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THE FAITH IN CHRIST and ITS FUNCTIONING
“…The just shall live by faith.”
(Rom.1:17)
·
“Verily, verily, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.”
(John 6:47)
·
“Yes, and if I be offered on the sacrifice and
service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.”
(Php.2:17).
Continued from #047a - EN
Part 3:
Erroneous Teachings and Traditions
Introduction
We examined in the five previous chapters of the series
FAITH IN CHRIST and ITS FUNCTIONING,
the meaning and importance of faith, its essential component, which is
repentance and finally the obstacles in the functioning of faith. We will,
therefore, examine henceforth the undesirable repercussions of erroneous
teachings and traditions both in the life of the Christian and of the Church due
to erroneous faith, such as:
“The so-called “
The so-called “
The
so-called “Full Gospel” is a Gospel that does not correspond to the true Gospel
of God because it proclaims the love of God but does not give the necessary
warnings; it overemphasizes the gifts of the Holy Spirit and especially the
“speaking with other tongues” (glossolalia) and divine healing; it divides
Christians and Churches on account of the “speaking in tongues” by distorting
the Bible, teaching and inventing unscriptural excuses. At the end of this Bible
study we will examine what the Bible teaches.
1.
The true Gospel, and its warnings
For the last few decades we have witnessed a tendency to put the accent either
on just faith or on the love of God or on the grace of God or on the gifts of
the Holy Spirit; and also, of a tendency
to neglect or rather to
avoid speaking
systematically
of God’s justice and the consequences of incredulity and disobedience!
A tendency to comfort anxious sinners without
telling them God’s conditions! To preach on the
love of God is a marvelous thing. To proclaim the free salvation of God is a
valuable subject! Nevertheless not to explain or not to give a description of
what man is saved from is very dangerous: About eternal judgment or perdition,
the wrath of God or not to mention what a fearful thing it is to fall into the
hands of the living God (Heb.10:31). The church must be protected from such
truncated or false doctrines and from such false consolations!
Men do not want to remember how severe God has always
been with disobedient people or with apostates. When they preach on John 3:16,
“For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life” or simply refer to this verse or to other similar
verses (John 3:18; 3:36; 5:24; 6:54), they put the emphasis on the love of God
and on man’s faith but they
systematically
avoid describing what the word
“perdition” means… and to say that whoever does not believe will perish and
what “salvation” actually means and implies! They avoid mentioning, for example,
John 3:36,
“He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and
he that believes not the Son shall not see life;
but the wrath of God stays on him”
and other similar verses. They avoid speaking of the wrath of God. This Gospel
is not “the Full Gospel”! It is a
lame Gospel, a crippled Gospel! The words or expressions like
“shame and everlasting contempt”,
“everlasting fire”, “the wrath of God”, “everlasting punishment”, “hell fire”,
“perdition of ungodly men”, “second death”, “the lake of fire”, etc., are
not even mentioned… And the fear of God disappears… These are, however, words
that were uttered from the mouth of our Lord, His prophets and apostles… who
did not try to please people but to save those who were listening to them!
If we do not know from what we have been saved, how can we appreciate our
salvation? If we break the law of our country, we are imprisoned or we pay a
fine. What is going to happen if we break the law of God who is a God of
principles? Will there be no consequences? God has his own moral laws. If we
want to do our own thing, ignore His will and to disobey His spiritual laws,
surely and certainly
God will resist
us, we will have a
deplorable life on earth and we will eternally reap the
consequences of our disobedience. He who does not know from what he has been
saved can never appreciate the salvation that God has given him!
In every
local church, there is always a mixed crowd: true believers, weak believers,
carnal believers, sympathizers, baby-believers and unbelievers! Some need
salvation, others edification and others spiritual revival. I firmly believe
that in each and every sermon addressed to a church, a note of evangelization
must be included, unless the speaker gives his message to a group, which
consists exclusively of true believers.
He who loves warns!
Those who avoid even
mentioning how terrible the end will be for the wicked and disobedient people,
argue that they preach all the truths which are included in the Gospel but in a
positive way. No, this is not true! This is not
the full Gospel but a Gospel emptied of its basic “components”!
It is just a euphemism! Positive
sermons and positive thinking are marvelous things but if they are not combined
with the necessary warnings, they cannot save. Our Lord
Jesus-Christ, let me repeat it, did not limit Himself to positive sermons but He
severely warned His listeners about the
“everlasting fire”, “the wrath of God”,
the
“everlasting punishment”, etc.
Jesus was not simply a positive preacher… The same thing is also valid for the
prophets of the Old Testament, for John the Baptist and for the apostles.
They say that they preach the whole Gospel, but
they do not, because they give exhortations, consolations but almost never
warnings. It is a false consolation!
He who loves warns! They try to be
pleasant to their listeners because they know that people do not endure
“sound doctrine” but they have ears itching (2Tim.4:3) to hear
pleasant things, good news. There is a tacit alliance between them.
Parents who are not sorry or do not get
angry at the sins of their children and do not warn them about the consequences
of their sins do not love them! In the same way, God’s workers who do not
warn unbelievers and even believers concerning the consequences of their
indifference, disobedience or even of their lukewarmness, do not love them!
He who loves warns!
2.
Emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit and on worshipping habits
The so-called “Full Gospel” teaches persistently and
emphatically the gifts of the Holy Spirit such as the speaking in tongues,
the divine healing, prophecies, etc.; in addition, it insists in deafening
decibels of music, in dance and ballets in the church services etc. All these
activities do not mean that it proclaims “all the
counsel of God”
(Acts.20:27; Mat.3:2; Marc 1:15; Luc 24:47),
whose
basic components
are
“…repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Acts 20:21; Mat.3:2; Mark 1:15; Luke 24:47). This
is the reason why we see great crowds when such pastors, healers and
especially miracle makers “‘scream’ their sermons”, go to and fro on the
platform and transform Christian meetings into theatrical representations.
The
Bible speaks clearly about the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit distributes
to believers.
Consequently, we, too, must speak about them with the necessary wisdom and
understanding and within the context of a spiritual equilibrium and without
exaggeration. Unfortunately, in our days, we see that the necessary spiritual
equilibrium is not respected and particularly as far as the speaking
“with other tongues”
and divine healing. Some arrive at the point of asserting
that ONLY those who have spoken in tongues have been
baptized in the Holy Spirit! Then, a practical
question arises: The giants or heroes of faith and holy life
of the past
(before the appearance of this teaching/doctrine) that have been used by God for
the salvation in Christ of millions of souls, were they never baptized with the
Holy Spirit because they never spoke in tongues? I consider, therefore,
necessary to treat this point relatively in detail!
a)
Alteration of the true Gospel: Theories and practice
A man of God that I deeply love and appreciate, a
missionary, doctor in theology, wrote to me that only those who have spoken in
tongues according to Acts 2:4: “And they were all
filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit
gave them utterance” are baptized in the Holy
Spirit and that all the other believers from all the other Christian
denominations who have not spoken in tongues have just the experience of the
disciples according to John 20:22: “And when
he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, Receive you the Holy
Ghost”! I was shocked ... My soul began aching!
IF
this is so, then ALL TRUE
Spirit filled CHRISTIANS who have not spoken in
tongues have not been baptized in the Holy Spirit! They belong to the period
prior the crucifixion, resurrection, ascension of the Lord Jesus and the descent
of the Holy Spirit, which gave birth to the Church of the period of grace!
I put the question:
Everything that happened before Christ’s crucifixion, after His crucifixion, His
resurrection and the Day of Pentecost are they applied or repeated on the
believers of our days, in the same absolute way as on that day, with a sound
from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and cloven tongues like as of fire
sitting on each one? (Acts 2:2-3).
b)
Invention of excuses
Those who support this erroneous interpretation –
being unable to face up to strong
relevant Biblical arguments – have
invented a way out
from this deadlock: They argue that, “The Initial
Physical Evidence…” should not be confused with
the gift of
speaking in tongues.
I put the question:
Where, IN THE BIBLE, have they found such distinction?
What kind of hermeneutics
is this?
This is a man-made conclusion and requirement!
Speaking in tongues was intended to
be a SIGN,
a means of reaching out to unbelievers
in their own languages. That was translated later into pomp, vain glory and
false imitations, even to worse acts… (1Cor.12:3). This is the reason why the
apostle Paul sharply reproved, among other sins, this fault and abuse in the
Church of Corinth! Neither
Paul and nor any of the other apostles
EVER required such a
thing from Christians or from Christian leaders! The apostles John and Peter
speak a lot (in their epistles), about the Cross of Christ, the Blood of Christ,
Redemption, Repentance, Holiness, etc. If Speaking in Tongues is so crucial for
Christians and Christian leaders, why is there no mention whatever of that
so-called prerequisite? The Word of
God says: “Follow peace with all men, and
holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”
(Heb.12:14). It does not say “follow the “The
Initial Physical Evidence, which is the ‘Speaking in Tongues’”…
without which no man shall see the Lord…….
If there are believers who rely on “speaking in tongues”
in order to have the certainty that they are saved, they are FATALY
deceived and do not differ from the Galatian believers for whom Christ was not
sufficient for their salvation but they wanted ALSO to be circumcised. If
there are such believers, then, Christ is for them, dead in vain
(Gal.2:21).
Christ is become of no effect to them that believe that in order to be saved
they need to speak in tongues; they are fallen from grace!
(Gal.5:4).
c)
Some important declarations of the Bible
1.
The
Bible clearly and repeatedly states that the Holy Spirit is given us by
hearing of faith
(Gal.3:2 - Gal.3:5);
2.
It also says that it is accounted for righteousness:
As it happened to Abraham so it happens also to us in the same way (Gal.3:6-9)
and we receive, through Jesus Christ, the
promise of the Spirit through faith
(Gal.3:13-14);
3.
We also receive eternal life (Joh.6:47);
4.
God has sent forth the Spirit in our hearts, because
we are His sons, crying, Abba, Father (Gal.4:6) and by whom we have
become heirs of God through Christ (Gal.4:7);
5.
«…If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we
will come to him and make our abode with him.
(John 14:23)
6.
The fact that the Holy Spirit did not give
to all believers the
sign to speak in unknown tongues when they received the promise of the Spirit
(but he who reads carefully the Word of God and especially the
whole of the book of
Acts will find it out), does it mean that those who have not spoken in tongues
have not received the promise of the Spirit?
And something else: Let us not forget that the
speaking in tongues of the Corinthians did not help them get rid of their
disorderly walk or, put a better way, of their sinful life. What greater profit
for them if they had made the Lord Jesus Christ
LORD
of all the moments of their life and in everything.
d)
Some wonderful promises of God
All true
Christians from all existing
denominations have, among others, the following divine privileges:
·
“In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you
believed, you were
sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,
which is
the earnest of our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory”
(Eph.1:13-14);
·
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy
has begotten us again to a lively
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead”
(1Pet.1:3);
·
“And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby
you are sealed
to the day of redemption.”
(Eph.4:30);
·
“Whoever
is
born of God
does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he
is born of God.”
(1Joh.3:9);
I put the question:
All those who are
born of God and
sealed
with the Holy Spirit
are they not baptized in the Holy
Spirit because they have not spoken in tongues?
e)
Practical questions:
Ø
ALL THOSE WHO ARE BORN AGAIN BELIEVERS
that have given their heart to God and their
eyes observe His ways (Pr.23:26);
Ø
All those who bear their
cross faithfully, and come after Him
(Luke14:27);
Ø
All those in whose heart God has put
His laws into their mind, and has written them in
their hearts (Heb.8:10);
Ø
All those who have presented their bodies as a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God,
and do not
conform to this world but are transformed by the renewing of their mind and
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God
(Rom.12:1-2);
Ø
All those who have been made
free from sin
and become servants to God, having their fruit to holiness and everlasting life
(Rom.6:22) and to whom
God has been giving the Holy Spirit
because they obey Him (Ac.5:32);
Ø
All those who have accepted
to live for Jesus and be persecuted
to death in order not to dishonor Christ’s
precious name Who saved them and has given them
divers gifts such as of teacher, prophet, etc.
I put the question:
ALL THE ABOVE MENTIONED BELIEVERS are they not baptized in the Holy Spirit
because they have not spoken in tongues?
What kind of Holy Spirit have they received to live such a holy and powerful
life?
f)
God’s Spirit dwells in us
Paul has written: “Know
you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in
you?” (1Cor.3:16; 2Cor.6:16).
God, according to His good pleasure of His will He builds
us together for a habitation of God
through the Spirit!
(Eph.2:22;
3:17). He has also written: «But
you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
»
(Rom.8:9, 11).
Do these words hold good only for
those who have spoken in tongues, who had the “Initial Physical Evidence, ‘which
is the speaking in tongues’”? This is the reason
why some, (fortunately very few), arrived at the point of saying that whosoever
has not had the Initial
Physical Evidence to speak in tongues has not
received the Spirit of God and consequently does not have any relation with
Christ. I pray with all my heart to forgive them and let them see the light!
g)
Will the believer be rewarded for the gift of the Holy Spirit or for his fruit?
The believer will not be rewarded for the gift that the
Holy Spirit has bestowed on him, in His sovereign will, but only if that “sign”
or “gift” was used by him for the salvation of unbelievers or for the
edification of believers. The Bible says in many ways that we will be rewarded
if we believe Christ’s words, if we assimilate them, if we apply them, if we
share them with others, if we accept to take up our cross, if, after having put
our hand to the plough, we do not let our hearts look back and if, in two words,
we bring forth fruit and fruit that
remains! Yes, if all the sectors of our life were sanctified and were
changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the
LORD (2Cor.3:18).
If we lived with the “unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth” (1Cor.5:8). If we were always delivered to
death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our
mortal flesh
(2Cor.4:11) and if the love of God was shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Ghost which is given to us
(Rom.5:5). Will those who have not spoken in
tongues but who have sincerely trusted their life in Christ
be ashamed when they stand before the throne of God?
I put the question:
Has not God given all true believers
the earnestness of the Spirit
(2Cor.5:5) and has not
Christ Jesus been made to those who have not spoken in tongues: wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption?
(1Cor.1:30).
Peter, in his second epistle, addressing himself to
brothers – and consequently to us –he tells them that they have obtained
“like
precious faith” (2Pet.1:1) with the
apostles through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. He also
reassures us, that “…his divine power
has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue” (2Pet.1:3).
What does it mean “all things that
pertain to life and godliness”? What does the word
“all” contains? Forgiveness,
justification, salvation, adoption, eternal life, power to overcome sin,
sanctification and a continuous change into the same image of the Lord Jesus
Christ from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD (2Cor.3:18)
etc. How is it ever possible to have received all these prerogatives of the
grace and of the Holy Spirit and not have been baptized by the Spirit?
With what Spirit do we abide in Christ and with
what Spirit do we bring forth spiritual fruit? ARE
ALL THESE
not baptized in the Holy Spirit because they have not spoken in tongues?
h)
The Consequences
THIS DOCTRINAL ERROR CREATES DIVISIONS, FRICTIONS AND SCANDALS
among believers and among churches! Speaking in
tongues of the Spirit is taught in the Bible
but this erroneous interpretation, which excludes all other true Christians from
never having been baptized in the Holy Spirit is a twisted and a false
interpretation, which leads to spiritual blindness and spiritual apartheid!
Beyond that, it divides into first and second class Christians! And by
extension: as a result of this error in
“the book of life” (Luke 10:20; Rev.3:5; 22:19) there will be two lists
of names of Christians: One list will contain Christians baptized with the Holy
Spirit, because they have spoken in tongues and a second that will contain names
of Christians not having been baptized with Holy Spirit, because they have not
spoken in tongues!
According to these erroneous hermeneutics, the millions of true born again
Christians of other denominations have never been baptized in the Holy Spirit!
Billy Graham who has not experienced the
“Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the
Holy Spirit, which is Speaking in tongues”, as
well as those who have slept in the Lord: Finney, Moody, Spurgeon
and many others have never been baptized in the Holy Spirit!
It is another kind of Spirit that has blessed them?
Since we are exhorted to follow after charity and desire
spiritual gifts and especially prophesy (1Cor.14:1); since he that prophesies
speaks to men to edification and exhortation and comfort (1Cor.14:3); since
greater is he that prophesies than he that speaks in tongues, except he
interprets that the church may be edified (1Cor.14:5); and since
charity never fails
(1Cor.13:8), why do they put the priority
and the emphasis on speaking in tongues?
(1Cor.14:1-8). Tongues,
prophecies and knowledge shall cease (1Cor.13:8) but charity and holy life,
which are the product of true love for God and for man, will never fail but will
be rewarded. Bad attitudes, quarrels and divisions will be condemned…
The fact that Paul wanted or, in fact better still wished
to see all believers speak in tongues, does not mean that this is a commandment
of God (just as You shall not kill; Neither shall you commit adultery etc.)
because it is the Holy Spirit Who, in His sovereignty and for the edification of
the Church, divides this gift or sign
AS HE WILL.
WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES
Our theology should not be based on experiences but on the teaching, spirit and
principles of the Bible. Otherwise, we will go astray. In general terms, 1Cor.
chapters 12, 13 and 14 as well as Ephesians, chapters 1 and 4 tell us the
following things concerning the point under discussion:
1Cor.12:1-30:
“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I would not
have you ignorant. You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb
idols, even as you were led. Why I give you to understand, that no man speaking
by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed: and that
no man can say that Jesus is the Lord,
but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are
diversities of gifts, but
the same Spirit……… the manifestation of the
Spirit is given to every man to profit with. For to one is given by the
Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same
Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of
healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to
another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits;
to another divers kinds of tongues; to
another the interpretation of tongues:
But all these works hat are one and the self same
Spirit, dividing to every man severally
AS HE WILL………
For by one Spirit ARE WE
ALL
BAPTIZED INTO ONE BODY……..
AND HAVE BEEN ALL
MADE TO DRINK INTO ONE SPIRIT.
For the body is not one member, but many….That
there should be NO SCHISM in the body; … And
God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly
teachers……… Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all
workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing?
do all speak with tongues? do all
interpret?”
1Cor.13:1:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,
and have not charity,
I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”
1Cor.14:1-39:
“Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that you may
prophesy………
But he that prophesies speaks to men to edification,
and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies
himself; but he that prophesies edifies the
church. I would that you all
spoke with tongues BUT RATHER THAT YOU PROPHESIED: for GREATER is he that
prophesies than he that speaks with tongues, except he interpret, that the
church may receive edifying……… Brothers, be not CHILDREN IN UNDERSTANDING………
Why tongues are for A SIGN,
not to them that believe, BUT TO THEM THAT BELIEVE
NOT:
but prophesying serves not for them that believe not, but for them which
believe………Why,
brothers, covet to prophesy, and
forbid not to speak with
tongues.”
Eph.1:13-14:
“In whom you also
trusted,
after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in
whom also after that you
believed, you were
SEALED WITH THAT HOLY SPIRIT OF
PROMISE, which is the earnest of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of
his glory.”? The sealing with
the Holy Spirit does it refer only to those who have spoken in tongues?
Eph.4.11-13:
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and
some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the
knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of
the fullness of Christ”
Notice, please that in
1Cor. chapters 13 and 14,
Paul speaks about the restricted utility of speaking in tongues and the
restrictions that should follow those speaking in tongues in the assemblies.
There are two categories of people: a) Worldly
people who are spiritually dead sinners and b) Born again believers. In other
words: the lost and the found! In addition, born again believers are either
baby-Christians and/or carnal believers and/or spiritually mature believers. All
believers have been baptized in one Spirit… What makes a carnal Christian pass
from the carnal state to the spiritual one? Baby and/or carnal believers become
spiritual and mature on one condition:
If they make the good choice to follow
Christ wholeheartedly, take up their cross and follow Him and obey the Holy
Spirit. Only to those who obey God (by sincere
repentance and faith and love without dissimulation),
God gives the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:32).
This is true spirituality!
Does the act of speaking in tongues, this manifestation
of the Spirit, constitute the
guarantee of spirituality and maturity of the believer? Does the
speaking in tongues make the believer wiser to take care of his family and of
his local Church and his neighbor? Absolutely not! Consequently, according to
the erroneous interpretation in question, the believer without that “Initial
Sign or Evidence” may only come to church, occupy a bench, support it
financially and listen but he will never be treated on an equal footing! This
position, as a “sine qua non”
prerequisite, either for membership and/or in the Church leadership, is
fatally misleading or
constitutes a very bad pattern of “spirituality”!
CONCLUSION
When we stay before the throne of God, the question that
will be put to us will it be
WHETHER WE HAVE SPOKEN IN TONGUES OR RATHER IF WE HAVE LIVED A HOLY AND FRUITFUL
LIFE?
“Herein is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit; so shall you be my disciples.”
(John 15:8).
May God help us to understand and apply these great truths!
John BALTATZIS
www.sporeas.com
www.sporeas.gr
www.sporeas.eu
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