Praying in the Spirit: Focus of the Charismatic Experience: Tongues, the Holy Spirit, or Christ?
The Cross in Pentecostal-Charismatic Theology
The emphasis on the saving blood of Jesus has been predominant in Pentecostalism from the very beginning. In the 1906 Pentecostal revival in Los Angeles, William J. Seymour stressed the atoning work of Christ constantly (quoted in Clayton, p.37). Frank Bartleman, an eyewitness chronicler of the Azusa Street revival, wrote that
Jesus was “all, and in all.” . . . All comes through and in Him. The Holy Ghost is given to “show the things of Christ.” The work of Calvary, the atonement, must be the center for our consideration. The Holy Ghost never draws our attention from Christ to Himself, but rather reveals Christ in a fuller way. . . . There is nothing deeper nor higher than to know Christ. Everything is given of God to that end. The “one Spirit” is given to that end. Christ is our salvation, and our all.
(p. 85)
While it is a mistake to label the charismatic renewal a ‘tongues movement,’ the mistake is understandable. After all, the spiritual gift of tongues has been a distinctive of the baptism in the Holy Spirit since the day of Pentecost. Being a more vocal and outward spiritual manifestation, the gift of tongues undoubtedly draws attention.
No other theology I know captures better the element of reciprocity among the persons of the triune Godhead: the Father gave us His Son by the Holy Spirit; the Son with the Holy Spirit showed us the Father; and from the Father in the Son’s name the Spirit was given to believers. Although other theologies may teach doctrines identical to these, only the Pentecostal-charismatic theology allows a twentieth-century demonstration of the latter: The Father gives the Holy Spirit to His children (Luke 11:13; John l4:l6-l7) because of the work of Christ (John 7:39) and through the agency of Christ (Acts 2:33, 38-39; See also Acts 1:8; 2:4; l0:45-47; 11:16-17). Various terms were used in the New Testament for the vocational manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer).
Personal Experience
In my own life, the baptism in the Holy Spirit with tongues has intensified my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Also, it has created within me a desire to minister to the Christian and non-Christian alike. Additionally, I have had a greater awareness of God’s will for my life and, as a result, a greater sensitivity to sin in my life. This last effect, however, is wedded, somewhat paradoxically, to a greater realization of God’s love for me.
Category: Spirit, Summer 1999
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