Empowerment: Receiving Boldness for Witness
As taught in the Pentecostal / Charismatic tradition
The primary purpose of the baptism: to provide the believer with power to evangelize.
The central question addressed by the Pentecostal tradition regarding the empowerment of the Holy Spirit is: To what end is the believer baptised in the Spirit? While the broader Christian world often views the work of the Holy Spirit primarily through the lens of regeneration (salvation) or sanctification (moral holiness), the Pentecostal movement, birthed in the fires of the early 20th-century revivals like Azusa Street, insists that there is a distinct, subsequent work of the Spirit intended specifically for power in witness. This subtopic of "Empowerment: Receiving Boldness for Witness" answers the cry of the church for "dunamis"—the explosive, miraculous power required to fulfill the Great Commission.
By the end of this lesson
- **Identify** the specific Lukan terminology for empowerment, distinguishing between the "Spirit of regeneration" and the "Spirit of prophecy."
- **Distinguish** between the initial Baptism in the Holy Spirit and subsequent "fillings" for boldness as described in the Book of Acts.
- **Explain** the meaning of the Greek term *parresia* and its central role in the Pentecostal definition of effective witness.
- **Articulate** the relationship between the "promise of the Father" in Luke 24:49 and the mandate for global mission in Acts 1:8.
- **Trace** the development of the "missiological" view of the Spirit in the works of Robert P. Menzies and Duffield/Van Cleave.
- **Defend** the Pentecostal doctrine of subsequentiality (empowerment as a distinct work from salvation) using the provided Scripture anchors.
- **Apply** the principles of "tarrying" and "prayerful petition" to the modern believer’s pursuit of spiritual boldness.
- **Compare** the Pentecostal emphasis on empowerment with mainstream Protestant views on the Holy Spirit’s role in the life of the believer.
Scripture
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