What do Pentecostals believe?

Pentecostal churches in the statements quoted here believe the Trinity, salvation by repentance and faith in Jesus, baptism by immersion, a baptism in the Holy Spirit after the new birth whose first outward sign is speaking in tongues, divine healing, and the return of Christ, including a catching away of the saints and then a visible reign of a thousand years. What does the Bible say about speaking in tongues? is the section below. The churches do not agree on how to read those verses. This page does not decide.

Key points

• The Assemblies of God Statement of Fundamental Truths (1) says the one true God has revealed himself “as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” and that Jesus “is acknowledged to be both God and man.”
• The same statement says salvation “is received through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ,” and that believers are “justified by grace through faith.”
• Article 8 says Spirit baptism “is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance.”
• The Church of God Declaration of Faith (2) says the same sign “is the initial evidence of the baptism in the Holy Ghost.”
• Acts 2:4And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.Acts 2:4 · King James Version (6) says they “began to speak with other tongues,” and Acts 2:6Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.Acts 2:6 · King James Version (7) says “every man heard them speak in his own language.” 1 Corinthians 14:2For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.1 Corinthians 14:2 · King James Version (8) speaks of “an unknown tongue” that “no man understandeth.”
• Westminster Confession 1.1 (3) says the former ways of God’s revealing his will “being now ceased.” Paragraph 1.8 uses “original tongues” for the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. Paragraph 21.3 says vocal prayer is “in a known tongue.”
• Article 14 of the Assemblies of God statement says the second coming “includes the rapture of the saints,” followed by Christ’s visible return “to reign on the earth for one thousand years.” Is the rapture biblical? quotes that sentence beside the other churches.

Are Pentecostals Christians?

Yes, on this site’s use of the name, for the churches whose statements confess the Trinity. The Assemblies of God statement says, “We therefore may speak with propriety of the Lord our God, who is One Lord, as a Trinity or as one Being of three persons.” It says the Father is the Begetter, the Son is the Begotten, and “the Holy Spirit is the One proceeding from the Father and the Son.” The Trinity and Is Jesus God? stay on that claim. Matthew 28:19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:Matthew 28:19 · King James Version (4): “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

A statement of Oneness Pentecostal churches, which speak of Jesus in a different way, was not in the documents fetched for this article. This page does not describe them. The Pentecostal shelf lists the Assemblies of God and the Church of God, both of which confess three persons.

The Assemblies of God preamble says, “The Bible is our all-sufficient rule for faith and practice,” and “No claim is made that it contains all biblical truth, only that it covers our need as to these fundamental doctrines.” The statement is not offered as a new Scripture.

Salvation, baptism, and holiness

Article 5: “Salvation is received through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, being justified by grace through faith, man becomes an heir of God according to the hope of eternal life.” Ephesians 2:8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Ephesians 2:8 · King James Version (5): “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

Article 6 calls baptism by immersion an ordinance. Those who repent and believe “declare to the world that they have died with Christ and that they also have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life.” Holy Communion is “the symbol expressing our sharing the divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ,” “a memorial of His suffering and death,” and “a prophecy of His second coming.”

Article 9 quotes Hebrews 12:14Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:Hebrews 12:14 · King James Version (13): “holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Can you lose your salvation? quotes the Assemblies of God position paper that a believer can be lost, beside Westminster’s perseverance. That page does not decide.

The Church of God declaration says “justification, regeneration, and the new birth are wrought by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ,” and “sanctification subsequent to the new birth.” It also confesses “water baptism by immersion” “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

The baptism in the Holy Spirit

Assemblies of God article 7 says all believers “should ardently expect and earnestly seek” “the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire,” and that “this experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth.” Article 8:

The baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance (Acts 2:4). The speaking in tongues in this instance is the same in essence as the gift of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:4-10,28), but different in purpose and use.

The Church of God declaration: “In speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance and that it is the initial evidence of the baptism in the Holy Ghost,” and “the baptism with the Holy Ghost subsequent to a clean heart.”

What does the Bible say about speaking in tongues?

Acts 2:4And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.Acts 2:4 · King James Version (6): “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:6Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.Acts 2:6 · King James Version (7): “every man heard them speak in his own language.” Acts 2:11Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.Acts 2:11 · King James Version says, “we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.” Acts 10:46For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter,Acts 10:46 · King James Version says, “For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.”

Mark 16:17And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;Mark 16:17 · King James Version (11), words of Jesus: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues.”

1 Corinthians 14:2For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.1 Corinthians 14:2 · King James Version (8): “For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him.” 1 Corinthians 14:5I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.1 Corinthians 14:5 · King James Version: “I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied,” unless someone interprets, “that the church may receive edifying.” 1 Corinthians 14:19Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.1 Corinthians 14:19 · King James Version: “I had rather speak five words with my understanding … than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.” 1 Corinthians 14:27If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.1 Corinthians 14:27 · King James Version limits speaking to “two, or at the most by three,” “and let one interpret.” 1 Corinthians 14:28But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.1 Corinthians 14:28 · King James Version: “if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church.”

1 Corinthians 12:30Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?1 Corinthians 12:30 · King James Version (9): “do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?” 1 Corinthians 13:8Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.1 Corinthians 13:8 · King James Version (10): “whether there be tongues, they shall cease.”

The Assemblies of God statement reads Acts 2:4 as the initial sign of Spirit baptism, and it says that speaking “is the same in essence as the gift of tongues” in 1 Corinthians 12 “but different in purpose and use.” It does not say that every believer must use the gift in the church meeting of 1 Corinthians 14.

Westminster 1.1 (3) says Scripture was committed wholly to writing, “those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.” That sentence is about revelation. It does not use the phrase “speaking in tongues.” Westminster 1.8 (3) says the Old Testament in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek are authentical, and that “these original tongues are not known to all the people of God,” so they are translated. “Original tongues” there is Hebrew and Greek. Westminster 21.3 (3) says prayer, “if vocal,” is “in a known tongue.” The confession does not contain a paragraph that names the Assemblies of God article. The Reformed shelf links that confession.

Healing and the Lord’s return

Assemblies of God article 12: “Divine healing is an integral part of the gospel. Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the Atonement, and is the privilege of all believers.” It cites James 5. James 5:14Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:James 5:14 · King James Version (12): “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” The Church of God declaration says, “Divine healing is provided for all in the atonement.”

Assemblies of God article 13 calls “the resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ and their translation together with those who are alive and remain” “the imminent and blessed hope of the Church,” citing 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17. 1 Thessalonians 4:17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.1 Thessalonians 4:17 · King James Version (14): “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.”

Article 14: “The second coming of Christ includes the rapture of the saints, which is our blessed hope, followed by the visible return of Christ with His saints to reign on the earth for one thousand years.” The Church of God declaration: “In the premillennial second coming of Jesus. First, to resurrect the righteous dead and to catch away the living saints to Him in the air. Second, to reign on the earth a thousand years.” Is the rapture biblical? sets those sentences beside Westminster, the Catechism, and the Baptist Faith and Message.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Pentecostal and other Christians?

The statements above share the Trinity and salvation by grace through faith with the other Trinitarian churches on this site. The sentences they add, in their own words, are Spirit baptism after the new birth, tongues as the initial sign, healing in the atonement, and a rapture followed by a thousand-year reign. What do Protestants believe? names Pentecostal churches on that map and does not quote these two statements.

Do Pentecostals believe in the virgin birth?

Assemblies of God article 3 lists “His virgin birth,” citing Matthew 1:23 and Luke 1:31, 35. The Church of God declaration says Jesus was “conceived of the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary.” Neither statement uses the words immaculate conception. What do Christians believe about Mary? is that doctrine.

What about the unforgivable sin, or a sentence on LGBTQ people?

The Statement of Fundamental Truths and the Declaration of Faith fetched here do not contain a sentence on either question. This page does not supply one.

The churches on this site

• Pentecostal
• Reformed
• Christianity
• Is the rapture biblical?
• Can you lose your salvation?
• What do Protestants believe?
• Common arguments