Brothers and sisters,
We have a huge issue here in the American church. We have a weak and watered-down version of Christianity that’s not found anywhere in the Bible—a version of Christianity born out of the human intellect instead of the Spirit of the living God.
An intellectualized version of Christianity lacking any power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:4
and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, (emphasis mine)
1 Corinthians 2:5
so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (emphasis mine)
1 Corinthians 4:20
For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. (emphasis mine)
1 Thessalonians 1:5
because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. (emphasis mine)
I want you to read over those scriptures again before going further.
Did you see how Paul emphasized God’s power, not intellect or intelligence? In fact, Paul points out that “my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom.” Paul, a son of a Pharisee and a former Pharisee (cf Acts 22:6, Phil 3:5), educated under Gamaliel (cf Acts 22:30), could most certainly bring messages with excellent oratory skills. He could have debated his fellow Jews and the Greeks easily. Yet, Paul doesn’t put any emphasis on his own abilities. Instead, the emphasis is put on the power of God over and over again.
Why do you think that is?
Paul most certainly could have verbally jousted with anyone and easily won. He could have sat for hours with the best and counter every single one of their points. Whether it was the most outstanding Torah scholars or Greek philosophers of his day, Paul could have easily stood his ground, and not a single person would have come to Christ. No one would have been healed, and no prophecy or words of knowledge would have been given; in other words, no power of God would be on display.
What Scripture Says
We need to confront the prevalent modern hermeneutical approach to Scripture. That is the false way of “I think” or “ I believe” this Scripture says or means.
We are playing with fire when we play fast and loose with Scripture.
So much of Scripture is clear and unambiguous to the Christian. Why? We have God’s Holy Spirit, who is our teacher and leads us in all truth (cf John 16:13, 1 John 2:27). Not that we won’t have minor (non-salvific) errors throughout our Christian walk.
The danger is when we put great emphasis on our intellect and intelligence with the “I think” or “I believe” type statements on what the Bible says. This has led to many severe errors in the modern American church and has opened the door to many Christians deconstructing their faith. This has also led to many churches apostatizing because they let opinions override Scripture. This is known as eisegesis. Got Questions gives us a great definition of eisegesis here:
The opposite approach to Scripture is eisegesis, which is the interpretation of a passage based on a subjective, non-analytical reading. The word eisegesis literally means “to lead into,” which means the interpreter injects his own ideas into the text, making it mean whatever he wants.
The Bible commands NOT to use the eisegetical or “I think” method.
2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
Got Questions sums this up perfectly:
Exegesis allows us to agree with the Bible; eisegesis seeks to force the Bible to agree with us.
But what about where Scripture isn’t clear, you may ask. That is a fair question with a simple answer. Until we understand what Scripture or scriptures mean, we should stay silent or give an I don’t know. A little humility goes a long way when avoiding severe errors, especially apostasy.
Severe errors know no doctrinal or denomination boundaries.
One last piece of advice before moving on to the next point. Before we start reading books by Christian authors, we need to become grounded in what Scripture says.
There are many well-meaning Christian authors. However, well-meaning doesn’t mean free from severe error or heresy. Many Christian books, like the kind published by Destiny Image, are based on “revelations” given by God to the author and read into Scripture. Once again, eisegesis. This isn’t that different from Joseph Smith or Muhammed, who both started religions based on supposed revelations from God and had things to say about Scripture.
Otherwise, we will be led by every wind of doctrine.
Quenching The Holy Spirit
1 Thessalonians 5:19-22
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
One of the worst ways of intellectualizing Christianity in the last 500 years is the false doctrine of Cessationism.
This belief did not come about because Scripture said that the gifts of the Spirit would cease at some time before Christ returned. Whether they would cease when the canon of Scripture closed or later.
This false, dangerous belief came about because great thinkers, the reformers, reasoned that because of the abuses in the Roman Catholic Church at that time, the gifts of the Spirit must have ceased.
Just because there is a counterfeit version of something doesn’t nullify the authentic version.
At the time of the Reformation, and what would turn out to be its catalyst, was the widespread false claims of miracles by the Roman Catholic Church, especially regarding relics.
Don’t disregard the fact that genuine miracles took place for hundreds of years before the Reformation.
Rome was the only religious authority and choice for 1000 years before the Reformation. To choose anything other than Rome resulted in someone being labeled a heretic and burned at the stake. There were many genuine Christians within Roman Catholicism who witnessed and experienced the true power of God. To include a prophecy uttered by Jan Hus about Martin Luther:
"Now we will cook the goose." (Huss in Bohemian means goose.) "Yes", replied Huss, "but there will come an eagle in a hundred years that you will not reach."[5]
All of this is to say that we must go by what Scripture says and not what we see going on around us or what a man teaches.
Just because there is a counterfeit version of something doesn’t nullify the authentic version. Just because there is counterfeit money doesn’t mean all money is terrible. Just because there is widespread credit card fraud doesn’t mean we throw out all credit cards. That would be foolish thinking at best!
No one who truly holds to Sola Scriptura would ever be a Cessationist.
Yet, we continue with a very similar 500-year-old way of thinking with zero scriptural support. Because of this widespread belief of Cessationism here in America, the Holy Spirit is being quenched and grieved across the American Christian landscape, primarily the Reformed theological system. This is another example of what happens when Scripture is not our final authority, even though the Reformed and Cessationist crowd will shout from the rooftops, Sola Scriptura, or Scripture Alone!
Yet, no one who truly holds to Sola Scriptura would ever be a Cessationist. Why? Because Scripture shouts that the gifts and callings of the Spirit will only cease once Christ returns!
1 Corinthians 13:8-10
As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
It is clear from the scriptures above that the gifts will cease, and it is NOT when we have the entire canon of Scripture. The perfection to come can only mean when Jesus returns, as Paul wrote at the beginning of his letter to the church in Corinth. Notice how he speaks of spiritual gifts and then the return of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 1:7
so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Of course, there is:
1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
Here is an excellent explanation from Jack Deere:
Exodus 33:11 says that “The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.”8 When Paul uses this expression, therefore, he is referring to the time when we shall see Jesus face to face. That time can only refer to his return, when every eye will see him (Rev. 1:7).
Deere, Jack. Surprised by the Power of the Spirit: Discovering How God Speaks and Heals Today . Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.
It would be presumptuous at best to say that poor old Paul only knew partly, but we know fully. Or that Paul never saw Jesus face to face, and now we do.
Ephesians 4:11-13
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
Here, we see that Scripture tells us why Jesus calls apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to His church. All five are essential if the church is to operate biblically. We could exegete from the text that any given church is not biblical without all five. We even see precisely when we will no longer need all five when we finally attain unity for one. The fact that there are numerous denominations and other facts attests that we are far from unity.
No one whom the Holy Spirit leads in conjunction with the Bible would ever come to the belief of Cessationism.
1 Corinthians 2:14
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
From Cessationism, human reasoning comes the quenching of God the Holy Spirit. Cessationism says that prophecy outside the Bible has ceased, violating what Scripture tells us about not despising prophecy.
One of the cries of the Reformation was “back to the sources” or Humanism (which is very different from today’s definition). The source they wanted to get back to was the Bible. However, the false belief of Cessationism did not result in a study of Scripture; instead, it was due to human thinking and rationalizing—the lack of the Holy Spirit.
I’m no fan of Christians checking their brains at the door. However, we must realize that our human understanding is like a single grain of sand on a desert planet compared to God. If we are to live out the Christian life according to the Bible, we must rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us to the truth of what Scripture teaches.
We Cannot Afford To Be Powerless
1 Corinthians 4:20
For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. (emphasis mine)
We cannot afford to be powerless in a day and age where darkness is growing ever faster. While we must not check our brains at the door, we must not disregard the power of God either. I see where there is a mutual exclusivity taught in many churches in America between thinking and the power of God. Yet nothing could be further from the truth.
The power of God moves the gospel and advances the kingdom of God.
As I pointed out at the beginning of this article, Paul was very much a thinking man. However, Paul was far from a powerless man. There are numerous examples of Paul moving in the power of God. Acts 16, Acts 13, Acts 14:8-18. We are told in Acts 19:11,12: “And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.”
Even if nothing of Paul’s life was ever recorded or we never saw anyone walking in the miraculous, as Christians, we must believe in God moving in power through His people because Scripture says so.
1 Thessalonians 1:5
because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. (emphasis mine)
The power of God moves the gospel and advances the kingdom of God. We may speak what Scripture says, but without God's power, lives remain unchanged. People stay in bondage to sin, no different than any other false belief system.
The dead being raised, the sick being healed, and demons being cast out are essential to advance God’s kingdom. Where we don’t see these things happening, the gates of hell prevail. Sadly, we see the fruit of hell more than the kingdom of God across the American landscape.
We must ask ourselves, is this happening because it is normal? Does the Bible teach that things are only going to get worse? Or is this happening because we have rejected the power of God for the sake of human intellect?
Dear David---for several years i would sit under eloquence of speech and human wisdom of superior oratory skills...but where was the Holy Spirit transforming power?????....and i would observe after the sermon many congratulating this person on good performance?...Where was the boasting of Christ alone?....when man is elevated in place of person of Christ we have fundamental problem...going through some of your teaching i was reminded apostle Paul 2 Cor. ch. 12 "12 No doubt it is not seemly for me to boast. Nevertheless, I will come to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ about fourteen years ago (whether he was in the body I cannot tell, or whether he was out of the body I cannot tell, God knows) who was taken up into the third heaven. 3 And I know the same man (whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell, God knows), 4 how he was taken up into Paradise and heard words not to be spoken, which no man can utter."...i am convinced such occurance is akin ( paraphrasing) when Jesus said unless you become like one of these little ones you wont even see the kingdom of heaven!!...a child can hit a bullseye in the Spirit as he runs to the arms of Christ...not advocating being childish...but the child like faith and "Holy Spirit power" ( emphasis mine)