Through the years I have talked with, and debated with, Pentecostal preachers and it is not uncommon for them to take the position that the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit ” is a command. Many have been the times I have cited a passage to prove that the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” was not a command, but it seems they just do not want to believe what is written in the Bible! Let me put this down and see if you can conclude that the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” was a command. Consider the following material.<\/p>\n
“And, being assembled together with them, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which said he, ye heard from me: For John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence<\/em>,” Acts 1:4-5. Please observe in this passage that which is to be given is called a “promise.” In verse 4 of this text, we find that which was promised was the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit,” and it is called a “promise.”<\/p>\n Through the years of preaching the Gospel of Christ, I have been in contact with many of the Pentecostal persuasion and I have never found one who believes the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was a “promise!” They always said it was a command and you had to have the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” to be saved, and they further stated that the “speaking in tongues became evidence they had received the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n I know there are many who remember the days of the “mourner’s bench” and those who would spend hours “praying through to God.” Some never did get through to the “Holy Spirit” and wondered why God did not give them the Holy Spirit. According to their preachers, it was commanded; but one could not have it until God gave it to him. This is the confusion associated with the preaching and teaching and practicing of Pentecostalism.<\/p>\n Many years ago there was a Pentecostal preacher in Crockett, Texas, that was teaching the necessity of people receiving the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit,” and pointed out that it was a “command.” As I look back now, I realize that he did not know what a command was. His attitude was: “Brother Allen is like a peg-legged sailor that has his wooden leg stuck in a knothole, in the floor, and is just going around and around.” I explained that he was the one that had the peg leg. He said one needed to obey the command to be baptized with the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit.” I asked what he needed to do to obey the command and he did not know. He just went around and around; thus the peg-legged man with his wooden leg stuck in a knothole in the floor. Well, the receiving of the Holy Spirit was not a command, it was a “promise,” Acts 1:4, “and, being assembled together with them, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father.<\/em>“<\/p>\n Commands are to be obeyed and “promises are to be received.” The promise of the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” was to the Apostles and they received it, Acts 2:1-4.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Carl A. Allen Through the years I have talked with, and debated with, Pentecostal preachers and it is not uncommon for them to take the position that the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit ” is a command. Many have been the times I have cited a passage to prove that the “Baptism of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[213,428,363,648],"class_list":["post-55133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-baptism-of-the-holy-spirit","tag-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit","tag-miracles","tag-promises"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14999,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-baptism-is-referred-to-as-the-one-baptism-of-ephesians-45\/","url_meta":{"origin":55133,"position":0},"title":"Which Baptism Is Referred to as the One Baptism of Ephesians 4:5?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Adapted from an article by Clem Thurman in Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 20, May 16, 2008. Question: Which baptism is referred to as the one baptism of Ephesians 4:5? Answer: Some people want to refer to this baptism as a spiritual baptism. I have never been able to understand\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0006-10-300x187.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22011,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-one-receive-the-holy-spirit-without-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":55133,"position":1},"title":"Can one receive the Holy Spirit without baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can one receive the Holy Spirit without baptism? Answer: The clear answer to this is \"yes.\" Baptism is a command found in the New Testament, yet people had received the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. In addition: \"While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25348,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-baptism-of-the-holy-spirit-give-you-the-power-to-fight-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":55133,"position":2},"title":"Does the baptism of the Holy Spirit give you the power to fight sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 19, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi! Does the baptism of the Holy Spirit give you the power to fight sin? Does the baptism of the Holy Spirit give you the power to overcome sin? Answer: Peter was baptized with the Holy Spirit: \"Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, 'John\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14618,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-paul-really-receive-the-holy-spirit-before-his-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":55133,"position":3},"title":"Did Paul really receive the Holy Spirit before his baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I was just reading your answer to\u00a01\/24\/2008's question\u00a0about Paul receiving the spirit before he was baptized. I could be mistaken, but I have never gotten from that passage that Paul received the Spirit before baptism.\u00a0 Ananias told Paul that he would receive his sight and then be filled with the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42314,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-understand-where-you-are-getting-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit-in-acts-816\/","url_meta":{"origin":55133,"position":4},"title":"I don’t understand where you are getting gifts of the Holy Spirit in Acts 8:16","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading one of your Q&A's\u00a0Must you speak in tongues to have the Holy Spirit? I was a bit confused about this tail end of a verse \"They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25657,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-paul-asked-the-ephesians-if-they-had-received-the-holy-spirit-what-was-he-referring-to\/","url_meta":{"origin":55133,"position":5},"title":"When Paul asked the Ephesians if they had received the Holy Spirit, what was he referring to?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When Paul asked the Ephesians, \"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?\" in Acts 19:2, was he referring to the gift of Acts 2:38? And is that the same as the\u00a0Spirit given in Acts 5:32. Thanks. Answer: \"And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55133\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}