Lives and Lips: Both/And Pentecostals

As Pentecostal people, we love the power of the Spirit of God. Pentecostals are a people defined by a desire to see people step into the New Testament experience of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Pentecostalism began with hungry people desiring more of the Holy Spirit, and specifically to find out the biblical sign they had been brought into Fullness of the Spirit. Students at Charles Parham’s Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas read the book of Acts, and came to believe that speaking in other tongues was the initial physical sign one had been baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Power for Service
Many of these early Pentecostals were baptized in the Holy Spirit, packed their bags in a coffin, and headed overseas to give their lives as missionaries for Christ. The missional, service impulse that flooded their souls with the filling of the Spirit was exceptional. Early leaders emphasized that Spirit-baptism brought power for witness and service, and rightly so, for Acts 1:8 clearly states “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (ESV). Power to be a witness is a primary purpose of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Power for Life
If you look a bit further back to the roots of this movement, you’ll find the holiness movement. Just before the outbreak of the modern classical Pentecostal movement, many Holiness people were preaching the baptism in the Holy Spirit as power for life, power for sanctification. The Holiness Movement emphasized that through the power of the Holy Spirit, Christians could be made holy and transformed inwardly. Through the Spirit, Christians had the power to love God and love neighbor as God desired. This, they believed, was the fruit of the fullness of the Spirit—a life of love. Paul taught this fruit of transformation in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).

Both/And Pentecostals – Life and Service
If you look at the confession of faith of the Assemblies of God, the Statement of Fundamental Truths, our belief in the baptism in the Holy Spirit embraces both. Speaking of the Baptism of the Spirit, we believe that “With it comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry.”[1] Life and service. I believe much harm has come in modern Pentecostalism because we’ve forgotten our roots. We miss that dynamic combination of both life and witness, holiness and service, in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Fullness of the Spirit will bring much more than just speaking in tongues. It will also help you live a holy life. The Baptism in the Spirit brings spiritual power both to make you holy in your life and anoint your lips of witness. Church, let’s embrace a both/and faith from our heritage. Let us never be content with power for service without a transformed life. May we see the enduement of power as power for both life and witness, and may our lives and lips both be anointed to testify to the transforming grace of God.

This article was originally written for publication in The Epistle, the publication of Abundant Life Assembly of God. 


[1]“Assemblies of God Statement of Fundamental Truths,” Assemblies of God USA, available from: https://ag.org/Beliefs/Statement-of-Fundamental-Truths; accessed 27 March 2025.
  

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