6 False Teachings About the Holy Spirit

You don’t have to look far these days to find people who mock the Holy Spirit and erroneously teach about His baptism.

Sadly, there are still many who reject this wonderful gift, believing that it is “not for today” or that it is insignificant. Scripture shows us how significant it is to God, and how it is the power behind the ministry of the believer—starting with Jesus, then for His apostles, and all the way down through history to us! Let’s see how some of the unsound teaching is clearly refuted by the Word of God.

Listed below are some false beliefs about the Holy Spirit’s baptism, and the truths about each of these are included as well:

False belief: It passed away.

Truth: First Corinthians 13:8 tells us that knowledge hasn’t passed away, and neither has the gift of tongues! And remember Acts 2:38-41, where Peter made it clear that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was for “those that are afar off”—meaning the generations that would follow. Aren’t you glad that the power of the Holy Spirit is still available to us today?

False belief: You have to wait, or tarry, to receive it.

Truth: Those who teach this are using Luke 24:49 as a reference. But when we look more carefully at that verse, Jesus was instructing His disciples to go to Jerusalem. If this verse justifies waiting for the Holy Spirit, then it would also stand to reason that anyone who wants the baptism of the Holy Spirit should be waiting in Jerusalem! Also, look at Acts 10:44—it says that the Holy Spirit fell while Peter was speaking. There was clearly no waiting here! We don’t have to wait, but once we know it is available to us, we must go after it!

False belief: Some receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but others don’t.

Truth: On the day of Pentecost, when the mighty rushing wind roared through the upper room, Acts 2:4 tells us that “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” This false belief is simply confusing the infilling of the Holy Spirit as being the same thing as the gift of tongues that is mentioned in First Corinthians 14, which they are not.

False belief: When you are saved you have all the Holy Spirit you need.

Truth: If that were the case, there was no reason for Acts 2 to occur. But we see that they were empowered with a power they’d never had before, although they’d been following Jesus for more than three years. In Acts 3, the very next chapter, Peter and John healed the lame beggar—by the power of the Holy Spirit! And in Acts 4, as more were coming to believe in Jesus, we’re told that the Holy Spirit came and filled them and gave them boldness:

“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are per- formed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:29-31 ESV).

Paul also prays for the Ephesians to receive “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation” (see Eph. 1:17). If they already had “all the Holy Spirit” they needed, Paul would not have prayed this for them! Also, remember the rivers of living water that Jesus spoke of in John 7:38-39—they were not stagnant, they were moving and alive and not always at the same level.

We see these different levels in Ezekiel 47, where the prophet Ezekiel describes the river as having four different levels—ankle deep, knee deep, waist deep, and over his head—deep enough to swim in! This is increase, meaning that there is more of the Spirit for us to receive and walk in. Thank God that He always wants the river of the Holy Spirit to be full and overflowing through us!

False belief: It’s of the devil.

Truth: We know this isn’t true because it isn’t what Jesus said! In Luke 24:49, Jesus said, “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high” (NKJV). This promise is the same as in Luke 11 where Jesus said, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:13 KJV).

As we’ve discussed, Peter explained that the outpouring of the Spirit and speaking in tongues was a fulfillment of what the prophet Joel had spoken (see Acts 2:16, 37-41). This tells us it was from God and not from the devil, because God was doing exactly what He’d promised!

In Acts 8, Simon the sorcerer tried to buy the ability to impart the gift of the Holy Spirit, but think about this for a moment: Simon was a sorcerer. If it was of the devil, he would have already been able to do this!

Also, it is specifically said in Acts 2 that those who spoke in tongues on the Day of Pentecost were magnifying God, not the devil: “both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:11 ESV). We also see this in Acts 10: “they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God” (Acts 10:46 ESV).

False belief: You can’t pray in tongues without an interpretation.

Truth: Scripture makes a distinction between two types of tongues—the public prayer, which is a message from God to an individual or the church body and needs an interpretation for the public assembly, versus private prayer, which doesn’t require an interpretation.

This idea that tongues always require an interpretation is simply not true; Paul gave instruction in First Corinthians 14 in reference to the public and local assembly or church meeting. He was teaching them how to use the gift of tongues in an orderly way in a public meeting. It did not refer to the private use of speaking in tongues:

Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful (1 Corinthians 14:13-14).

A few verses later in that same chapter, we again see a reference to praying publicly in tongues:

If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God (1 Corinthians 14:27-28 NKJV).

In contrast, the book of Jude speaks of privately praying in tongues:

But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life (Jude 1:20-21).

These verses tell us, in addition to many other benefits, that praying in tongues builds us up in our faith, helps to keep us in the love of God, and enables us to recognize and receive God’s mercy. Why wouldn’t we want this? Who doesn’t want to be built up in their faith? Who doesn’t want to know the keeping power of the love of God? And which of us doesn’t want to know and receive God’s mercy? In the hour in which we’re living, we can’t afford to be without any of these things!