Charismatic Ideas Cloaked in Holiness

The last twenty years have been very revealing as to the nature and intents of the Charismatic movement. While most nominal conservative churches consider all Pentecostals to be Charismatics, we know that all Pentecostals are not Charismatics. The original supposed intent of the Charismatic movement was to more fully "reintroduce" Pentecost or Holy Ghost Baptism to America. Instead a very aberrant doctrinal stance was taken. The Holy Ghost was introduced as the mainstay or leader of the church, and the bragging rights of great services and meetings belonged to the Holy Spirit. True Pentecostals understand that the Spirit empowers and produces great kingdom work, yet it is all done for the glory of God and the namesake of Jesus Christ. But the Charismatic movement began to verbally and mentally give greater glory and praise to the Spirit. Many conservative believers are very strong against the aberrant doctrines of the Oneness or Jesus Only movement, yet they never realized the similar idea in the Holy Ghost Only movement commonly called; "The Charismatic Movement".

Proper Bible study easily reveals to us that Christ is the head of the church and the Great Shepherd of the sheep. He also has been given a name, which is above every name and should have the preeminence in all things relating to the church and our lives. In spite of these easily seen ideas, there has been a gradual swing into Charismatic ideas EVEN WITHIN mainline Pentecostal churches and holiness churches. That is why many mainline Pentecostal and formerly holiness churches have eventually followed suit and gone into the Charismatic movement so easily. Why did they follow these same patterns? They were taught so, maybe unknowingly, by their favorite Pentecostal and holiness preachers! Satan has cleverly begun a great destruction of mainline Pentecostal denominations and their former great miracle-working power. These groups WERE leading many people in our country and world to Christ and seeing many bona-fide healings.

What has changed? The term "power" from God now is used more for a "feeling" and to create a shout or extreme emotional experiences, instead of meeting the physical and spiritual needs of a life bound by sin and sickness. So called "miracles" are usually the type that are hard to prove and they are often very shallow (perceived, yet not real). It is common to hear more bragging about the "shout" than about signs and wonders and conversions. The common Pentecostal or holiness believer runs to the doctor most times before trusting the Savior. If we have come to "more fully" understand the Spirit, why are things changing for the worse? The common holiness church and preacher have developed many mistaken ideas about Pentecost, and that is why we often hear of a good member, church or preacher all of a sudden going into ‘Charismania’ and we are surprised! The basic reasons are misunderstandings and false doctrines that relate to the Holy Spirit.

Why do I say that Charismatics are cloaked in holiness? I have met and heard many very conservative people in the last few years that revealed many misunderstandings about the work of God and His Spirit. These misunderstandings keep them from experiencing the fullness that was intended to inhabit their lives. I have often heard preachers state that the Holy Ghost is in charge of the church and controls it. This is a Charismatic idea, not a Bible idea. Many holiness churches teach and believe this! Yet the scripture states that position belongs to Christ alone. (Jesus said the Spirit would reveal to us the things that Jesus and the Father talked about. The Spirit tells us what Christ wants from our lives!) This makes them vulnerable to take one more step into the Charismatic movement! Many teach that the Spirit gets in your arm or some body part and causes you to do things out of your control. The Spirit only works in a yielded vessel; He never MAKES you do anything. This false premise also makes them vulnerable to deception because what they "feel" seems more real than what they should know or read in scripture.

Another false idea is that the Holy Ghost uses His power to help the church. Not so! The Holy Spirit uses the victory that Christ won at Calvary to redeem lost souls. He uses the virtue from the stripes placed on Christ’s back for healing. "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." (Matthew 28:18) The Spirit constantly seeks glory for Jesus and not Himself! If the power He used was from Himself, then He could appreciate glory for His name. But Jesus clearly said that the Spirit would ALWAYS glorify Christ. So when you hear the next holiness man say that the Spirit really moved in their last service, and you rarely hear them use the name of Jesus, then you know you are listening to someone who misunderstands the work of the Spirit and has a Charismatic understanding instead. The Holy Ghost did not die on a cross for us, Jesus did! We must respect each member of the Trinity properly for the role they each perform in our lives and our churches. Any misunderstanding can lead to a bigger misunderstanding, which can lead to false doctrine. "He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." (John 16:14) "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." (Speaking of the Spirit) (John 16:13)

Many "closet Charismatics" believe that when there is a huge emotional outbreak, they are seeing the power of God. Yet none of the sick they pray for that day are healed! Is that the example of the power of God shown in the book of Acts? In the New Testament, we see emotional responses happening AFTER God does a great work. Charismatics are satisfied with the emotions, whether a real life-need is met or not. Real holiness Pentecostals are always determined that needs MUST be met. Real old-time saints will get on their prayer bones and fast until God answers prayer. Then the shouting can begin! And it is easy to shout and praise God AFTER He does a great work in answer to our persistent, fervent prayers. The holiness Charismatic is satisfied with only a shout and musical joy and then goes home feeling okay. But true saints want to see God work. "And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all." (Acts 4:33) Preachers who have lost the power can continue to dress holy and preach "hard" and use emotional Charismatic tactics to create a fake or shallow joy that satisfies the congregation. "That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." (1Corinthians 2:5) I tell you they are but one step from becoming a Charismatic! If the devil drops a little gold dust into their midst, they are goners! (By the way, is the heavenly street of gold crumbling and causing dust to settle here?)

A very common progression for those misguided holiness/conservative folks, is to group their people around some strict idea and keep them faithful by a cultic-type power. They emphasize this even more because the Charismatics have lost all respect for holy dress and actions. But, drawing a group together around hair, certain style clothing, strict adherences, etc. will create a group that has a strong emotional attachment, which is a Charismatic ideal. This is opposite to Apostle Paul, who wanted the churches to be held together by the power of God. When you hear a preacher constantly speaking hard on a few areas of dress or lifestyle, you can realize they are often bound together by a standard and not Christ. This is done in innocence most of the time. Yet these people, bound together by emotions and standards, can fly apart very fast. Since the aberrant teachings of the Spirit lead to other aberrant teachings, quite often they begin to believe things and follow ideas that are not even in the Bible. To be more holy, they add more standards instead of more usability by the Spirit to affect the world for Christ. There is a Bible standard of dress and actions, but these people usually go far past it. It is far easier to live a strict standard than to seek and find true power with God. Hindus and other groups have very strict standards. We holiness folks MUST have power with God! Not just noise and standards! These folks are very shallow spiritually, and they use Charismatic ideas to hold their group together, even though they dress and act somewhat different from mainstream Charismatics.

The "anointing" has become a style of preaching, instead of "results". We have often praised "anointed" preachers (TV and some of our own) only to find out they were involved in vulgar, unclean acts during the time we thought they were anointed. The anointing will change lives and heal bodies. A harvest of souls will come along with the anointing. (The feast of Pentecost was a celebration of the harvest.) Folks get real excited if the preacher has a form of preaching that is loud, vibrant, and punctuated with the right words and Pentecostal sayings. But we must not enjoy excitement without results; we must not confuse the anointing with noise or excitement. The anointing breaks the yoke! The anointing will convict church members of gossip and break that yoke! All shouting and little or no repenting is a good sign that a problem exists. The Charismatics are very good at this practice; and sadly, so are many others. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised…" (Luke 4:18)

Please understand that emotions, joy, and excitement are to be expected around true Pentecostal and holiness churches. But if a misunderstanding exists about the work of the Spirit, the Charismatics are soon to have some new converts. Many holiness and Pentecostal preachers are Charismatic in their understanding and do not know it. They hear and repeat false beliefs. Most of them will tell you about a new book they read instead of a scripture that blessed them. I hear this so often among holiness meetings. Let us base all we say and do around the clear words printed in our KJV Bibles. We must not continue to lose good people to the false movement of the Charismatics. Remember to protect yourself! Compare what you hear to the Book! There are many ideas that I did not mention that are used in the Charismatic movement. Carefully watch your preacher and your friends, and help them and yourself stay free from improper or false teachings. Jesus is coming and the saints are going!