As a Christian, it is important to know who you are! Today, there seems to be such an effort in the world to put everyone into a group or category. This suggests a real identity crisis in our cultures, societies, and countries. The Bible makes it very clear who we are: we are citizens of Heaven, Philippians 3:20 (NKJV) tells us. “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
You see, we are simply passing through life on earth with the mission of sharing the love and salvation found through Jesus Christ. All of us naturally identify with the country we were born in, but now that you are born-again, your citizenship is Heaven. This is why the scriptures tell us that we are to be ambassadors of Christ in 2 Corinthians 5:20. An ambassador is sent from their home country to another to represent the one who sent him. In our case, we represent Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords!
I love what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:1, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” Paul made it very simple in verse 2, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
Even the Apostle Paul recognized the tendency of the church to identify with a person or belief instead of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 1 Corinthians 1:12 “Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Paul saw that the church was breaking up into factions instead of being unified by the finished work of the Cross. What was true in the early church also exists today.
Is there an identity crisis in the church today?
Someone asked me, “What kind of church do you go to? Is it evangelical or Pentecostal?” I answered, “The church I belong to is a full gospel church, we believe the whole Bible!” Believing the whole Bible means that I am Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Charismatic. I believe that the Bible teaches us that we are to be evangelical; that is our mission, Pentecostal, that is our empowerment, and charismatic, that is how we will attract people to Christ. Let’s take a closer look at each of these terms and what scriptures they are based upon.
The term Evangelical – one who preaches or announces the good news of the Gospel.
To be evangelical means we believe and actively pursue the Great Commission. The Great Commission is the charge to go into the world and make Jesus known. The Great Commission is found at the end of each of the four Gospels. Most of us look at the Gospel of Matthew Great Commission statement because it is the first book of the New Testament, however the Gospel of Mark was written before Matthew. So, let’s look at the Gospel of Mark.
Jesus said in Mark 16:15-18 (NKJV), “15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name, they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
All of us would agree with verses 15 and 16. “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature…” Where we sometimes overlook verses 17 and 18, And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
These verses speak of God’s supernatural spiritual power over the spiritual powers of darkness. We are given spiritual power to cast out demons, to speak in tongues, to combat the forces of Satan, and finally to lay hands on the sick and see them recover. All these abilities are the outworking of the Holy Spirit living in us. In the natural, we are powerless, but in Christ, we are empowered to pull down the strongholds of the Devil. Now, you may ask, “How are we empowered?” Now it’s time to look at the term Pentecostal.
The term Pentecostal – one who is empowered by the Holy Spirit to be a witness to Jesus.
It is clear from the Gospel of John that Jesus promised the Father would send us a “Helper,” the Holy Spirit when Jesus departed from the earth. John chapters 14-16 show us Jesus’ intention that He would not leave us as orphans but would provide the Holy Spirit to encourage, exhort, and edify the Believer. The Holy Spirit guides, teaches, and reveals the heart of God.
The Holy Spirit has two functions in the Born-again Believer. One is transformation, and the other is the Great Commission.
- Transformation is the process of learning how to overcome sin and walk in righteousness. When we come to Christ, all of us have areas of life that are not pleasing to the Lord. The natural human response is to use self-discipline to change; however, the Old Testament and personal experience will show that flesh, or self-control, is not enough. There must be a change on the inside of the heart, which only the Holy Spirit can produce.
- The Apostle Paul says that the flesh and the spirit are always opposed to each other. This means that we must learn to be led by the Spirit of God, and this process is called transformation. Romans 12:2 (NKJV), “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Being conformed is man’s work; transformation is the Holy Spirit’s work.
- The Great Commission is the work of every Christian, to know Jesus and make Him known.
In Luke 24:49 (NKJV), Jesus instructs the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Promise of the Father. “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” I am sure that the disciples did not understand what Jesus meant by “until you are endued with power from on high.” However, by faith, they went to Jerusalem and waited. Acts 1:4-8 (NKJV), “4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Then, in verse 8, Jesus says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” There are three things we need to see in this verse.
- We shall receive power; power in this verse is the original Greek word “dynamis” which means miraculous power or mighty wonderful work. In other words, we are not talking about natural ability, talent, or skill. This kind of power is supernatural power from God.
- To be witnesses to Jesus means that we are to testify of what Jesus has done for us as an individual. How Jesus has saved us, delivered us, and changed us is our testimony, and that is how we share Jesus with the world.
- We are to be witnesses to Jesus in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth; this means that we are to go to our families, neighborhoods, our country, and to the outermost parts of the world, sharing our testimony of what Jesus has done.
These three charges or expectations of the Lord clearly show us why we need the Helper, the Holy Spirit of God!
This outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred on the Day of Pentecost and represents the birth of the Christian Church, birthed in the power of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:1-4 (NKJV) “1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” To the new Believers, this outpouring was a sign that the presence of God was present and gave them hope and boldness. It is no different today; the Holy Spirit of God wants to be made manifest in our lives, homes, communities, and churches. This event was a charismatic event.
The term Charismatic – one who exercises the spiritual gifts given by God to draw people to Christ.
The term charismatic comes from the Greek word “charisma,” which is used to describe certain giftings or enablements by the Holy Spirit to demonstrate the power of God. Listen to the Apostle Paul’s description of charisma in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (NKJV), “4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:” Notice two things here:
- In describing the gifts, in verse 4, the name Spirit is used; in verse 5, the name Lord is used; and in verse 6, the name God is used. What we see is the triune nature of God is used to authorize the gifts or charismas. Then in verse 8 thru 10 the nine gifts of the spirit are listed; 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
- Verse 11 holds the purpose of the gifts, “11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”
The purpose of the gifts of the Spirit is to draw attention to the Lord and to encourage, exhort, and edify the Body of Christ, the Church!
Conclusion:
In conclusion, as believers in Jesus Christ:
We are to be Evangelical (evangelistic) –that is our purpose in God.
We are to be Pentecostal or filled with the Spirit –that is, the empowerment of God.
We are to be Charismatic – the demonstration that draws people to God.
We will talk more about the Gifts of the Spirit the next time.