PENTECOSTAL, CHARISMATIC, & NAR PITFALL

By Akin Ojumu

In a February 15, 1998, sermon titled, “The Signs of an Apostle, Part 1,” the late Pastor John MacArthur made the following profound remarks which kind of encapsulates the falsehood and fallacy that undergird the ideology and beliefs of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements.

“Let me tell you something, if I may be at the same time straightforward and loving and kind and say this, the one core flaw - the one disastrous, fatal error at the very core of the modern charismatic movement is a failure to understand the uniqueness of the era of Christ and the Apostles. You can’t normalize that, and attempts to do so have led to fantasy, and falsehood, and concoction, and confusion, and fakery, and chicanery, and charlatanism of the worst kind. And the core problem is a failure to grasp what Scripture says about the uniqueness of the apostolic era and the Apostles themselves.”

The office of the Apostle is unique. Together with the Office of the Prophet, the Apostles laid the foundation of the Christian faith. Commonsense tells us that you don’t lay the foundation of a building consistently and continuously. Once the foundation of a house is laid, it is laid. What remains is to build on it. 

Ephesians 2:18-20

“For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” 

As soon as the Apostles laid the foundation of the Church, which culminated in the completion of the sacred writings of the New Testament and the closing of the Canon of Scriptures, their job was done.

The Bible clearly and explicitly teaches that there are specific criteria and qualifications that must be met before someone can be regarded as an Apostle.

In order for anyone can lay claim to the Office of an Apostle:

1) The person must have been with Jesus during the whole three years of His ministry on earth. 

2) The person must be an eyewitness of the baptism of Jesus by John at the River Jordan when the Heavenly Father validated Jesus’ person and work, with the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove.

3) The person must have personally and directly heard Jesus’ life-changing teachings and must be an eyewitness to His healings and other miracles He performed all over Israel. 

4) The person must have witnessed Jesus' crucifixion on the Cross by the Roman soldiers.

5) The person must have seen Jesus walk, talk, and eat among the disciples again after His resurrection. 

These qualifications can be found enunciated by Apostle Peter in Acts 1 when he proposed choosing a new Apostle to replace Judas Iscariot. 

Acts 1:21-22

“So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us – one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”

The only exception to the above qualifications is Apostle Paul whom the Lord Jesus Christ personally called to be His chosen Apostle to the Gentiles when He appeared to him on the road to Damascus.

No other human being, dead or alive, meets any of these qualifications other than the 12 Disciples and Paul. Any other person who claims he is an apostle is a false apostle.

Additionally, what sets the Apostles apart and what makes them unique is their ability to perform signs, wonders, and miracles.

Acts 2:43

“And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the Apostles.”

2 Corinthians 12:12

“The marks of a true Apostle – signs, wonders, and miracles – were performed among you with great perseverance.”

The other thing that must be said is that those who are considered Apostles by biblical standards carried apostolic and canonical authority. What that means is that their words, utterances, and declarations are divinely inspired, authoritative, and equal to Scriptures which is why they wrote the Scriptures.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Apostle Paul met this particular criterion of being an author of Canonical writings in that it was Christ who personally taught him everything he preached and wrote.

Galatians 1:11-12

“For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”

And Apostle Peter actually equates Paul’s writings to Scriptures.

2 Peter 3:16

“He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”

Of course, there are other people you find in the Bible, besides Paul and the 12 Apostles, who are also called apostles. But these are apostles with small letter “a” and not Apostles with Capital Letter “A”. The former are emissaries of the various local churches sent on important errands or missions. On the other hand, the latter are the first of the Five-Fold Offices mentioned in Ephesians 2:20 and Ephesians 4:11.

The Apostles with Capital A are those we find in description of the New Jerusalem in Revelations.

Revelation 21:14 

“And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.”

Likewise, the Apostles with Capital A are also referred to in Matthew 10:2; Mark 3:14; 4:10; 6:7; 9:35; 14:10, 17, 20; Luke 6:13; 9:1; 22:14; John 6:71; Acts 6:2; and 1 Corinthians 15:5.

Here’s how the good folks at Got Questions website describe the apostles with small letter “a”.

“Beyond the unique twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ and Paul, there were also apostles in a generic sense. Barnabas is referred to as an “apostle” in Acts 13:2 and 14:14. The same Greek word usually translated “apostle” is used to refer to Titus in 2 Corinthians 8:23 and Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25. So, there definitely seems to be room for the term apostle being used to refer to someone besides the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Anyone who was “sent” could be called an apostle.”

This failure to appreciate the uniqueness of Paul and the twelve Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ is the reason the Pentecostal Movement is a heretic and dangerous false religion. That they fail to understand that the apostolic era is not normative and that the original Apostles cannot be and have not been replaced is the reason the Charismatic Movement will continue to churn out, in droves, wolves in sheep’s clothing. 

Fantastical claims by the leaders of these two pernicious and calamitous movements that they possess the power to replicate the signs, wonders, and miracles of the Apostles is evidence of their delusion, and it is proof of the curse that God has placed on them. 

So, here’s what you ought to know. If you find yourself in any of these movements, believe in their teachings, and you think you are a Christian, you are of all men most to be pitied. And I don’t say that lightly. It’s exactly what the Bible says about those who believe in error. 

Isaiah 8:20

“To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this Word, it is because they have no dawn.” 

John 8:31-32

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.””

John 10:27

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

If you do not abide in the accurate teachings of Christ, i.e., in sound doctrines, you do not belong to Christ. You can’t claim to be a follower of Christ and be a consumer of false teachings at the same time. These are mutually exclusive.