Reply to Beads Speaking in Tongues
Dear Beads,
It is true that believers in Christ are saved through faith. However faith is more then simply having intellectual ascent. Even the devil believes and trembles (James 2:19). Saving faith is obeying the terms of the gospel which is 1. Repent, 2. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and 3. be in-filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). Only by following that three step process is one truly born again. Notice what Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3-8 about being born again, how "every one that is born of the Spirit"; is tied in with hearing the sound of wind but cannot tell from where it comes and goes. Then in Acts chapter 2 there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty wind which accompanied the outpouring of the Holy Ghost in the case of the 120 believers. Remember, Jesus said, so is every one that is born of the Spirit. The experience the 120 had applies to every one that is born of the Spirit. Peter confirms what Jesus said when he said "for the promise in unto YOU, and to your children (future generations) and to ALL..." (Acts 2:39).
Further consider this:
Jesus, 1. Died, 2. Was Buried, and 3. Rose Again from the Dead
The atonement was a 3 step process.
In salvation:
1. one must die (repentence which is a type of death to the old Adam nature
2. one must be buried( water baptism)
3. one must rise again to newness of life(in filling of the Holy Ghost which is a type of resurrection)
Also notice there is only one atonement but three steps: death, burial, and resurrection
In salvation there is One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism but in three steps -
death, burial, and resurrection.
Just as Jesus provided salvation through His death, buriel and resurrection; one must receive salvation through death, buriel and resurrection
But what would had happened if Jesus died, was buried but never rose again? We wouldn't have Christianity. It's the same to the believer who has died (repented) and been buried(water baptism) but no resurrection without the Spirit baptism.
No one is saved by speaking in tongues. Tongues is only the evidence of the new birth.
Now on a more personal note let me tell you a brief testimony. I had a co-worker who was from India and Hindu religion. He came down sick with the flu on the job. He knew I was a Christian and he asked me to pray for him. I said OK how about right here and right now on the job in front of everyone. ( I think he thought I would go home and quietly say a prayer for him after work). When I laid my hands on him in prayer in the name of Jesus and prayed in tongues the power of God came upon him so strong that he fell to the floor. When he stood back on his feet he was saying, Oh I feel it! I feel it! As he was touching his head and chest and tingling all over. His headache vanished and the following Sunday he came to the church and God filled him with the baptism of the Holy Ghost evidenced by speaking in tongues. He discarded his Hindu religion without a second thought. I've had three other co-workers do the same.
Another example is a Romanian man who was Eastern Orthodox; an aquaintence from my sister's work place. When my sister prayed over him in tongues he said he heard her speak in Romanian, German and Croatian all languages which he is fluent in. Remenber tongues is a sign to the unbeliever. He heard and consequently believed and came to the church and he got baptized in the Holy Ghost.
In 1995 at a tent meeting in Ethiopia over 500,000 people came to attend in the middle of the desert. At that single meeting some 80,000 people received the baptism of the Holy Ghost evidenced with speaking in tongues. I have a VHS tape copy of the event. As of the year 2000 according to a Christian talkshow called It's A New Day here in Canada it was reported that over 500 million people worldwide have received the Holy Ghost baptism.
Now I'm not trying to toot my own horn here. But what I'm trying to show is every believer has the potential in Christ to do the works He did because it is He who does the works through His annointed people. If the Church could get a hold of this it would unify the Body. One more thing, one cannot receive the Holy Ghost unless they have repented in their heart to God, forgives if there is any unforgiveness, etc. One can fool a Pastor and put on a show but there is no fooling God. It is God who discerns the hearts of men and when one's heart is right God will baptize them with His Spirit. Simply ask Him directly and begin praising Him and open your heart. Prove it to yourself.
Please see my posts Jesus Is His Name in five short parts in the Christian Debate forum for more in depth as to why this truth is so vital to the Church.