You Don’t Need To Be Baptized In The Spirit Or Speak In Tongues

There are many preachers within Christianity teaching people they must be “baptized in the Spirit” or “filled with the Holy Ghost” to be Spirit-filled.

They teach the “baptism in the Spirit” is evidenced by speaking in tongues.

They tell people that unless they speak in tongues, they are not Spirit-filled.

They pressure others to speak in tongues.

They surround people at church services, attempting to have them “pray in tongues”.

They coach people on how to speak in tongues.

They will make you feel inferior because you do not speak in tongues.

They appear spiritually superior to others because they speak in tongues, and others do not.

People feel guilty for not speaking in tongues.

People feel as if they are missing out on God by not speaking in tongues, as if something is lacking in their lives spiritually.

Those pressuring people to be “baptized in the Spirit” or to speak in tongues have no understanding of the new covenant of grace.

Don’t fall for their religious charade.

They have hurt and harmed many people with their religious abuse.

I became familiar with this religious abuse when I was asked to teach weekly at another Christian recovery program.

During my weekly teachings, I taught verse by verse through Romans.

Those in the recovery program had never been taught the book of Romans and its life-changing message of grace.

What they had been taught was that they needed to be “baptized in the Spirit” or “filled with the Holy Ghost” if they wanted to experience all God had for them, and if they wanted to be set free from their addiction.

As I taught this group of hurting, hungry people about God’s grace, I could see on their faces that their hearts were being healed.

They would come up to me after class and tell me how grace was giving them hope and changing their lives.

Because of the impact of grace upon the people in the recovery program and because the people were beginning to see through the religious lies of the program, the leaders asked me not to come back.

But that is okay, because the seeds of grace were planted in the hearts and minds of those in the program, others will water the seeds, and God will cause the growth.

There are some well-known grace pastors who teach that all believers are able to speak in tongues, which they refer to as a “beautiful prayer language.”

I have much respect for these teachers.

I know their hearts are right and that they are not pressuring people to speak in tongues.

However, I believe their understanding of 1 Corinthians 12-14 is flawed.

I don’t believe these chapters teach that all people in the Corinthian church had the gift of tongues.

I believe these chapters teach only some had the gift of tongues and that tongues was the least of all the gifts.

Please, if you have never had the experience of speaking in tongues, do not feel you are missing out on or lacking in something in your relationship with God.

You are complete in Christ.

You have everything you need in Christ.

You do not have to have a certain experience to fully enjoy your relationship with God.

The Spirit-filled life, under the new covenant of grace, has absolutely nothing to do with speaking in tongues.

People can say they speak in tongues, yet miss out completely on what the Spirit-filled life is all about which is walking by faith in a peaceful, loving relationship with God as their Father, fully convinced they are his forgiven and righteous children, who are not under law but under grace, and in whom Jesus lives by his Spirit.

*Note: Speaking tongues was the ability to speak in another language for the purpose of telling people about Jesus (see Acts 2).

This is taken from Chapter 11 of my book Addicted To Grace.