It was Solomon who said: “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9). There is not too much that is new under the sun—especially when it comes to human beings, to their ideas and their conduct.
PENTECOSTAL ISSUES – Pentecostalism and neo-Pentecostalism have entered the hearts and homes of some among liS. Understand that neo, or new, Pentecostalism does differ some from regular or full.fledged Pentecostalism. Neo-Pentecostals are people who at present arc members of various Christian denominations who claim that they hold for the most part to all the teachings and practices of their own churches, but in addition they have taken lip the concern and essential teachings of the “second life” or “second baptism” in the Holy Spirit as advocated by mainline Pentecostals. Neo-Pentecostals claim that they can do this without contradicting or jeopardizing the Reformed faith, Lutheran faith, and so forth. It is held that only a new dimension to life is at stake. For present purposes, be aware that what we understand of Pentecostalism is applicable, with qualifications, also to neo-Pentecostalism.
Pentecostals claim that they have rediscovered the lost ingredient of the early New Testament Church. As a result, they feel that they, as a movement, have an important mission to the world, and an even more crucial mission to the Church of the Lord which is called to be Cod’s agent for good in this world. Frederick Dale Bruner, a United Presbyterian missionary now serving in the Philippines, has written a book entitled: A Theology of the Holy Spirit.1 In this balanced and thorough study of Pentecostalism, the author writes: “The Pentecostal believes that he has found the source of apostolic power again in the encounter with the Spirit which he calls the baptism in the Holy Spirit. He believes that he can contribute this experience to the church” (Bruner, p. 22).
Though it is impossible to relate fully the many facets of Pentecostal beliefs, there are two outstanding and prominent concepts which require careful evaluation: namely, the issue of a second-level experience in Christianity, or as it is usually termed “baptism in the Holy Spirit”; and, associated with this, the urgent issue of “more” in the way of human spiritual experience. These two are intertwined; they are the two sides of a coin; the matter of “more” is simply part and parcel of “baptism in the Holy Spirit.”
1. Naturally the question arises: What is this “baptism in the Holy Spirit”? How is it obtained? Baptism in the Holy Spirit, according to the Pentecostal, is an experience which takes place after conversion. ate this: it is an experience which takes place after conversion. Pentecostals generally have little quarrel with the Reformed interpretation of Scripture concerning all of regeneration and conversion. They, with orthodox Christians generally, believe in the beginning work of the Holy Spirit by which new life and faith are put in motion. All trust in the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus. Salvation is found in Jesus, life is in Christ!
But now the Pentecostal moves on to something else. Far too many people, he claims, stop with conversion. Christians need not only new life in Christ, hut they also need new life in the Holy Spirit. Christ saves sinners, it is held, but the Holy Spirit gives power! Christians need a second experience or they remain first-level Christians. They need not only regeneration as a gift, but they need also the “in filling” of the Holy Spirit as a gift.
Rev. Donald Gee, an Assemblies of God pastor, and one of the most outstanding of Pentecostal spokesmen, says: “Regeneration is regeneration and Spirit-baptism is Spirit-baptism. even when one experiences both parts at the same time. In regeneration the divine life is communicated, and in the Spirit-baptism power is added to this life . . . This wonderful experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth” (Bruner, p. 66).
2. If there is anything, then, which marks the Christian of the Pentecostal or neo-Pentecostal stripe, it is the emphasis on MORE. The Pentecostal craves more of the Spirit, more of His gifts, more of experience, more assurance, and more life. The matter of more stands at the center and at the height of Pentecostalism. MORE! This is putting the concern of the Pentecostal in its simplest, sharpest, and most understandable terms.
There is a problem, however, that arises in this connection. To be sure not all of what Pentecostals advocate is bad; on the other hand, neither can it he said that much of what Pentecostals advocate is ipso facto good. And so, particularly, it is essential that we understand further this matter of more and observe how it is subversive to what Scripture reveals concerning the character and expression of Christian faith and godly living.
NEW TESTAMENT RESPONSES – In 1 Corinthians 12:29, 30, the Apostle Paul asks the question—and even as he asks it he expects a “no” reply, as a small Creek particle indicates: “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?” He then exhorts: “But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way” (I Cor. 12:31 and 13:1).
Back of Paul’s writing this way were problems at Corinth. Culturally the Corinthians were of Greek background. They followed leaders and formed movements and schools of thought. In the Corinthian Church there was a strong “party spirit.” They had a lot of troubles and struggles there. There were divisions among them (chapter 1). They were carnal: not spiritual. They had to be nourished on milk, for they could not bear strong meat (chapter 3). Some of the Christians at Corinth were puffed lip and offended with Paul (chapter 4). Worse still there was fornication among them and they practically endorsed it (chapter 5). Church members went to law with one another before unbelievers (chapter 6). There were divisions and heresies at the Lord’s table (chapter 11). And then many were being misdirected and misled in the matter of gifts and tongues.
However, underlying all these concerns were even deeper issues. Some enterprising teachers who came to Corinth—Paul calls them “superfine, superlative apostles”—belittled Paul in the Corinthian congregation. Even more serious and far worse was that these enterprising teachers claimed to bring a fuller gospel. They did not openly contradict Paul or the Christianity of the Corinthian Christians, but they claimed to go far beyond. They had the extra thing; they brought the more! In fact, it becomes clear that the irritating issue behind both letters that Paul wrote to Corinth is that the Apostle was challenged. The gospel he brought was said to be insufficient! A key to understanding the Corinthian letters is that Paul was held by some to be deficient in spiritual power and that the full gospel was more than what Paul brought.
Incidentally and interestingly, in this connection, take note that there is a large Pentecostal organization in the United States and world today called: “The Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International.” What is striking is that, in effect, the same issues arc involved in F.C.B.M.F.I. as were involved in the church at Corinth so long ago.
1. Matters come to a climax for Paul in II Corinthians 12. The Apostle had been challenged to show that he had special gifts and that therefore he could speak authentically as an Apostle. It seems that Paul could delay the issue no longer, so note how he responds—he does not even use his own name:
“I must boast; there is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into Paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses” (II Cor. 12:1-5). This is as far as Paul will go. The “higher life” teachers forced him this far!
Prof. Bruner comments on this: “What his opponents in their spiritual experiences saw, heard, and described with exotic detail, Paul relates with hardly an adjective or traceable emotion. He describes not a single thing seen. And what he heard were things that ‘cannot be told’ and which ‘man may not utter.’ This is all that Paul will tell the curious and miracle-hungry Corinthians” (Bruner, p. 312).
Incidentally, one wonders, as he assesses more carefully and closely Paul’s Corinthian correspondence, how much room there is, in public meetings, for testimonies and personal accounts of spiritual experiences. These easily become self-exalting. These very easily divert attention from God’s grace to man’s experiences and achievements.
2. It is at this point that something unexpected now happens. Paul continues in II Corinthians 12:79a: “And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” We are not told what this thorn in the flesh was, but Paul plainly tells us what it did. It was given to keep him humble. It was sent to keep him normal. God set it in his way to keep his feet on the ground. It was given to keep the Apostle from becoming too “spiritual” in an unwholesome sense. It was sent his way, no doubt to put it in the words of the late R. B. Kuiper—in order that he would “be natural in the spiritual and spiritual in the natural.”
What is more, this thorn in the flesh remained, and was not taken away, in order that Paul would understand the fulness of God’s “regular” grace! What the Apostle had to come to see was that he did not need, nor would God provide something more, something higher, something super-special, but God would give His grace! Needed was not special power beyond grace, but grace—just God’s grace. Once again, Professor Bruner puts it pointedly: “Paul learned that grace was not simply a first blessing, succeeded by a second. Paul was not told how to go beyond mere grace. He was not told how to overcome his weaknesses through 6ve steps. He was told that when a man had grace his weakness was precisely where God could be strong . . . Power, the divine answer told Paul, comes not through overcoming weakness but through bearing it. Some weaknesses are apparently never to be overcome, they are to be used” (Bruner, p. 313).
3. At Corinth then, not only, but with Pentecostals too, there is the urgent desire for more. Pentecostals seek to have evidence of and experience in what is beyond regular, normal, God-provided spiritual means and experience. The harder, God-ordained way of grace and faith is unwholesomely circumvented. This was largely the issue also at Corinth. Observe the similarities and parallelism between Corinthianism and Pentecostalism. There is not too much new under the sun. At Corinth various Christians followed the “superfine” apostles. They earnestly sought additional Christian experiences and assurances, signs and evidences. They exalted in the spectacular gifts of the Spirit such as that of tongues or languages.
The Apostle Paul responds to these errors. He says that he would rather speak five words in a known language than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. More deeply, when the “superlative” apostles, the “higher-life” teachers came bringing the Corinthian Christians a “better and fuller” Jesus, a “better and fuller” Holy Spirit, a “better and fuller” gospel, Paul did not consider this to be simply interesting! Some of the sternest words of the New Testament are directed precisely at the persons who attempted to supplement the gospel of faith alone (II Cor. 11:13-15). Too commonly a supposedly better and fuller gospel actually becomes another gospel. The Apostle is disturbed deeply that the Corinthian Christians even submitted to this type of thing. He writes ironically: “For if someone comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you received a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough” (II Cor. 11:4).
This whole thing of extra and more is well summed up by Professor Bruner: “When Pentecostalism comes requiring tongues of believers in order for them to have fullness of the Holy Spirit and power for God—indeed, when Pentecostalism makes this experience the sine qua non of the Holy Spirit’s full, personal, permanent, powerful, and indwelling presence, enabled by the fulfillment of conditions beyond faith in Christ—then we do not do the gospel honor when we fail to point out what this teaching means. Tongues-speaking in itself may be perfectly harmless; Paul, for instance, was willing to recognize circumcision itself as an at times harmless rite (cf. Galatians 5:6, 6:15, I Corinthians 7:19) and could apparently even administer it where it was not made a requirement for spiritual completion (cf. Acts 16:1-3). But the moment any rite, any obedience, any experience, no matter how buttressed with Scripture or with ‘angels from heaven’ becomes a supplement to faith or a condition for fulness before God, then the anathema must be announced and the warning to avoid the false teaching urged with all possible seriousness” (Bruner, p. 282).
4. Pentecostals unwarrantedly split up the work of the Trinity. They make one thing of Christ’s work and still another thing of the Spirit’s work They are confused about the basic and beautiful unity and harmony of the work of the Trinity. To be truly Christian does not mean that we are made to be one thing in Christ Jesus but must become something else in the Holy Spirit.
One cannot divide the work of the Trinity, in these issues, without dividing the Bride of the Lamb. One cannot claim to love the Head of the Church and then rend and divide the Body of Christ. Various of the Corinthian Christians wanted more than “one Husband,” more than the Lord Jesus Christ, and in their distorted insistence they broke up the unity of the Body of the Savior.
In addition to this, besides their Trinitarian confusion, certain Corinthian Christians re-established human stipulations and conditions by which supposedly more in the Spirit is attained, but in so doing they were rendering null and void God’s grace. They went back to human efforts and lost sight of God’s power. They became enslaved once again in law and forsook the gospel!
What Christians in Paul’s day wanted and needed, and what Christians today want and need is already provided. Evidence of the Holy Spirit’s coming and presence is life itself—physical life, spiritual life. Everything that we need and want spiritually, in gift and evidence, is already given in the gospel, in faith, in confession, in prayer, in baptism. Faith, for example, is not simply a means of obtaining life from the Lord, it is also evidence of life in the Lord. The work and ministry of the Holy Spirit is usually not exotic, hut gracious; not ecstatic, but ethical. The evidence of living Christianity is not some spectacular experience, but rather the expression of love and the other fruits of the Spirit.
5. This whole New Testament aims to get this across. Too often Pentecostals and many Christians have simply not understood the beauty and bigness of God’s grace in Christ. Jesus Himself tries to tell us of the richness and all-sufficiency of His work. John records for us what Jesus says: “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes on me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his ‘heart shall now rivers of living water’” (John 7:37, 38). The life which Jesus is talking about here certainly is not anemic or something partial! “He that believes on me . . . Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water”! Through the grace of God, faith receives this. To quote Bruner once again: “Faith is letting God alone be heroic; it is letting God be God. Simple faith in Christ receives everything God has to give. This must be maintained or the gospel sinks” (Bruner, p. 254).
This pattern of teaching is the the same throughout the New Testament. The Jerusalem Conference met because certain Jewish Christians contended that besides faith in Christ, circumcision was necessary for salvation. Something extra, something tangible, was asked again! The conclusion of the Conference was: circumcision is unnecessary. Necessary only is humble faith in the risen Savior, genuine trust in the grace of God. No greater or additional “burden” is to be placed on anyone. There is no Christianity above and beyond that which is in Christ. Life in the Lord becomes one’s own by grace through faith (Romans 5:1).
6. The danger of supplements is that they commonly replace grace and faith. It is not long before supplements crowd the center of the stage. Supplements become the center of a new or different “faith” or “salvation.”
Obviously the matter of more needs careful assessment. Be alert to confusion and distortion. On the one hand, God’s Word cautions against self-centeredly seeking more on the gift end of life. It also warns against attempting to add to His grace. It cannot be done. His gifts and grace are already phenomenal and marvelous. And so, in view of this, on the other hand, God exhorts His people to use His gifts constructively and to live in the strength of His grace. It is God’s domain to give: it is man’s to be a faithful steward of what is entrusted. Stressed in Scripture is the expression of a godly life. More in the way of fruit is asked. Urged is not more getting but rather thankful giving.
IN SUMMARY – We observe then that the Pentecostal emphasis on more unscripturally divides the work of the Persons of the Trinity, it takes on a humanistic hue; it undermines God’s marvelous grace; it unwarrantedly seeks the exotic and spectacular in Christian experience; and it undercuts humble, devoted, dynamic, fruitful, Christian living.
The clear-cut call and beautiful message of the New Testament is: Confess sin, pray for the Spirit, live by faith in Christ, honor the Father; of course, walk in the power of the Spirit, abound in thanksgiving, keep the commandments, love God and one’s neighbor; show mercy, kindness, compassion, humility, patience, and self-control.2 “. . . for once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light . . .” (Eph. 5:8). This is fulness and this is being alive as Christians in the Kingdom of God and in the service of the Savior!
1. Frederick Dale Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit, Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1970.
2. For examplc: I John 1:9; Luke 11: 13; Acts 16:30, 31; Romans 5:1; Matt. 5:10; Malt. 25:14-30; Eph. 2:8-10; Gal. 5:22. 23; Matt. 22:37-40; Eph. 5:8; I Peter 2:9.
Calvin W. Niewenhuis is pastor of the North Street Christian Reformed Church of Zeeland, Michigan.
PENTECOSTAL ISSUES – Pentecostalism and neo-Pentecostalism have entered the hearts and homes of some among liS. Understand that neo, or new, Pentecostalism does differ some from regular or full.fledged Pentecostalism. Neo-Pentecostals are people who at present arc members of various Christian denominations who claim that they hold for the most part to all the teachings and practices of their own churches, but in addition they have taken lip the concern and essential teachings of the “second life” or “second baptism” in the Holy Spirit as advocated by mainline Pentecostals. Neo-Pentecostals claim that they can do this without contradicting or jeopardizing the Reformed faith, Lutheran faith, and so forth. It is held that only a new dimension to life is at stake. For present purposes, be aware that what we understand of Pentecostalism is applicable, with qualifications, also to neo-Pentecostalism.
Pentecostals claim that they have rediscovered the lost ingredient of the early New Testament Church. As a result, they feel that they, as a movement, have an important mission to the world, and an even more crucial mission to the Church of the Lord which is called to be Cod’s agent for good in this world. Frederick Dale Bruner, a United Presbyterian missionary now serving in the Philippines, has written a book entitled: A Theology of the Holy Spirit.1 In this balanced and thorough study of Pentecostalism, the author writes: “The Pentecostal believes that he has found the source of apostolic power again in the encounter with the Spirit which he calls the baptism in the Holy Spirit. He believes that he can contribute this experience to the church” (Bruner, p. 22).
Though it is impossible to relate fully the many facets of Pentecostal beliefs, there are two outstanding and prominent concepts which require careful evaluation: namely, the issue of a second-level experience in Christianity, or as it is usually termed “baptism in the Holy Spirit”; and, associated with this, the urgent issue of “more” in the way of human spiritual experience. These two are intertwined; they are the two sides of a coin; the matter of “more” is simply part and parcel of “baptism in the Holy Spirit.”
1. Naturally the question arises: What is this “baptism in the Holy Spirit”? How is it obtained? Baptism in the Holy Spirit, according to the Pentecostal, is an experience which takes place after conversion. ate this: it is an experience which takes place after conversion. Pentecostals generally have little quarrel with the Reformed interpretation of Scripture concerning all of regeneration and conversion. They, with orthodox Christians generally, believe in the beginning work of the Holy Spirit by which new life and faith are put in motion. All trust in the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus. Salvation is found in Jesus, life is in Christ!
But now the Pentecostal moves on to something else. Far too many people, he claims, stop with conversion. Christians need not only new life in Christ, hut they also need new life in the Holy Spirit. Christ saves sinners, it is held, but the Holy Spirit gives power! Christians need a second experience or they remain first-level Christians. They need not only regeneration as a gift, but they need also the “in filling” of the Holy Spirit as a gift.
Rev. Donald Gee, an Assemblies of God pastor, and one of the most outstanding of Pentecostal spokesmen, says: “Regeneration is regeneration and Spirit-baptism is Spirit-baptism. even when one experiences both parts at the same time. In regeneration the divine life is communicated, and in the Spirit-baptism power is added to this life . . . This wonderful experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth” (Bruner, p. 66).
2. If there is anything, then, which marks the Christian of the Pentecostal or neo-Pentecostal stripe, it is the emphasis on MORE. The Pentecostal craves more of the Spirit, more of His gifts, more of experience, more assurance, and more life. The matter of more stands at the center and at the height of Pentecostalism. MORE! This is putting the concern of the Pentecostal in its simplest, sharpest, and most understandable terms.
There is a problem, however, that arises in this connection. To be sure not all of what Pentecostals advocate is bad; on the other hand, neither can it he said that much of what Pentecostals advocate is ipso facto good. And so, particularly, it is essential that we understand further this matter of more and observe how it is subversive to what Scripture reveals concerning the character and expression of Christian faith and godly living.
NEW TESTAMENT RESPONSES – In 1 Corinthians 12:29, 30, the Apostle Paul asks the question—and even as he asks it he expects a “no” reply, as a small Creek particle indicates: “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?” He then exhorts: “But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way” (I Cor. 12:31 and 13:1).
Back of Paul’s writing this way were problems at Corinth. Culturally the Corinthians were of Greek background. They followed leaders and formed movements and schools of thought. In the Corinthian Church there was a strong “party spirit.” They had a lot of troubles and struggles there. There were divisions among them (chapter 1). They were carnal: not spiritual. They had to be nourished on milk, for they could not bear strong meat (chapter 3). Some of the Christians at Corinth were puffed lip and offended with Paul (chapter 4). Worse still there was fornication among them and they practically endorsed it (chapter 5). Church members went to law with one another before unbelievers (chapter 6). There were divisions and heresies at the Lord’s table (chapter 11). And then many were being misdirected and misled in the matter of gifts and tongues.
However, underlying all these concerns were even deeper issues. Some enterprising teachers who came to Corinth—Paul calls them “superfine, superlative apostles”—belittled Paul in the Corinthian congregation. Even more serious and far worse was that these enterprising teachers claimed to bring a fuller gospel. They did not openly contradict Paul or the Christianity of the Corinthian Christians, but they claimed to go far beyond. They had the extra thing; they brought the more! In fact, it becomes clear that the irritating issue behind both letters that Paul wrote to Corinth is that the Apostle was challenged. The gospel he brought was said to be insufficient! A key to understanding the Corinthian letters is that Paul was held by some to be deficient in spiritual power and that the full gospel was more than what Paul brought.
Incidentally and interestingly, in this connection, take note that there is a large Pentecostal organization in the United States and world today called: “The Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International.” What is striking is that, in effect, the same issues arc involved in F.C.B.M.F.I. as were involved in the church at Corinth so long ago.
1. Matters come to a climax for Paul in II Corinthians 12. The Apostle had been challenged to show that he had special gifts and that therefore he could speak authentically as an Apostle. It seems that Paul could delay the issue no longer, so note how he responds—he does not even use his own name:
“I must boast; there is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into Paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses” (II Cor. 12:1-5). This is as far as Paul will go. The “higher life” teachers forced him this far!
Prof. Bruner comments on this: “What his opponents in their spiritual experiences saw, heard, and described with exotic detail, Paul relates with hardly an adjective or traceable emotion. He describes not a single thing seen. And what he heard were things that ‘cannot be told’ and which ‘man may not utter.’ This is all that Paul will tell the curious and miracle-hungry Corinthians” (Bruner, p. 312).
Incidentally, one wonders, as he assesses more carefully and closely Paul’s Corinthian correspondence, how much room there is, in public meetings, for testimonies and personal accounts of spiritual experiences. These easily become self-exalting. These very easily divert attention from God’s grace to man’s experiences and achievements.
2. It is at this point that something unexpected now happens. Paul continues in II Corinthians 12:79a: “And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” We are not told what this thorn in the flesh was, but Paul plainly tells us what it did. It was given to keep him humble. It was sent to keep him normal. God set it in his way to keep his feet on the ground. It was given to keep the Apostle from becoming too “spiritual” in an unwholesome sense. It was sent his way, no doubt to put it in the words of the late R. B. Kuiper—in order that he would “be natural in the spiritual and spiritual in the natural.”
What is more, this thorn in the flesh remained, and was not taken away, in order that Paul would understand the fulness of God’s “regular” grace! What the Apostle had to come to see was that he did not need, nor would God provide something more, something higher, something super-special, but God would give His grace! Needed was not special power beyond grace, but grace—just God’s grace. Once again, Professor Bruner puts it pointedly: “Paul learned that grace was not simply a first blessing, succeeded by a second. Paul was not told how to go beyond mere grace. He was not told how to overcome his weaknesses through 6ve steps. He was told that when a man had grace his weakness was precisely where God could be strong . . . Power, the divine answer told Paul, comes not through overcoming weakness but through bearing it. Some weaknesses are apparently never to be overcome, they are to be used” (Bruner, p. 313).
3. At Corinth then, not only, but with Pentecostals too, there is the urgent desire for more. Pentecostals seek to have evidence of and experience in what is beyond regular, normal, God-provided spiritual means and experience. The harder, God-ordained way of grace and faith is unwholesomely circumvented. This was largely the issue also at Corinth. Observe the similarities and parallelism between Corinthianism and Pentecostalism. There is not too much new under the sun. At Corinth various Christians followed the “superfine” apostles. They earnestly sought additional Christian experiences and assurances, signs and evidences. They exalted in the spectacular gifts of the Spirit such as that of tongues or languages.
The Apostle Paul responds to these errors. He says that he would rather speak five words in a known language than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. More deeply, when the “superlative” apostles, the “higher-life” teachers came bringing the Corinthian Christians a “better and fuller” Jesus, a “better and fuller” Holy Spirit, a “better and fuller” gospel, Paul did not consider this to be simply interesting! Some of the sternest words of the New Testament are directed precisely at the persons who attempted to supplement the gospel of faith alone (II Cor. 11:13-15). Too commonly a supposedly better and fuller gospel actually becomes another gospel. The Apostle is disturbed deeply that the Corinthian Christians even submitted to this type of thing. He writes ironically: “For if someone comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you received a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough” (II Cor. 11:4).
This whole thing of extra and more is well summed up by Professor Bruner: “When Pentecostalism comes requiring tongues of believers in order for them to have fullness of the Holy Spirit and power for God—indeed, when Pentecostalism makes this experience the sine qua non of the Holy Spirit’s full, personal, permanent, powerful, and indwelling presence, enabled by the fulfillment of conditions beyond faith in Christ—then we do not do the gospel honor when we fail to point out what this teaching means. Tongues-speaking in itself may be perfectly harmless; Paul, for instance, was willing to recognize circumcision itself as an at times harmless rite (cf. Galatians 5:6, 6:15, I Corinthians 7:19) and could apparently even administer it where it was not made a requirement for spiritual completion (cf. Acts 16:1-3). But the moment any rite, any obedience, any experience, no matter how buttressed with Scripture or with ‘angels from heaven’ becomes a supplement to faith or a condition for fulness before God, then the anathema must be announced and the warning to avoid the false teaching urged with all possible seriousness” (Bruner, p. 282).
4. Pentecostals unwarrantedly split up the work of the Trinity. They make one thing of Christ’s work and still another thing of the Spirit’s work They are confused about the basic and beautiful unity and harmony of the work of the Trinity. To be truly Christian does not mean that we are made to be one thing in Christ Jesus but must become something else in the Holy Spirit.
One cannot divide the work of the Trinity, in these issues, without dividing the Bride of the Lamb. One cannot claim to love the Head of the Church and then rend and divide the Body of Christ. Various of the Corinthian Christians wanted more than “one Husband,” more than the Lord Jesus Christ, and in their distorted insistence they broke up the unity of the Body of the Savior.
In addition to this, besides their Trinitarian confusion, certain Corinthian Christians re-established human stipulations and conditions by which supposedly more in the Spirit is attained, but in so doing they were rendering null and void God’s grace. They went back to human efforts and lost sight of God’s power. They became enslaved once again in law and forsook the gospel!
What Christians in Paul’s day wanted and needed, and what Christians today want and need is already provided. Evidence of the Holy Spirit’s coming and presence is life itself—physical life, spiritual life. Everything that we need and want spiritually, in gift and evidence, is already given in the gospel, in faith, in confession, in prayer, in baptism. Faith, for example, is not simply a means of obtaining life from the Lord, it is also evidence of life in the Lord. The work and ministry of the Holy Spirit is usually not exotic, hut gracious; not ecstatic, but ethical. The evidence of living Christianity is not some spectacular experience, but rather the expression of love and the other fruits of the Spirit.
5. This whole New Testament aims to get this across. Too often Pentecostals and many Christians have simply not understood the beauty and bigness of God’s grace in Christ. Jesus Himself tries to tell us of the richness and all-sufficiency of His work. John records for us what Jesus says: “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes on me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his ‘heart shall now rivers of living water’” (John 7:37, 38). The life which Jesus is talking about here certainly is not anemic or something partial! “He that believes on me . . . Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water”! Through the grace of God, faith receives this. To quote Bruner once again: “Faith is letting God alone be heroic; it is letting God be God. Simple faith in Christ receives everything God has to give. This must be maintained or the gospel sinks” (Bruner, p. 254).
This pattern of teaching is the the same throughout the New Testament. The Jerusalem Conference met because certain Jewish Christians contended that besides faith in Christ, circumcision was necessary for salvation. Something extra, something tangible, was asked again! The conclusion of the Conference was: circumcision is unnecessary. Necessary only is humble faith in the risen Savior, genuine trust in the grace of God. No greater or additional “burden” is to be placed on anyone. There is no Christianity above and beyond that which is in Christ. Life in the Lord becomes one’s own by grace through faith (Romans 5:1).
6. The danger of supplements is that they commonly replace grace and faith. It is not long before supplements crowd the center of the stage. Supplements become the center of a new or different “faith” or “salvation.”
Obviously the matter of more needs careful assessment. Be alert to confusion and distortion. On the one hand, God’s Word cautions against self-centeredly seeking more on the gift end of life. It also warns against attempting to add to His grace. It cannot be done. His gifts and grace are already phenomenal and marvelous. And so, in view of this, on the other hand, God exhorts His people to use His gifts constructively and to live in the strength of His grace. It is God’s domain to give: it is man’s to be a faithful steward of what is entrusted. Stressed in Scripture is the expression of a godly life. More in the way of fruit is asked. Urged is not more getting but rather thankful giving.
IN SUMMARY – We observe then that the Pentecostal emphasis on more unscripturally divides the work of the Persons of the Trinity, it takes on a humanistic hue; it undermines God’s marvelous grace; it unwarrantedly seeks the exotic and spectacular in Christian experience; and it undercuts humble, devoted, dynamic, fruitful, Christian living.
The clear-cut call and beautiful message of the New Testament is: Confess sin, pray for the Spirit, live by faith in Christ, honor the Father; of course, walk in the power of the Spirit, abound in thanksgiving, keep the commandments, love God and one’s neighbor; show mercy, kindness, compassion, humility, patience, and self-control.2 “. . . for once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light . . .” (Eph. 5:8). This is fulness and this is being alive as Christians in the Kingdom of God and in the service of the Savior!
1. Frederick Dale Bruner, A Theology of the Holy Spirit, Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1970.
2. For examplc: I John 1:9; Luke 11: 13; Acts 16:30, 31; Romans 5:1; Matt. 5:10; Malt. 25:14-30; Eph. 2:8-10; Gal. 5:22. 23; Matt. 22:37-40; Eph. 5:8; I Peter 2:9.
Calvin W. Niewenhuis is pastor of the North Street Christian Reformed Church of Zeeland, Michigan.