The Holy Spirit
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Barton W. Stone had questions about the Trinity and he could barely justify taking the allegiance to the Westminster Confession of Faith when he became a Presbyterian minister. But he was radically Pentecostal, believing in the present day miraculous manifestations of the Holy Spirit: healings, miracles, speaking in tongues, prophecies, etc.
Alexander Campbell, on the other hand, believed that the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit had ceased. He was against anything mysterious or emotional in the pursuit of truth. He believed in dispassionately examining all the scriptures scientifically. Campbell's version quickly won in the Churches of Christ.
All three, Campbell, Stone and Walter Scott, believed that the Christian receives the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at baptism.
Hard-line churches of Christ today have followed Campbell in being virulently anti-Pentecostal and anti-emotionalism. They are divided as to whether the Holy Spirit indwells us today.
The hard-line churches of Christ are fairly united in believing that only the twelve apostles spoke in tongues on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), and that every time the mention of tongues is made in the New Testament it necessarily refers to people being able to understand the tongues in their own home language (Acts 2). They are divided as to whether Cornelius and his household actually was baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 10), some believing that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was for the twelve apostles only, and is that which empowered them miraculously.
1. The churches of Christ also emphasize that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were only given to those who received the laying on of the apostles' hands (Acts 8; II Tim. 1). Therefore they also teach that on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) only the apostles spoke in tongues. Some also teach that this baptism of the Holy Spirit is what gave the apostles their specific power to lay hands on others and give them the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit.
2. The churches of Christ emphasize that the work of the Holy Spirit is finished ever since the New Testament was finished being written. They believe that the apostle Paul taught (I Cor. 13) that tongues and prophecy were in part until that which is perfect is come (the whole revelation of God in the New Testament). When the whole New Testament was finished, they reason, the partial revelations of the Holy Spirit would no longer be necessary.
They point to the last verse of the chapter: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." They teach that the apostle Paul is contrasting the temporary things: tongues and prophecy, with the permanent things: faith, hope and love. Since there will be no more faith and hope in heaven, because faith will be sight and hope will be reality, then Paul must have been talking about a time on earth when prophecy and tongues would stop, but faith, hope and love would remain.
Some have found holes in these arguments:
1. The believers numbered about 120 who were constantly praying in the upper room when the Holy Spirit fell on them (Acts 1:15). All of them spoke in tongues (Acts 2:4). It is more reasonable to assume that all those present spoke in tongues, rather than that the eleven plus the one newly elected apostle "all" spoke in tongues.
2. "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known" (I Cor. 13). Those who have supreme confidence in the rational investigation of the New Testament find it easy to say that they now see fully, face to face, and know themselves fully, with no hidden sins or mysteries about themselves, just by studying the New Testament.
Those who are more humble realize that our relationship with God is an ongoing process and that we will continue to grow until we see God face to face. It is difficult to say that now that we have the completed New Testament we see face to face fully, and that we know fully.
The apostle Paul said to Timothy to study the Old Testament scriptures that he had known from his youth to be fully equipped unto every good work (II Timothy 3). So it is doubtful that Paul would say in one passage that the scriptures already written and already studied from Timothy's childhood would make him complete, and then in another passage say that the scriptures so far only let them see dimly and in part. Paul's attitude was that the revelation of Christ's life, death and resurrection were all that was needed to fully understand God's purpose in the light of the Old Testament scriptures (II Tim. 3). Paul was not waiting for New Testament scriptures to be written to feel completely equipped to spread the good news throughout the world. Nor did he tell Timothy to wait for more scriptures to make himself feel complete as an evangelist.
So Paul was probably talking about the resurrection from the dead and eternal life with God in heaven when he said we will see clearly as face to face, and that we will know fully as we are known.
2. Pentecostals today believe there are three kinds of tongues:
1. The sign of tongues in which they heard in their own home language, the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2),
2. tongues of angels (I Cor. 13), and
3. prayer tongues (I Cor. 14), considered far less miraculous than on the Day of Pentecost.
3. There were many miracles and prophecies that had nothing to do with revealing new things about God or new things about God's will for us to obey. For instance near the end of the book of Acts a prophet named Agabus took Paul's belt and bound his hands with it and said that the owner of the belt would be arrested and bound in Jerusalem (Acts 21). This revelation did not reveal anything new about God or God's will for them to obey, but the Holy Spirit felt it was important for Paul and the believers to know that this was about to happen. There are many parallel situations today.
4. There has never been a period in the entire biblical history when God has not spoken or moved miraculously. There has never been a period of biblical history without a prophet who spoke God's words that were revealed to him. If God has finished speaking and it is all written down, then our era is distinctly different from any other era in biblical history in the way God relates to us. It would be strange that God would not have prepared us other than to say that tongues and prophecy would cease. Only once is this uttered to a congregation at Corinth. No other warning or help other than this one tiny passage for us to get used to the fact that the miracles that Jesus said his followers would perform are no longer to be performed by his followers. It is more likely that we are to continue to move in the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit today. In fact the apostle Paul said that we are to become equipped to do the work Jesus did on earth: "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:11-13). Most would agree that "attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" would definitely include doing the miracles of Christ.
5. When Peter commanded the Jews on the day of Pentecost to be baptized he promised them "you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38), that Holy Spirit that the Peter said the prophet Joel had prophesied about when God said he would pour out his Spirit upon all people (Acts 2:17). So when Peter promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to them if they would be baptized into Jesus, they would be reasonable in expecting to experience the same manifestation of the Holy Spirit they were witnessing the believers experience then and there. In other words a reasonable person would have understood Peter to say that they were going to speak in tongues if they were baptized into Jesus.
That is why many Pentecostal groups today believe that when you are forgiven of your sins you will manifest at least one of the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Peter said "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off [non-Jews]."
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