I grew up in a church that is part of a pentecostal denomination, so for years I heard not only the call to salvation, but also the call to be baptized in the Holy Spirit…… with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.
I’ve visited other churches which also make the claim that speaking in tongues is the only initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In fact, every pentecostal denomination I know of has put in their doctrine the belief that speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit (although the two largest pentecostal denominations are considering removing the limitations on initial evidence).
I DO NOT believe any spiritual gift is necessary for salvation (nor do I believe that water baptism is necessary for salvation), but I DO believe spiritual gifts are still available to Christians and that the Holy Spirit is still active in the world today, but my question is this: is speaking in tongues the only initial evidence of baptism in the Holy Spirit? And why or why not?
