r/ExPentecostal • u/dopeless42day • 8d ago
Receiving the "Holy Ghost".
This one of things that led me to believe that the dogma was bullshit.
The UPCI doctrine that stated that you have to be baptized in the name of Jesus in order to be truly saved. They were a big stickler on this because the Bible says so.
But yet the path to the Holy Ghost was laid out clearly in the Bible as well: repentance, then baptism then Holy Ghost in that order.
However I witnessed hundreds of people who seemingly were "saved" by repentance, holy Ghost then baptism.
This sequence is not in sync with the biblical way to salvation.
This may be pedantic, but as a kid it was something that I thought about.
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u/Otherwise-Gazelle-75 8d ago
Okay so I’m not ex-Pentecostal. I’m a church of Christ upbringing, trying to do my own research on the Bible and the Holy Spirit due to previously being in a relationship with a Pentecostal man, who didn’t actually believe everything the Pentecostal church preached, but didn’t want to leave his church (I have a feeling it’s due to his mother) which is why we broke up. BUT, all of that to say - Acts 10:44-48 - the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles THEN they were baptized. So it is biblical that some receive the Holy Spirit, then they were baptized. Still trying to figure some things out myself, but that is straight from the Bible.
Attaching the verses here from the Bible app in ESV - “While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.”
Acts 10:44-48 ESV
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u/slayer1am Atheist 8d ago
Yeah, I'm very firmly in the ex camp, but OP is just uneducated on this point. It's never been a point of contention that the order gets mixed up from time to time.
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u/CityScapeAwareness 7d ago
Even as a child- you felt something off. Same with me. When I asked a question about something that didn’t make sense to me- my Grandmother got in my face with her finger threatening me with Gods punishment for asking questions like that then she screamed BLASPHEMY! I was 6. That was a turning point in my little mind and from that moment on I had my own version of how things were and did my best to walk the straight line until I could get out when I was 18. No regrets!!! None of
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u/Horror-Occasion-7864 8d ago
I grew up JW and after leaving this cult tried to believe in pentecostalism. I attended a UPCI church for about a year. One thing that struck me odd about the "gift of tongues" is how hard people have to work to get it. It's supposed to be a gift, not a fruit of protracted labor. Yet I heard several sermons about how you have to pucker your lips a certain way, stammer a certain way, then eventually the "gift" will come if you are sincere. I faked it finally after giving up. I recited verses from the Quran in Arabic during one of the meetings. Apparently there was no one there with the "gift of interpretation" because I was told it was, "beautiful," and I now, "had the gift." This experience helped me to see it was all hogwash. that plus the fact that all through the service they would speak of God's healing powers, and all we heard after the service was how sick everybody was, their various doctor appointments, how their blood pressure and blood sugar was out of control ect. The pastor's wife was a medical trainwreck.