Does It Really Say That? - 03, 04 & 05
"Bible-based" Christian Lies
I was twenty at the time. I’d spent the previous years of my life in the dark, unaware and/or unable to see this spiritual kingdom. I was convicted with the thought I must not allow truth to be veiled from me again! I must be on guard against deception and error. And to do that I decided I would read the Bible and find other Christians who could help me learn.
I suppose my naivety allowed me to walk into my first Bible-based lie. A Christian man and his wife presented it to me. They meant well but they were misguided. They taught in error. I say it was a lie, but this couple believed the lie first. They had been deceived. So it wasn’t as if they were out to get me. Nonetheless, a lie is still a lie and I became deceived.
I was living with my grandma and attending college. And they came knocking at my door one evening. They wanted to share something with me “from the Bible”. They felt that I was a Christian, but that I had not yet received all God had for me. So they brought me to Acts 8:12-17 where we encountered a story in which Philip preached the gospel to some Samaritans and they believed and were baptized with water. However, it said, the Samaritans had not received the Holy Spirit when they believed. In fact it wasn’t until the Apostles Peter and John went down to Samaria and prayed for them that they were finally baptized by the Holy Spirit.
The couple felt I needed to experience this second baptism too. They felt that though I was born again, I had not yet been baptized by the Holy Spirit. They taught me that just like the Christians in Acts 8, all Christians must experience these two distinct spiritual gifts: the new birth and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.1
I thought they could be right. After all, there was much for me to learn about God’s kingdom, and certainly the good story of the Samaritans was right there in the Bible. So, I prayed with them and waited to “receive the Holy Spirit.” They assured me that I would know when it happened because I would be able to speak in tongues (a heavenly language). We waited together. Nothing. We prayed some more. Still nothing. They encouraged me to just try “saying some words”. Nothing. Finally, they assured me, “Sometimes the process takes place over a period of time. You should just be open to God and keep trying.”
1 I do not believe the Holy Spirit conducts two separate events in a person but one. I believe spiritual regeneration (or being born again) is the same as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Treating them as separate occurrences leaves the church with half-Christians. This is what the man and wife made of me.
I think there are two ingredients that go into the Pentecostal error.
One ingredient is the misuse of Scripture as I noted in my post. These brothers and sisters find examples of how God dealt with certain people in Scripture and conclude that it is how He will deal with all, especially if there appears to be some sort of pattern. They do not understand that narratives are not prescriptive. (In the Book of Acts, the experiences of believers who still needed to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit, is very well explained by John R.W. Stott in his book Baptism and Fullness.
The second ingredient added to the Pentecostal error is how they've interpreted their own experiences with God. I believe some grow up in a church without faith. They learn; they go to worship; they get baptized and perhaps take the Lord's Supper; they attend youth groups, etc. They assume they are Christian, the same as everybody else they know. Then, God actually touches them (breaths life into them) and gives them a faith that makes them see. These new converts conclude they've had a second spiritual experience with God when perhaps it was truly their first!
I'm sure this does not explain all the reasons for the Pentecostal error, but I think these are two important contributing factors.
This error drives me nuts because of the great doubt it sows and how easily it subverts the sufficiency of salvation through faith for complete wholeness and new life. It breeds discontent and introduces a caveat to an otherwise simple Gospel. Right on par with the pitfalls of individualistic Baptist theology--my humble opinion 🤷🏻♂️.