I felt it important to mention the dangerous teachings of the charismatic movement, since this movement has become so prevalent today. Each section will only summarise the doctrinal problems of this dangerous movement. You will have to study each one in more detail if necessary. Authority The charismatic
movement is characterised by a floating authority.
Emotions, experiences, and dreams are very important in
this movement and are often quoted as justification for
certain non-Biblical actions or beliefs. God says
in His Word that truth is not open to "private
interpretation" (II Peter 1:20). However,
charismatics are continually giving the Holy Ghost credit
for their feelings or ideas, even if they disagree with
the plain teaching of the Bible. Emotions are not
always right. What we feel is not always true.
The heart cannot be trusted (see Jeremiah 17:9).
Always beware of statements like: "God told me";
"God spoke to me"; etc. In a future section, we will be looking at "speaking in tongues", and showing that even if this gift were for today it would follow the Biblical guidelines clearly defined in Scripture (I Corinthians 14). However, again the authority of the charismatic movement in this area is experience rather than the Word of God. Salvation Charismatics teach
that Christians can lose their salvation because of sin.
They find it hard to define which sins or how much sin
causes one to lose his salvation, but they believe that
Christians fall in and out of salvation based upon their
behaviour. The problem is: if one's sin
causes one to lose his salvation, which is attained
solely because of the grace of God through faith (Romans
3:24; Galatians 3:26), how does one get his salvation
back? What this basically teaches is that one's
behaviour must be changed or improved to get salvation
back once it is lost, and this is salvation by "works",
which is very dangerous teaching and contrary to
Scripture (Ephesians 2:8-9). The Bible clearly
teaches that Christians are secure in their salvation in
Jesus Christ, not because of their behaviour but because
of the person of Jesus (see the pamphlet on eternal
security for more information). Ultimately they
believe in a different Jesus One who cannot keep
them (I Peter 1:5), preserve them (Jude 1:1), protect
them (John 10:28-29), or seal them "until the day of
redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). Another confusion is the nature of man's part in salvation. Man must not only repent (Luke 24:47), but he must "trust" Jesus Christ as his only hope for heaven (see Ephesians 1:12-14). Many charismatics believe that they are saved because they got caught up in the emotion of a church service or a plea for salvation and they had an emotional experience or spoke in tongues. They therefore assume that they must have been saved because of the emotion or experience. Emotions and experiences do not save. Prayer does not save. Only Jesus saves! Many went forward at a meeting and were "prayed over" by the speaker who then told them that they were saved. Being "prayed over" is not salvation - a speaker cannot save another person. One must clearly understand the gospel (sin and it's penalty, who Jesus is and what He did) and personally place his trust and faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Speaking in
Tongues The word "tongue" in the Bible always refers to "a language". The Greek word for tongue is always the same, "glossa". Some good examples are found in Acts 2:11 and Revelation 5:9; 7:9; 10:11; 11:9; 13:7; 14:6; 17:15. In Revelation 9:11, the phrases "Hebrew tongue" and "Greek tongue" make it clear what the word means. God worked a miracle in the lives of the early disciples and gave them the ability to preach the gospel in a language that they had not learned. In Acts chapter two, many Jews from sixteen other areas of the world heard the gospel in their own language and were saved. This was the beginning of the great church in Jerusalem. This miraculous gift was given for two very important reasons: 1) to break language barriers so many could be saved in the early days of the church and, 2) as a temporary sign to the Jews (see I Corinthians 1:22; 14:21-22) that the message of these disciples was from God, since the New Testament was not written yet (see Hebrews 2:2-4 and Mark 16:20, especially the phrase "was confirmed" in Hebrews 2:3). "Speaking in tongues" was another of the "signs of an apostle" (see II Corinthians 12:12), which are not mentioned from II Corinthians to Revelation. Remember, this was a "gift" from God. It did not have to be taught or learned, even though many churches today "teach" people how to speak in tongues. Another important consideration is this: If the Biblical "gift" of tongues is present today, why do fervent, spiritual missionaries (even Pentecostal/charismatic ones) have to spend years learning new languages so they can preach the gospel? It is taught by this movement that speaking in tongues is the evidence of the filling of the Holy Ghost. However, Jesus prophesied of the filling of the Holy Ghost and did not mention speaking in tongues (Luke 24:49). Acts 1:8 makes it clear that the filling was for the preaching of the gospel. Many times in the book of Acts, people were filled but they did not speak in tongues (see Acts 4:8, 31; 9:17-18; 13:9, 52). Of the seventeen times in Acts where people were saved, in only three of them was tongues involved. I Corinthians 12:28-31 makes it clear that not every Christian would be given this gift, which is listed as the "least" of the gifts. One church in the Bible (Corinthians) was overly magnifying this gift and abusing it. This church was very carnal, so the book of I Corinthians was written as a rebuke (see II Corinthians 7:8-9) to correct them. In chapter fourteen, God gave some Biblical guidelines for speaking in tongues. These guidelines were given to make sure that everything was done decently and in order. For those who believe that the gift of speaking in tongues is still available to Christians today, these guidelines would be followed by the Holy Ghost, since He wrote them. Any church that encourages the speaking in tongues should ensure that these guidelines are being followed. Otherwise, maybe the Holy Ghost isn't the One motivating the tongues (see Deuteronomy 13:1-5; II Thessalonians 2:9-10; Matthew 24:24 which show that Satan can also work through the miraculous). These guidelines are as follows:
If you were to check, you would find that churches which have "speaking in tongues" today do not follow most of these Biblical guidelines. There must be a serious problem. If the current practice breaks these guidelines, then it cannot be from God, for He never violates His own Word. If the gift of "speaking in tongues" is available today, so must the gift of "interpretation of tongues" be available. What occurs, however, is multiple interpretations of the same unknown phrase, which would be impossible with God involved. The Bible even warns against the common practice of "praying in tongues" because the understanding is not there (see I Corinthians 14:14-15). We must agree with Paul when he said, "in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue", I Corinthians 14:19. This "speaking in tongues" movement is being used by Satan to unite non-Biblical churches, even churches that do not preach the gospel. Beware! Healing and
Miracles This understanding
can be tested by looking at the New Testament occurrences
of these gifts. When these gifts were exercised,
they were unmistakable, and "faith" in the one
being healed was not a factor (see Acts 3:1-8; 5:12-16; 9:40;
19:11-12; 20:9-12; and see "every one" and
"all" in Matt 4:23-24; 8:16; 9:35; 12:15; 15:30;
19:2; Lk 4:40; 6:17-19; and Acts 5:16). Every one
was healed completely, even those lame from birth.
People were raised from the dead (see Acts 9:40 and Acts
20:9-12). Some were healed simply by touching a
handkerchief which had been touched by Paul (see Acts 19:11-12).
The supposed gifts of healing and miracles performed
today do not even compare to the ones performed by the
men in the New Testament with those gifts. In
addition, the apostles did not accept payment in any form
(see Acts 3:6). Remember, God still heals and works miracles in answer to the prayers of God's people and when it is His will. However, no Christian today possesses these apostolic gifts. If they did, they would empty the hospitals! Prosperity
Theology A prominent teaching
of the charismatic movement is that Christians close to
God are always physically blessed of God. I say
"physically" because God always blesses His
faithful servants with peace, joy, contentment, gratitude,
etc. However, the charismatic movement teaches that
one's spirituality can be measured by his outward,
physical circumstances. In other words, if one is
healthy and/or physically prosperous, God is with him and
vice versa. Beyond these things, God often uses suffering for our good. He knows that testing strengthens our faith and refines us (see I Peter 1:6-7). II Corinthians 4:16-17 says that "affliction" is good for us. I Peter 5:10 says that suffering will "perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle" us. Romans 5:3 says that tribulation works patience. One's closeness to God is often independent of the pleasantness of his external circumstances. Be careful not to be fooled by this wrong system of belief called "prosperity theology".
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