The Importance of Tongues as an Initial Sign

Receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is considered essential for initial salvation in the Christian faith, and it is expected to be accompanied by the experience of speaking in tongues. This belief is rooted in the events of Acts chapter 2, where the first followers of Jesus, including Mary and other key figures, experienced the Holy Spirit manifesting through miraculous speech. The Apostle Peter affirmed this occurrence, stating that speaking in tongues serves as a definitive sign of receiving the Holy Spirit, correlating with prophecies from the Old Testament about a future outpouring of God's spirit. This pattern is demonstrated consistently throughout the New Testament, with instances such as the household of Cornelius and the disciples of John, where every individual who received the Holy Spirit also spoke in tongues, reinforcing the significance of this experience in the early church.