This article was recovered from an archived website.
Is it “repent, be baptised, and receive the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues”? Well, that’s what the Revival Centre leaders teach, and what their congregations are told to believe to the death. Now, if you are new to all this, be assured that the Revival Centre idea is nonsense. You are saved by believing in Jesus. That means holding firmly to the message that Christ died, was buried, and on the third day rose again (1Cor.15:1-4)!
If you are a Revival Centre person, well, you’ll probably need a bit more convincing. You’re probably even wondering whether it is right for you to be reading an alternate viewpoint. But 2Corinthians 13:5 says it’s right to “examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith”. It’s easy just to obey your Revival Centre leaders and ignore what concerned friends bring up. You can even end up ignoring your own thoughts and beliefs. But it’s best to be sure yourself of the truth, after hearing both sides of a matter. Proverbs 18:13 says, “if one gives an answer before hearing, it is folly and shame”.
I know a house-leader that once went to the Adelaide Revival Centre. This person (I’ll call Mr. R), was a committed Revivalist. Mr. R went to all the meetings, went to all the ‘outreaches’, and was convinced with all his heart that you had to speak in tongues to be saved. One day someone challenged him about tongues and salvation. And Mr. R was so sure he was right, he even said, “If I ever change my mind about tongues, I’ll give you $500”. Well, did you know that Mr. R has changed his mind? He accepted he was wrong, in spite of being so sure beforehand.
It’s very possible to be sure you are right – then find out you were wrong. That type of idea was put in Romans 10:2,3, where Paul was writing about some Jews who hadn’t come to the Truth:
I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness.
So please keep an open mind, as we search the scriptures about salvation (Acts 17:11). It may also help to make a short prayer now that the Lord help us as we study this topic. Then we can go through some problems with the Revival Centre gospel by closely comparing Galatians 1:8,9 and 1Corinthians 15:1-4.
problem 1 – if we proclaim a false gospel, we are damned
I believe we must be very careful about the gospel we preach. If we preach a false gospel, we are accursed (Gk. ‘anathema’). There’s nothing wrong with tongues, but if we say they are part of salvation and they are not, that is preaching a false gospel.There’s the warning in Galatians 1:7-9:
“There are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed. As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!”
problem 2 – the gospel the first christians “received” was not tongues.
I want you to pay special attention to the Galatians quote above. You might want to read what Paul wrote again. Notice that Paul made a lot of fuss about holding to the gospel “we proclaimed to you”, and the “gospel … you received”. What was the gospel they “received”? He explained it in another one of his books, using the same words:
The early Christians received a gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection (1Cor.15:1-4). Unfortunately, the Revival Centres pervert that gospel and now proclaim a gospel of tongues instead (contra Gal.1:8,9)
“I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news [gospel] that I proclaimed to you, which in turn you received, in which also you stand, through which also you are saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you – unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day” (1Corinthains 15:1-4)
So, the early Christians received a gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection. Unfortunately, the Revival Centres pervert that gospel and now proclaim a gospel of tongues instead (contra the Galatians passage). They are warned of the consequences (anathema)!
There are more things regarding that wonderful 1Corinthians passage. Notice that Christ was of “first importance”, not tongues. In preaching salvation, Paul even said he knew nothing but Jesus! To check this, you can read 1Corinthians 1:18, 23; 2:2; 3:10-11 and Galatians 6:14. But why was Jesus important? Jesus is important because Jesus died and was buried. Jesus died as a sacrifice for you, atoning for your sins (Romans 3:25; 5:9). By dying, he showed us the incredible love God must have for us. Then he was raised up from the dead, and as the first fruits of the great resurrection Jesus showed us he had conquered death. In doing so, Jesus showed us that we’re able to trust him to save us from death as well. Or in theology terms, our righteousness comes from putting our faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross (John 19:30; Romans 3:22; 4:3, 22-24; 5:1)! According to the Corinthians passage, by “receiving” and “standing” in this good news “you are saved”.
Paul was actually following the lead of all the early disciples. When they came to a town that hadn’t been evangelised, they didn’t set up a ‘Bible Prophecy Board’ and harass people about tongues and pyramids. They would enter the town, usually find an open place for evangelism, and talk about Jesus. Nothing strange about this, as Jesus asked the disciples to be his witnesses (ie. not tongues and pyramid witnesses – Acts 1:8). When evangelising Jews, they would often start discussing David, the forerunner of Jesus. They would often move on to some allusions to Jesus in the Hebrew Scriptures. Then they would move on to how Jesus was born, died, then rose again. They would often end their talk with a promise that, if the hearers believed that message, they would be saved: see Acts 2:22-32; 3:13,14; 4:1-2, 10-12, 33; 5: 30-32; 8:30-35; 10:39-44; 13:26-44; 16:30-31; 20:20-24.
problem 3 – but what about what the revival centres say?
We have to point out first that there is nothing in Scripture that explicitly says “you must speak in tongues”. In passing, even a Revival Centre doctrine manual handed out to youth groups admits,
“People therefore ask ‘where does it say in the Bible unless you speak in tongues you are not saved?’ – and there is no such scripture”.[1]
What Revival Centre leaders say is that the doctrine is taught implicitly – by piecing together statements found throughout the Bible. Despite the need to do this, they maintain that their doctrine is indisputably correct. Those who doubt it doubt the ‘clear Word of God’. People who sincerely believe the Revival Centre doctrine to be wrong have ‘itching ears’, are ‘lukewarm’, or are ‘not interested in the truth’.
They have some favourite verses. I’ll just consider Acts 2:38 here. The Revival Centre Fellowship leaders were even so bold as to put this ‘proof-text’ on their trumpet logo. Darryl Williams quotes it in one of his articles on their Web site. He quotes it something like, “repent, (and) be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ … (and) receive the Holy Ghost” (they believe receiving the Spirit is evidenced by tongues). Now that’s the misquote of the century! In fact, Acts 2:38 may be the best Scripture to disprove the Revival Centre teaching around! Here is how it actually reads, even in the Revival Centre’s own King James Version (the Greek is clear, and all versions are practically identical):
Repent, and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
She just said, “well, I’ve repented and been baptised, so I’ve got the Holy Ghost”.
I was witnessing once to a friend in Brisbane, who didn’t speak in tongues, with this verse. I quoted it like Darryl did, but she was clever enough to ask we read it from the book. So, we read it through again. “Repent, and be baptised … and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost”. She just said, “well, I’ve repented and been baptised, so I’ve got the Holy Ghost”. In other words, Acts 2:38 is not a command, but a promise! It was very difficult to argue with. The girl didn’t speak in tongues, but Acts 2:38 clearly promises that she had the Holy Spirit (sometime soon after baptism). It’s the Revival Centre leader who would argue against the Scripture, saying that she couldn’t have the Spirit because she didn’t speak in tongues!
The Revival Centres also try to discredit the idea, like in John 3:16, that salvation comes through believing in Jesus. I think they want to ignore those scriptures, as they’re too difficult for them. Most often, they are quickly shelved with an explanation “the Greek word for ‘believe’ doesn’t really mean believe – it means to ‘obey’. We must obey Jesus by receiving the Spirit and speaking in tongues”. Well, that’s nonsense (firstly, there is a separate word for obeying, and that word transliterated is ‘hupakoe’). You should ask the pastor to show you any commands in scripture to receive the Spirit or speak in tongues. There are none! So, if there are no commands to speak in tongues, it has nothing to do with ‘obey’, anyway! Do you know what the God actually does command us? It is set out in First John 3:
“this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ”
problem 4 – okay, I see tongues isn’t salvation, so what do I do about it?
So, the Christian good news is Christ, not tongues. Someone asked Paul the same question we asked at the beginning of this pamphlet. They asked, “what must I do to be saved?” Do you know that Paul didn’t talk about tongues? He talked about Christ. Paul said to him, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:30,31). So be clear. Is your salvation only in tongues, or is it in Christ? Will you stay a tonguesian, or will you become a ‘Christian’? Jesus holds his arms wide, waiting for you to throw down your burdens and believe in him.
References
- ‘Salvation’ Doctrine Manual, obtained through the Adelaide Revival Centre, 1997.
