• A Three-Step New Birth: Wellspring teaches that being born again requires water baptism with their unique formula and Spirit baptism with verified tongues, placing human actions at the center of being born again.

• A Human-Invented Formula: Norman James expanded Oneness baptismal wording into a phrase not found anywhere in Scripture, claiming it is necessary for remission of sins and to be truly born again.

• Grace Replaced by Control: By making baptismal wording and tongues evidence mandatory, Wellspring shifts the power of being born again from God’s sovereign grace to human precision, authority, and verification.

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​In the restorationist theology of Oneness Pentecostalism and Wellspring Church, to be born again and enter into the kingdom of God requires two additional steps beyond repentance and faith in Christ - water baptism and spirit baptism. 

 

In the second step of water baptism, they teach that a believer receives remission of sin and a new heart that desires to obey God. In performing the water baptism, Norman James extended the Oneness Pentecostal formula of "Jesus' name" to include additional language: “in Jesus’ Name for the circumcision of heart and the remission of sin”.

 

Scripture contains no single occurrence or example of this specific baptismal formula required by Wellspring Church. Even so, Norman James insisted that this exact wording must be spoken during water baptism for the believer to receive spiritual circumcision and remission of sins. This teaching is grounded not in biblical command but in his own interpretation.

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Although Wellspring Church (and Oneness Pentecostalism) formally reject sacramental theology, their treatment of water baptism as necessary for remission of sin functionally resembles the sacramental or sacerdotal framework of the Roman Catholic faith in which founder Norman James was raised. Both theological positions draw from many of the same passages, such as those referencing being “born of water and the Spirit” or “baptism for the remission of sins”, to teach that water baptism is the means through which remission of sin is received and the believer is born again. 

 

By contrast, Evangelical and most Protestant churches understand baptism as an ordinance, an act of obedience that follows faith, not the mechanism by which grace is imparted. They teach that salvation comes by grace through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8–9; Romans 10:9–10) and that baptism serves as a public witness to an inward transformation already accomplished by the Holy Spirit (Romans 6:3–4; Colossians 2:12).

 

For the Reformers, this distinction was essential: God alone initiates and completes spiritual regeneration (being born again), and no human ritual, priest, or pastor can cause, activate, or guarantee His sovereign work. While water baptism is honored as a sign and seal of God’s promise, it does not produce new birth by human administration. In this view, no priest or pastor serves as mediator, for Christ alone stands between God and humanity (1 Timothy 2:5).

 

In contrast to the Reformers, Wellspring Church teaches that water baptism is necessary for the remission of sin and for a person to be born again. According to their teaching, baptism is only valid when performed using a specific wording introduced by Norman James - a formulation not found in Scripture - and spoken by the person administering the baptism. Baptisms performed in other Christian churches, including historic Trinitarian baptisms, and even baptisms “in Jesus’ name” administered within other Oneness Pentecostal groups, are not recognized as valid. As a result, all who wish to be fully accepted within Wellspring Church are required to undergo re-baptism using Norman James’ prescribed wording for the remission of sins.

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In this way, Norman James effectively inserted his own human mediation as the only gateway into God’s kingdom: only his doctrine, his formula, and those who follow his pattern are believed to be truly born again at Wellspring Church. Former members remember his claim to having 'birthed' his followers into the kingdom of God. He and his close circle would place heavy guilt on those who wished to escape his control, and he would mark those who left as ungrateful of his human mediation and unworthy of God's kingdom.

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When a church teaches that water baptism is the means for remission of sin in a believer, and that only their ministers have the understanding to perform a valid water baptism, it begins to shift the perceived power from God into the hands of men. In this case, grace starts to look regulated by human authority rather than freely given by God. The more a specific church treats their formula of water baptism as an administrative gate to God's Kingdom, or as a required element for the remission of sin, the more it risks implying that God’s action depends on human precision - which most theologians would say distorts the meaning of grace.

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After water baptism,  Wellspring Church teaches that the believer still lacks the power to make true change or right choices. A third step is required to receive this power. This is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, with the only evidence of glossolalia (speaking in unknown tongues). This may occur privately, but later verified by a pastor, elder or leader of this church. It may also happen in a group setting through the laying on of hands where the believer spontaneously begins speaking in tongues. In this group setting, the tongues must be verified by a church leader or member who listens to confirm that the individual is indeed speaking in unknown tongues. 

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Just as Wellspring and other Oneness Pentecostal groups claim authority to mediate water baptism, they also assert human authority to mediate Spirit baptism - by requiring leaders in the group to confirm or verify that the correct manifestation of tongues has occurred before a person can be affirmed as truly born again.

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By making a specific “Jesus’ name” baptismal formula mandatory, and by requiring human verification of tongues as confirmation before acknowledging the Spirit’s indwelling, Wellspring Church effectively locates the decisive moments of becoming born again in human actions rather than in God’s sovereign work. This shifts spiritual regeneration from God’s sovereign work to a system controlled and validated by people - a hallmark of Oneness Pentecostal theology, not historic Trinitarian Christianity.

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Forgiveness vs. Remission of Sin​​​​

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Separating “forgiveness” from “remission" of sin is a distinctively Oneness Pentecostal doctrine, most prominently taught within the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI). Wellspring Church mirrors this same teaching, further demonstrating its alignment with Oneness Pentecostalism rather than Trinitarian Christianity.

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Wellspring Church and Oneness Pentecostalism claim that:​

• Forgiveness occurs at repentance.

• Remission occurs only in water baptism “in Jesus’ name.”

• Indwelling of the Spirit occurs only when tongues are spoken.

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This three-step system is unique to Oneness groups and has no basis in Greek grammar. It has no precedent in church history. It has no support in Trinitarian theology. It has no agreement from any major Christian tradition. ​By turning synonyms into separate spiritual “levels,” Wellspring creates a ladder of human effort that must be climbed to receive what Christ freely gives through faith.

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This doctrinal structure artificially splits what Scripture keeps united. No New Testament author - Luke, Paul, John, Peter, or the writer of Hebrews - presents these as distinct steps. ​In the New Testament, the words forgiveness and remission both translate the same Greek term, aphesis (ἀφεσις), meaning “release,” “pardon,” or “cancellation of debt.” Scripture does not distinguish these as separate spiritual events or chronological stages. Instead, forgiveness (pardon) and remission (the removal of guilt) are two aspects of a single saving act accomplished through Christ.

 

Across historic Christianity, no tradition splits forgiveness, remission, and being born again into separate steps as does Oneness Pentecostalism. Protestant traditions teach these blessings accompany saving faith, while Catholic and Orthodox traditions associate them with sacramental baptism. All of these Christian traditions treat forgiveness and remission of sin as a unified act of God, not a multi-stage ladder.

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Forgiveness is not offered at one moment and remission granted at another. Rather, the moment a sinner believes, God both pardons and removes their guilt, adopting them as His child and transferring them from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His Son.

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Scripture and historic Christian theology present forgiveness and remission as one unified act of divine grace. Separating them into sequential stages - whether by ritual, performance, or human effort - is a modern innovation of Oneness Pentecostalism without biblical or theological foundation.​​

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