Biblical Prophesy

“Briefly define your doctrinal beliefs,” someone asked me. There is no good, brief answer that could encompass the more intricate details of where I stand on particular doctrines, such as the doctrine of Salvation, the Church, End Times, etc. By nature, the more briefly a doctrine is stated, the more room the interpreter has to read into the stated doctrine, and perhaps read doctrines into that statement that I would disagree with.

I can describe, briefly, that my beliefs can be summed up as Reformed in regards to Soteriology, Baptist in regards to Ecclesiology, and Charismatic in regards to Pneumatology. This, of course, leaves room for misinterpretation. This post is an attempt to clarify one of my beliefs that flow from my Charismatic view of Pneumatology.

I am Charismatic, meaning that I believe the empowering and gifts of the Holy Spirit are active in the Church today. But I would describe and define that differently than some Charismatics; maybe the majority of Charismatics. In fact, some may say I sound like a Cessationist. So, clarity is needed. Let us take prophecy as one example.

Many Charismatic Evangelicals today would allow for a distinction between Old Testament prophecy and New Testament prophecy. Old Testament prophecy was infallible, but New Testament prophecy may at times be wrong, they say. I whole-heartedly disagree with that. For it to be genuine prophecy, it cannot be fallible. That is just one point of distinction. So let me fill out a bit more of what I believe about the prophetic gift of the Spirit.

The following thoughts flow out of my reading of Acts chapters 1 and 2, and paint the picture of my beliefs in HD rather than SD.

1. Jesus is the one who received the promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4, 5, 8; ch. 2:33).
2. Jesus is the one who has poured out the promised Holy Spirit on the church (same verses as above).
3. By pouring out the promised Spirit on His Church, Jesus ushered in the Last Days proclaimed by the prophet Joel (Acts 2:16-21).
4. Since the events in Acts 1-2 describe the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy, that prophecy must be understood in connection with the events of Acts 1-2. That is, the kind of prophecy Joel has in mind is the kind we see in Acts 1-2.
5. This kind of prophecy is given “as the Holy Spirit gives utterance” (2:4).
6. This kind of prophecy is not bound to a particular, intelligible language (2:4).
7. This kind of prophecy, though unbound by a particular language, is always uttered in particular, intelligible languages (2:8-11).
8. This kind of prophecy is concerned with “the mighty works of God” (2:11).
9. This kind of prophecy focuses its proclamation of God’s mighty works on the person and work of Jesus, particularly His death, resurrection, ascension, and heavenly enthronement (2:22-36).
10. This kind of prophecy has as its aim and goal that all people might call on the name of the Lord and be saved (2:21, 38-41).

This, then, rules out the following:

1. The Holy Spirit is received by something we do.
2. The Holy Spirit is only given to some Christians.
3. The prophetic gift of the Spirit is given to all Christians.
4. Prophecy in the New Testament is different than prophecy in the Old Testament.
5. Prophecy can be spoken in angelic, non-human languages.
6. One particular language is more holy than other languages.
7. The prophetic gift is concerned about who to marry or where to eat lunch.
8. The prophetic gift has as its aim the condemnation of sinners.
9. The prophetic gift is given to conceal God’s work of salvation from unbelievers.

There are many implications to the above, but let it be a brief expansion of my brief doctrinal statement that I am Charismatic and believe the gift of prophecy is active in the Church today. In many ways, preaching and teaching are prophetic acts. “The one who prophecies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation” (1 Corinthians 14:3).