How are Pentecostals different from Christians?

Answer 1

Pentecostal is a reference to the individual who has been born again and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which Pentecostals believe is evidenced by speaking in tongues. They define speaking in tongues as uttering sounds which are not in any human language, but they are considered the language of angels. It is also used as a reference to their churches.

Pentecostals believe that the present Pentecostal movement, which features the speaking in tongues, is in fulfillment of Bible promise. They maintain that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and during the first century did not exhaust the miraculous visible manifestations of the Spirit. They interpret the early and latter rains, mentioned at James 5:7 (AV), as applying to the outpouring of God's spirit. Believing that the outpouring of God's Spirit in the first century was the early rain, they conclude that there must also be a latter rain. The Pentecostal movement, they claim, is a result of the outpouring of this latter rain.

Other Christian Churches however, note that Acts Chapter 2 states that when the speaking in tongues on which the Pentecostal Movement is based took place, "every man heard them speak in his own language." So the other Christians believe the "tongues" were actual human languages. Also, According to 1Corinthians 14:27, 28, tongues are not to be spoken in a church unless there is an interpreter. Tongues may be gifted even in Baptist Churches; however, there must be an interpreter or else it is not considered to be a gift. Also, they are not any part of a requirement for salvation.

It is a distinctive teaching of the Pentecostal movement that speaking in tongues always accompanies the baptism with the Holy Spirit. All persons have this tongues experience as evidence of baptism, Pentecostals say, but not everyone afterward receives the gift of tongues. This Pentecostal teaching, however, does not have Scriptural backing.

Baptist Church (for example) Security of the Believer

Besides the speaking in tongues, most Pentecostal churches do not believe in the security of the believer (once saved, always saved), and most Baptist churches do believe this. As do they belive to be baptised in the father son and Holy Ghost. Although no one ever in the bible not even the disciples of chirst him self were but even God in flesh (Jesus) was baptised in the name of Jesus Christ Acts 2:38

Daily necessity of commitment

One of the main differences between the two is that the Pentecostal will have a daily necessity of commitment, while the Baptist is "saved for life". Another friction point is the speaking of tongues. In the Pentecostal church, you must first be baptized (in repentance), and then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, with the Biblical evidence of speaking in tongues.

Other denominations that accept the baptism of the Holy Spirit don't insist that the Bible mandates that the evidence of this baptism must be speaking in tongues.

Acts 19:2 "Have you received since you...?"More according to Pentecostal faith: "Much more being reconciled to God by his blood, we shall be saved by his life." The first Adam was created a living soul (not a saving spirit), while the second Adam was born a quickening Spirit". The death of Jesus does not save you from eternal destruction. Eternity is not the issue there. It is a restoration unto a relationship that was taken away at the fall. There is now a new family line under the man Jesus Christ who will reign in the New Jerusalem. There you must have the Spirit of God inside you by being born not of water only but of the Spirit. You being redeemed back to God with the old family, you must then go on to be born of the new family line by being filled, baptized, born (all meaning the same thing) of the Spirit. God testifying to you, not you testifying to him you are saved. Your mind, heart, flesh, etc... are corrupt and continually evil. You cannot possibly say you are saved in your own thinking. God must do this. John 3 says " believe on him and be saved". Mark 16 says " those who believe and are baptized shall be saved". John 3 also says " you must be born of water and Spirit". To believe is explained in a parabolic manner for the seekers who want to worship in spirit and truth.

Baptists and other Christians point to John 5:24 which explains, "He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." They therefore believe that once you believe (trust) in Christ, you have eternal salvation. This is evidenced by a change in behavior, a repenting (turning away) from the old sinful life. While this doesn't mean you'll never sin again, it does mean you will not have a generally sinful lifestyle. Baptism of the Holy Spirit means filling with the Holy Spirit, which is what happens to all believers when they are born-again.

TheologyPentecostal information offers the following:

(Pentecostal)

Theologically, most pentecostal denominations are aligned with Evangelicalism in that they emphasize the reliability of the Bible and the need for conversion to faith in Jesus Christ. While there is cross pollination with other movements, Pentecostals differ from Fundamentalists by placing more emphasis on personal spiritual experience (often emotional), and, in most cases, by allowing women in ministry.

Another Pentecostal view As a Pentecostal believer I believe that it is not necessary to speak in tongues to be filled with the Spirit; I do believe, however, that the God of Pentecostal times as seen in the book of Acts is more than capable of doing the same today. Unfortunately this gets confused with hyper-emotional Pentecostal Churches who are seeing very little more than emotion being whipped up and no actual fruits (seeing people saved).

Once saved, always saved? I think that some people say they are Christians but haven't fully grasped the truth completely and fall away only to come back again and be truly saved at a later date. It is also possible for your heart to grow cold against God and at the end of the day only God can say whether or not you will get to Heaven. If you truly are saved there is no going back in my opinion.

Pentecostal and now BaptistI grew up Pentecostal and now go to a Baptist Church. Since all denominations are different, depending on how they interpret the Bible, I can't speak to the beliefs except to say that they all claim to believe the Bible. But one major difference is the style of worship. In the Pentecostal churches they are more outspoken and active. For example, someone may say out loud, "Hallelujah" during the message where in the Baptist church you aren't AS LIKELY to find this (again there are always exceptions to that rule) And in the Pentecostal church they are more likely to be raising their hands and speaking in tongues than in Baptist churches. Baptists are as a rule, more laid back than Pentecostals. The Pentecostal church I grew up in sang more choruses and the Baptist church I am in sing more songs from the hymnal. Pentecosts faint in the spirit, Baptists do not AnswerPentecostals believe that every person, regardless of affiliation who has been 'born again' according to the scriptures is saved, his name is in the Lamb's Book of Life and he is adopted into the Family of God.

Pentecostals have deeper experiences with God that line up with the Book of Acts. Pentecostals believe we must grow spiritually and attain unto the perfect statue of Christ Himself as commanded by the Scriptures.

Pentecostals insist that the "initial or first evidence" of Baptism with the Holy Ghost is "speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance."

AnswerI am a Pentecostal, and have never been to a Pentecostal church where they taught that you have to be 'resaved.' And I've been to a lot of Pentecostal churches. The actual belief of Pentecostals is that you can fall from grace, and that you have to repent. NOT be saved again. You cannot be born again, again. Also most Pentecostal churches do NOT teach that one must speak in tongues in order to be saved. AnswerIn my 42 years I have attended Baptist, Plymouth Brethren, Presbyterian, and Pentecostal churches in New Zealand. I currently belong to an Assemblies of God (Pentecostal) congregation. Pentecostalism is much, much more diverse than most non-Pentecostals think. I doubt that you'll find two Pentecostals who see eye-to-eye on every jot and tittle of theology!

A few of my own comments:

1. Very few Pentecostals maintain that speaking in tongues is for salvation. We do believe that all Christians can, and should, be baptised with the Holy Spirit. Most of us believe that speaking in tongues is evidence of that (not all of us would assert that dogmatically, but I think all of us do believe that tongues is available to all Christians). But evidence of salvation? I know of only one Pentecostal church in my city which teaches that - it's an extreme group that shuns other churches, even other Pentecostal churches. It is NOT mainstream Pentecostal theology.
2. With some exceptions, Pentecostals do believe that salvation can be lost. Most of us do not believe that salvation is lost every time we sin, however. We believe that we are saved by faith in the blood of Jesus, nothing else. But most of us also believe that if we renounce our faith, we will lose our salvation. Unrepented sin will eventually undermine faith, leading to a loss of salvation. But I emphatically don't believe that every time I sin, I lose my salvation, and have to re-gain it. There may well be individual Pentecostals who believe that, but I haven't met any, and I know of no Pentecostal church that teaches that.
3. As for how Pentecostals differ from other Christians, you'll get different answers from just about every Pentecostal you ask! From personal observation, we hold the same core beliefs as most other evangelical and fundamentalist Christians - the Trinity, the virgin birth, the resurrection, the atonement, the second coming, the infallibility of the bible. Most of us are also strong creationists. We take conservative positions on divorce, abortion, homosexuality, premarital sex, and most of us are strong supporters of Israel - positions shared by the great majority of evangelicals. Where we differ is in our emphasis on the Holy Spirit, and more specifically, on the miraculous/supernatural manifestations of the Spirit. We believe emphatically that tongues, healings, miracles, etc. should be normative, not exceptional. I don't think you'll meet a Pentecostal who's prepared to compromise on that.
4. Having said that, the lines of demarcation are less clear than they used to be. Most denominations (at least in New Zealand) have been impacted by the Charismatic Movement, which believes in tongues and other supernatural manifestations (but not always with the theological package that Pentecostals are familiar with). American Baptists are often surprised to find that around 50 percent of New Zealand Baptist churches openly endorse much of the Pentecostal message (where they differ is in their belief that speaking in tongues, although available today, is not necessarily evidence of being baptised in the Holy Spirit). The Plymouth Brethren, among whom I worshipped for the best part of a decade, were historically hostile to Pentecostalism. In recent years, there has been a major shift in some Brethren assemblies, with some of them now supporting the charismatic movement (but again, not regarding tongues as the necessary evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit). Recently, a large Brethren church in Wellington played a very prominent role in promoting Pentecostal evangelist Greg Laurie - that would have been unthinkable a couple of decades ago! Similar changes have happened in some sections of the Presbyterian, Anglican, and even Catholic churches. So the differences between Pentecostals and other Christians are much less striking than they once were.

AnswerI think that since I attend a pentecostal church I can offer some insight on this question. basically, Pentecostals are not always the people walking around with no make-up, and falling over in the aisles. That is religion, not a relationship in Christ. We simply believe strongly in the power of the holy spirit. I believe that The Lord sent the holy spirit to guide us on earth while Jesus can't be here with us. Its not just what I believe it what the Bible teaches. People often think that just because we believe in the holy spirit and focus on it, just like anything else, that Pentecostals don't believe in following the bible, or that we don't focus on it enough, but-considering that I attend a pentecostal church, I can be the first to inform you that all of that is lie. We use the bible and its word every service and focus on it completely. Just because some churches and denominations say that that is not the pentecostal way to go, doesn't mean that's true for all pentecostal churches.

ANSWER

Born on the first day of the year in 1901.

Classical Pentecostals:

The Classical Pentecostals were the first in the latter century to be blessed with the Pentecostal Baptism with the Holy Ghost. The leaders were all Holiness Ministers with a firm belief in the New Birth or Regeneration according to the Scriptures. They also believed in the Second Blessing, that of Entire Sanctification where the old sin nature is circumcised from the heart by the Blood of Christ Jesus and received by Faith. The movement was started at Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas in 1900. The first Baptism with the Holy Ghost with the expected manifestations of tongues was when Charles Fox Parham, the Schools leader, laid hands on Ms. Agnes Ozman on New Years Day, 1901. A few days later 12 students receive the experience then Charles Parham himself received it.

Charles Parham moved to Houston, Texas where he ran a Bible School and had a man named William Seymour, listen to his lectures while sitting in the hallway with the door ajar due to the Jim Crow Laws in effect at that time. William Seymour later traveled to Los Angeles, California and started a revival at the Azusa Street Mission which ran for three years and the message of Pentecost was carried around the world. The fire that fell at Azusa Street is still falling, many, each day are receiving the Baptism with the Holy Ghost with the initial evidence of 'speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance.

The Classical Pentecostals believe in Regeneration as the First Work of Grace and in Sanctification as the Second and Last Work of Grace and in the Pentecostal Baptism with the Holy Ghost as empowerment to serve God and testify of Jesus Christ. They also believe in Divine Healing and the Imminent Return of Jesus Christ in the Rapture to 'catch away' His Bride at the end of this present church age.

There are other pentecostal denominations who came later, such as the Assemblies of God who were formed in 1914 at a camp meeting in Hot Springs Arkansas. In 1916 at a General Assembly, a group of ministers left the Assemblies of God and formed what is known today as the United Pentecostal Church. They rejected the Church Ordnance of baptising in water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost and substituted water baptism in Jesus Name only. They further stated that unless a man is baptised in Jesus Name Only and speaks in tongues he is not saved.

There are those who are called 'Charismatics' and sometimes mistaken for Pentecostal who claim they received the Spirit Baptism without speaking in tongues. This group was formed in the 1960 in Van Nuys, California at a Catholic Church meeting.

Answer

Oneness Pentecostals believe Jesus is God the father, god the son and God the holy spirit. We believe in speaking in tongues as the necessary Evidence of baptism of the holy spirit. We believe in Jesus name baptism. Assemblies of God and others are branches of pentecostal. Pentecostals follow the same rules and restrictions as the apostles

Being a Pentecostal I know personally why it is different. Pentecostals try to follow the Bible. In some Pentecostal churches you would find that the women would have long hair, no make up or jewelry and wear long skirts. The men would have on a suit and have short hair with no jewelry also. A lot of time in many other Christian churches they don't really mind what you wear. Also The way that Pentecostals worship the lord is very different in the way that it is very out there, you can jump, roll run, cry, scream, speak in tongues and lift your hands. Whatever you feel like God has called you to do.

Answer 2

The distinction is quite confusing, since there are numerous denominations with the term "Church of God" in them, and "Pentecostal" is more of a description of doctrine and statement of faith (although there are churches called "Pentecostal"). Essentially, aside from some historical differences and differences in leadership, the two are the same. Both subscribe to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues. Both tend to accept a pre-Tribulation Rapture of the church. Both favor the gifts of the spirit manifesting in church services.

Answer 3

Pentecostals ARE Christians so there is absolutely no difference! Christianity is the worldwide Church which consists of many denominations - Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist and so on. Pentecostals are just another group.

Denominations emphasise certain aspects of the Christian life; for example, Methodists emphasise methodical Bible study, preaching and singing. Baptists emphasise baptism as adults by full immersion. Salvationists shun all forms of sacrament and respond to God's love by going out and helping others who are in need. yet all are part of the Christian Church accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and God incarnate.

Pentecostals emphasise the gifts of the Holy Spirit as described by Paul in his letters (hence the name 'Pentecostal' as the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples at Pentecost). They emphasise spiritual gifts especially singing (and speaking) in tongues and prophesy.

Very good reading and to the point, thank you ....

Answer 4

It will depend on the Church of God affiliation. Anderson Indiana Church of God Churches are not Pentecostal, but the Cleveland Tennessee Church of G0dare Pentecostal.

I believe that the Church of God is trinitarian. Pentecostals are oness.

Answer 5

Same as with the Assemblies of God. See link below.

Answer 6

Just about everything. The Churches of Christ do not believe in Charismatic spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues and prophecy as do Pentecostals.