Baptists for Africa

The Truth about Pentecostalism

The Truth about Pentecostalism

The true Christian church was begun by Jesus Christ in Palestine in the first century (Matthew 16:18), but the first Pentecostal churches began by wicked unbelieving humans in 20th century America.

The False Gospel of Pentecostalism: Lordship Salvation

Every Pentecostal will go to hell (see Matthew 7:21-23). All Pentecostal (called in East Africa, “born-again”) churches teach that salvation is a process, and that one has to repent of their sins in order to be saved. From the Bible, it can be easily seen that we do not have to repent of our sins to go to heaven:

  1. Repentance of sin is a work (see Jonah 3:10), something we do of ourselves (Ephesians 2:8), but we are not saved by our works (Romans 3:28). Repentance of sin means to turn from disobeying God and to begin obeying him, which is the definition of “the works of the law” that does not save us (Galatians 2:16; Romans 9:32). We are not saved “by works of righteousness which we have done” (Titus 3:5).
  2. Repentance of sin is a work which God did not command for salvation (see Acts 16:31; John 3:16). The gospel of John claims to be sufficient to show someone how to get eternal life (John 20:31), and although the word “believe” in its many variations occurs 100 times in the book of John, the word “repent” is not used even once.
  3. Repentance of all sin is an impossible work. Everyone is a sinner (Ecclesiastes 7:20; I Kings 8:46), and if we say that we are sinless, we lie to ourselves and to God (I John 1:8, 10). Several realities makes repentance of all sin impossible: (a) the inability to remember all past sins, (b) the unawareness of all present sins, and (c) the potential ignorance of future sins. “Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?” (Proverbs 20:9).
  4. Repentance of sin is a work which cannot save someone. One is still legally responsible for sins which they repent of. A repentant murderer is still guilty of murder. Men like Judas Iscariot repented of his sin (Matthew 27:3-4), but went to hell (Mark 14:21; Acts 1:25). Other men like king Saul did not repent of his sins (e.g., I Samuel 31:4), but he went to heaven (I Samuel 28:19).

According to the Bible, salvation is a one-time event, not a process:

  1. Salvation is a present possession. Believers “are saved” (I Corinthians 1:18; II Corinthians 2:15; see also Revelation 21:24), not “being saved.” and presently have “eternal life” (John 3:36; 6:47).
  2. Salvation is a past event for believers. Those who have “first trusted in Christ” have already received the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:12-14), and have “passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).
  3. Salvation is a gift and a new-birth. Just as a gift is given once, or being born happens once, so also the gift of eternal life is given once (Romans 6:23; 5:15-18), and we are born of God once (I John 5:1; John 3:3-8). When one believes, they “never hunger” and “never thirst” eternally again (John 6:35).
  4. Jesus’ death was once for all (Hebrews 10:10, 14), so our salvation is also a one-time event. On the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

The False Gifts of Pentecostalism

Every person who trusts in Christ receives the “indwelling” of the Holy Spirit at their salvation (John 7:38-39), a permanent residence of the Spirit in the heart of the believer (see Romans 8:9-11, 15). However, in the first century AD, the earliest Christians in contact with the apostles of Christ (Peter, James, etc.) received the “baptism” of the Holy Spirit, where they were given special prophetic/miraculous gifts (see Acts 1:4-5; Acts 11:15-16; cf. Acts 2:1-4 with Matthew 3:11). This gave them differing unique gifts, such as prophetic knowledge in the form of special revelation (e.g., Acts 11:27-28) or visions/dreams (e.g., Acts 10:9-16), and/or power of healing (e.g., Acts 5:15-16) or of exorcism (e.g., Acts 16:16-18). Pentecostal churches are nothing like the New Testament churches. For example, they claim to have the gift of speaking in tongues, but the New Testament gift of tongues is completely different from their practice:

  • Tongues were an ability to speak in a foreign language which one had not previously learned (see Acts 2:4-11), not to babble or ramble in incoherent ecstatic speech. Every mention of the term “tongue” in the Bible is either referring to the anatomical organ (for example, Mark 7:35) or to human language (for example, Revelation 7:9). Pentecostal “speaking in tongues” is very similar to demonic possession (e.g., Luke 9:39; see also Mark 5:1-15).
  • Tongues were to be used in evangelism for unbelievers, not in the church for believers (I Corinthians 14:22). Tongues are not a “prayer language”—to speak/pray “with the spirit” (I Corinthians 14:14-15) does not mean to utter nonsense, but rather to speak purposefully/heartily (cf. Acts 19:21; 20:22; Romans 1:9).
  • Tongues, if used in the church, had to be used in an orderly fashion, where two or three (at the most) speak, turn by turn, and someone always had to be there to interpret the speech (see I Corinthians 14:27-28). This commandment is never obeyed by Pentecostals.

All of these prophetic/miraculous gifts have ceased after the first century, meaning that no one for nearly 2,000 years has had them. The gifts had a distinct purpose to establish the divine authority of the New Testament. God commands that prophets be rigorously tested before being believed (Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 18:20-22; see also I Thessalonians 5:20-21). Jesus’ miracles bore witness that his word was from the Father (John 5:36; 10:25, 38), as he was “approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs” (Acts 2:22). The same is true for the apostles and prophets of the New Testament (see Acts 14:3; Hebrews 2:3-4). Once the New Testament books were completed, miracles and prophesy were no longer necessary, and so they naturally stopped.

I Corinthians 13:8-10: “Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.”

There are no more prophets, apostles, or miracle-workers today in the 21st century. The Bible clearly says this (e.g., Hebrews 1:1-2), and the only way to receive those gifts was to have an apostle give them (see Acts 8:14-19). However, there are no more apostles/prophets today (see Ephesians 2:20), and all those who claim to be so are “false apostles, deceitful workers” (II Corinthians 11:13-15; see Revelation 2:2). Paul deemed himself the “last” apostle (I Corinthians 15:8). The apostles (except Judas Iscariot) occupied an office which was not replaceable (for example, James was not replaced, Acts 12:2), and no person today can meet the qualifications of being an apostle, which included being an eyewitness to the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 1:21-22; see also I Corinthians 9:1). Jesus tells us to “beware of false prophets” who come after him (Matthew 7:15; 24:11), including all the present-day Pentecostal “prophets,” who “speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:16).

All prophecies/miracles of the Pentecostals are fabricated lies and cunning fables (there is no independent scientific verification of them). Even if there are prophecy/miracles performed by the Pentecostals, they are demonic, and not of the Holy Spirit. Even the pharaoh’s magicians were able to perform certain miracles in opposition to Moses (see Exodus 7-8). Jesus warns of “false Christs, and false prophets,” which “shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24; see also II Thessalonians 2:9). Therefore, any supposed miracle from the Pentecostals, if true, is from the power of the devil, not God.

The False Preaching of Pentecostalism: The Prosperity Gospel

Pentecostal churches preach a theology of prosperity, which is the teaching that God’s will for every person is their social, physical and financial well-being. They are “supposing that gain is godliness” (I Timothy 6:5; see Job 22:23-25), and are usually positive-only preachers, saying “Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11; see also 14:13; Ezekiel 13:10). Jesus blessed the poor (Luke 6:20; see also James 2:5), but the charismatic movement generally interprets poverty and sickness as proof of unbelief or sinfulness. Job, however, was more righteous than any other man (see Job 1-2), with great faith, and he still suffered. The emphasis of Pentecostal churches is on miracles, money, health, and power––not on Christ, not on the word of God:

II Timothy 4:3-4: “3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Matthew 7:22-23: “22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”