Comments on: who is your God?

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 29 May 2008 02:57:13 +0000

I agree with you entirely that we must pursue the spiritual gifts as God ordained them, not as we wish them to be. So I am curious to see exactly what it is we disagree on.

For starters I’ll freely admit that charismatics have abused spiritual gifts at times, and just let you know I’m not in the “any spirit-filled believer can speak in tongues” camp. I think 1 Cor. 12:29-30 dispells that notion, although I admit the counter-argument of 14:5 is pretty strong.

So as you prepare your anti-charismatic material I hope you address 1 Cor. 14:39-40, and would like you to address the questions “Is the forbidding of the gifts any less of an error than their mis-use? If so, why didn’t God – through Paul – simply forbid them in his letter to the Corinthians?”
Thanks!

By: ox

ox — Sat, 24 May 2008 23:37:57 +0000

Aaron

Thank you for commenting. Obviously we will disagree on some of the things you believe.

I am working on more material on the charismatic errors specifically. It is much too much to deal with in the comments section. However, let me say this: I agree that the Bible exhorts us to pursue spiritual gifts, but we must pursue them as God ordained them, not as we wish them to be. I have yet to see any charismatic who is willing to really let the Bible speak on this issue.

I am sorry that I can’t deal with this comprehensively at this point. More will come, I appreciate your reading, and I hope that before not too long a time I’ll have something more substantive for you.

Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sat, 24 May 2008 20:11:29 +0000

I have two thoughts to share. First, as a charismatic, I don’t think I was drawn to the charismatic movement by a desire for feelings…I was drawn because I read in the Bible that we should “Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts…” and since I believed the Bible to be the Word of God I responded in faith. Voila, a new charismatic. And I’ll add that for me at least speaking in tongues is not so much an emotional event as a venture in faith…often the main “feeling” I have is something like, “Hmm, this is odd…I wouldn’t be doing this if the Bible didn’t encourage it”. But of course, whenever I respond to the Word in faith I meet God.

Second, more pointedly about idolatry. I’ve discovered in myself that one of the greatest idols is the near-pathological desire to be right. It’s not enough to be saved by grace and walk in faith…I want to be RIGHT – about EVERYTHING. God have mercy on me.