The False Doctrine of Pentecostalism
Matthew 24:24 “For there shall
arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and
wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they
shall deceive the very elect.”
I John 4:1 “Beloved, believe
not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many
false prophets are gone out into the world.”
During the past weeks I’ve spent
quite a bit of time dealing with the false doctrine of Pentecostalism with
several of my Bible Correspondence Course students. Most of these people are very dedicated, some
to the point of being fanatical and several Pentecostal groups are considered
to be very cult-like in their organization and conduct. You may not encounter this body of teachings
in your everyday activities but then again perhaps you do and do not recognize
it as it travels under a multitude of names.
The most prominent groups in the world are the Apostolic World Christian
Fellowship, Assemblies of God,
The Pentecostal Church Inc. is the foundation organization for many of
these groups and one of the more prominent.
“The Pentecostal Church, Inc. traces its beginning to New Years
Eve, 1899. In
“Ministers and evangelists came
from every section of the
A man by the name of Jimmy Jividen wrote in a book called “Glossolalia” (1971), pp 73-74 “A
neo-Pentecostalism has arisen in the last ten years. Its origin has been traced to St. Mark’s
Episcopal Church in
One of the chief means of the
spreading of this neo-Pentecostalism has been the Full Gospel Business Men’s
Fellowship International – FGBMFI. Oral
Roberts helped at its organization in
Healing
Pentecostalism teaches that through the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit, miracles of healing incurable diseases occurs today, as well as other notable miracles such as characterized the apostolic church of the first century. p. 25, A. B. Simpson, The Gospel of Healing and E. E. Bynum in Divine Healing, p. 36.
Jesus said that those who are sick
need a physician:
“But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but
they that are sick. Matthew 9:12
The same men who were to heal the
sick in the name of Jesus Christ could also drink deadly poison, take up
serpents, raise the dead and perform various other miracles as well:
“And
these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out
devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18They shall take up
serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they
shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Mark 16:17-20
Now some of these followers of the
Pentecostal religion will handle poisonous snakes but they are few and some
have died as a result. You won’t get any
of them to drink poison, raise the dead or attempt to heal someone with an
obvious physical problem such as a missing leg, arm, hand or anything of that
nature. If they could we could put a lot
of hospitals out of business and spare a lot of folks a lot of pain and
suffering.
Jesus and the apostles spoke God’s
word and it was confirmed by miracles and signs:
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great
salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed
unto us by them that heard him; 4God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and
gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?” Hebrews 2:3-4
The facts of the gospel, that which
these miracles confirmed has been delivered “ONCE AND FOR ALL”, consequently
there is no longer any need for miracles to be performed:
“Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to
write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you
exhorting you to contend earnestly
for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.”
(ASV) Jude 3
Now, in today’s world, our faith
comes by hearing that gospel that was once for all delivered:
“So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.” Romans
The False Doctrine of Pentecostalism
Tongues
Pentecostalism teaches that a person
may speak in tongues today while under the influence of the Holy Spirit, just
as did Peter and the other apostles on the day of Pentecost, A.D. 33. Cf. Pentecostalism’s magazines: Truth,
Voice and Testimony, and other writings.
Three representative supernatural
gifts are listed by Paul writing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in:
I Corinthians 13:8-10 “Charity
never faileth: but whether there
be prophecies, they shall fail;
whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9For we know in part,
and we prophesy in part. 10But when that which is perfect is come,
then that which is in part shall be done away.”
When Paul penned these words the
complete New Covenant of Jesus Christ had not yet been revealed. But it was when John closed the book of
Revelation. Consequently men are no
longer able to prophesy, the ability to speak in tongues has ceased, and
miraculous knowledge of God’s will is no longer available to man. He must study the Word of God for
himself. James tells us we are to now
look “INTO THE PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY”:
“But whoso looketh into the perfect law of
Miraculous gifts were given to men
for a specific purpose and for a specific period of time:
“And he gave some, apostles; and some,
prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12For
the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ: 13Till we all come in the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of
the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-13
The time has come
when God’s revelation is complete. We
now have in our possession all that is necessary for man to come to position of
being “IN THE UNITY OF THE FAITH, AND OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON OF GOD, UNTO A PERFECT (or complete) MAN…” Ephesians 4:13
The purpose of giving the apostles,
and subsequently those upon whom they chose to lay their hands, the ability to
speak in tongues was for the benefit of unbelievers:
“Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them
that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.” I Corinthians
Its purpose was to
allow the unbelievers to hear the good news of the gospel of Christ in their
own language, just as they did the first time it was used:
“And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying
one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8And
how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we
were born?” Acts 2:7-8
God’s Authority Replaced by
Men’s Feelings
Pentecostalism espouses religion as
a “romantic” philosophy – that “the heart of man has
reasons which his mind knows not of” (in making decisions on religious
questions). Under this philosophy truth
is subjective; that is, it is not something which has objective reality, but is
changed or even comes into existence by the mental states of thinking
minds. Men’s feelings are the highest
authority.
This philosophy completely ignores God’s
warnings:
“O LORD,
I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to
direct his steps.” Jeremiah 10:23
“For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
The Word of God, the Bible is TRUTH:
John
Truth is not subjective;
it does not originate in the minds of men. The scriptures are truth. Truth originated in the mind of God. The truth of scripture is the absolute,
inspired and authoritative truth of God:
“All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17That
the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” II Timothy 3:16-17
“Knowing this first, that
no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21For
the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” II Peter 1:20-21
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him. 10But God hath revealed them unto
When man comes to
regard his own feelings and desires as his basic authority for his life he has
rejected God. He becomes like King Saul
and will be rejected by God as his child the same way God rejected Saul as
being King over his people:
“And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice
of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and
idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he
hath also rejected thee from being king.” I Samuel
15:22-23
Women Preachers/Teachers
Pentecostalism teaches that women
may participate in leading in public prayer, teaching and preaching – Commonly
practiced. This is also a practice that
is coming to those who call themselves churches of Christ. The praise team churches have women
participating in leading the singing, some are using women to serve at the Lord’s table and mixed classes are not unusual. Mixed classes being taught by women is one of
the problems that surfaced at the Jubilee in
The Holy Spirit contrasted the
duties of men and women in public worship:
I Timothy 2:11-13 “Let
the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12But
I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be
in silence. 13For Adam was first formed, then Eve.”
The Greek word translated teach in I Timothy
Titus 2:3-4 “The
aged women likewise, that they
be in behaviour as becometh
holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good
things; 4That they may teach the young women to be
sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,”
And we have the
example of Priscilla and Aquilla teaching Apollos the way of the Lord more
perfectly. An example of a woman
assisting her husband in teaching this eloquent young man what was needful.
Acts 18:25-26 “This
man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he
spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of
John. 26And he began to speak boldly in the
synagogue: whom when
Holy Spirit Baptism
The Pentecostal denominations teach
that Holy Spirit baptism is for today.
Jesus did indeed promise his disciples that they would receive the
baptism in the Holy Spirit:
“But ye shall receive power, after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
That promise was
fulfilled on the Pentecost day that followed:
“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:4
The only other
people that received the Holy Spirit in this manner were Cornelius and his
household as Peter testifies:
Acts
Today there is only
one baptism as the Holy Spirit tells us through Paul:
“One Lord, one faith, one baptism,” Ephesians 4:5
That baptism is the
baptism commanded by Jesus Christ that man must do, not the baptism of the Holy
Spirit that only God can do:
Mark
Instrumental Music in Worship
The Pentecostal denominations teach
and practice the use of instruments of music in worship to “glorify” God.
But vocal music is the only music
commanded, authorized or found in the New Testament worship of God. This was true in the first century church and
in all churches, even the denominations until over 600 years after Christ died.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in
all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16
“Speaking
to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making
melody in your heart to the Lord; 20Giving thanks always for all
things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting
yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” Ephesians 5:19-21
Healing is the Atonement
Pentecostalism
teaches that Christ redeemed us “from the curse of the law,” and sickness is
the curse of the law, destroyed by Christ.
Oral Roberts, If You Need Healing – Do These Things, pp. 25 “Is Divine Healing
in The Atonement? We believe it
is…Through the Fall we lost everything.
Jesus recovered all through His atonement…we are redeemed from the
entire curse, body, soul and spirit.”
F.F. Bosworth, Christ The Healer, pp 25, 38 The Pentecostals teach that physical
as well as spiritual losses were sustained through Adam’s rebellion and this is
true. But they also teach that Christ
regained all that was lost through Adam.
Oh!
If only this were true! If we have
regained all that was lost to mankind through the sin of Adam then we should be
able to heal all diseases and never have to face death. If not, why not? What does the Bible teach?
The
Christian is not promised release from sicknesses, but grace to endure
them. When the great Apostle Paul was
afflicted Jesus told him this:
“And
he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made
perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” II Corinthians 12:9
As a result Paul counted those things he was
required to suffer for the sake of the cause of Christ an honor, including his
physical infirmities:
“Therefore
I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” II Corinthians
As we reviewed at the very beginning of this
lesson, miracles, including the power of healing, was
given for the purpose of confirming the Word of God and the office of the
apostles as inspired representatives of Jesus Christ. That power was not used for the personal
betterment of his messengers. Paul tells
us in:
II
Timothy
If healing and the removal of sickness from
the troubles of man was accomplished by the death of
Jesus Christ there would have been no need to Paul to leave his companion
anywhere because he was sick. All
physical illness is a part of the process of dying, which has come as a
consequence of the sin of Adam. Christ
removed the spiritual consequences of sin for those obedient to the Word of God
but not the physical.
Summary:
The Pentecostals
teach miraculous healing today, the Bible teaches that
miracles were given only as signs to confirm the Word of God.
The
Pentecostals teach that we speak in tongues today and give us unintelligible
gibberish for proof. The Word of God
tells us that the ability to speak in tongues was to enable men to teach others
languages that they had not learned and that this gift from God has ceased.
The
Pentecostals teach that their feelings supercede the authority of God. God tells us that man is unable to direct his
own steps.
The
Pentecostal have women preachers and teachers serving over men, the Word of God
specifically forbids this practice.
The
Pentecostals teach Holy Spirit baptism in today’s world. The Word of God gives only two occurrences of
Holy Spirit baptism and tells us that there is only one baptism, baptism in
water for the forgiveness of sins.
The
Pentecostals use instruments of music in their worship copying the Catholic
Church and the other denominations; God’s Word commands us to sing only.
The
Pentecostals teach that the atonement of Jesus Christ released us from the
physical consequences of Adam’s sin as well as the spiritual consequences of
that sin. Nothing in scripture supports
this notion.