sudden change, and really have never change from the beginning of time. And His plan is so flawless that just so happened that all that he gave to Jesus did not fall away, excluding the son of perdition who followed God's plan that Christ be crucified. So, we can be secure in knowing that he equips us with what we need to endure until the end.

Two aspects of both viewpoints that I resent are, the way in Calvinism, God's is painted as an unfair by picking and choosing who he wants to save, using only His unrelenting sovereignty without regard to the choices of mankind. The other viewpoint I resent are Arminians whose teachings places on the children of God the extra burden of constantly being fearful of losing their salvation to every sin that is left unrepented, on a moment to moment basis. I John 2:1-2says, "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." The correct stance is that God really does not want anyone to perish, and those who do without the knowledge of Truth are the casualties of evil, ugly sin not the fault of the savior's perfect plan.

So, why do we need to endure if our salvation is secure? Because once we choose to receive the Father's gift of the Son, we will be tested by God and attacked by the adversary. We are equipped with gifts and the Holy Spirit as a guide to all truth, to overcome the world, the way Christ overcame the world. We can use His example of yielding His will to the will of the father every time He was tested.

I choose the view the difficult passages that speak towards the eternal security argument as a confirmation that you are equip with everything you need to succeed in God's predestination for your life. The one's that speak in favor of the Arminian view may serve as a measure of the caliber of Christian he is. For instance, Jesus speaks of the Kingdom as person's representing three types of soil. All three soils are in the kingdom but some receive the truth according to their soil. Rocky, Good or thorny are the soils that received the revelation of truth. In other words these passes can be a warning that says you think that you are saved, if this is how you are acting then this is the type of Christian you are. You never received it, you received it and lost it or you rejected it.

Unconditional Election

As far as unconditional election, I do believe that God chooses who He wills out of His Sovereign will accord His salvific plan. The elect did not earn it by any merit. God knows why and we are assured that His plan works for the good of those who are called… (Romans 8:28). I do agree with the Armenians that your election is not against your will. But, not that that will is free, it is only yours. To be elected is to be chosen, purposed in His plan, to hear His call, and to be enlightened to the truth. So, if when we hear, we receive and if we accept, His gifts, His power, we are equipped by His Spirit, and we are rewarded with eternal life. If we hear His call and we choose, to reject, or to be led astray we were part of the elect but now we are lost. He knows what your choice is going to be, but you don't.

That is why we must spread the gospel so that every man should have a choice. Christ will return when the gospel message reaches the ends of the earth (Matthew 24:14). The bible frequently speaks to the idea that he who sows will be overtaken by the reaper. In John 4, Jesus tells His disciples that the Harvest is ripe and the laborers are going to reap what they have not sown and enter into the labors of others. He also says that when you reap the fruit of eternal life.

God's predestination was necessary within His plan to save many. And it is the reason he is able to save any. This works to our advantage also, that if he is able to save any it is through His mercy that he predestinates some in order to win all. His way of seeding and harvesting is consistent throughout earth's history. His knowledge of who will be saved is merely a natural result of His omniscience and should not be entered as a matter of fact into His selection of the elect. Nor should it disqualify His fairness in judgment. Furthermore, the amount saved will be sufficient to ultimately demonstrate God's love, mercy and fairness in His judgment of the world. When God sows, He reaps exponentially. For the bible says that John saw a number that no man can number having the harps of God; and they sang "the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: "Great and marvelous [are] Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true [are] your ways, O King of the saints (Revelations 15:3)!"

 

Boyd, Gregory A. and Paul R. Eddy. Accross the Spectrum; Understanding the Issues in Evangelical Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007.

 

The Destiny of the Unevangelized and the Nature of Hell

 

There's a computer in my home that I just cannot get rid of. It has a pesky virus that I know has corrupted my hard drive. I am just not ready to let it go. I like to think that this PC can be representative of the unevangelized within the context of this illustration. The computer and its contents can be saved by taking it to get anti-viral software. However, I have not done so yet, due to a variety of reasons, including unbelief that all of my contents will be truly saved and that its technology is outdated. At, any rate, the state that my computer is in is useless and is headed for total destruction. Now if I never introduce anti-viral software, there would be no difference in the destiny of my computer than me throwing it away forever at a later time, after implementing the software. The choice alone is mine.

This demonstration represents three of my beliefs about the destiny of those who are unevangelized and their subsequent experience in hell. First, I am an exclusivist and believe that the unevangelized are not saved. Secondly, their fate is no worse off than if they had heard and rejected the gospel. Finally, those who suffer hell are eventually destroyed through annihilation. Instead of using the two arguments that our text uses to defend the annihilationist view, which are that the cruelty of hell is inconsistent with both God's love and victory, I would like to briefly include two other perspectives. First, I'd like to factor in my belief of the state of the dead, and secondly, the context of hell to its intended inhabitants.

To begin with, the unevangelized destination is hell. Salvation is predicated on the fact that there are those who will be lost. Everyone deserves death according to their works, according to Romans 6:23. Everyone is lost- unless they accept Jesus. It is unfortunate that the gospel has not reach the whole world yet. I do not think that God is unjust because he does not save everyone. God is so just that in order for at least one person to be saved, He had to watch his perfect son die for sins of the entire world.

    God says that he places his word even above himself, Psalm 138:2. God's word is inerrant. God is sovereign. God's plan of salvation supersedes that of lost man. To get salvation, you must receive it the way He prescribes. There is only one way to receive it. Even if you do not know how to receive it, there is no exception to the rule. The consequences never hearing the gospel are the same as the consequences of not being saved. Unfortunately, a sinner who has not heard the gospel is no worse off than he deserves.

    With that being said, what is hell like for them? The bible says that the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. I think that because of sin we all have to experience death once. But those who are lost will experience death at least twice. The last time is forever, never to be resurrected again, after judgment when they are cast into the Lake of Fire. Their punishment is eternal in many ways including that their punishment in hell's fire will be so effective that it will feel like eternity to the lost one. Secondly, it will be forever recorded in the lamb's book of life. Finally, those who are saved have eternal life the remembrances of the consequences of sin and rebellion will live on. According to the revelations 1:18 Christ has the keys to hell and death. In Revelations 20:13 and 14, death and hell gives up their wicked to be judged before their second death. Then, both hell and death are cast into the lake of fire. Destruction by definition is permanent; hell itself is temporary.

    This brings me to another point, hell, taken in context, was meant for Satan and his angels. They know what eternity means and the consequences of annihilation holds a greater punishment for them.

We cannot fathom eternity yet because we have not experienced it. We can conceptualize it as intelligent human beings and value it, however, Satan and angels have experienced eternity. So, we are nearsighted when it comes to eternity. We can trust that God's wrath will be quenched by hell's fire. We can trust that His enemies' destruction will suffice. Who knows how long it takes for an angelic being to be destroyed by fire. It may seem like forever to me, a human being. I would like to think that there are levels of punishment in hell as there are rewards in heaven. Furthermore, I believe that after God get rid of sin in this world, he won't need hell's fire after he creates a new heaven and a new earth.

    Now, let's briefly revisit the example of my virus ridded computer. Right now, because I have not followed through with my decision to totally destroy my PC, it is sitting in an unconscious state upon my desk. The power is turned off but it can be resurrected, either to life or before eternal destruction. I can destroy it by fire. And if I do, it does not have to burn for long before it is annihilated. It will not stay powered on forever and ever. The files will be destroyed never to be resurrected, and the power will never return to the unit. The status of the PC in its powered off mode now is like the state of the dead who are lost. I make this point in contrast to the point made by the classical view in the textbook. The authors say that, "It seems odd for God to resurrect people from the dead only to annihilate them," (Boyd and Eddy, 2007, pg. 256). I believe the state of the dead is a deep sleep, therefore, death, like hell is temporal (I Thessalonians 4:14-18, John 11:11). Who holds the keys to death and the grave? Jesus does!

    I must be honest in saying that the Classical view has its advantages and intriguing arguments, though they are not strong enough to sway my beliefs. The strongest argument from the opposing view is that Jesus' own words seem to paint a picture of eternal torment in hell. I don't believe that my view opposes what Christ said as I presented it. Obviously destruction in hell's fire will not be instantaneous, rather it there will be consciousness until destruction. But once, you are destroyed, you are gone for good. I am glad that the nature of hell is not a fundamental belief. I believe that if it was, God would have included it in the wording of John 3:16 or, along the Roman Road.

In conclusion, I believe that hells nature is clearly debatable but its existence is the end of the road for every unbeliever, unevangelized or not. One cannot say that hell's fire has to be eternal to be effective in evangelism because it is not always effective. Eternal life with Jesus is prize enough. Death is not the same as being destroyed in hell. And Hell was not meant for humans, but for the fallen angelic beings, Satan, the beast, the false prophet and the like. Hell's fire is more than adequate Carry out God's punishment of the wicked. The wicked will be totally annihilated and in the end so will Death and Hell according to Revelations 20:13, 14. Everyone is lost- unless they accept Jesus. How can you accept Jesus unless you hear of Him? The destruction of the unevangelized is unfortunate, however God's is sovereign and just, for they will endure no more than they deserve.    

i. I am an exclusivist that believes that some who died prior to Christ’s incarnation will be saved. My views are not based on the postmortem view, or the God knows their hearts theory. However, I hold this view based on some facts about the sacrificial system, Biblical accounts and God’s sovereignty. Due to brevity I will not be arguing this point in this paper at this time.

Boyd, Gregory A. and Paul R. Eddy. Accross the Spectrum; Understanding the Issues in Evangelical Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Does an Evolution world view Impact the Value of Life

How does an evolution worldview or a creation worldview impact the way that human life is valued?

 

Those who subscribe to the evolutionary world view may have difficulty determining purpose or may not consider human life only as valuable as it pertains to world as a whole, because of their belief that the origin of the world was not designed, but instead was an accidental or random occurrence. The value of human life is left to the understanding and will of one who does not see himself as a part of a world that has both an origin and a destiny or ending. It is up to that person to determine the value of a human life. For example, few evolutionists are pro-lifers as it pertains to abortion, or do not have an issue with stem cell research or capital punishment. However that does not mean that evolutionists are totally unable to see the value of human life or that all evolutionist share the same views of abortion, stem cell research or other human values issues. Those who subscribe to the creation worldview may have an easier time valuing a single human life as purposed individual with destiny within the Creator's overall plan for the earth. A person who recognizes that their value lies within the plan of a creator who determines the beginning and end of earth's history understands that their life will be judged against the expected outcome that the creator intended for their particular life.

Junk DNA

It amazes me that evolutionist use the most manipulatively, transparent excuses to back up their weak alternative to the origin of earth. Instead of being objective in their evaluation of the data, they make up shallow superficial arguments and falsely present them as hard evidence to support their theory. One of these superficial arguments circulates around what is referred to as Junk DNA. Junk DNA is actually not junk but it represents fragments of DNA and RNA found in human cells, which at first glance seem to serve no function rather they replicate within the cell but are not part of the chromosomes themselves itself.
The fascinating thing about these DNA fragments is that because they seem to show no significance within the cell and were once thought to remain dormant therefore they have been dubbed
“Junk DNA.” Evolutionists once said that because its dormancy and uselessness, Junk DNA actually represented unused traits that were left over throughout evolution as humans transitioned from previous life forms until the present. These gene represent trait which are no longer needed within the cell of humans. They say that these genes represent what was abandoned through the process of natural selection.
What junk DNA is in actuality, according to new scientific discovery, are DNA material that aid in gene sequencing and replication. These fragments actually are essential to the development of DNA within the cell. The caption under the video Junk DNA- Another Failed Prediction of Evolutionists reads,


“In June 2007, a[n] international team of scientists, named ENCODE, published a study that indicates the genome contains very little unused sequences and, in fact, is a complex, interwoven network. This "complex interwoven network" throughout the entire DNA code makes the human genome severely poly-constrained to random mutations (Sanford; Genetic Entropy, 2005; page 141). This means the DNA code is now much more severely limited in its chance of ever having a hypothetical beneficial mutation since almost the entire DNA code is now proven to be intimately connected to many other parts of the DNA code.” (Junk DNA - Another Failed Prediction Of Evolutionists 2008)

So, it becomes very obvious that the evidence that evolutionist can use to support their theory is eroding. What they once held as junk to support their theory pulls the foundation for neo-Darwinism. All parts of the cell are ordered and have a specific purpose to keep human cells as human cells. Our Creator is awesome and every molecule obeys his command like the day he created them. Our God did not make junk, instead he made us humans and every part of us to ensure that we remain
Bibliography
"Junk DNA - Another Failed Prediction Of Evolutionists ." Google Video. August 07, 2008. http://video.google.com/videosearch?oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=Memory%20and%20the%20Human%20Brain%207-30-05&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#q=junk+dns&hl=en&emb=0 (accessed February 19, 2009).
The Institute for Creation Research. "Junk DNA - The Evolutionists Hope." Google Video. August 2007. http://video.google.com/videosearch?oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=Memory%20and%20the%20Human%20Brain%207-30-05&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#q=junk+dns&hl=en&emb=0 (accessed February 19, 2009).

human.

The Context of The Book of Romans

Although Paul was clearly not the founder of Roman Church, because the church was predominantly Gentile, he felt an obligation to address the church as its apostolic leader. Paul was responsible for preaching the gospel to the Gentiles and establishing the Gentile churches. The church is believed by scholars to either have been established by the apostle Peter, or by Jews who returned from Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Although the Catholic Church maintains that the church was founded by the apostle Peter according to the ordination Jesus gave him in Matthew 16:18, the most likely method of foundation was by the Pentecostal Jewish converts. Paul expressed the strong desire to visit the church in order to establish apostolic gifting and harvest fruit among them according to Romans 1:11-13.
As mentioned before the Roman church was not always predominantly Gentile. It began in the late AD 30’s or early 40’s as a largely Jewish congregation. The shift came when all of the Jews were expelled from Rome in AD 49 by the emperor Claudius. He expelled them because of the commotion that they caused by arguing about “Chrestos.” Gentiles took their places in society during the Jews absence. It is estimated that after their return in AD 54, Paul wrote this letter to the Roman Christians from Corinth in AD 57. The Jews returned to a mostly Gentile congregation that did not take the laws of the Torah as seriously as they did. Paul writes this letter to a church deep rooted in social tension arguing over issues such as Gentile circumcision. The Roman church was most likely comprised of small house churches and the Jews and Gentiles did not worship together. Some scholars think that Paul wrote Romans as a kind of rehearsal for his appearance before the Council at Jerusalem. These same issues were being debated at that meeting. One purpose for writing Romans was to unite them in order to bring praise and glory to God according to Romans 15:7-14.
 
BIBLIGRAPHY
Moo, Douglas J. Encountering the Book of Romans. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002.
Schreiner, Thomas R. Romans. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006.