What must we say about this doctrine by way of evaluation? Should Christians be seeking this second blessing, this baptism with the Holy Spirit?
Is there something more for us? We say a resounding no! This is emphatically not something to be sought, because it is not a blessing God has promised His people! This Pentecostal teaching is a deception of the most serious sort! It has confused, misled, and shaken the faith of many. It is to be condemned and rejected, categorically!
First of all, because the Bible simply does not support this position. What John the Baptist promised in connection with the work of Christ was promised to each and every believer, not to a select few. When the elect are saved, they are all baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire. That is their one and only baptism with the Holy Spirit. At that moment they are purified and empowered to lead sanctified lives and to serve God for whatever He calls them to do and wherever He places them.
At the moment of conversion, believers are filled with the Spirit, fully equipped with all they need for living the Christian life of holiness. They are in need of no second blessing; no further, greater, better salvation; no other baptism to seek for. They are complete in Christ, Colossians ; they are given 'all things that pertain unto life and godliness' II Pet.
To be sure, they must 'be filled with the Spirit' Eph. That is to live in accordance with what they already have received through the Spirit of Christ. This is similar to every other admonition the believer receives.
The imperatives of Scripture are always based on the indicatives. That is, we are admonished to do something based on what the gospel says we have been given in Christ. So we are called to be holy, because we are holy in Christ cf. I Pet. So we are called to walk in the Spirit, because we already live in the Spirit Gal. But what about those instances in Acts? We must understand these in connection with the once for all event of Pentecost.
Pentecost was the fulfillment of John's promise concerning Christ, and of Christ's own promise in Acts as well as in John Through His other Comforter He filled her with all the blessings of salvation He had purchased for her.
And that Holy Spirit and those blessings came on all; not on some only. Let it be remembered, that that great baptism of Pentecost can never be repeated, any more than Christ's death and resurrection and ascension can be. The things that happened to those special groups of people following Pentecost were simply further manifestations or applications of that once-for-all event.
These were indeed special events, because it needed to be demonstrated outwardly and visibly that the Spirit had indeed come.
And it needed to be shown that others besides the Jews were now to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit and the blessings of salvation hence, the coming of the Spirit on the Samaritans, Cornelius, the Ephesians, etc. Therefore today, whenever a person is saved, the Spirit of Pentecost comes to dwell in him and fill him with all the blessings of salvation and service that are in Christ. Such a wonder of grace is not a repetition of Pentecost, but an application of it!
And again we emphasize that this blessing is for all of God's people. This is what the Scripture declares with unmistakable clarity in I Corinthians , 'For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
Interestingly, the Christian Reformed Church at one time took this strong position too. In a Synodical Statement she declared, 'Synod affirms and testifies that according to the Scriptures a believer receives the baptism in or with the Holy Spirit at the time of his regeneration-conversion, as the apostle Paul declares Synod rejects, therefore, the teaching that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is a second blessing distinct from and usually received after conversion, and declares that this doctrine is not to be taught or propagated in the Christian Reformed Church.
In this connection, there are other points of argument we might raise against the Pentecostal teaching. For example, if this is just an important teaching, why is it not found throughout the epistles, which set forth all the fundamental doctrines of the church? Why are there no plain explanations of this second blessing and no clear admonitions to seek for it?
The obvious reason is that this doctrine was not revealed to the apostles. It simply is not the truth of God in Jesus Christ. Therefore our confessions say nothing of this either. Read the ecumenical creeds of the early church, and you will not find this doctrine. Read the great Reformed and Presbyterian creeds of the age of the Reformation, and you will find nothing of this teaching. It simply is not the historic teaching of the church.
Further, from a practical standpoint, consider what this two-level or two-tiered view of the Christian life results in! People searching and seeking for something that is not there! A chasing after the wind! Vanity of vanities! Such teaching also creates pride, envy, and competition among the saints.
And it leads in many cases to false manifestations of the Spirit, as people pretend to get what they think is promised them. What a different picture the Scriptures give to us of believers and the church! All baptized with the Holy Spirit of Christ, all equally blessed, all sharing in Christ's great salvation, living together in love and humility and holiness to the glory of God.
That's the practical fruit of the truth concerning the baptism of the Spirit. The next Pentecostal teaching we wish to examine is that of perfectionism. At first glance, this may not seem to be all that significant. And it must be admitted that perfectionism is certainly not stressed very much in modern Pentecostalism. It is not a foreground matter for them, and therefore we might be tempted to say that it should not be a foreground issue for us.
This teaching has become buried under the rug of the baptism of the Spirit and the seeking with tongues and other special gifts. But the fact is that perfectionism remains part of Pentecostal teaching, and it does surface in Pentecostal writings to this day. The writer also remembers a personal incident of this teaching in a former church member who became Pentecostal and within a short time claimed to go through periods of sinlessness.
This issue is important because it also touches on the heart of the Christian life, what we call sanctification or the life of holiness. When we deal with this teaching in Pentecostalism, we must go back to its historical roots, because the doctrine of perfectionism was imbedded in Pentecostalism from the very beginning.
Any historical study of Pentecostalism brings this out. He sees John Wesley, the eighteenth century Anglican minister and founder of Methodism, as 'the spiritual and intellectual father of the modern holiness and Pentecostal movements' p. This is significant because Wesley taught the doctrine of Christian perfectionism.
As Synan sums his view, perfectionism was the second blessing or experience of the believer. The first was conversion, and the second was sanctification. The first blessing took care of one's actual sins but still left him with 'inbred sin. Synan points out what Wesley meant by this: not total sinlessness. The sanctified soul, through careful self-examination, godly discipline, and methodical devotion and avoidance of worldly pleasures, could live a life of victory over sin.
This was known as 'entire sanctification. This perfectionist doctrine of Wesley has been one major influence on Pentecostal teaching and practice. But it is not the only one with respect to this doctrine. Synan goes on to point out that this same teaching of perfectionism was brought into Pentecostalism by the American evangelist Charles Finney in the eighteenth century.
According to Finney, 'After a true experience of conversion a person could achieve the coveted state of Christian perfection or sanctification simply by exercising free will and cultivating 'right intentions. Interestingly, Finney is also the first one to tie this special blessing of perfectionism to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Finally, Synan traces the Pentecostal roots of perfectionism to the Keswick movement, another eighteenth century holiness movement that stressed the believer's ability to attain to full sanctification of life, to consistent and continued victory over sin.
This then is what has found its way into the Pentecostal teaching concerning the Christian life. And this stream of perfectionism is still found. For example, we find this in the Assemblies of God statement of faith: 'Sanctification is realized in the believer by recognizing his identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, and by faith reckoning daily upon the fact of that union, and my offering every faculty continually to the dominion of the Holy Spirit emphasis mine, CJT.
This last clause at least implies that the believer is able to attain to this at times in his life here and now. We find this perfectionist statement from the United Pentecostal Church International: 'After we are saved from sin, we are commanded, 'Go, and sin no more' Jn. We must present ourselves as holy unto God Rom. No one can live a holy life by his own power, but only through the Holy Spirit. Ye shall receive power, after the HG is come upon you Acts Out of this teaching, then, comes the practical pursuit of the people.
For this perfectionism becomes something they must seek and strive for. Pentecostalism says to them, 'Aim for this special blessing too. Seek perfection, for it too is within your reach! With special power from the Holy Spirit you can also attain to this level of spirituality!
Surrender to the Spirit completely and be without sin; yield to His power and you can be perfect! Of course, those who held to this doctrine always claimed that they had biblical support. They argued from the examples of Noah and Job and Hezekiah, whom the Scriptures describe as 'perfect' men. They reasoned from the commands of Scripture to be perfect Matt.
And they claimed that the perfect work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit demanded it. What must be said about this teaching on sanctification? This doctrine too we must reject as being unbiblical as well as contrary to the historic position of the church as expressed in her creeds. The perfectionism of Pentecostalism is nowhere taught in the Word of God. It is true that there is a sense in which the believers are already perfectly holy.
Because of the work of Christ and by virtue of their position in Him, the elect are indeed already made perfect. They may be said to have the full victory over sin in Jesus Christ. But they are not personally and practically perfect in holiness.
The holiness we are given and are able to practice through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit is always placed alongside of the sin that remains in us until we die.
This remaining sin is what the Bible calls the 'flesh' and the 'old man of sin,' and it is with every believer to the end of his life. For this reason our life of sanctification is always described as a great struggle, conflict, and battle cf.
And this is the real spiritual experience of God's people as long as they live. Not perfection, but imperfection. Always fighting, fleeing, falling back, and then going forward.
O, they long to be perfect! They strive to be! But they never can or will be here. Only when they die, and their sinful nature dies with them, will they be perfect. Only when they arrive in the perfection of the life to come. It is also true that we find commands to be perfect in Scripture and examples of saints who were said to be perfect. But this must be properly understood.
Of course God is going to set perfection before His people and call them to it — for the reason that He is perfectly holy and cannot lower His standard of holiness because of our imperfection. Therefore He calls us to this: 'Be ye holy as I am holy. As far as the saints being described as perfect is concerned, the word itself does not point to sinlessness, but to their being complete, whole, sound; people who were true, sincere, and full of integrity.
In addition, the word points to the maturity of their faith, something we must all seek to develop. Yet, let us not forget that at the same time the Bible records the sins of these saints, showing us that they were not perfectly holy.
The third and final matter to be dealt with in connection with Pentecostalism's view of the Christian life is that of the nature of true Christian joy. Most are aware that much is made of this fruit of the Spirit by Pentecostals. It is not too much to say that they elevate this virtue to the primary spot. For Pentecostals, as for Reformed Christians, joy is a deep gladness in the Lord because of salvation. There is joy in the assurance of what the Lord is to us and has done for us.
But, typical of Pentecostalism, the emphasis falls on joy being yet another spiritual experience and emotional state you reach in the Holy Spirit by working yourself up into it; another higher, special state you attain, not a normal everyday condition. And therefore the emphasis falls on the outward manifestations of joy. This is evident from the way Pentecostals act in their assemblies as well as in every day life. For example, in worship Pentecostals display carefree exuberance, clapping, shouting, singing, etc.
Some of them even have such joy that they exhibit 'holy laughter' the Toronto blessing! But they also try to demonstrate this joy in their everyday lives. Pentecostals tend to be always smiley, apparently carefree, as they speak their 'Praise the Lord's' and 'Hallelujah's.
Pentecostalism also applies this concept of joy to other areas involving the Christian life, for example, suffering. Many not all Pentecostals teach that God does not want His people to suffer, especially physical ailments. According to them, suffering does not come from the Lord but from the devil. Therefore believers do not have to be content and joyful in afflictions. Rather must they fight suffering and find joy in seeking to be delivered through some miracle of healing! Prosperity is another area where this teaching is applied.
Many Pentecostals argue that if you want to find real happiness, seek material blessings, because God wants you to have them and they are available for you. You can claim them in the name of Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit. But with this Pentecostal teaching we must also take issue. We reject their concept of joy and its application to the Christian life.
It is our contention that this is not true Christian joy, not the real fruit of the Spirit. According to Scripture, the Christian's joy is not in external things. It is not based on our outward circumstances. Nor is it a mere emotion and experience. Neither is it a special 'high' attained only by some believers. Rather, true Christian joy is first of all an objective state the believer is in because of the grace of God to him in Jesus Christ. And then secondly, this joy is a condition of his heart because it is given to him and worked in him by the Holy Spirit.
And therefore, thirdly, this joy is also the Christian's personal, spiritual, and, yes, emotional experience. It is so for all Christians. Galatians shows this is a fruit blessing given to every believer.
Every Christian has joy in the Lord because of his saved position in Christ. This true joy then is the Christian's state of being glad in the Lord because of salvation, because he is a forgiven sinner, a justified sinner before the face of God, an adopted child of the heavenly Father!
It is the joy of the personal assurance of salvation. It is gladness in the comfort and peace of the sovereignty of God at work in all his life and walk, such that all is well with his soul because Father's hand is always working all things together for his good.
Such joy is present and real no matter what one's outward circumstances may be, whether he is healthy or sick, whether rich or poor. Just call to mind Paul's beautiful expression of the believer's joy in his epistle to the Philippians. As he sits in prison, withheld from the regular work of his ministry, he is not sad and gloomy. No, he is rejoicing because of what he has personally in the Lord and because the Lord's work goes on through others!
And he keeps instructing these believers to be joyful too, for the same reasons! Because this is the nature of Christian joy, we must also criticize the Pentecostal practice of joy. True joy is certainly expressed in outward actions and words. But not by the out-of-control, wild, chaotic behavior displayed by many Pentecostals.
Nor is its true expression found in artificial smiles and superficial phrases. We must remember that joy is in harmony with all the other aspects of the fruit of the Spirit, including temperance self-control. True Christian joy is expressed in the believer's normal, sanctified activities as he lives and moves in the various spheres of his walk.
He rejoices in his worship, in his singing to the Lord, in his prayers to Him, in his fellowship with Him day by day. The Christian rejoices in his daily work and service to the Lord. He is glad in his marriage and home life.
And he shows this gladness in his godly attitudes, sanctified emotions, and holy speech. In the midst of his great joy in the Lord, the Christian also experiences real sorrows. Joy and sorrow are often mixed together in this life. That's reality too. And therefore he looks forward to the day of perfect joy when all sin and suffering and sorrow is past, when every tear is wiped from his eye.
In this series of articles, we have tried the Pentecostal movement in its basic roots and tenets. We have considered its history and origin; its emphasis on the special gifts of the Holy Spirit; and now its view of the Christian life. And in every case, having been weighed in the Bible's balances, it has been found wanting. It fails the test of what constitutes orthodox Christianity.
Therefore our conclusion has to be that this movement is not a great blessing for the church, but a dangerous heresy. This we say not lightly or hastily, but carefully and humbly. For we know that there are many professing Christians deceived by and ensnared in this movement. Yet we also state this boldly—so that we warn Reformed church members, including our own, to be aware of and flee from these serious errors.
And so that we call those caught up in the movement to examine it biblically and confessionally, and to return to the historic faith of Protestant Christianity. May God be pleased to shed the light of His truth on all our hearts and paths. Classis East This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots.
Classis West This email address is being protected from spambots. Design by Social Village. Friday, 12 November The Gifts in Pentecostal Thought B. The gift of healing B. Specifically 1. Healings 3. On-going revelation III. Should Christians Seek the Second Baptism?
Seymour who headed the Azusa Street Revival also allowed both men and women to preach and be sent out as pastors and missionaries. While each sect of modern Pentecostalism differs on how the approach women in leadership positions, many churches ordain women or even place them in roles to lead congregations. As divine gifts are welcomed in the church, the belief stems from a literal interpretation of the Bible.
One of those cited verses is Mark , which says that those who believe will be able to cast out demons , heal and speak in tongues. Some divisions do not hold strictly to this viewpoint, but another study from Pew Research found that some 68 percent read the Bible literally. Some groups of Pentecostals strictly adhere to set rules , such as modest dress among women and hair guidelines for men and women.
In some divisions of Pentecostalism , women are not allowed to wear slacks, taking direction from 1 Timothy , which says that women are to dress with modesty, decency and propriety. In the United Pentecostal Church, makeup, tight clothing and most jewelry is not recommended.
The UPC is one of the more conservative divisions of the Pentecostal church. Worship is not just limited to music. Along with speaking in tongues, Pentecostals allow dancing, shouting and praying out loud during worship. Worship services are sometimes elaborate, even including props. If the speaker almost exclusively speaks of God and the Spirit, yet rarely speaks of Jesus Christ, there is a danger of lapsing into a practical Binity, or even modalism, instead of promoting the Trinity.
However, in the New Testament esp. John , Acts , 1 John , , the Holy Spirit's main job is described as bearing witness of Jesus Christ. Too much of an emphasis on the Spirit runs the risk of planting seeds for a renewed modalism, i.
Modalism, which is the prominent feature of United Pentecostalism, has soundly been condemned throughout Church history and by the Assemblies of God in their Statement of Fundamental Truths. Testing the spirits and examining a situation are NOT signs of rebellion, but of submission to the advice of Scripture. Jesus Christ stressed the importance of obedience, indicating that there will be those who mistakenly think they are right with God because of their involvement in supernatural activities in His name Matthew , Are they out when it comes to God?
If this is the attitude, then something is seriously wrong. A person's relationship with God is based on: their acceptance of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as their Saviour, believing that He is God, that He physically rose from the dead; and their commitment of obedience to His ways. It must be remembered that one of the marks of false prophecy is condemning the righteous when God is not condemning them see Ezekiel If division is occurring because one group is denying Jesus Christ, then division should occur.
However, if division is occurring because one group claims to be more spiritual than another, then there are problems. Remember that the Corinthian church was experiencing the manifestations of the Spirit, and yet Paul called them carnal 1 Corinthians The "knowledge" mentioned in 1 Corinthians probably refers to people with gnostic tendencies special spiritual knowledge , not academic knowledge.
They thought they were the special people on the inside. It could be argued that people are just being sloppy with their terminology. Meyer's speak in tongues? Why didn't the powerful evangelist Billy Sunday ever speak in tongues?
Don't you see what a bunch of liars and false prophets the Charismatics are? The true Biblical evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit is a desire to go soulwinning John states, " I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit : for without me ye can do nothing.
The desire to win lost sinners to Jesus Christ is the strongest evidence that someone is filled with God's Spirit. Why do Charismatics focus solely upon the tongues at Pentecost? The big story folks was that at least 3, lost sinners were saved that day!!! Photo to Left: False prophet Benny Hinn doing his hocus-pocus act. Carefully notice that no one in the Old Testament spoke in tongues. In Acts chapter 9 we read of Saul's conversion later to be called, Paul, the Apostle. There is no mention of him speaking in tongues as an initial evidence of salvation.
A Samaritan woman the woman at the well was saved in John chapter 4; but we don't see any Biblical record of her speaking in tongues. There is no record of Jesus speaking in tongues. Paul never mentioned speaking in tongues in his epistles to the churches, except to the carnal church of Corinth. The book of Revelation never mentions speaking in tongues.
Clearly, Pentecostals have created a false religion. The official website of the Assemblies of God Church states How can this be? How could the greatest soulwinning preachers throughout history have accomplished great things for God without being spirit-filled?
Zechariah is clear, " Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. In one statement they say "speaking in tongues is the unmistakable initial evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit"; but then they admit that great things have been done for God by believers who didn't speak in tongues.
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