A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

Trinitarian Pentecostal Organizations
Holy Ghost, they stressed the necessity of receiving the
Holy Ghost. Early Trinitarian Pentecostals typically said
that believers were born again before receiving the Holy
Spirit but needed to receive the Spirit in order to have full
salvation, to enter the New Testament church, and to go
in the Rapture. Early Oneness Pentecostals typically said
that believers needed to receive the Holy Spirit to be born
again, to enter the New Testament church, and to go in
the Rapture, but those who did not could still receive a
degree of salvation (such as life on the new earth) if they
walked in all the light they knew. While the doctrines were
different, the effect upon preaching, witnessing, and
praying was much the same, and both stand in contrast to
the Trinitarian Pentecostal approach today.
In particular, it is the norm for Oneness Pentecostals
to receive the Holy Spirit with tongues, and it is generally
a requirement for church membership. By one estimate,
90 percent of people ages ten or over who regularly
attend a United Pentecostal Church have spoken in
tongues. 190 Thus, a UPCI church of 100 adult members
has about the same number of Spirit-filled people as an
AG church of 300 adult members. In the U.S., the reported
AG constituency is at least 300 percent more than that
of the UPCI, but the number of active Spirit-filled believers
is probably only about 55 percent greater. 191
It seems clear that doctrinal emphasis is an important
factor in the disparity. The UPCI places a much greater
emphasis on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is a focal
point of every evangelistic service, and it is taught as an
integral part of salvation and God’s plan for all believers.
In the Apostolic Church of the Faith in Christ Jesus, a
Oneness church in Mexico that has a greater diversity of
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