1 John 3:16


"By this we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

Monday 13 September 2010

Pentecostalism Defined

Pentecostalism can be defined as Spirit empowered witness to Christ. The Spirit works in us to continue the ministry of Jesus Christ. He is not representing Himself in His own ministry. His testimony and witness is of Christ and not of Himself.

Jesus Christ is the one who died for sin, who is the Saviour. The Spirit empowers the Christian, but is not the object of our attention. He points to Jesus Christ. We do not pray to the Spirit nor worship Him. He is God, but God has directed worship as follows:

The Spirit takes us through Jesus Christ to the Father. He enables true worship. Without Him we cannot see God or know Him and we cannot please God or worship Him. This entire ministry of the Spirit is not undertaken in His own name, but in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the person through whom the Spirit of God moves. The Father has willed that we honour the Son (John 5:23, 6:28-29, 1 John 4:3, 5:11-12).

In Acts, the early disciples were witnesses to the resurrection of Christ and “so too is the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 5:32). Where we see a spirit witnessing of himself, it is not the Holy Spirit. The emphasis of every sermon in the book of Acts is Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. (See Acts 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, for example.) The Spirit’s testimony is always, “Jesus Christ is Lord.”.

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Him has God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to them that obey Him. (Acts 5:29-32).

In Acts 2, Peter spoke two or three verses from Joel when people asked what had happened. He said the Spirit was given through Christ and then for the rest of the chapter he preached Christ. The way to minister the Holy Spirit to people is to preach Christ, not to preach the Spirit. The Spirit is given through the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the baptizer in the Holy Spirit.

Any ministry that purports to do miracles and does not have Jesus Christ at the centre of its message and His atonement for sin and His resurrection from the dead and His Lordship and His transforming power in the new birth to deliver people from the power of sin and make them holy and that does not lift up the word of God as truth by which He will judge men, is not of God.

God allows these false ministries to have some miracles, or the appearance of miracles, to test men’s hearts, to show whether they have received the love of the truth and follow the truth, or whether they follow signs to their own destruction (2 Thes 2:10-12). “Test the spirits.” (Josh 5:13, 1 John 4:1).

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