Contents
YM claims that he does not deny that speaking in tongues is the/an evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit. However, he repeatedly undermines the necessity of asking for and receiving the promised Holy Spirit as well as of speaking in tongues.
1. Distorts the Parallel between the Lord Jesus and the Believers
YM has developed a theology of two distinct indwellings of the Holy Spirit. By citing passages such as 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19, he asserts that when we are baptized, the Holy Spirit already lives in us. This so-called first indwelling of the Holy Spirit enables us to be sons of God, similar to how the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus when He was baptized. YM claims that another indwelling occurs after baptism, when we receive the promised Holy Spirit. He interprets “another Helper” in John 14:16 as the second indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit, YM maintains, is different from the Holy Spirit that dwells in us at baptism. In YM’s opinion, the promised Holy Spirit empowers us to be witnesses but has nothing to do with making us sons of God. When asked why one still needs to ask for the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit already dwells in him, YM calls receiving the promised Holy Spirit “grace upon grace”.
There is no indication in the Bible that the moment a believer is baptized the Holy Spirit immediately dwells in him. Neither does the Bible speak of a second indwelling of the Holy Spirit called “grace upon grace”. This requires us to understand the similarities and differences between the baptism of Jesus and Christian baptism. Just as the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus at baptism, the Holy Spirit is also present at our baptism, in which we are born of the water and the Spirit (1 Jn 5:6; Jn 3:5; 1 Cor 12:13). Jesus was pronounced as the beloved Son at His baptism. Similarly, we are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus because we put on Christ when we are baptized into Christ (Gal 3:26-27).
However, Jesus’ baptism is unique in that the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus at His baptism was the sign that Jesus was the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and that He is the Son of God (Jn 1:33-34). As for believers, on the other hand, God promises them that they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit after they repent and are baptized (Acts 2:38-39). The receiving of the Holy Spirit takes place at a specific point in time, and the evidence that one has received the Holy Spirit is the ability to speak in tongues. Therefore, the experience of receiving the Holy Spirit is distinct from baptism. The believers in Samaria, for example, did not receive the Holy Spirit even though they had been baptized. It was not until Peter and John came to pray for and lay hands on them that they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14-17). This crucial experience of receiving the Holy Spirit is what the Lord Jesus referred to as being “baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:4-5; 11:15-16). It is by the Spirit whom we have received that God witnesses to our sonship (Rom 8:15-16; Gal 4:6-7). The promised Holy Spirit also seals us for our heavenly inheritance (Eph 1:13-14; 2 Cor 5:1-5).
According to YM, even though the Holy Spirit came upon the Lord Jesus at His baptism, He had to wait until He ascended to heaven before He actually received the promised Holy Spirit. He believes that this is liken to how we receive the promised Holy Spirit after the Holy Spirit already dwells in us at baptism. This error is based on the incorrect Chinese translation of Acts 2:33, where the Chinese Union Version renders “the promised Holy Spirit”. But it is clear in Greek and English, “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (Acts 2:33, emphasis added). This does not mean that Jesus received the Holy Spirit, but that He received the authority from the Father to send the Holy Spirit to the believers as He had promised (cf. Jn 14:16, 26; 16:7; Acts 1:4-5). The Lord Jesus had to be exalted to the right hand of God in order to pour out the promised Holy Spirit. Therefore, the Bible does not teach us that Jesus’ receiving of the promise from the Father is analogous to our receiving the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus speaks of “another” Helper in John 14:16, He was not speaking about two separate indwellings of the Holy Spirit. Rather, by the word “another” Jesus was referring to the distinction between His presence with the disciples while He was still in the world and His coming to them again through the promised Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 14:19). Jesus told His disciples that unless He went away, the Helper would not come to them (Jn 16:7; cf. Jn 7:39). Jesus had to be exalted first before He could send the “other” Helper to the believers. This other Helper is in fact the exalted Christ Himself. John speaks of Jesus Christ as the Helper in his epistle: “We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 Jn 2:1). The word for “Advocate” here is the same as the word for “Helper” in John 14. As the Lord Jesus promised, He would come back to His disciples as the “other” Helper. To use this passage to explain that there are two kinds of Holy Spirit is a gross misinterpretation of Jesus’ words. [Back to top]
2. Misleads by Emphasizing the General Presence of the Holy Spirit
YM poses questions such as, “How can a person be a child of God and yet not have God’s Spirit?” or “How can a person have the life of Jesus in him through partaking the Holy Communion and yet be without the Spirit of God?” He contests that those who have not received the promised Holy Spirit can also bear the fruit of the Spirit and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Pointing to the church practice of assigning only those who have received the Holy Spirit as sermon speakers and RE teachers, YM alleges that those who have not yet received the Holy Spirit are not allowed to take part in any sacred work and are like second-class citizens in the church. Arguing that every believer has the Holy Spirit in them, he condemns the church organization and advocates eradicating what he considers an inequality.
YM’s mistake is in distorting teachings on the general presence of the Holy Spirit and subtly overshadowing the importance of receiving the promised Holy Spirit. In two of the passages that YM cites as basis that a believer has the Holy Spirit upon baptism, Paul writes, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16) “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Cor 6:19). The Greek preposition for “in” may also have the sense of “among”, and the latter sense would also be applicable in the current context. In both verses Paul uses the plural “you” and “your” but the singular “temple” and “body”. Addressing the church as a whole, Paul teaches the believers that together they make up one body and are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Collectively, the believers have the Holy Spirit from God because the church is the body of Christ and the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Eph 1:23). Even so, believers must continue to grow and be built up into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Eph 2:22). This means that the church as a whole should aim to be a place where God’s will prevails. Nowhere in these passages does Paul teach that every believer already has the Holy Spirit in him or has received the promised Holy Spirit.
In many places, the Bible speaks of God’s abiding in the believers. Yet none of these passages teach that the moment a person is baptized God already abides in him. According to the Lord Jesus, we must abide in Christ, His love, and His commandments in order for Him to abide in us (Jn 15:1-10). Similarly, Christ promises in Revelation that He would come into believers who hear Jesus’ knocking and open the door (Rev 3:20). Paul also exhorts us as believers to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. Being in the faith is the precondition to having Jesus Christ in us (2 Cor 13:5). As for Paul himself, he was able to proclaim that Christ was in him because he had been crucified with Christ (i.e. he has crucified his fleshly desires) (Gal 2:20; cf. Gal 5:24). By the same token, the dwelling of the Holy Spirit that Paul writes about in Romans 8 is conditional upon believers’ choice to walk in the Spirit (Rom 8:9-11). John, in his first epistle, likewise repeatedly stresses the importance of abiding in Christ and His commandments. This serves as the context for his statements about God being in the believers (1 Jn 4:4, 15).
In all of these passages, the Bible does not speak of an instantaneous indwelling of the Holy Spirit at the moment of baptism. Having the abidance of God requires a lifelong commitment to submit to God in our lives. YM’s error lies in deducing that the indwelling of the Spirit happens the moment a believer is baptized. This is the same error many Christians make when teaching that salvation is received the moment one believes and confesses Christ. If such deduction were to hold, then based on 1 John 4:15, the Holy Spirit already abides in a person the moment he confesses that Jesus is the Son of God. Baptism would not even be a precondition for the indwelling of God’s Spirit. Such misleading deduction has completely distorted the message of the Bible. [Back to top]
3. Creates Confusion with the General Work and Fullness of the Holy Spirit
The Bible does teach the general work of the Holy Spirit. By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body and all were made to drink of one Spirit (1 Cor 12:13). The work of the one Spirit takes place in baptism and is active in the church, giving various gifts to individual believers. No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3). Thus, all believers have experienced the work of the Holy Spirit. We do not see any passage in the Bible which says that the work of the Holy Spirit is completely absent in believers who have not yet received the promised Holy Spirit. The exhortations to walk by the Spirit also apply to them because it is a lifelong goal for every believer. In fact, Paul exhorts believers to be filled with the Spirit by singing, giving thanks, and submitting to one another (Eph 5:18-21). Every believer ought to live a life that is led by the Spirit and find spiritual fulfillment in it. Nevertheless, those who have not yet received the Holy Spirit must continue to pray for and ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit promised by the Lord.
Since God is omnipresent, His Spirit is all pervasive. Therefore, Paul states that there is one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Eph 4:5). The fact that God is in all does not imply that the Holy Spirit dwells in every human being the same way He dwells within or among believers of Christ. Concerning the generation of Noah, the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever” (Gen 6:3). This statement likewise does not suggest that the Holy Spirit dwelled in every human being. Instead, the abidance God had in mind refers to God’s relationship with man in general. The lesson here is that not every instance where the Bible speaks of God being in a person should be interpreted as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Even before the coming of the promised Holy Spirit, we read in the Bible instances of God filling or empowering certain individuals with His Spirit. For example, God filled Bezalel with His Spirit that he would have the wisdom and ability to design and craft articles for the tent of meeting (Ex 31:1-11; 35:30-33). The Spirit of the LORD also came upon prophets such as Azariah, Ezekiel, and even Balaam (2 Chron 15:1-7; Ezek 2:2; Num 24:2) to deliver God’s message to His people. In like manner, John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb (Lk 1:15), Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit when she heard Mary’s greeting (Lk 1:41), and Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit to prophesy about the salvation of God (Lk 1:67). In a similar fashion, the Holy Spirit was upon Simeon and revealed to him that he would see the Lord’s Christ (Lk 2:25-26). All these examples are the works of the Holy Spirit, who moved individuals to accomplish God’s purpose before Jesus’ exaltation. They are not to be confused with the dwelling of the promised Holy Spirit in believers that the Lord Jesus had promised (cf. Jn 14:17). Neither should they be used to demonstrate that a believer who has not yet received the Holy Spirit may be filled with the Holy Spirit.
According to Acts, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit when they received the promised Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit in the same way at his conversion (Acts 9:17). Likewise, all believers must experience this filling of the Spirit, which is to be distinguished from the previous examples God’s Spirit filling His servants.
When faced with persecution, the believers were all filled with the Holy Spirit in their prayer and continued to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31). Paul was filled with the Spirit when he spoke to the sorcerer who opposed the truth (13:9). These references to being filled with the Holy Spirit focus on the infilling of the Spirit at a particular moment.
In addition, the Bible also speaks of being full of the Holy Spirit as a descriptive quality. For example, Stephen, Barnabas, and the men chosen to serve in the church were men who were full of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:3, 5; 7:55-56; 11:24). They were full of the Spirit in the sense that they lived fully by the Holy Spirit and manifested the power of the Spirit.
Nowhere in these New Testament references do we read about someone being filled with the Holy Spirit before receiving the promised Holy Spirit. [Back to top]
4. Undermines the Importance of Receiving the Holy Spirit
While YM’s teaching may encourage or appeal to those who have yet to receive the Holy Spirit, it may just as easily undermine the importance for them to receive the Holy Spirit at all. Paul never assures those who are praying for the Holy Spirit by saying that the Holy Spirit is already in them. In fact, when Paul met some believers in Ephesus, his utmost concern was whether they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed (Acts 19:1-2). Even after they were baptized again in the name of the Lord Jesus, Paul laid hands on them and the Holy Spirit came on them (Acts 19:5-6). Similarly, when the church in Jerusalem heard that the believers in Samaria had been baptized but not yet received the Holy Spirit, they sent Peter and John to pray for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14-17). In both cases we see the apostles’ concern over whether believers had received the Holy Spirit. Instead of assuring these believers that they already had the Holy Spirit in them, the apostles helped them pray for the Holy Spirit.
YM also teaches that children shouldn’t be praying for the Holy Spirit. He assures the children that if Jesus were to come right now, they would certainly enter the heavenly kingdom even if they are not able to speak in tongues. He alludes to the incorrect motive of praying for the Holy Spirit out of fear. While we should avoid using hell as a scare tactic to make children pray for the Holy Spirit, it is important to teach them to pray out of a sincere heart and an earnest desire for the Holy Spirit. The Bible does not discourage children from asking for the Holy Spirit nor does it suggest that the Holy Spirit is only for adults. Rather, it clearly says that “the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:39). Therefore when properly instructed, children should also ask for the Holy Spirit in faith. That is why many children in the True Jesus Church have received the Holy Spirit—because they asked the Lord Jesus in faith. Even though children may not seem to know much and may even need the help of adults to be brought to the Lord, our Lord Jesus still welcomes them (cf. Mt 19:13–15, Mk 10:13–16, Luke 18:15–17).
YM questions the whole notion of praying for the Holy Spirit because he finds it strange that we have to keep asking for what God has already promised. However, praying for the promised Holy Spirit is the teaching of our Lord Jesus. At the end of His message on prayer, the Lord Jesus concludes with the words, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Lk 11:13). It may seem inconceivable why we must ask, seek and knock continuously through prayer in order to receive the good thing that our loving heavenly Father has already promised. But the Lord Jesus nevertheless teaches us the need to ask for the Holy Spirit with persistence and boldness. When the Lord Jesus commanded the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, the disciples did not sit idly waiting for the expected. Instead, they devoted themselves to prayer with one accord (Acts 1:14). Prayer is an expression of our faith in God and is the means by which we lay claim to God’s promise. There is no contradiction in asking for something that has already been promised. The promise that God will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask should all the more encourage believers who have not yet received the Holy Spirit to continue praying earnestly. [Back to top]
5. Misinterprets the Meaning of Speaking in Tongues
In one lecture, YM made fun of those who speak very slowly when they pray. He joked that those who can only say slowly, “Hal–le–lu–jah” would never be able to receive the Holy Spirit, according to our standard of using speaking in tongues as the evidence. Hence, he casts doubt on speaking in tongues as the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit. He even alleged that some ministers have devised a tactic to make people receive the Holy Spirit more quickly by urging them to say “Hallelujah!” very quickly. Such mockery of speaking in tongues is a direct challenge against the biblical truth that it is the Holy Spirit who enables the believer to speak in tongues when the Holy Spirit is poured out upon him (Acts 2:4). It is by this miraculous experience that the apostles determined if someone had received the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:15-17).
YM went on to develop the doctrine that speaking in tongues should be intelligible rather than unintelligible. To YM, the way the True Jesus Church views speaking in tongues as uttering unintelligible words is wrong. Quoting the book of Acts, YM argues that the apostles were able to discern that people had received the Holy Spirit because they heard them magnifying God. According to YM, this implies that speaking in tongues is speaking words which can be understood. To support his argument, YM points out that when we listen to a foreigner pray, we may be mistaken that he is speaking in tongues when he is simply speaking in a foreign language which we do not understand. In such a scenario, he claims we would not be able to discern whether someone has actually received the Holy Spirit.
YM’s teaching about speaking in tongues directly contradicts the words of Paul, who writes, “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries” (1 Cor 14:2). The characteristic of speaking in tongues is that it is an utterance which is unintelligible to man. It is a unique language directed to God, not to man. When recording the first outpour of the Holy Spirit, Luke writes that the disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in “other tongues”. The word “other” (ἕτερος, heteros) stresses the fact that the tongues were different from normal human languages. The devout men were enabled by God to each hear what was said in his own language (Acts 2:6). In other words, to these listeners, the disciples were miraculously speaking over a dozen different languages at the same time. But to the rest, the disciples seemed to speak gibberish. That is why they mocked them and said that they were filled with new wine (Acts 2:13).
In Acts 10, we read that Peter and his Jewish brethren heard those who received the Holy Spirit speak with tongues and magnify God (Acts 10:46). Speaking in tongues is not equated with magnifying God, but the two occurred at the same time in this instance. Acts 19 informs us that the believers in Ephesus began speaking in tongues and prophesying (Acts 19:6). We are not told whether the prophesying is similar to the prophetic utterance in the Old Testament of someone on whom the Spirit of God had come or to the gift of prophecy that consists of intelligible words. But regardless, the experience of prophecy is not equated with the speaking in tongues.
Peter judged that Cornelius and those with him had received the Holy Spirit because he saw that the Holy Spirit had come on them just as the Holy Spirit had come on the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 11:15). What the apostles experienced at Pentecost was that as divided tongues appeared to them and rested on each one, they began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. It is the speaking of tongues, not intelligent human speech, that made the multitude in Jerusalem marvel. Had the disciples been simply magnifying God in normal language, such as Hebrew or Greek, there would have been little reason to marvel. Similarly, had Cornelius and those with him been only magnifying God in Greek, Peter or the Jewish brethren would not have been astonished at all. The fact that these Gentile listeners spoke in tongues in the same way that the disciples did at Pentecost compelled Peter and the Jewish brethren to acknowledge that God had also accepted the Gentiles. The extraordinary experience convinced Peter to baptize these Gentile believers and eventually persuaded the circumcision party in Jerusalem to concede that God had granted repentance even to the Gentiles. In denying that speaking in tongues is an unintelligible utterance enabled by the Holy Spirit, YM has rejected the experience and teaching of the apostles, as well as disregarded all the experiences of receiving the Holy Spirit we have witnessed since the founding of the True Jesus Church. [Back to top]
6. Downplays Speaking in Tongues by Emphasizing Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit
YM also pits the importance of bearing the fruit of the Spirit against the importance of receiving the Holy Spirit. He points out the common misconception that merely having received the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues is sufficient. He stresses the importance of bearing the fruit of the Spirit. But unfortunately, he also turns this important teaching into an occasion to question the importance of receiving the promised Holy Spirit. Citing the example of the false teachers that Paul condemned in the early church, YM reminds his listeners that they also spoke in tongues. He implies that speaking in tongues is relatively unimportant compared to having good works.
In an online post, YM writes that speaking in tongues is one way to edify oneself, but it is not the only way to edify oneself. He argues that just because a person is not able to speak in tongues does not mean that he is not able to edify himself. His point is that even those who speak in tongues may not truly edify themselves. He demonstrates his argument with the members in the Corinthian church and the seven churches in Revelation. Despite their ability to speak in tongues, they were not edified by the speaking of tongues. Once again, we see that without directly denying speaking in tongues, YM puts doubts in his hearers about the importance of speaking in tongues in the name of promoting good conduct.
The apostles never downplayed the importance of receiving the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues when exhorting believers to walk according to the Spirit. On the contrary, Paul uses the fact that believers have received the Spirit of adoption as sons as the basis to encourage believers to be led by the Spirit (Rom 8:14-17). The fact that we have received the promised Holy Spirit should be a constant reminder to live by the Spirit at all times. In the same chapter where Paul expounds on a Spirit-led life, Paul also discusses the benefit of having the Holy Spirit intercede for us. “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom 8:26). According to 1 Corinthians 14:2, 4, when we speak in a tongue in prayer, we utter mysteries in the Spirit and build ourselves up. This is the intercessory work of the Holy Spirit that Paul explains in Romans 8. Through speaking in tongues, the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. This is the help that we can receive from the Spirit of adoption while we groan and eagerly wait for the final adoption as sons of God. So speaking in tongues should not be reduced to merely one of the many ways to edify ourselves. [Back to top]