Is Speaking in Tongues Necessary for Salvation? (Part 1)

Well, let's look at this question because it's an important one, but there are several assumptions built into it. So let me back up and define what we're talking about. First of all, salvation, in its full sense, it means deliverance from all the power and effects of sin, its past, present, and future. We can look back on a point in life and say we were saved, that is, we were living a sinful life, and then we became a child of God, we're no longer living a sinful life. But we can also speak as salvation in the present tense. We are being saved. In other words, we're not perfect yet. God is still working on us and developing us. And then we can also speak of salvation in the future sense. We shall be saved. In one sense, we're still in a human body that's capable of suffering and dying and will die unless the Lord comes first. We are susceptible to temptation and sin.

It's possible for us to sin. We still have a sinful nature. So in one sense, we're still waiting to be saved. That is, to be transformed into the glorious, immortal, sinless image of Christ. So when we say, are we saved? Well, it depends. Because as I've just outlined, salvation is a process. And people can be in the process, but need to continue in the process. In some sense, all of us are still in the process. In some sense, none of us are saved yet. Although we have assurance of salvation, they're still an ongoing process until the Lord comes for his church. So that's the first thing. Second thing, when we talk about receiving the Holy Spirit, actually every Christian group in principle will say, yes, you have to have the Holy Spirit to be saved. The Roman Catholics believe that when you're baptized, even as a baby, you receive the Holy Spirit. And then later that's confirmed. Protestants generally believe that when you

make a public confession, a faith in Jesus Christ, that there's an invisible reception of the Holy Spirit, even though you may not feel anything or may not be aware of an experience. My point is, in principle, we all agree that receiving the Holy Spirit is essential to salvation. But where does tongues come in? And that's where we as Pentecostals have something to bring to the table, so to speak. So I'm going to go back to your question, say, in one sense, we're all awaiting our final salvation. But we can look back to a point which I would call, in technical terms, Christian initiation, or sometimes it's called conversion initiation. So the point at which you are living a life of sin, you're bound for the lake of fire, but through this conversion initiation, you now are born again. Another term is regeneration. You become a child of God. And if you were to die at that point, you would be saved. And so

that's really what you're talking about. And according to Acts chapter 2 and verse 38, of course, all of it is based on salvation is by grace through faith. So salvation is the gift of God, something we can earn or do by our good works. We receive it by faith, by trusting in God, by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel. But we as Pentecostals believe when you exercise saving faith in the gospel, you will obey the gospel and you will have an experience. Something will actually happen. It will change your life. And we see this on the day of Pentecost. The apostle Peter with the export of all the other apostles preached the first sermon of the New Testament church on the birthday of the Christian church, the first outpouring of the Holy Ghost. And if you analyze his message, he preached the simple gospel, the good news. Jesus died for our sins. He was buried. He rose again. The people

cried out in conviction of their sins. Men and brethren, what shall we do? They cried out to all the apostles. In Acts 2.38, which you quoted, gives the example. Repent of your sins. When we repent, we die to sin. We're crucified with Christ. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. When we're baptized, we are buried with Christ. Receive the gift of the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit. When we receive God's Spirit, we receive resurrection life in Christ. And so we see that Acts 2.38 is our response to the gospel. It's how we believe the message. It's how we obey the message. And by the way, this is pretty significant because this is the only place in the whole Bible where you have all 12 apostles at the same place at the same time, preaching the same message and then giving it specific instructions, not just to pagans who might not even know what they're talking about, but to Bible-believing Jews who

understood the concepts of repentance and water baptism or proselyte baptism or who knew the Holy Spirit was God. And so they were able to give a comprehensive message to this group of people in a way that maybe they couldn't immediately give the full answer to others who had no background. And so they gave them a very clear answer. Acts 2.38 is, I call it, the application of God's grace, the expression of our faith, our obedience to the gospel. So it is conversion initiation. So yes, to be saved in that initial sense of conversion initiation, you must repent of your sins. You must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. You must receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And this is our expression of faith in the gospel, by our obedience to the commands of the gospel. Now, having said all that, the question becomes, well, how do you know when you've received the Holy Spirit? As I've indicated, Christian groups throughout

the centuries have given different answers. Some say, well, you know because you're baptized. Well, that's not true because Acts 8, the Samaritans were baptized, but the Bible said specifically they had not received the Holy Ghost. And we know that to be baptized, you must first repent. So here in Acts 8 are people who had clearly repented. They believed the gospel. They had been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, but the Bible specifically says they had not yet received the Holy Spirit. And if you study the account, it was because they were looking for some specific sign that was miraculous in nature. So that theory is not correct. The theory that when you simply make a verbal confession or mentally accept the truth about Jesus that you automatically receive the Holy Spirit. Well, Acts 8 is a pretty good refutation of that as well because they clearly believed, the Bible says they believed on Jesus. They clearly repented or they would have never

been baptized. There was great joy in that city. There were miracles. So everything you could see as far as mental or verbal belief and confession was there. Again, they had not received the Holy Spirit yet because they were looking for some miraculous occurrence. So what is the miraculous occurrence? Well, in Acts chapter 2, when the Spirit fell, it specifically says there was a sound of wind. There were flames of fire. But then in Acts 2, 4, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And they began to speak in tongues as the Spirit gave utterance. So notice, it's not something that we create. It's not something we learn. It's not something we imitate. But the Holy Spirit begins to speak through us. We speak a language you've never learned. It could be a language that other people know as in Acts 2. But at least it's not something we know. To us, it is a miracle and it's by God's Spirit. Now notice

the other signs where God moving upon the crowd or upon the individual. And there could be many signs even today. You might see someone tremble under the power of God or laugh or cry or run or jump or shout or follow the floor or express their faith. Those are all signs on the outside. But in Acts 2, 4, when the Spirit came inside, the first sign was speaking in tongues from the inside out. So that's unique as the sign that shows the Spirit has come to dwell and now is speaking from the inside. James talks about the tongue as being the most unruly member of the body, the most difficult member of the body to control. Well, I think it's fitting that when God fills the person, takes complete control. It's not against their will, but it's with their will. But yet he takes control of that last member to surrender, which is the tongue. And when you think about it, for the

tongue to speak, the brain has to engage. So it's not merely that God is mechanically making your tongue go up and down. It's showing he's come inside. He has taken oversight and control. He has filled your brain, your mind, your personality, who you are. And now you're speaking from the inside out.