The Difference Between "Pentecostal" And "Charismatic"
Tyler Nally (tnally@csci.csc.com)
Tue, 20 Aug 1996 8:19:04 CDT
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[ From: Tom Raddatz <tomr@corecom.net> ]
[ Subject: The Difference Between "Pentecostal" And "Charismatic" ]
Do you know what the differences are between "Pentecostals" and
"Charismatics"? I'd like to explain that to you. Did you know Charismatics
claim to be just like Pentecostals, but Pentecostals don't consider
themselves to be at all like Charismatics? Sound like an enigma? If you'll
bear with me a moment, let me first explain a personal experience, and then
I'll follow with the scriptures that will shed light on the subject. From
your letter, it sounds to me, like you may need to hear what the difference
is from a "Pentecostal's" point of view.
One time, after I had been praying for the gift of the Holy Ghost for
several months, I ran into a Charismatic at a very small non-denominational
fellowship (again, while I was working away from home). He told me that God
had given him a gift that whoever he prayed on would receive the Holy Ghost.
I was skeptical, but wanting the Holy Ghost, I went along. He laid hands on
me for a moment, then he prayed for me, and then he coached me into
gibbering unintelligibly. When I did, he stopped me and told me I had
received the Holy Ghost. I asked him where the power was ("Ye shall receive
power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you" -Acts 1:8). He looked at
me like he didn't have a clue what I was talking about. Instead he changed
the subject and assured me that from now on my walk would be closer to God.
He also told me I needed to practice my "prayer language." I was more than a
little let down by this empty experience. I have since heard of many
Charismatics that do similar things. When I got home, my pastor asked me
what was wrong. I told him about the incident, and he explained to me-
"that's not the Holy Ghost, that's just gibberish." I have since received
the true Pentecostal gift of the Holy Ghost, in God's time, and not at all
by my or any other man's will. It is nothing like the powerless Charismatic
imitation.
Now let me explain what happened, and what the difference is, from the
scriptures-
"For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the
other by a freewoman... Which things are an allegory: for... WE, brethren,
AS ISAAC was, ARE the CHILDREN OF PROMISE. But as then he that was born
after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is
now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her
son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the
freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of
the free." Galatians 4:22-31.
The Bible says, even in the New Testament, that "faith was reckoned to
Abraham... that he might be the FATHER OF ALL THEM THAT BELIEVE, though they
be not circumcised..." Romans 4:9-11; "Know ye therefore that they which are
of faith, the same are the children of Abraham" Galatians 3:7.
Abraham is not our father in the way that God is our father, but Abraham set
the example of faith. God promised he would give Abraham a son and make of
him a great nation. But Abraham, becoming impatient with waiting on God's
timing to receive his promise, reached out and took that promise by his own
means. And thereby he had a son by his wife's bondmaid. But that was not the
son that God had promised.
This is how Charismatics compare with Pentecostals (from my experience).
Pentecostals "wait for the promise" (Acts 1:4). Charismatics reach out and
take what was promised by God of their own means (I am generalizing here-
there may be Charismatics that have received the true promise, but I haven't
met any, nor heard of any. In the same light, there are many who claim to be
Pentecostals who have only a charismatic like experience. The man-made label
guarantees nothing, it is the actions that count.) Just as Abraham
considered that, since God "promised" him a son, it wouldn't hurt to take
matters into his own hands, so Charismatics take receiving God's promise
into their own hands in the exact same manner, with the exact same reasoning
and intent. But, just because the Bible says "the promise is unto you, and
to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our
God shall call" (Acts 2:39) does not mean God expects us to "take" the
promise He offers by our own will. That's what Abraham did when he was
wrong, not when he was right, and the Bible says that Abraham is the father
of those "who also walk in the steps of THAT faith of our father Abraham..."
Romans 4:12. One son, born of the will of man, and of the flesh, was the
result of bad faith, and that son turned into a great nation (Arab) also.
The other son, Isaac, born of promise, and born by waiting on God, was
received in good faith, and is, to this day, less numerous, and persecuted
and downtrodden by the son of bad faith (Gal. 4:27).
Furthermore, just as Isaac could claim for himself as being the "real" son
of Abraham, "Pentecostals", claim to be the "real" children of promise-
because the "born-again" experience they receive is from God, and is not
received by "taking" it whenever they deem it to be just. (That's why
"Pentecostals" declare they are not "Charismatics" even though they
outwardly may appear to be the same.) To continue the allegory, just as
Ishmael can and does claim Abraham as his father, so Charismatics make the
claim that they are also sons of God (that's why they assume they are just
like Pentecostals). But are they really the sons of promise by good faith?
No. The Bible says-
"But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" John 1:12-13.
Receiving Christ for who He is doesn't instantly "make" anyone a son of God,
but by receiving Him, just like the Bible plainly says, He gives us the
"power to BECOME the sons of God," for you must be born- "not of blood, NOR
OF THE WILL of the FLESH, NOR of the WILL OF MAN, but of God." Any one,
therefore, who tells you they can give, or have received, or have been born
again "by the will," has disclosed to you their true heritage- they, as
Ishmael, are sons born after the flesh, and are not the sons of promise.
Now consider a natural birthing process. Was anyone ever born the moment
they were conceived? ("AFTER... ye heard the word of truth... AFTER ye
believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise" Ephesians 1:13.")
Or was anyone ever born by their own free will through some form of merely
accepting or acknowledging anything? "("Ye have not chosen me, but I have
chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and
that your fruit should remain..." John 15:16.) If the natural birth doesn't
fit the analogy of the spiritual birth, why would Jesus use it to explain
being born-again? ("For the invisible things of him from the creation of the
world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even
his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse" Romans 1:20.)
In light of these scriptures, and many others (that expedience precludes
quoting here) I have yet to find anyone that can give sound scriptural basis
that the "Accept the Lord as your personal savior, and you are thereby
born-again" dogma can be held up to the light of these scriptures-
"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God... Ye must
be born again. The wind bloweth WHERE IT LISTETH (wishes), and thou hearest
the sound thereof, but CANST NOT TELL whence it cometh, and whither it
goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" John 3:5-8. "...Spake he
(Jesus) of the Spirit, which they that believe on him SHOULD receive..."
John 7:39 with "(Paul) said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost SINCE
ye believed?..." Acts 19:2. (How can these verses not be saying that-
believing DOES NOT mean automatically receiving?) So you see- "The PROMISE
is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as
many as the Lord our God shall call" Acts 2:39.
So then, we don't automatically receive promises from God the moment He
makes the promise, or the moment we request it, for the scripture says- "For
ye have need of patience, that, AFTER ye have done the will of God, ye MIGHT
receive the PROMISE" Hebrews 10:36. Do we then make void salvation by faith?
Allow me to refer again to the father of the faithful- Abraham, for "Was not
Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son
upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works
was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham
believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was
called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified,
and not by faith only" James 2:21-24. For the scripture also says- "BY FAITH
ABRAHAM, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after
receive for an inheritance, OBEYED; and he went out, not knowing whither he
went" Hebrews 11:8. We don't ever see that Abraham ever said he "accepted
the Lord as his personal savior" so here is another scriptural example that
contradicts the "accept the Lord as your savior, and it is done" dogma. What
Abraham did, was, in faith, he chose to "serve" God, and followed Him. He
did not merely make an intellectual assent.
So then, Pentecostals have an actual reason to claim being "heirs to the
promise" even beyond comparing themselves with Charismatics alone. (On
reading this, please do me one favor- please don't assume that all
Pentecostals, or their churches, are equal and the same. Claiming to be
"Pentecostal" does not guarantee that anyone has the full truth. Just as
saying one is Christian doesn't.)
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May God Bless you! From Tom Raddatz
http://www.corecom.net/~tomrpp/watchman.htm
"That I may know him;... Not as though I had already attained, either were
already perfect:... I count NOT myself to have apprehended:... I press
toward the mark for the prize..." -Phil. 3:10-14.
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