When did Pentecostals stop being Christians?
The Protestant Charismatic movement better known as Pentecostalism is a rather new denomination. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Pentecostalism didn’t get started until the early 20th century. It also goes by denominational names and movements such as Assemblies of God, the Church of God, the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), and the Word of Faith. To Pentecostals, the Holy Spirit is their focal point. I’ll explain that further as we go along.
Pentecostalism derives its name from the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 of the Bible.
“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” – Acts 2:1-4
From this passage, we can see that God sent the Holy Spirit as Jesus had promised. In the book of John, Jesus tells His followers that He must go so that the Holy Spirit may come. Some translations use the word “Advocate” while others use “Helper.”
Jesus explains it in John 14, and then follows up in chapter 16.
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” – John 16:7
Where did the Pentecostals go wrong? Are they wrong at all?
There are countless deviations that Pentecostals took from the Bible. I’d like to focus on two areas. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit and women pastors. For a bonus, I’ll discuss and provide links to videos showing the Kundalini Spirit in the Pentecostal church.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit
One area where Pentecostals seem to get it wrong is they believe if you don’t speak in “tongues” then you haven’t been baptized by the Holy Spirit. Sorry, but that’s 100% false.
Consider the following passages:
“So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” – Luke 11:13
“And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, He identified you as His own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom He promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify Him.” – Ephesians 1:13-14
Anytime someone teaches a false gospel, they’ve moved away from the Christian faith and started their own religion. If they alter or change what the Bible says, they’re no longer teaching from it. They’re making their own version. Which is blasphemy.
According to Logos.com, Pentecostals believe the following regarding baptism of the Holy Spirit.
- Baptism in the Spirit is “distinct from and subsequent to” conversion.
- Speaking in tongues is “the initial physical sign” of Spirit-baptism.
- Miraculous spiritual gifts continue today.
Let’s look at the first two beliefs. And I’ll answer belief number three along the way.
If you’ve done a study of the Apostolic Church (aka the early church) in the Bible, then one could assume that Pentecostals get their first and second beliefs from Acts 19.
Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs
I’d like to look at point number two first.
“While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ he asked them. ‘No,’ they replied, ‘we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’ ‘Then what baptism did you experience?’ he asked. And they replied, ‘The baptism of John.’ Paul said, ‘John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.’ As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied.” – Acts 19:1-6
Think about it. If it worked for those in the Apostolic Church, then it should happen to us as well. Right? Wrong!
Jesus gave the Apostles certain gifts that He didn’t give to the rest of the believers. We see that throughout the gospels and Acts. But Paul was the last Apostle. And toward the end of his ministry, he had already lost those abilities himself.
How do we know that? Let’s look at what the Bible says.
“God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.” – Acts 19:11-12
Yet, in his first letter to Timothy, Paul’s son in the faith, Paul told him to drink a little wine for his stomach. From his letter, we can see that Timothy had been ill. And rather than send an article to heal him, Paul tells him to take a little wine for medicinal purposes.
“Don’t drink only water. You ought to drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach because you are sick so often.” – 1 Timothy 5:23
Why would he do that? Because the signs and wonders were for the Jews. The Jews required a sign whereas the Gentiles desired knowledge/wisdom. By that time, Paul’s mission had transitioned away from witnessing to the Jews to witnessing to the Gentiles.
Consider the following passages.
“Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” – 1 Corinthians 1:22-24
“I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 15:14-16
There was no longer a need for the signs and wonders if the gentiles sought after wisdom. And since Paul was the last Apostle, the “miraculous spiritual gifts” stopped with him.
In the event that I’m wrong and people still receive miraculous gifts (including speaking in tongues), the Pentecostals would still be getting it wrong.
Tongues, in both the Old and New Testaments, refer to an actual language. Not mumbling or utterances that are incoherent at best.
The word for tongues is glossolalia. It refers to the spiritual gift of speaking in a language that one has not learned. This was given to the Apostolic church in order to present the gospel to those who speak and understand the language. Here’s what Acts 2 says.
“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
“Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: ‘Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?’” – Acts 2:4-8
However, in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul also uses the word glossa which is translated as tongue. What we would refer to as a foreign language.
“Dear brothers and sisters, if I should come to you speaking in an unknown tongue [language], how would that help you? But if I bring you a revelation or some special knowledge or prophecy or teaching, that will be helpful. Even lifeless instruments like the flute or the harp must play the notes clearly, or no one will recognize the melody. And if the bugler doesn’t sound a clear call, how will the soldiers know they are being called to battle?
“It’s the same for you. If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space.” – 1 Corinthians 14:6-9
That passage refers to the “unknown tongue.” The one that Pentecostals say the Spirit gives them to speak to God. After all, that’s what it says in 1 Corinthians 14:2, right?
“For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.” – 1 Corinthians 14:2
That’s not what that verse says at all. The word tongue there refers to when speaking to someone in a language not known to them. What we would refer to as a foreign language.
What Paul was saying is that if you speak in a foreign language no one’s going to understand you. Therefore, you must be speaking to God since He knows all languages. There is no such thing as an unknown language/tongue. But there is such a thing as gibberish aka gibber-jabber aka nonsense.
And regardless of whether they could supernaturally speak in a foreign language or not, and I don’t mean gibberish, the Pentecostals would be doing it wrong. Later in chapter 14, Paul says how foreigners are to speak to the congregation in their language.
“If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.” – 1 Corinthians 14:27-28
What Pentecostals believe about speaking in tongues is not representative of what the Bible says.
Salvation vs. baptism of the Spirit
Now, let’s talk about point number one. Baptism of the spirit is separate and distinct from a believer’s conversion.
A believer’s conversion is another way of saying salvation. And salvation is a gift from God that’s received by believing in Jesus Christ.
“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” – Romans 10:9-10
“Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’” – John 3:5-8
“Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” – Acts 4:10-12
Baptism is following the example Jesus set for us.
“Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. But John tried to talk him out of it. ‘I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,’ he said, ‘so why are you coming to me?’ But Jesus said, ‘It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.’ So John agreed to baptize him.
“After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.’” – Matthew 3:13-17
“Peter replied, ‘Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for [because of] the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” – Acts 2:38
It’s not the water or the Holy Spirit that saves us and forgives us of our sins.
“He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.” – Ephesians 1:7
Not only do the Pentecostals get the Holy Spirit wrong. They also do things that are completely against what the Bible teaches. And it’s not open to interpretation.
Women Pastors
I once had a discussion with a lady in the middle of a mall. She was telling my wife that she (my wife) wasn’t saved because she hadn’t been baptized by the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.
The disagreement started when she asked my wife how she was baptized. My wife told the lady that she was baptized in water. And that when she was baptized, the [male] pastor said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Buried with Christ in baptism and raised to walk in newness of life.”
That was when the lady questioned my wife’s salvation.
Being a bit embarrassed, my wife then asked me to join the conversation. As soon as the lady introduced herself as a pastor, I knew we weren’t going to agree.
I think it’s ironic that the Pentecostals hold tightly to 1 Corinthians 14 for speaking in tongues. Yet, it’s also in 1 Corinthians 14 that says women aren’t even supposed to speak in church.
“Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.” – 1 Corinthians 14:34-35
In 1 Timothy 2, Paul instructs the churches that women are not to hold any position in the church over men.
“A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.” – 1 Timothyy 2:11-14
They don’t get the Holy Spirit or speaking in tongues/languages correct. And they neglect entirely the directive of no women pastors. I will get into their prosperity gospel in another article. For now, let’s look at the bonus section. The Kundalini spirit.
BONUS – the Kundalini spirit
According to the Chakra Practice website,, “Kundalini is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘kundal’ which means ‘coiled,’ so Kundalini spirit or Kundalini energy, as it is also known, basically means coiled energy. Kundalini is often symbolized by a serpent, and you’ll find it referred to as the Kundalini Snake or Kundalini Shakti which means Serpent Power in Sanskrit.
Just like a serpent, Kundalini energy is said to be coiled around the base of our spine at our Root Chakra. It is typically thought of as divine feminine energy, which gives life and rebirth.
Kundalini is often referred to as an innate, dormant energy within each of us which is waiting to be activated.”
A little further down, the article continues with, “Once you’ve awakened the Kundalini Snake and tapped into its power, you will experience an inexplicable feeling of enlightenment as a result of the energy coiling around your chakra points as they open.”
Notice how they refer to the Kundalini spirit as a snake? Christianity refers to Satan as a snake/serpent as well.
Many Pentecostals say they’ve experienced that inexplicable feeling of enlightenment in their church. And here’s what that looks like.
Kundalini spirit in Pentecostalism and Hinduism
As we can see, by only looking at two aspects of what they believe, Pentecostals might claim to be Christians, but their beliefs and practices say otherwise. They infiltrated many Protestant churches and transformed them from Christianity to Pentecostalism.
So where did the Pentecostals go wrong? In my opinion, it’s not that they went wrong – they never went right.
It’s not that they stopped being Christians. They were never Christians to begin with.
Like the Catholic church, Satan has infiltrated Christian churches as well.
Consider also reading: Satan and the Catholic Church and Mormonism vs. Christianity.
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