Grace and peace, believers, and greetings to those still in the world.

The following post is a reply to a comment made by a dear soul who believes the Charismatic Movement is of God.  I am posting it here for the edification of the Body of Christ.

“Thank you, for your comment, Lisa, and thank you for the loving way in which you presented your argument and your disagreement with my position on a very sensitive, but important, topic.  The Body of Christ could benefit from your charitable example. 

“Good intentions notwithstanding, dear sister, you are uninformed about the nature of the Charismatic movement.  Perhaps the best way to inform you would be to take your comments point by point.

“To begin, you are correct when you say, “many Charismatic movements have arisen through Protestant churches.”  As you know from my essay, I hold that the goal of the Charismatic movement is to unite all religions (specifically Protestant Christianity) with Roman Catholicism on something they can all agree on, since doctrinally they will always disagree.  Within Christianity, that something is the works of the Holy Spirit; hence the name, Charismatic.  The Charismatic movement can best be seen in the Protestant Church, because it is this church that Satan wants to destroy.

“You are mistaken, however, in your belief that errors such as salvation with the evidence of speaking in tongues “have been outgrown through the maturity of the movement and are no longer in practice.”  This practice is in place at this very minute, and in today’s atmosphere of “oneness,” is gaining popularity with a people who no longer believe that the Christian church should separate itself from the world.  Knowing this is not dependent on how many years you have been a Christian (praise God for blessing you 20 years in the faith), but on how sensitive you are to the leading of the Holy Spirit, from Whom comes discernment.

“At this moment, I do not have a church home, because, with one exception, every church that I have visited in my hometown since returning to America three and a half years ago has been charismatic—and the one exception was still ecumenical. 

How do I know?  Because when I hear a teaching that is not Biblical, I talk to the pastor about it, to know if he is doing it out of ignorance or if he has an agenda.  Not one pastor I have talked to has been able to defend a false teaching with Scripture.  And because they neither concede that their teachings are unscriptural, nor defend them with Scripture—unless they wrench It out of context—I conclude that they are purposely teaching it.

“Let me give you a couple of examples.

“At one church I visited, the pastor talked about “the Holy Ghost” so much that it seemed that he was subordinating Jesus to Him.  When he went so far as to say that a person is not saved unless he demonstrates his salvation through the speaking of tongues, I confronted him. 

When we went to Scripture, I noticed that every passage he used referred only to the Holy Ghost, while the ones I used referred to both the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit.  I told him that his argument seemed to suggest that the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit were two different persons, to which he replied, “They are!” When I asked him what was the difference between the two he replied, “More power; that’s all, just more power.”  Incredible, but true.

“A few months ago, I answered a church advertisement for an associate pastor.  I sent the senior pastor my résumé and he sent me an email asking me to go to his website and that, if I agreed to his Statement of Faith and his “Supplementary Agreement,” contingent on the interview, I looked pretty good for the job.  I went to his website and upon reading the Statement of Faith, I understood that this church was Charismatic. 

But I gave him the benefit of a doubt, and examined the “Supplementary Agreement,” which included a statement to this effect: “The applicant must agree that salvation is evidenced by the speaking of tongues.  Scripture references can be given.”  When I wrote the pastor back and gave him the Scripture verses that refute this errant belief, he came back with, “We should have a teachable spirit” and even said that speaking in tongues is not essential to salvation, even though the “Supplementary Agreement” says it was.

“This is why one must “quibble” about wording.  Charismatic churches have realized that discerning Christians know speaking in tongues as an evidence of salvation is unscriptural, so they mask it or ostensibly drop it altogether, such that one would never know unless one were to press the pastor about it.  I always do.  Believe me: the devil is always in the details. 

“The aim of the Charismatic Movement is not, as you say, “to use Jesus as the example.”  It is to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Greek: charismata) as the common denominator.  Jesus said the Holy Spirit would remind us of everything He ever said (John 14:26), not center the Christian faith around the Spirit’s works, which is what the Charismatic Movement does.  The Charismatic Movement is works centered, not faith centered.  And works cannot save us (Romans 3:19, 4:4-5).  Remember, our works should be a sign of our salvation, not a requirement for our salvation.  The only requirement for salvation is faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ as sufficient for atonement, or remission of sins (Romans 3:25). 

“Moreover, Jesus Christ is not to be used merely as an example.  Jesus is the Way (John 14:6), not an example of the way.  That would be a map.  There are a plethora of unbelievers who say they are Christians simply because they use Jesus Christ as an “example.”  Oprah Winfrey is one of those people, yet she says God is merely a “force” and not a person.  This is totally unscriptural. 

“Your reading different bible verses “side by side” suggests that you don’t think that any one version is the correct one, and you go so far as to say so.  This is also a belief of charismatics, who believe that only the “original writings” were error-free.  This is saying that we don’t have what Jesus actually said anymore, which is calling Jesus Christ a liar, for He said that His words would never pass away (Luke 21:33). 

This is also calling the Holy Spirit a liar, for He wrote the Bible.  This is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—the only unpardonable sin.  This is the sin of the Charismatic movement.  And all that are in this system will perish unless they leave it and repent of it. 

“So, although you believe me to quibble over semantics, I am merely zealous for the word of God, as all Christians should be; for Scripture says that we should be ready to avenge all disobedience, when our obedience is fulfilled (2 Corinthians 10:6).

“My spirit tells me that, by your words, sister, you are wanting for discernment: for if you believe the Charismatic Movement is of Jesus, you are terribly deceived, and it could cost you your soul.  I’ll be praying for you, because time is short.  I would advise you to research the Charismatic Movement under the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that you are not deceived into the Pit.”

I plan to complete my study of the Charismatic movement very soon.  I’m sorry for the delay.  I understand that there are many who need this information.

Be encouraged and look up; your redemption draweth nigh.

The Still Man

Copyright © 2011 Anthony Keeton, The Still Man ®.  All Rights Reserved.