STUDY GUIDE FOR PENTECOSTALISM

The following questions were abstracted from an article by Larry Ray Hafley [Guardian of Truth, Sept. 15, 1994]. It provides some questions which may be of use when studying with our Pentecostal friends:

1. If salvation is "solely by grace," why are not all people saved since "the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men" (Titus 2:11)?

2. Jn. 10:30 teaches that Jesus and the Father are one, but does this mean one person? Does 1 Cor. 3:8 then mean that Paul and Apollos were one person? Does Eph. 5:31 mean that a husband and wife are one person? See also Gen. 11:6 and Jn. 17:21 for examples. Jn. 17:21 indicates that the "oneness" of the disciples was to be just like that between Jesus and the Father.

3. Since Acts 2:38 teaches that the baptism commanded is "for the remission of sins," is there any reason to believe that any other cases of water baptism were practiced for any other reason (e.g., Acts 10:48, 19:5)? [If so, where are the scriptures that indicate it?]

4. Since Acts 8:36-38 teaches that baptism is by emersion (i.e., "down into water" ... "up out of the water"), is there any reason to believe that any other cases of water baptism were practiced in a different way (e.g., Acts 2:41, 10:48, 16:15,33)?

5. Since Acts 2:4-11 teaches that when men spoke in tongues (i.e., "as the Spirit gave the utterance"), they spoke actual, understandable human languages, is there any reason to believe that any other cases of tongue speaking were in languages which could not be understood (e.g., Acts 10:46, 19:6, 1 Cor. 12-14)?

6. Since all examples of miracles in the New Testament were definitive and clearly visible signs, wonders and powers [if necessary, review them all to verify this], why would you want to apply the word miracle (in the biblical sense) to things that clearly do not fit that description today? God acts in the affairs of men today, but if these actions qualified as New Testament miracles, they would be impossible to deny (Jn. 11:47-53, Acts 4:13-22).

7. Since the miracles in the New Testament were for the purpose of confirming the newly-revealed word (Mk. 16:20), what new revelation (i.e., not in the New Testament) is being confirmed by miracles today?

8. If we cannot understand the bible alike, how are we to understand the confusion being generated by everyone claiming to speak under the influence of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 14:33)?