PAT BOONE AND THE GRAVEST TONGUES ERROR
Pat Boone, the well known night club entertainer and movie actor, was led into a tongues experience by his wife. Their experiences are described in Boone’s book “A New Song.” The account informs us Mrs. Boone began to see that there was a difference between water baptism and being baptized with the Holy Ghost (now that must have been an amazing discovery in a former Church of Christ minister’s house).
We tells how they discovered the difference between being a baptized believer and being baptized with the Holy Ghost. Mr. Boone does assure us that being saved at least gives us the right to ask for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
After Mr. Boone has assured us that he and his wife have been saved, he tells of her interest in Galatians 3:2. This is a promise that says the Holy Spirit comes to men as a result of their faith. This he said made her realize that she “might receive” the Holy Spirit. Mr. Boone makes it obvious he believes what most Pentecostal tongues people believe, that a person can be saved without receiving the Holy Spirit.
Of all the many errors in the teachings of the tongues leaders, the gravest is their doctrine that a person can be saved without receiving the Holy Spirit.
I have been approached by the tongues people dozens of times about my experience. Their questions seldom vary. They begin probing with the words, “Have you received the Holy Ghost?” I have never had any one ask me if I was saved. I told one of my experience of salvation and how the Lord changed my life. He replied, “Moody, just as you received Jesus you can now receive the Holy Ghost.”
It is bad to be wrong about entering a deeper Christian life. It is bad but it is not fatal. However, to be wrong about salvation can be spiritually fatal. The tongues leaders are wrong about salvation.
The False Basis for This False Doctrine
There are three passages of scripture that the tongues teachers commonly use to support their false belief that you can be saved and still not have the Holy Spirit.
The first evidence they offer is Pentecost. They say the disciples were saved and yet they did not receive the Holy Spirit until long after their salvation. This was true at Pentecost though it will never be true again. The atonement for sin had not been made until Jesus died on the cross. Only then could a holy God come and dwell, in men. But Jesus died on the cross. Fifty days later the Holy Spirit came to live inside all of his followers according to his promise.
The reason they did not receive the Holy Spirit when they first believed was because the Holy Spirit had not yet been given. John says, “In the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water; (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe an him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” (John 7:37-39). Obviously no Christian could have received the Holy Spirit until after Jesus was glorified.
The second scripture they use to support this teaching is the 8th chapter of Acts. Philip went down to Samaria and preached. It is said that the people believed and were baptized after seeing many miracles performed.
Later, Peter and John came from Jerusalem. The scripture record “When they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost, (for as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost” (Acts 8:15-17).
The only people who get confused by this passage are those who make the very tragic assumption that everyone who believes and is baptized is saved.
Of course the Bible teaches a man is saved by his faith. However there is a counterfeit or false faith that does not save. Genuine faith believes certain definite things, such as the deity of Jesus Christ. Genuine faith comes from the heart, not the head; “For with the heart man believeth into righteous-ness” (Rom. 10: 10). Genuine faith produces definite results; “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:19,20). The faith that saves must have these characteristics.
The scripture made it very clear to us that in Samaria that there was ‘belief’ that was not genuine. Acts 8:13 says Simon their leader believed, he was baptized, he continued on with Philip, and he beheld the miracles and signs that were done. But Peter said to this baptized believer, “thy money perish with thee” (Acts 8:20). So he was going to perish. Peter said he did not have part or lot in this matter (v. ’21), so he had no part in the kingdom of heaven. Peter said his heart was not right with God (v. 21), and the heart is what counts. Peter said he needed to repent and pray for forgiveness (v. 22) and Jesus said no one who had not repented was going to heaven and certainly no one who has not been forgiven is going there.
Peter elaborated on the point to make it very clear what the problem was when he says Simon was in the gaul of bitterness and the bond of iniquity (v. 23), and of course no one who is still in the bondage of iniquity has been saved.
No where does the Bible say that anyone in Samaria was ever saved before they received the Holy Ghost. The Bible does make it clear that Simon was not saved, even though he believed and was baptized.
The third reference that the tongue teachers twist to fit these doctrines is Acts 19. When Paul came to Ephesus he asked, “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?
And they said unto him we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were you baptized and they said, unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And all of the men were about twelve” (Ac 19: 2-7).
It is quite obvious that these people were not saved. They walked in the light John brought them. They were baptized unto repentance (or baptized to say, “I repent of my sins, I am sorry for my sins”). They showed God they were sorry for their sins, but they had never heard of the Holy Ghost. They had not been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. There is by no means any evidence for saying that they were “Christian” converts. But when Paul came and explained the gospel to them they were baptized and the Holy Ghost came on them.
Now for the scriptures that the tongues leaders have never gotten around to explaining to their people. These scripture give us seven very definite proofs that a person receives the Holy Ghost the same moment they are saved. They reassure us that everyone who believes in Jesus has the Holy Spirit living within his body.
- We Receive the Holy Ghost at the Same Time We are Forgiven of Our Sins
When the Holy Ghost came on the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up and preached. The people were pricked in their hearts “. .. and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren. what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).
Peter told them two things to do that would produce two results. “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in tile name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). Peter commanded them to do these two things: “to repent” and “to be baptized.” He promised two things would happen as soon as they did these: their sins would be “remitted” (Or forgiven) and they would “receive the Holy Ghost.”
God keeps his word. If any man ever repented and was baptized and did not receive the Holy Ghost then God would have failed to keep his promise. A teaching which says you can repent, be baptized and not immediately receive the Holy Ghost, denies the Scripture.
Now the tongues teachers would like to escape truth by saying that you have a work of the Holy Spirit when you are saved but the baptism of the Holy Spirit is something entirely different. But, the Book of Acts tells us that “receiving the Holy Ghost” and being ‘”baptized with the Holy Ghost” are exactly the same!
What happened at Pentecost is called the “baptism of the Holy Ghost” in Acts 1.5, “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” The exact same experience is also referred to as “receiving” the Holy Ghost in Acts 10:47 “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” Again in Acts 2:38 the Pentecostal experience is referred to as “receiving” the Holy Ghost; “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” The meaning of “receiving” is very simple. We know what it means to “receive” someone into our house. We have them “come in.”
So, the experience of the Holy Spirit coming into a person, or of that person receiving the Holy Ghost, is the “baptism of the Holy Ghost.” You cannot say a man receives the Holy Ghost and is not baptized with the Holy Ghost, since the Bible uses these two terms to refer to the exact same experience in Acts 1:5 and Acts 2:38.
When a man genuinely repents, his sins are forgiven and he receives the gift of the Holy Ghost. If you would rather say he is “baptized with the Holy Ghost” you may. It means the exact same thing.
- The Holy Spirit is the “First” Gift God Gives to Every Christian
The first thing God does for every person who turns to Him and is saved is give them the gift of the Holy Spirit. God, by His Spirit, comes to dwell in their bodies. God does this before He does anything else for a Christian. “Ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23). The “first fruits” is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The very “first” thing that follows genuine faith in Christ is this marvelous entrance of the Holy Spirit into your life.
Ephesians 1:13, 14 says, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
An earnest is a down payment. An earnest is the “first” payment. When a man trusts in Christ the “first” reward of his faith, the “first” payment, is the Holy Spirit coming into him and sealing him. There is much more to come when Christ appears. But the first payment has already been made to everyone who trusts in Jesus. He has been sealed by the Holy Spirit.
For the tongues promoters to teach Christians to seek the Holy Spirit after they have been saved is to totally ignore the scriptures.
III. The Bodies of Even the Most Carnal Believers are the Temple of the Holy Spirit
When Paul wrote to the church at Corinth he began the third chapter of his first epistle, “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ” (I Cor. 3:1). He goes on to say to these carnal, young babes in Christ, who must be fed with milk, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is Holy, which temple ye are” (I Cor. 3:16,17). So even the weakest babes, the most carnal believers have the Holy Spirit living inside their bodies.
When Jesus Christ died on the cross the temple curtain was rent in twain. This curtain had separated God, who dwelled in the Holy of Holies, from the people. But when Jesus made the atonement for their sins the curtain was rent, ripped in two.
God moved out of his house of stone that day. Fifty days later, on the day of Pentecost, he moved into his new home, the bodies of believers. Since that day God, by His Spirit has lived inside “all” believers.
If the Apostle Paul were alive today and walked into some meeting where Christians were down on their knees praying for the Holy Ghost, I know what he would do. Paul would interrupt the brother by tapping him on the shoulder. And then he would say what he said to those misguided Christians at Corinth, “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (I Cor. 6:19, 20).
IV. The Holy Spirit has Already Come Into all Believers as a Result of Their Faith Alone
The Bible insists that when a man comes to a point of faith in God, the Holy Spirit comes into that man. Gal. 3. 1,2 says, “O FOOLISH Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you. Received ye the Spirit by works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” Paul reminds them of a vital thing that had been forgotten. The moment they heard the word of God and responded with faith they had received the Spirit. Instead of teaching that we receive the Holy Spirit when we put our faith in Christ, some tongues books contain “Seven Steps to Receive the Spirit” or “Five Steps to Receive the Baptism,” etc.
I listen to them in their meetings saying if you want to get the Holy Ghost hold your hands up over your head, start praising the Lord. Difficult cases are admonished to fast.
Others are told to just start forming words and the Holy Spirit will take over. One preacher even said, “If you want to get the baptism you have to work at it.” However, the Bible is very emphatic that we receive the promise through faith. It is not faith plus fasting, nor faith plus repeating some words over and over, nor faith plus holding your hands over your head. It is through simple, sincere faith and faith alone!
Now the meaning of faith is the “complete” dependence on God to fulfill His promise. If you add anything to faith, then you do not have faith. This is what the whole book of Galatians is written about. So the person who seeks the Holy Spirit by trusting God and doing anything else is not going to receive Him, because he is depending on works and not faith alone. And, “We … receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal. 3:14).
Is faith not sufficient? Is the cross of Christ not enough to qualify us for the Holy Spirit? Does heaven have to be coaxed into imparting the Spirit? Dare the tongues teachers say that God’s act of justification is not sufficient to give us the Holy Spirit? We dare not put our eternal destinies in the hands of men, believing them instead of God’s word.
V. Christ Emphatically Said No One Would Get to Heaven Without Having the Holy Spirit
I grew up in the state of Louisiana where to this day the largest body of tongue speakers are the United Pentecostals. They are a “oneness” group (rejecting the Trinity). They baptize in Jesus name, stress holiness and declare that nobody can go to heaven without speaking in tongues. Now this is radical, but it is much nearer to the scriptures than what most modern promoters are teaching. At least they are not saying that a man can be saved “without having the Holy Ghost.”
The scripture stresses that there is no salvation apart from the Holy Spirit. “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His” (Rom. 8:9). “And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him” (Acts 5:32).
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8: 16).
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5).
Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Marvel not that I say unto thee, ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whether it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:5-8).
The new birth is the result of the Holy Spirit coming into a life. That life is then regenerated. The Holy Spirit imparts the life of God to the soul. Without the Holy Spirit coming into you, this is impossible. And yet the tongues teachers will dare to stand up and say that you can be saved now and receive the Holy Spirit later!
If the Spirit of God has not been received, if a man does not have Him, he does not belong to Jesus Christ. This plainly marks the tongues doctrine as a heresy and what is more tragic it is a heresy that is capable of sending people to hell!
May God help them to stop going about the country telling people they can be saved without having the Holy Spirit!
VI. There is No Basis for Salvation or Any Assurance of’ Salvation Until After We Receive the Holy Spirit
Nothing exposes the tongues error any more clearly than the eighth chapter of Romans. It shows over and over again that there is no salvation apart from the Holy Spirit.
We cannot escape the condemnation for our sins except through the Holy Spirit. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:1,2).
Without the Holy Spirit we cannot please God nor escape death. “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God. for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:5-8).
The only way anyone can join in Christ’s resurrection from the dead is by receiving the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Anyone who has not received the Spirit is not a child of God. “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Rom. 8:13-14).
The assurance that we have a father in Heaven and an inheritance in heaven comes only after we have received the Holy Spirit. “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Rom. 8:15-17).
VII. Every Christian has the Fullness of the Holy Spirit Not Some Part, Portion or Small Degree
You might wonder, “Well, in view of all these Scriptures what in the world do the tongues teachers say?” Now those that I hear and those whose works that I read, immediately come up with an unscriptural explanation for their unscriptural doctrine. They say, “Well, it is true that when you are saved you do get some of the Holy Spirit. However there is more. You don’t get all there is until after the baptism.”
But the heavenly father is not holding out on his children. The word of God says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
Which he shed on us ‘ABUNDANTLY’ through Jesus Christ our Saviour” (Titus 3:5,6). So at the moment he saves us the Holy Ghost is shed on us “abundantly.” I do not need to remind you that the dictionary defines “abundant” and “abundance” as “great plenty, full supply, quantity that is MORE THAN ENOUGH, very plentifully!”
Praise God! Hallelujah! Since the moment I believed I have had the Holy Ghost “abundantly.” Every single child of God has had “more than enough” of the Holy Ghost from the moment he was saved. Isn’t it wonderful. No man should be allowed to rob us of this reward by bewitching our minds with anything other than the truth.
When a man takes an abundance of wine we still do not say that he is full of wine until after it has been assimilated into his blood steam, made its way to his brain, taken charge of his thinking and his conduct. The man starts talking incoherently, acting strangely, walking with great difficulty and then we say he is full of wine. Here we do not use the word “full” to indicate quantity of wine but the degree of the wine’s control.
When God says, “Be filled with the Spirit” He means let the Spirit take control of your life. Yield your own desires, ambitions and strength to the cross and let the Holy Spirit think and love and live through you. This is our daily responsibility as a Christian. It is not a matter of getting “more” of something. It is a matter of yielding to the sweet, precious Holy Spirit and letting him control our lives day by day.
If your life is not a Spirit-filled life and you are saved, be assured you do not need to get anything else from God. You need to fully yield to the person of the Holy Spirit who has come to inhabit your body and live through you. The problem is in your will; not yielding enough. The moment you completely submit to Him that moment you will be completely controlled or filled with the Holy Spirit. As long as you choose to completely yield to the Holy Spirit you will stay filled with the Spirit. The moment you grieve Him by resistance and rebellion that moment you will loose the joy of His control.
The problem is not that the Christian does not have, the Holy Spirit. The problem is either that people are not real Christians, or that they are not yielded to and trusting in the Holy Spirit who already lives within them.
When the tongues promoters teach that men can be saved without having the baptism of the Holy Ghost, it indicates they are as confused about salvation as they are about the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
Copyright, M.A.E.A.
FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH
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