Dr Paul Allen

The Context on the Day of Pentecost was: Speaking in tongues to multiple nations. The focus has nothing to do with the phrase "as the Spirit gave them utterance."  To place a weighty meaning upon these words, such as I prayed for a person to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit provided no initial evidence of tongue-speaking; therefore, the Spirit didn't give utterance, but may do so tomorrow, ignores the both context and purpose of Acts 2. What the apostles needed, at this point in their history, was not moral courage or devoutness of spirit; for they had already recovered from the alarm produced by the crucifixion and were now boldly entering the temple together every day and spending their whole time in devout worship.  Their defects were such that no degree of courage or of piety could supply. It was power that they wanted—power to remember all that Jesus had taught them; to understand the whole meaning of all his words; of his death; of his res...

Prayer. One of the most frequent representations of obedience, which often appears as a separate condition, is prayer.60 This condition is usually built on the accounts in Luke 11:13 and Acts 1:14 where prayer precedes the impartation of the Spirit.  It is held that the gift cannot ordinarily be received apart from prayer. The gift is “without money and without price,” writes Riggs (pp. 103–04), “but He will give it only to those who ask for it.” Skibstedt (p. 68) affirms that “God fulfills the promises of the baptism in the Holy Spirit as long as the candidate knows that he needs this power—and seeks it in intensive and persevering prayer.”  As may be gathered from the latter part of the last remark, it is not simply prayer that usually obtains the gift, but a definite kind of prayer—“intensive and persevering prayer.” Riggs tells us emphatically that “we must ask importunately,” and queries, “Shall we consider that He gave the Spirit to us when asked once, even though there ...

Does the Holy Spirit Choose Not to Baptize People, or Are People the Problem? From a Pentecostal perspective, including that of Donald Gee and other scholars, the issue is not that the Holy Spirit chooses not to baptize certain people but that individuals may encounter personal barriers to receiving. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a promise available to all believers, not a selective gift withheld by God. God’s Desire to Baptize All Believers Pentecostals believe Baptism in the Holy Spirit is a gift available to all who believe in Christ. Acts 2:39 states: "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call." (NIV) This verse supports the view that Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not limited to a select few but is meant for all believers. Scholars such as Donald Gee emphasize that God does not withhold the Holy Spirit arbitrarily; rather, the responsibility often lies with the individual (Gee, Pentecost , 1932). Human B...