Pentecostal theology teaches that the evidence of the possessing the Holy Spirit is tongues. They reason by induction from a few cases of tongues accompanying the Gift of the Spirit and infer that every believer who receives the Holy Spirit speaks in tongues. Does scripture support this view? No. It doesn’t. In order for scripture to be conclusive here, every instance of the initial filling of the Holy Spirit must be accompanied by tongues. But is this true? Is every instance of someone or some group receiving the Spirit accompanied by tongues? Or, to put it another way, are there counter-examples to this claim? Are there examples within the new testament where some are filled with the Spirit and are not said to have spoken in tongues?
Take Acts 8:14-15 as a counter-example. The Samaritans received the Spirit, but this verse disproves their claim that the evidence of the Holy Spirit is tongues. There is no evidence in this verse that they spoke in tongues after receiving the Spirit.
Luke 8:14-5 (NET)
“Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. These two went down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. (For the Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then Peter and John placed their hands on the Samaritans, and they received the Holy Spirit.”
John the Baptist is another counter example, filled with the Spirit before being born but not said to have spoken in tongues in the womb. Luke 1:15
Luke 1:14-5 (NET)
” 14 Joy and gladness will come to you, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.”
Elizabeth, the baptist’s mother, was also filled with the spirit but not said to have spoken in tongues. Luke 1:41-2. What she did seems more akin to prophesy, for the scriptures stated that they cried with a loud voice.
“41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 She exclaimed with a loud voice, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child in your womb!”
Luke 1:41-2 (NET)
Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, but, rather than speak in tongues, prophesied: Luke 1:67
“67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,”
Luke 1:67 (NET)
Pentecostals often point to Acts 2:4:
“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.” (NET)
Acts 2:4
Yet, they fail to see that after Peter’s sermon 3000 believers received the Spirit without it being said that they spoke in tongues:
“Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” 40 With many other words he testified and exhorted them saying, “Save yourselves from this perverse generation!” 41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added.”
Luke 2:38-41 (NET)
Peter said that the result of confession and baptism would be the gift of the Spirit. Verse 41 said that they accepted the message and were baptized. Thus, we can infer that they received the Holy Spirit. But no record of them speaking in tongues.
I could add more scriptures, but I think that this is enough to demonstrate conclusively that not every believer who received the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues in scripture. Thus, the Pentecostal thesis is not supported by scripture. They must assume that everyone who received the Holy Spirit in scripture spoke in tongues, although scripture itself doesn’t state this. Therefore, far from building their theology on scripture, they attempt to build scripture on their theology.
But this isn’t the only biblical evidence against their view. Paul writes that the fruit (evidence) of the Spirit is Christian character and other virtues:
Galatians 5:22 (NET)
“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Note that tongues are not in the list. Further, Paul describes tongues as a gift that some believers are given but not others:
” 28 And God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, helps, gifts of leadership, different kinds of tongues. 29 Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform miracles, do they? 30 Not all have gifts of healing, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all interpret, do they?”
1 Corinthians 12:28-30 (NET)
Pentecostals respond to this by saying that Paul here isn’t speaking about tongues as the initial evidence of the Holy Spirit Baptism, but does Paul make such a distinction? Further, how could tongues not be a gift of the Holy Spirit? If the main proof text for Pentecostals is Acts 2:4, where the believers are said to speak in tongues as the Holy Spirit enabled them. Perhaps the retort might be that the gift of tongues is for the church. Paul disagrees:
” 22 So then, tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. ”
1 Corinthians 14:22 (NET)
Now, who were the tongues for in Acts 2:4? The believers were already aware of the filling of the Spirit because of the miraculous flames that appeared to them. But it was those without or outside of the Upper room that heard the tongues and it sparked their curiosity. It opened them up to hearing the gospel. Thus, even the Acts 2:4 passage that Pentecostals love to quote fits Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 about tongues as a gift of the Spirit. There is no reason to think that they are the trademark or flagship sign of the baptism or gifting of the Holy Spirit. This isn’t a teaching developed from scripture; it is one that is imposed on it. It is eisegesis and not exegesis.