Status and Purpose

This is draft content; feedback by anyone who reads it is welcome!

I am trying to write for those who are Bible-believing evangelicals but who have not hitherto been open to experiences of the Spirit embraced by the charismatic community. My aim is to call such people into a thoroughly Biblical, but also thoroughly experiential walk with God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Along the way I as a historically charismatic Christian also found myself encouraged afresh to pursue the work of the Holy Spirit in my life, so I hope this will be a blessing to those from that background too.

Introduction

This book is written for sincere Christian believers who want to understand what God has revealed to us about the Holy Spirit in his Word, and to bring our lives in faith to God in order that we would experience the fullness of all he has for us through his Spirit. 

Christianity has been around for around 2,000 years, and has found expression in many different flavours or traditions through that timespan. Among the most prominent movements in the last fifty years are the evangelical movement and the Pentecostal and charismatic movements[[1]]. Evangelicalism has emphasised the unique authority of the Bible and the need for personal conversion to receive the work of Christ on the cross, and to see change in the world around us[[2]]. The Pentecostal and charismatic movements have also emphasised experiencing the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. There is considerable overlap between these movements[[3]], and yet also genuine differences between evangelicals who are and are not Pentecostal or charismatic. This overlap and difference has raised good questions about how to understand and interpret what the Bible teaches us about the Holy Spirit.

[[1]]: Christianity in its Global Context reports estimates of evangelical Christians globally numbering between 95 and 126 million in 1970, and between 349 and 653 million in 2020. It also reports estimates of “Renewalist” Christians - including Pentecostals and charismatics of various flavours - numbering around 65 million in 1970, and around 710 million in 2020 - whilst noting that the categories can overlap.

[[2]]: See “Note For the Theologically Minded” if you want some clearer definitions. Note that this is different from “evangelicals” defined as part of a political landscape, particularly in America.

[[3]]: “Today, there exists a strong connection between Evangelicalism and the Pentecostal movement. Classical Pentecostal denominations like the Assemblies of God are largely Evangelical, and up to one third of all Evangelicals are Pentecostals.” World Christian Encyclopedia, 3rd edition - extract available here.

I myself was raised by Bible-believing parents who led me to faith in Christ at an early age. For most of my childhood my family were in traditional evangelical, denominational churches. My parents were also open to the charismatic movement, and at the start of high school I joined a church that is evangelical, reformed and charismatic in its theology and practice. My journey with Christ has often involved simultaneous growth in exploring Bible teaching and in experiencing the powerful work of the Spirit.

My hope is that this book will serve those evangelical believers who sincerely trust God’s Word, but who have felt cautious about or even opposed to the charismatic movement and whether its experiential approach to spirituality is out of line with the Word of God. My goal is to call you into a thoroughly biblical experience of the Spirit that may go beyond what you have been accustomed to, without in any way invalidating your existing experience of His work. I want to provide an inside view of a thoroughly Bible-based charismatic life, by looking through the Scriptures and what they call us to, and explaining how these may be put into practice.

The claims of Pentecostal and charismatic Christians to have received gifts and experiences of the Spirit - that seem so different to the expectations of regular evangelical believers - can seem so arrogant and implausible that it’s hard to have a reasonable discussion about it. They seem to assume that their way of reading the Bible - with their own set of assumptions - should be taken for granted, when it’s such a change from what has gone before! Are there any valid reasons behind what they believe, and isn’t such an experience-oriented Christianity vulnerable to lots of abuse and problems?

These are all valid and important questions. As a believer in Christ with thoroughly evangelical convictions about the centrality and supreme authority of Scripture, I can see how some charismatic or Pentecostal practices, and the kinds of language used and ways of justifying things can be concerning or even alarming to other believers. But I also know sincere Christians from these backgrounds who have lived faithfully for decades by seeking to obey the Scriptures - and whose desire for the work of the Spirit is thoroughly grounded in the Bible. While it can be valid to criticise less Biblically grounded charismatic expression, we must ourselves ensure that we are in obedience to the biblical injunctions to pursue the work of the Spirit.

I’m hopeful that the material presented in this book would enable you to understand how charismatic believers come to an understanding of the Spirit that is genuinely founded in the pages of the Bible. I also hope that this will help to illuminate where we actually have more common ground than often perceived, so that we can understand and communicate our different perspectives in a more constructive fashion. I hope that where there are genuine differences I’ve been able to present an honest and thoughtful evaluation of the valid motivations on either side that will help you. But more than anything I hope that this material will encourage you in your fellowship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and with the whole body of believers in Jesus - and that you may continually and increasingly “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18), in accordance with the Scripture.

This book starts with an overview of the teaching of Scripture about the work of the Spirit. This contains footnotes referencing relevant passages of the Bible; this is not meant to be a “proof text” approach to Scripture, but rather to provide reference points for examination and meditation. It then proceeds into sections which include explanations and reasoning from Scripture on particular topics where there may be more need of it. The aim is to help us to work out what it means to be a church submitted to the Word of God and embracing the presence and work of the Holy Spirit, with love and sensitivity to one another.

I’d encourage you to go through the book with a Bible to hand, looking up Scriptures that are referenced and others that may be relevant to a particular topic, and to note your areas of agreement, disagreement, questions or prayer points. Where you see something that God calls you to in the Scripture, pursue obedience and faith. Where you are unsure, pursue clarity and deeper understanding. And in all of it, let’s depend on God to lead us into all truth by the Holy Spirit.

An aside for Pentecostal/Charismatic Believers

For those of us who have come to know Christ in a Pentecostal or charismatic context, or later on in our walk with Christ come into an experience of the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit, it can be easy to see a close connection between what we read in the Bible and our expectations of what church and Christian living should look like, and hard to imagine why non-charismatic evangelicals might not see our experiences as good and biblical. This can sometimes lead to us naturally feeling frustrated with those from different Christian backgrounds who question or are even disparaging about us, and we can then sometimes be quite strong in our criticism of them, even saying things like “they don’t even know the Holy Spirit”. It saddens me to see the hurt that has been felt between genuine believers in Christ because of these differences. Hopefully this book may provide an example of a more positive approach to engagement on these issues.