Literature Review

The holyghost is a gift,one of the free gift God has given to believer after the resurrection of Jesus
Christ.
The baptism of the holyghost come hand in hand with speaking with other tongue infact it is the
evidence of the baptism of the holy spirit.

Once it is a gift we are meant to receive it and not to beg for it.Some believer go around with
many of some question about the baptism of the holy ghost with the evidence of speaking with
other tongue but they are not just what should rob them of the gift God has given already.Some are
even not sure if the baptism of the holy ghost is for all believer.
No Tarrying,Some often think that they have to wait a long time before they can receive the
baptism of the holy ghost

Denomination doesn't matter; people often sperate denominator as if God is sperate.Every one
can be filled with the holy ghost with the evidence of speaking with other tongue as long as the are
born again and they are willing to receive the gift(holy ghost with the evidence of speaking with
other tongue)

The Writer went on to explain that the Holy Spirit is not for a particular denomination or set of
people, the Holy Spirit belongs to anyone who believes in Jesus and how that the Holy Spirit is
God's promise to us, he is a person and not an object, we have the Holy Spirit Living inside of Us.
He spoke about some extreme teachings in the church about the Holy Spirit and how it has
restricted believers from receiving the Holy Spirit, He explained how the Holy Spirit that works
out our salvation and the Holy Spirit in the Baptism of the Holy Ghost are the same person but
that the events are different.The Holy Spirit is the same one who led us to Christ, bears witness
that we are children of God and gives us utterance to speak in tongues, and that the Holy Spirit is
only for believers. He went on to explain how laying of hands on believers for the impartation of
the Holy ghost is scriptural and that God desires all of his Children to receive the Holy Spirit.

(Cited from Holy Spirit and his Gifts by Kenneth E Hagin)

Understanding the Anointing.

Papa Hagin started by giving us the background of Anointing from the old testament days saying
that only king, priest and prophet are anointed to stand in their office. he went further by affirming
that we have the Anointing freely in our days.
he analysed Jesus and his ministry, giving us an idea that Jesus actually operated in the fivefold
ministries according to Ephesians 4vs.8
Papa Hagin stressed that every believer must have two spiritual experience i.e.New birth and
baptism in the Holy Spirit. he therefore elaborated the Work of the Holy spirit in the believer as a
teacher, revealer, etc.

I will be unfair if I fail to tell you that Papa Hagin wrote extensive in Chapter 3 and 4 about his
new birth and baptism in the holy spirit after he was miraculously healed of paralysis as a teenager
by having faith in God’s Word in 1933.

he explained how he was launched by God into ministry and how God started using him for
healing by faith even without the baptism in the Holy Spirit i.e. without the Anointing.

w
Section 2
The writer started with the fivefold ministry gifts offices which are apostle, prophet, evangelist,
pastor and teacher. He stressed the fact that there are other gifts according to 1st Corinthians 12
and Romans 12.

he narrated a story about one Brother Carter that discovered that he has an Anointing to operate in
an office which is quite different from His wife and so he needed his wife for some task a times.
God gives us divers gifts to use under the Holy spirit.

He stressed that the gift of healing should go with the office of evangelist emphasizing Philip in
Acts 8vs 5-7 as a model of an ideal evangelist after Christ. Brother Hagin wrote a personal
experience to buttress his point.

Brother Hagin went further by writing on Anointing to preach with several examples of personal
experience and how He has been able to operate in that office by the Help of the Holy spirit.

Anointing to teach was what Brother Hagin did justice to showing his great regards for that office
and how God sometimes used him along that line, proving what God has deposited in his life.
He said that most times when the Anointing comes on Him, He would have to say ‘Lord, turn it
off- I can’t stand it anymore! ‘.

The writer described the word ‘Pastor’ to mean ‘Shepherd ‘ or ‘bishop’ or ‘overseer’ according to
Acts 20vs28. Brother Hagin once said that although he pastored for 12 years, he didn’t know a lot
about the Anointing of a pastor. but he believed that there’s more to pastoring than preaching.

he gave a valid argument that it is actually possible to minister in the wrong office and so such
person will not have the Anointing to function.
Brother Hagin made reference to Paul as one who stood in the office of a prophet and thanked
God he gave Him the grace to minister in that office by the year 1952. he stressed that one can
stand in the office of prophet or have a simple gift of prophecy.
The writer reiterated the fact that music enhances Anointing to prophecy (2 kings 3 vs 13-14).
‘prophet is also called a seer in Scripture’, he said.

The Apostle is also called ‘ the sent one’ citing Jesus as a perfect example of an apostle. the writer
also gave 2 Corinthians 12 vs.12 as the sign of an apostle. Brother Hagin also gave 4 marks of an
apostle, this struck a challenge in my heart about my walk with God.

the writer wrote on how to increase the Anointing which are by studying the Word and been
prayerful.
he went further by taking a cue from what transpired between Elijah and Elisha 1kings 19 & 2
kings 2. stressing that Anointing comes by ASSOCIATION, ENVIRONMENT &INFLUENCE.
he concluded the chapter by writing on wigglesworth’s mantle.

he wrote on yielding to the Anointing an also peculiar anointings or special Anointing e.g. Acts
19vs 11-12 and with several experience he had had when ministering.
the healing Anointing was also a topic he did justice to in the concluding part of this section. he
explained how Jesus did heal people and that healing power is transferrable, can be made stronger
under the influence of the Holy spirit among others.

Section 3
This is the concluding part of the book with just a chapter on Corporate Anointing. The writer
emphasised that the greatest Anointing of all is the corporate Anointing making a case from 2
Chronicles 5vs.11-14. Brother Hagin further elaborated that oneness of heart as in Acts 4vs.23-24
and effect of praise (Paul and Silas) are what enhances the Corporate Anointing. He stressed that
there is power in corporate Anointing and United prayers; he further gave a scenario to show the
impact of corporate Anointing.

Reviewed by John Paul Lathrop

Dr. Craig Keener has established himself as a highly respected New

Testament scholar. Over the years he has written a number of very

significant commentaries including works on the gospels of Matthew

and John, and the book of Acts. His highly acclaimed IVP Bible Background

Commentary: New Testament is one of his best known works. In addition, he

has produced books devoted to specific biblical topics such as miracles,

women in marriage and ministry, and divorce and remarriage. He is not

one to shy away from controversial subjects. In this present volume

Keener writes about the Holy Spirit including the sometimes

controversial charismatic aspects of His ministry. Gift & Giver was first

published in the United States in 2001. More recently it has been

translated into Indonesian and published in Indonesia.

The book is based on material that was included in an earlier book

that Keener wrote. The earlier book was called 3 Crucial Questions about the

Holy Spirit. Gift & Giver consists of an introduction, ten chapters, a

conclusion, and an appendix. The chapter titles are: “Recognizing the

Spirit’s Voice,” “Learning to Hear God’s Heart by the Spirit,” “The Spirit

Empowers Us for Evangelism,” “The Spirit and How We Live,” “Are

Spiritual Gifts for Today?” “A Closer Look at Some Spiritual Gifts,” “The

Spirit and Salvation,” “When Are We Baptized in the Spirit?” “Tongues

and the Spirit,” and “Why Discern the Spirit?” The appendix of the book

is titled “What Can Bible Stories Teach Us?”

As the chapter titles indicate Keener covers a number of aspects of

the Spirit’s ministry. The subjects he covers include our sanctification

and empowerment for ministry, the empowerment discussed includes

the Spirit’s part in both our evangelism and spiritual gifts. As you may

also surmise from some of the chapter titles this book is not merely a

systematic theology on the Holy Spirit. While the book certainly

contains theology (there are many biblical references in the text) it is

geared toward instructing and equipping the believer to practically enter

into experiencing the various ministries of the Spirit. At different points
n the book Keener includes stories of his own experiences with the Holy

Spirit. These accounts demonstrate that even in our day the Holy Spirit

continues to carry on the ministries that He did in and through His

people in the scriptures.

I particularly enjoyed some of the sections of the book that dealt

with what are typically called the charismatic ministries of the Holy

Spirit. For example, in chapter 5, Keener deals with the question of

whether or not spiritual gifts are for today. As he deals with this subject

he addresses a view of spiritual gifts, held by some, known as

cessationism. This view maintains that some of the supernatural gifts of

the Holy Spirit like healing, prophecy, tongues and miracles are no

longer in existence today. The author does not subscribe to this school of

thought. In the chapter he states the biblical reasons why he does not

agree with this view of spiritual gifts. His reasons include: Luke

considers the empowerment that the church received at Pentecost to be

the normal experience for Christians, the miracle-working ministry of

Jesus is to be a model for His disciples, and the apostle Paul’s sees

spiritual gifts continuing as long as the church does. Keener states that

he does not believe a person would adopt the cessationist viewpoint

from reading the Bible unless they were previously taught this point of

view.

I also enjoyed his chapter about being baptized in the Holy Spirit.
When discussing this subject Keener explains the major views about

this experience, both what it is and when it takes place in the life of a

believer. As he explains, some see this experience with the Holy Spirit as

taking place when a person is saved and others see it as taking place at a

point subsequent to salvation. He points out that those who believe that

one is baptized in the Spirit at conversion typically rely on Paul’s

teaching in his letters whereas those who believe that it happens after

conversion point to what Luke wrote in Acts. Keener handles this

sometimes volatile subject with grace. He maintains that all of the

Spirit’s work becomes available to the Christian at conversion but that

some aspects of His work may be received after conversion.

The author’s treatment of the subjects covered in this book are

sufficiently thorough and, I think, fair. It is a work of great substance,

but it is written without technical language; it is thus accessible to every

believer. The writing style is clear and straightforward. Whether one is a

cessationist or a continuationist they can read this book and profit from

it. It will both inform the reader’s mind, and I dare say stir his or her

heart to have a greater experience of the Holy Spirit in their life: a

biblical experience of the Holy Spirit. A point Keener makes in a couple

of places in the book is that we should not be content to see our

experience of the Spirit as normal, rather, we should seek to conform our

experience of the Spirit to what we find in the scriptures. I

wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who is seeking a greater

knowledge about the Holy Spirit, His nature and His works. I do hope

that Gift & Giver will enjoy widespread circulation in Indonesia (and

elsewhere). It is an excellent resource for the church.

The Holy Spirit is one of the most neglected and

abandoned aspects of Christian theology (Calkins, 1931).

The strict puritanical control of behavior leads to a

dispensational view of the Holy Spirit confining it to the

early church. The Holy Spirit is treated in popular

Christianity basically for healing and performing miracles.

The classical dispensationalist claims the Holy Spirit

activity ceased with the apostolic age (Calkins, 1931 cited

in Asamoah, 2004). That, the Holy Spirit was meant for

the founding of the early church and after the church has

been founded, the gifts of the Spirit are now irrelevant

and so the Spirit has been withdrawn. This is was the

major perception of the church before the end of the 4th

century during the time of Augustine and Chrysostom

(Biliger, 1982 cited in Omenyo, 2002). A major proponent

of this view who was also the first articulate spokesman is

Hyppoclytus, a contemporary of Tertullian. He held the

view that prophecy ended with apostle John whose apocalypse was the last valid
prophecy to have come from the Holy Spirit (Pelikan

1071) cited in (Asamoah, 2004). According to Arthur

(1992) cited in (Asamoah, 2004), tongue speaking as a

gift of the Holy Spirit is for a sign not to believers but to

unbelievers. It was never intended to edify believers but

convince unbelievers. To him, miracles, healings and

tongue speaking were used to confirm believers and to

convince unbelievers; and after the New Testament work

has been completed, nothing in Scripture indicates

miracle, healings and deliverance of the apostolic era

were to continue.

In the West, in Latin orthodoxy, the work of the Holy

Spirit has not received the prominence He deserves. The

Western orthodoxy traces the Holy Spirit to the Father

and the Son. This is reflected in the filioque debate

between the Greek East and Latin West. However, the

Eastern orthodoxy church subordinates the Holy Spirit to

the Father only, it rejects the procession of the Holy Spirit

from the Son (Berkhof, 1964). The Holy Spirit personality

and function have been denied in a most open and

undisguised manner. Unsettled opinion and doubt prevail

on this issue of the Holy Spirit to a surprising degree

everywhere even among those who profess to accept the

authoritative words of the prophet, apostles and the

sayings of Jesus Christ. Yet this is the truth which is

firmly embedded in Scriptures and unmistakable teaching

of Christ (Calkins, 1931) Cited in (Asamoah, 2004).

However, proponents of the Holy Spirit such as Michael

Green, boldly declared, It is simply not the case that

healing, prophecy, exorcism and speaking in tongues

died out with the last apostle’ (Omenyo, 2002).

Scholars including Calkins have observed that

wherever Christianity has become a living power, the

personality, functions and the role of the Holy Spirit has

uniformly been regarded equally with the atonement and

justification by faith as the article of a standing or a falling

church. Other theologians advocate the view that a vital

apprehension of this truth of the Holy Spirit as the

energizing force can redeem the individual and the

corporate church from the apathy of an uninspired

orthodoxy, of a formal ritual or a purely secular activity

and cause it to be what God designed it to be (Calkins,

1931).

In Protestantism, the interest in pneumathology has

been largely experienced in pietism, a subjective

experience, a function that is interior and inward, not a

public experience while in Roman Catholicism, its

dominant expression has been in books on spirituality or

charismatic renewal. The doctrine of the Spirit was

indispensable complement of the teaching of the Council.

In the West, the Holy Spirit is seen as addendum, a

"false" window to give symmetric and balance to

theological design. Theological constructs are built in

constitutive Christological system with pneumatological

bambles, a little Spirit tinsel. The Holy Spirit is also seen

as the transcendent Spirit who is manifested in culture

and nature, who edifies and judges convertibles but also

builds up civic order and pulls down what needs to be

destroyed in society.

There is almost no other subject in modern theology so

difficult to deal with as the doctrine of the Spirit. Although

it seems as "God in action" it is difficult to give clarity and

precision to how the Spirit appeared in salvation history.

This in part account for the obscurity which developed

around much of early Pneumatology. Again, possibly, the

impersonal category of ‘power’ used to designate the

Spirit might have contributed to the difficulty.

Justin Martyr speaks of the Father, Son and Angels

and refers to the Spirit almost as an afterthought. To

others, the doctrine of the Spirit is itself a protest against

beginning with an anthropological, existential analysis as

an approach to hermeneutical questions. It is the Holy

Spirit who proves the worth and meaning of Scriptures

and brings us into the truth. This is the prolegomenon to

hermeneutics and does not rule out an epistemological

analysis (Asamoah, 2004).

The theology of the Spirit constitutes one of the

greatest tasks of systematic theology. For instance, in the

New Testament there is no fully reflected theology of the

Spirit. What it attests to is the Spirit as the name for the

actual presence of divine reality in Christian experience

and community. One will therefore expect that nothing

would be more familiar to every Christian than the reality

of the Spirit. But to the contrary, there is almost no

subject in modern theology so difficult to deal with as the

doctrine of the Spirit (Parmenberg, 1969).

Penteco/ charismatics teach that the term Pentecost to

Pentecostal signifies particularly, the descent of the Holy

Spirit upon the first disciples enabling them to speak in

tongues. So essentially, Pentecost means the event of

Acts chapter 2:4: … and they were field with the Holy and

began to speak in tongues as the Spirit gave them

utterance. By implication, the Pentecost doctrine of the

Holy Spirit is centred in the crisis experience in the full

reception of the Holy Spirit. Pentecostals contend that,

subsequent to conversion, but can on some occasion

simultaneously, there is endowment with power with the

evidence of speaking in tongues as the Spirit gave them

utterance. This experience is called baptism in the Holy

Spirit.

The term baptism in the Holy Spirit means that the

person is supernaturally, experientially in full

consciousness, immersed in or submerged by the power

of the Spirit. Pentecostals hold that the Holy Spirit

baptizes believers into Christ during conversion but Christ

baptizes believers in the Holy Spirit. This means in the

new birth the Holy Spirit is the agent, the atoning blood

the means, and the new birth the results. However, in the

baptism of the Holy Spirit, Christ is the agent; He shall

baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

The experience suggests the believers’ whole

personality (spirit, soul and body) is supernaturally immersed, surrounded and enveloped in
the presence

and power of the Spirit coming over him from above and

from without. The evidence of the baptism of the Holy

Spirit is speaking in tongues. The evidence of the Holy

Spirit in such a believer’s life is to transforms his

character to reflect the character of Christ.

A school of thought asserts that speaking in tongues is

an evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit on one’s life

as could be traced in the book of Act chapter 2:2-4:

‘suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind

came from heaven and filled the whole house where they

were sitting. There was what seems to be like tongues of

fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All

of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to

speak in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

It is recorded in Acts 10: 44-46: while Peter was still

speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who

heard the message. The circumcised believers who had

come with Peter were surprised that the Holy Spirit had

been poured out on the gentiles too. For they heard them
speaking in tongues and praising God. Acts chapter 19:6,

it is recorded, ‘when Paul placed his hands on them, the

Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and

prophesied.

Acts 8:15-17… when they arrived, they prayed for

them to receive the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit had not

yet come on them. ... they received the Holy Spirit.

However, the Bible does not record whether they spoke

in tongues or not. Despite that, it could be inferred that

they equally spoke in tongues or something supernatural

happened and that is what Simon the sorcerer saw and

thought he could buy the gift of God with money so that

whoever he also places his hands on, will receive the

baptism of the Holy Spirit or receive some supernatural

evidence of the Baptism. These Scriptures clearly show

that on several occasions, the baptism of the Holy Spirit

was followed with speaking in tongues.

Justification and research objective

This paper seeks to contribute to the interpretation of the

role and function of the Holy Spirit in individuals’ Christian

experience and the corporate church. This is to help

rethink the subordinate and neglected place of the Holy

Spirit in Christian thinking and in practical discipline of

Christian living.

METHODOLOGY, STRATEGY AND SAMPLE

Qualitative method was used for the study. It is an

approach which called for an in-depth interviews used to

explore a phenomenon so that detailed description could

be made about it. In qualitative paradigm, we are

concerned with meanings attributed to events and

experiences by participants in their naturally occurring

Asamoah 103

environments (Willig, 2001). It is normally based on

specific context and usually describes the real world

settings of people to better understand social realities,

processes, meanings, patterns and structural features

(Golafshani, 2003)

It is normally based on specific context and therefore

subjective; It describes the real world settings of people

to better understand social realities, processes, meaning

patterns, and structural (Golafshani, 2003). Face –to-face

in-depth interviews and focus group discussion were

conducted on lecturers in the university and teachers in

the secondary school. The study area was Accra.

Data analysis method

Thematic and interpretative analyses were used to

establish and interpret themes from interview responses.

This method of analysis is used to identify, analyse and

report patterns within data as well as interpreting various

aspects of the research topic (Braun and Clarke 2006).

One of the benefits of thematic analysis is its flexibility

and can be applied across a range of theoretical and

epistemological approaches (Braun and Clarke 2006).

The thematic analysis started by looking for patterns of

meaning and issues of potential interest in the data and

converging them into meaningful coding schemes or

groups. This was followed by isolating the different codes

into potential themes.

FINDINGS

Prerequisite for the baptism of the Holy Spirit

Repentance is a cardinal aspect of receiving the grace of

being born again. Repentance is in two fold: One that

begins with accepting to be a sinner due to being a

descendant of Adam and also confessing one’s sins and

receiving Jesus as one’s savior and Lord. The second

component is turning away from daily sinful behaviors.

That is, the believer must prepare his heart for the

baptism of the Holy Spirit. Desiring for or hungering for

the baptism of the Holy Spirit also puts one in a state of

preparedness for receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

This shows the extent by which one expresses his/her

faith in the Lord, engages in consistent prayer and fasting

to lord to baptize him/her in the Holy Spirit and

consistently studying and meditating the word of God. It

is believed that these things set the foundation for the

Holy Spirit to baptize and indwell the believer.

Check the voice below:

It is our believe that the prerequisite for the Holy Spirit

baptism is the simple acknowledgement of the Lord

Jesus as one’s Savior and Lord and not necessarily that

a pastor or an elder or any Christian should lay his/her hand on us or help us in any form in
order to receive the

baptism of the Holy Spirit. The church also believes that

the Holy baptism may come also upon the sinner and

refine him/her (interviewer 10). However, normally, strong

desire to receive the baptism of the Spirit leads to the

baptism of the Holy Spirit.

On the issue of ‘what is the role of the Holy Spirit in

the life of the charismatic believer’, the analysis

revealed six perspectives of Pentecostal/ charismatics.

That the Holy Spirit: Is the principal agent of the second

birth of the believer, energizes the saints for service,

enables believers to operate in the supernatural and

enhances communalism, purifies the believers, fortifies

and empowers believers and provides believers

utterance to speak in tongues.

The Holy Spirit is the principal agent of the second

birth of the believer

Every believer in Christ must be born again, that is, must

experience re-birth by the Holy Spirit. To experience re-

birth it means to experience the Pentecost. Pentecost is

the outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God upon the

disciples as it occurred in the book of Acts Chapter 2

when the disciples gathered to pray in the upper room in

Jerusalem. Pentecost is also the celebration of 50 years

feast of the Passover. During this feast, the Holy Spirit

baptized the early church generally thus marking the birth

of the church of Jesus Christ. Being born again therefore

means that the believer has the baptism of the Holy

Spirit, has a transformed life and behaves in the manner

which is induced by the Holy Spirit.

The voice below reflects it:

We become born again when we experience the

presence and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It has to do

with the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of

speaking in tongues. The experience empowers us to do

exploits for the Lord (Interview 1).

The experience enables us to depart from the past

ungodly life and adopts a new and godly life in Christ

Jesus. That is, we have the newness of life. We

experience a change of character and attitude. We begin

to really love the Lord and bear the fruits of

righteousness. (Interview 2)

The baptism becomes a supernatural seal on us. The

seal acknowledges us within the heavenly grace as

people already born into the body of Christ (Interview 3).

The fruit of the spirit begins to manifest. Without much

effort, we completely subject to the authority of Jesus

Christ and the Holy Spirit; we render service to God and

mankind with zeal and joy without complaining. The

rebirth experience also makes us appreciate the doings

of the Lord and we express gratitude to the Lord

(Interviewee 4)
Energizing believers for service

It was also found out that the Holy Spirit instills in

believers the flare, the desire and the commitment to

engage in soul winning venture. One is zealous for the

Lord and becomes His witness. This is very important

since that is the great commission mandate to the church

by Jesus Christ the Savior as could be found in Matthew

chapter 28. Besides, the believer is always in the

position to share his/her Christian experience with others,

indicating one’s love, faith and trust in the Lord.

The voice below attests to this view:

The born again experience makes us delight and

develop interest in and take action for soul winning and

missionary project. We share the testimony to others how

it feels to be born again. The Holy Spirit as a Missionary

empowers and sends us out for missions. He empowers

our message and gives us divine directions as to where

to go and what to do in a missionary venture. He gives

inner conviction to those who are ministered to, leading to

the acceptance and confession of Jesus Christ as their

Lord and Savior. He leads and empowers the church and

also convicts individuals of sin. The church teaches that,

the truly born again develop interest in God’s word, prays

and attends church service often. This is in tandem with

Scriptures that enjoins us never to abstain from meeting

together for fellowship. The Holy Spirit convicts sinners to

respond to the call for salvation. Again, the Holy Spirit

supernaturally works as a proof of God's power. For

example, performing miracles and healing and delivering

people from every yoke (Interviewer 5)

The Holy Spirit plays a pivotal role in ministry

The church teaches that human vessels for ministry work

are prepared by the Holy Spirit. Without the influence of

the Holy Spirit, the ministry work becomes rigid and

regimental. However, the Spirit empowers the pure

vessel that is yielded to a life of prayer, the word and holy

living (Interviewee 6). This means, when we sin, it cuts

the flow of the power of the Spirit. In this situation, when

we operate in the flesh, we can deceive, destroy and kill.

It is the Holy Spirit who empowers us to heal and perform

miracles that persuade people to believe in the power of

the gospel (Interviewee 7). Our Leaders are prepared by

the Holy Spirit so that they can equip the flock for their

God-given assignment. The Holy Spirit guides and

empowers us for evangelism. We are enabled by the

Spirit to preach with boldness and prick the heart of theunregenerate to become sober to
receive Christ as

his/her savior and Lord. It is the Holy Spirit that quickens

the Word that we preach, convicts of sin, and effects

conversion (Interviewee 7)

He fortifies and empowers believers

The field data also showed that the born again

experience brings spiritual empowerment to the believer.

The believer become indwelt and concurrently immersed

with the Spirit of God Almighty thus making the believer

very spiritually strong and capable to do great things. The

church believes and teaches that the experience makes

the initiate strong in spirit, gives him power to live the

Christian life, helps him in his prayers and equips him for

spiritual battle.

The narrative below indicates it:

The born again experience means we receive the

indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us so we become

strengthened with might on the inside. We are equipped,

enabled divinely by the Spirit to be able to do things that

we could not do before. That is, we receive enablement

to do great things that naturally we cannot do for God.

Power to overcome all manner of challenges is given to

us as believers through personal encounter with the Holy

Spirit. Great faith, boldness and confidence in the Lord

emanate from the encounter with the Holy Spirit as we

continue in prayer and study the word of God. This

means fear disappears and we are able to do great

things for the Lord. It involves ability to preach with power

to perform miracles such as healing the sick and raising

the dead (Interview 8).

He enables believers to operate in the supernatural

and enhances communion

It was revealed that the Holy Spirit is the path to the

divine, where the believer is enabled to penetrate the

supernatural realm through communication with his

creator and receives supernatural insight into the word of

God when engrossed in studies and meditation of the

word of God. There is a great delight in involving in

church activities and freely relating to people very well

with love.

The narrative below reflects it:

The Holy Spirit helps us to pray often and pray well. He

provides us the urge to study God’s word and meditate

on it often. It is also the Holy Spirit who motivates us to

participating in church activities, guides us in making

friends and fellowshipping with other believers and

Asamoah 105

enables us to be dedicated to the service of God. All this

is possible because we are born again (Interviewee 6).

He purifies the believer

The field data also shows that the born again experience

makes one sensitive to sin, abhor sinful behaviours

and easily repents for both sin of omission and

commission and to make conscious effort to walk in the

will of God.

The voice below attests to that:

The born again experience makes us become so

conscious of sin. We feel bad or guilty when we sin. We

open up to the Holy Spirit so that he can lead us into the

will of God and in so doing we are able to avoid

treading in sinful areas either in deed or in thought. We

become so transformed by the Spirit and inspired to live

for God. The Holy Spirit works on our minds to enable us

think pure and behave right (Interviewee 7)

He inspires the believers to speak in tongues

The data shows that Penteco/charismatic believe and

teach that speaking in tongues must necessarily follow as

the sign of infilling of the Holy Spirit baptism. In addition,

speaking in tongues enable the church members to utter

mysteries to God in their prayers, edify and refresh

themselves and to magnify God. He enables believers to

speak to God directly in the language that the devil even

does not understand.

The voice below shows it:

When I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, I started

speaking in tongues. And I still speak in tongues during

my prayers. Anytime I feel restless in my spirit, I speak in

tongues and I become alright. During church worship, I

worship God in my local language and I also speak in

tongues. By speaking in tongues I know my spirit is

praying and therefore can touch on areas that my mind

cannot understand. After the worship, I feel relieved; I

know I have really worshipped the Lord. Our church also

emphasizes on the need for people to receive the

baptism of the Spirit and to speak in tongues as the Spirit

grants the members’ utterance (Interviewer 9).

DISCUSSIONS

The Penteco/charismatic churches emphasize on pure

life teaching for members to live a holy life in order to

please the Lord. This is meant to prepare the people for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and
continue to be being

filled with the Spirit in order to live Christ-like life that

honours the name of the Lord. Jesus' teaching in

Matthew chapter 5 is a classical series of pure life

teaching.

However, there are some cases where one receives

the baptism of the Holy Spirit while still not pure (not yet

refined by the word of God). The fact is that the Holy

Spirit is the gift of God and God is sovereign;

consequently, God chooses to give the Holy Spirit to the

one He wills. Pure life teaching is teaching people to live

a godly life. However, this teaching is not a must for one

to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit because one’s

knowledge in pure living is not what necessarily attracts

the Holy Spirit baptism. For example, the members of

Cornelius' household received the Spirit after being

preached to without necessarily first of all becoming pure

(I Cor.10). On the other hand, the disciples of Jesus

received the baptism of the Spirit after going through

series of teachings and activities with Jesus, by which

time it is believed they were prepared to attain an

appreciable degree of purity. The Spirit according to

Malachi is the refining fire; He can come into an

individual's life and refine or purify him/her. People who

are already walking in purity can also receive the baptism

of the Spirit, thus enhancing their pure life. The Holy

Spirit helps an individual to live pure.

A blameless, and Christ-centered teachings make

people to understand the totality of the Gospel of Christ.

It is teaching people to eschew evil in order to present

their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto

God. Pure life teaching is enhanced by the baptism of the

Holy Spirit. It enables one to have a cordial relationship

with God.

Pentecostals (charismatics) teach that, the baptism in

the Holy Ghost (being born again) is a critical experience

subsequent to and/or distinct from conversion, granting

the believer the benefits of a permanent, personal and full

indwelling of the Holy Spirit and so providing power for

Christian services; particularly evangelistic service,

operations and demonstration of the spiritual gifts. In The

Encyclopedia of Protestantism, Melton (2009) writes:

"While often associated with Evangelical Christianity, the

‘born again’ phenomenon is common across the entire

spectrum of Protestant churches." He continues: "In

churches that emphasize evangelism, the 'born-again'

experience tends to become the norm, and everyone is

expected to recount such an experience. In Christianity,

to be born again is to undergo a "spiritual rebirth"

(regeneration) of the human soul or spirit from the "Holy

Spirit', contrasted with the physical birth everyone

experiences. The origin of the term "born again" is from

the New Testament: "Jesus replied, 'Very truly I tell you,

no one can see the kingdom of God without being born

again (Jn 3:3 NIV). It is a term associated with salvation

in Christianity. Individuals who profess to be born again

often state that they have a personal relationship with

Jesus Christ (Price, R.M 1993). According to Purves and

Partee (2000) sometimes the phrase seems to be

judgemental, making a distinction between genuine and

nominal Christians. Sometimes descriptive, like the

distinction between liberal and conservative Christians.

Occasionally, the phrase seems historic, like the division

between Catholic and Protestant Christians."

Furthermore, the term "usually includes the notion of

human choice in salvation and excludes a view of divine

election by grace alone"

Many historic church denominations understood being

"born again" as spiritual regeneration via the sacrament

of baptism by the power of water and word. This

understanding persists in Roman Catholicism, in some

parts of Anglicanism in Lutheranism and in Eastern

Orthodoxy. However, beginning sometime after the

Reformation, Evangelical Protestants have predominantly

understood being born again as an experience of

conversion symbolized by water baptism, and rooted in a

commitment to one's own personal faith in Jesus Christ

for salvation. This same belief is also an integral part of

Methodist doctrine (Fallows, S. 1901); and is connected

with the doctrine of Justification (Southey, R.; Southey,

C.C , 2010).

The born-again discourse is a central characteristic of

Pentecostal Christianity in Africa. In the study of African

Christianity, this discourse and the way it (re)shapes

people’s moral, religious, and social identities has

received much attention.

The Pentecostal historian Kendrick in his geneology of

Pentecostal experience cites with approval, Wesleys’

famous apology for ‘two’; Wesley said, ‘we do not know

any single instance in any place of a person receiving at

the same moment, remission of sin, abiding witness of

the Spirit and a new clean heart. To him, remission of sin

and a new clean heart are two distinct moment in the life

of the Christian (Brunner, 1970 cited in Asamoah 2004).

The key point that Kendrick is putting across is that it is

the Pentecostal experience (the baptism of the Holy

Spirit) that yields the results above.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is more of a subjective

experience. Pannenberg (1972) asserts that the Spirit

became a factor in subjective experience rather than a

principle in explanation of nature. McDonnel (1982),

however, asserts that the role of the Spirit in Tillich’s

theology is neither the church Spirit of ecclesiological

piety nor the experiential Spirit of pietism, but the

universalist Spirit who bridges all gaps.

Thietilicke (1974), propounds that it is the Holy Spirit

which proves the worth and meaning of Scriptures and

brings us into the truth. Iraneous teaches that the whole

economy of salvation is given over to the Spirit (Barth,

1973). Nicholas Cabasilas maintains that, the whole work

and teaching of Jesus has no other result than that the

Spirit descending on the Church (Barth, 1973) that is for

a successful ministry.

The Holy Spirit empowers believers against diabolical

with God.

Pentecostals (charismatics) teach that, the baptism in

the Holy Ghost (being born again) is a critical experience

subsequent to and/or distinct from conversion, granting

the believer the benefits of a permanent, personal and full

indwelling of the Holy Spirit and so providing power for

Christian services; particularly evangelistic service,

operations and demonstration of the spiritual gifts. In The

Encyclopedia of Protestantism, Melton (2009) writes:

"While often associated with Evangelical Christianity, the

‘born again’ phenomenon is common across the entire

spectrum of Protestant churches." He continues: "In

churches that emphasize evangelism, the 'born-again'

experience tends to become the norm, and everyone is

expected to recount such an experience. In Christianity,

to be born again is to undergo a "spiritual rebirth"

(regeneration) of the human soul or spirit from the "Holy

Spirit', contrasted with the physical birth everyone

experiences. The origin of the term "born again" is from

the New Testament: "Jesus replied, 'Very truly I tell you,

no one can see the kingdom of God without being born

again (Jn 3:3 NIV). It is a term associated with salvation

in Christianity. Individuals who profess to be born again

often state that they have a personal relationship with

Jesus Christ (Price, R.M 1993). According to Purves and

Partee (2000) sometimes the phrase seems to be

judgemental, making a distinction between genuine and

nominal Christians. Sometimes descriptive, like the

distinction between liberal and conservative Christians.

Occasionally, the phrase seems historic, like the division

between Catholic and Protestant Christians."

Furthermore, the term "usually includes the notion of

human choice in salvation and excludes a view of divine

election by grace alone"

Many historic church denominations understood being

"born again" as spiritual regeneration via the sacrament

of baptism by the power of water and word. This

understanding persists in Roman Catholicism, in some

parts of Anglicanism in Lutheranism and in Eastern

Orthodoxy. However, beginning sometime after the

Reformation, Evangelical Protestants have predominantly

understood being born again as an experience of

conversion symbolized by water baptism, and rooted in a

commitment to one's own personal faith in Jesus Christ

for salvation. This same belief is also an integral part of

Methodist doctrine (Fallows, S. 1901); and is connected

with the doctrine of Justification (Southey, R.; Southey,

C.C , 2010).

The born-again discourse is a central characteristic of

Pentecostal Christianity in Africa. In the study of African

Christianity, this discourse and the way it (re)shapes

people’s moral, religious, and social identities has

received much attention.

The Pentecostal historian Kendrick in his geneology of

Pentecostal experience cites with approval, Wesleys’

famous apology for ‘two’; Wesley said, ‘we do not know

any single instance in any place of a person receiving at

the same moment, remission of sin, abiding witness of

the Spirit and a new clean heart. To him, remission of sin

and a new clean heart are two distinct moment in the life

of the Christian (Brunner, 1970 cited in Asamoah 2004).

The key point that Kendrick is putting across is that it is

the Pentecostal experience (the baptism of the Holy

Spirit) that yields the results above.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is more of a subjective

experience. Pannenberg (1972) asserts that the Spirit

became a factor in subjective experience rather than a

principle in explanation of nature. McDonnel (1982),

however, asserts that the role of the Spirit in Tillich’s

theology is neither the church Spirit of ecclesiological

piety nor the experiential Spirit of pietism, but the

universalist Spirit who bridges all gaps.

Thietilicke (1974), propounds that it is the Holy Spirit

which proves the worth and meaning of Scriptures and

brings us into the truth. Iraneous teaches that the whole

economy of salvation is given over to the Spirit (Barth,

1973). Nicholas Cabasilas maintains that, the whole work

and teaching of Jesus has no other result than that the

Spirit descending on the Church (Barth, 1973) that is for

a successful ministry.

The Holy Spirit empowers believers against diabolical confrontations as well dealing with
physical barriers to the
Gospel. It is the Holy Spirit that prepares the vessel to be

used for prayers, reveals the will and the mind of God

concerning what to pray about and makes the prayer

fervent and effective. Inspired Prayers are normally not

meant for personal gains and glory but for long term

impact on the flock. The Holy Spirit impacts boldness for

fearless witnessing, preaching with power, working many

great miracles in villages, towns, cities and nations.

Intercession is made for believers to be clothed with

power, rooted in the word, fully loaded with knowledge of

God’s will. Holy Spirit inspired prayer is made to shutter

world religions, satanic atrocities, the influence of

materialism, political instability and civil war, ethnic

conflict in order to institute peace and tranquility for the

preparation of the gospel.

Peterson (1996) maintains that, although baptism of the

Holy Spirit was indeed a crisis experience, it was divinely

given not for eradication of sin which would entirely

sanctify the believer, but rather an endowment of power

for service.

The Holy Spirit impacts spiritual gifts. These are the

instruments by which we partake in the wider

ecclesiastical cosmic dimensions of the Spirit’s work.

Members attest of the impartation of spiritual gifts in their

lives by the hand of the Holy Spirit as it is the case for the

early church. However, they believe that the gifts are well

demonstrated through committed and holy vessels.

These gifts are in multiples and could be categorized as

spiritual gifts, grace gifts and ministerial gifts as could be

found in 1Corinthians 12:7, Romans 12 and Ephesians

4:1i. Believers are given any or more of the above gifts

but it is not meant for private use but for the entire

church.

The believers heart refined by the Holy Spirit is made

rich with love, compassion, forgiving, kindness as

opposed to callous, uncaring and insensitivity. One

becomes more affectionate, sober and gentle, self control

and humble. One is more committed to God through

effective Bible studies, consistent prayer life, and

fellowshipping with believers in worshipping God. Christ

like life is the hall mark of the believer and this is made

possible by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The belief is that God has given the church the gift of

the Holy Spirit as a bedrock also for the financial wealth

breakthrough. The members show strong belief in

prosperity and perfect health as inferred in 3 John 2.

Also, they believe that it is through prosperity that the

work of God is spread abroad. This wealth is to be used

for God’s glory. It is the Holy Spirit who reveals to the

believer what to do in order to prosper. One of the ways

to prosper is for them to pay their tithes (Mark 3:10). That

their blessing is based on God’s covenantal promise of

blessing with Abraham. The notion is that blessing is an

inheritance for the church and it is the Holy Spirit who

effects the fulfillment of the promises.

Asamoah 107

Also, some studies have revealed that the baptism of

the Holy Spirit is relevant to mental health. Micheal

Harper cites a study by Morton Kelsy. According to him,

he is well able to talk about the subject because of his

training in Jungian psychology. According to his study,

the experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and

speaking in tongues is proved in some instance to have a

therapeutic value in mental illness and help people lead a

more integrated and balanced life (Harper, 1965) cited in

(Atiemo 1993).
Hollenweger supports this view by citing N.L Gerald

who describes a study of an enthusiastic Pentecostal

group in Minnesota. The study concluded that the

experience of the Holy Spirit leads to comfort and

flexibility which helps believers to overcome the problem

of life relatively more than the Christians without the

baptism of the Holy Spirit. Again, the experience provides

the believer with joy which serves as a strong source of

enablement to cope with deprivation and difficulties in life

(Atiemo, 1993).

Tongues speaking as an initial evidence of the baptism

of the Spirit are a cardinal teaching of the

Penteco/charismatic churches. One may argue that

since speaking in tongues necessarily has a purpose,

either for communication or comes for a purpose to aid

prayers and to edify the believer, every believer must

speak in tongues and continue to speak in tongues while

indwelled with Holy Spirit. This has its source from 1

Corinthians chapter 14:4, which says… he who speaks in

tongues edifies himself. Speaking in tongues is not only

for a few believers who are “specially gifted” with the gift

of tongues but rather, supposed to be for all believers

who have had the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The

evidence of this is found in Mark chapter 16:17 “…and

these signs will accompany those who believe (that is

believers) in my name they will drive out demons, they

will speak in new tongues (not they may speak in new

tongues). It may be inferred that the new tongues is a

language and it is within the believer and it is for a

purpose, so the Holy Spirit grants utterance to the

believer to speak in tongues to meet such purposes.

Another school of thought rejects the first position. It

says, “Speaking in tongues is simply one of the many

gifts of the Holy Spirit to believers.” The Scripture base

for this is 1 Corinthians chapter 12:10 “… to another

speaking in different kinds of tongues and to another

interpretation of tongues. Also, 1 Corinthians chapter

12:29-30 is referred to “… Are all Apostles? Are all

Prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all

have gift of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all

interpret?”

It could be noted that this very tongues is not really the

same as the one which comes as initial evidence of

receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This one is

referred to as “different kinds of tongues.” This is not for

all believers; it is exercised by the gifted believers to complement other gifts of the believers to
build the

church.

Atiemo (1993) argues that if speaking in tongues were

of such great importance as the first views seem to

suggest, it would have been more widespread and it

would have had more continuous history than it appears

to have had. He maintains, for instance, it does not

appear to have been an important phenomenon in the

other churches where Paul wrote letters to; for example,

in the letter to the Romans in Romans chapter 12:6-8,

Paul mentions gift of prophesying, gift of showing mercy

and he encouraged all recipients of the various gifts to

use them. Atiemo argues that although Paul treats

spiritual gifts, he did not mention speaking in tongues and

that Paul does not mention it in any of the other churches

apart from first Corinthians.

This is a weak argument because apart from

prophesying which was mentioned in Romans chapter

12, all the rest are one set of gifts called “Domata.” That

is Grace gifts as opposed to tongues which falls under

“Charismata” –that is spiritual gifts. So in actual fact Paul

was not giving highlights on the “Charismata” that is

found in 1 Corinthians chapter 12:7-10 but the “Domata"

The one on Romance 12.

Second, there was no need for Paul to necessarily

write again on the subject since letters were circulated

among the other churches. He had to give instructions on

many things, engage in coaching and mentoring activities

of many younger believers. Exhorting them to speak in

tongues is just one aspect of the thousand issues he had

to address. Third, there was no need that information

disseminated already should be repeated over and over

again before prominence could be attached to it. Christ

Jesus never stressed tongue speaking at all in His

teachings but that does not mean tongues speaking was

not needed in the church.

When Christ was on earth, he did not preach the

salvation message to everyone at any corner; but that

does not mean the concept of salvation is not important.

There is an explicit advice to the church at Corinth not to

forbid speaking in tongues, 1Corinthians 14:39. In

1Corinthians 14:5 Paul said, “I would like every one of

you to speak in tongues…” In 1Corinthians 14:15 Paul

said, “…I will pray with my spirit (tongues) but I will also

pray with my understanding (the use of the mind).

1Corinthians 14:18, Paul said, “I thank God that I speak

in tongues more than any of you.” This means the people

also spoke in tongues but Paul could go deeper in

speaking in tongues. These were all believers. In Paul’s

address to the church at Ephesus, he said in Ephesians

6:8…”And pray in the spirit in all occasions with all kinds

of prayers and request…(He advised the use of praying

in tongues).

Speaking in tongues means praying by the direction of

the Holy Spirit, or praying with the spirit. It is for the

benefit of the believer to speak in tongues. However, this

must be managed well in the church for three reasons:

To avoid categorizing some people as spiritual and

others as non-spiritual in the church; to prevent stress

and frustration among those who do not speak in

tongues; to check against faking tongues speaking and

losing its meaning and value.

Berkhof (1964) advocates that, when people are filled

with the Holy Spirit they do not only speak in tongues but
also begin to prophesy, to exclaim, to praise, to be Christ

witness, to speak the word of God with boldness and to

proclaim Christ. Tongue speaking to Pentecostals is

necessary.

From the data, it was noted that one could be baptized

in the Spirit without necessarily being initially baptized in

water and there were only few cases that individuals had

experienced the baptism of the Spirit without the

evidence of speaking in tongues. Also, none of them

claimed to speak in tongues without testifying of the

experience of the baptism of the Spirit. Nevertheless, this

does not also mean that every one of them who speaks

in tongues is of the Holy Spirit. The possibility of false

ones due to influence of the flesh and the devil cannot be

disputed. There were others who have the baptism of the

Spirit and yet could not mention any gift they operate in.

This is contrary to Scriptures, however, it is possible

especially in the case where one entertains fear, or is in

doubt, or is ignorant of what he is supposed to do to

exercise the gifts of the Spirit. It was also noted that Holy

Spirit filled person may speak in tongues alright but he

can make mistakes. This happens when he/she yields to

the flesh and also becomes careless, then the enemy can

penetrate into his life and make him do the wrong things.

Paul although talks about the importance of speaking

in tongues, he never rated it above all things, not even

among the three things that will endure: ‘faith hope and

love ‘as could be found in his statement in 1Corinthians

chapter 13:1-3 and verse 13. He rated love above all.

Vrs.1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,

but have not love, I am only a resounding gong and a

clashing cymbal.Vrs.2 If I have the gift of prophecy and

can fathom all mysteries and knowledge, and if I have a

faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am

nothing.

Verse 3, if I give all I possess to the poor and surrender

my body to the flame but have not love, I am again

nothing. Vrs.13 and now these three remain: faith, hope,

love. But the greatest of these is love. So, though

tongues’ speaking is good, what is most expected of the

believer is to love God and his fellow neighbor.

It is not very clear whether speaking in tongue is the

main sign of new birth or not. If not, how does one know

that he has received new birth? It seems that in

Pentecostal theology the concept of new birth or a born

again is not well articulated. A careful reading of Acts

chapter 2 seems to suggest that speaking in tongues is

for mission work alone as the Parham School of Topika

seems to uphold. The problem with Pentecostal teaching

on new birth or being born again is that it extrapolates this new birth from Classical Protestant
evangelical wake

of the Holy Spirit in the life of the individual. The classical

format advocates for repentance, conversion,

sanctification and perfection. The Methodist Holiness

Movement emphasized conversion, sanctification and

perfection to account for the dynamic presence of the

Holy Spirit in the life of the believer (Asamoah, 2004). In

classical pietist theology, the believer has repentance,

conversion and sanctification. Perfectionism is believed

to be eschatological. The Methodist Holiness Movement

however believes that perfection is possible now so they

build up a doctrine in which sanctification leads to

perfection or holiness. The problem with Pentecostal

theology is that its category of “born again”, is imprecise.

Does it include repentance and conversion or only

sanctification and perfection? The problem is more

confusing in neo-Pentecostalism. Being born again is the

status all must acquire(Asamoah,2004). This raises the

issue, what are the signs of being born again or receiving

the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Here different

penteco/charismatic have built up different schemes:

Being born again:

i. means the ability to speak in tongues;

ii. brings perfection( holy living);

iii. means ability to operate the spiritual gifts;

iv. brings power to overcome difficulties;

v. brings the empowerment (boldness) to be Christ

witness (to proclaim Christ);

vi. brings power to praise and worship God

vii. helps lead a balanced life.

viii. brings prosperity

ix. brings healing and deliverance.

And increasingly the moral and spiritual dimension of

being born again emphasize spiritual growth and moral

perfection; which also advocate for symbols like speaking

in tongues as signs of being born again. The fundamental

problem of Pentecostal (charismatic) theology of being

born again is that they want a category that will help them

to justify all post conversion experience as experienced

from the Holy Spirit. The crucial question is whether to be

born again is the result of a moral and spiritual effort or is

a gift of grace from the Holy Spirit (Asamoah, 2004)