Full Text for American Religious Scene- Volume 48 - Second Work of Grace (Video)

No. 48. >> You know, Dr. Rast, this whole discussion of a second work of grace sounds so much like what I've heard from Pentecostals and Charismatics. Am I right in this? >>DR. LAWRENCE R. RAST, JR.: Nick, you're absolutely right. You're right on the money in this respect. This movement, the charismatic Pentecostal movement in the 20th Century is a direct outgrowth of the Holiness movement before. And the Wesleyan Methodist movement previous to that. There's a real development over the course of about 200 years that leads finally to the Pentecostal movement and then its impact on the more main line churches through the charismatic movement. But what's the difference? Well, you'll recall this discussion we were just having, Nick, of this second work of grace. That one has Jesus as Savior by virtue of one's conversion experience. But then a second work of grace, a second experience moves one up to a -- to another level. Another level. Where Jesus becomes one's Lord, as well. The Lord of one's life. And that then is demonstrated through this sanctified living. Well, in the Pentecostal tradition, this takes on a somewhat different character. And the manner in which it expresses itself is really quite remarkable. In the year 1906 at a little tabernacle revival church on Azusa Street in Los Angeles, California, there was an outbreak, a remarkable set of evidences, if you will, of the presence of the Holy Spirit. And if that language sounds familiar, mainly in terms of Cane Ridge, I hope you do make that connection. It should. But what you have is a new interpretation of the second work of grace that emerges from the great Azusa Street Revival. Namely, that the initial evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life is evidenced by speaking in tongues. ***Glossa lang. Now, this is a move from the older notion of complete sanctification or entire sanctification being the result of the second work of grace. This instead, locates one's move to having Jesus as Lord by virtue of the presence of the Spirit, which then is given evidence by actions on the part of the human subject. Particularly in terms of receiving this heavenly prayer language as its sometimes called. Now, like the earlier Holiness movement, this is not the last of the Spirit's gifts necessarily. It's simply the initial evidence that one has received the second work of grace. People who have experienced this describe it in a variety of ways. Pat Robertson, for example, we talk about how he was one day simply enveloped in a gold like cloud following which he had this ability to speak in tongues and to commit himself to the Lord in a new way, in a powerful way. Others would put it with different kinds of imagery. But what became the touch point, the key moment, was this giving of the gift. So that one could speak in this unknown language. Other gifts might then follow upon it as one nurtured and sustained this gift of the Spirit that had been given to miraculously. Gifts like discernment, prophesying and others would come to characterize the person who was cultivating this life in the Spirit. The greater the cultivation, the greater number of gifts. And those with particular gifts, healing, for example, would then become evidence of the possibilities that were laid out before all Christian people. But that few achieved. It became a way of encouraging others to follow in the footsteps of those who had gone before. Now, there would also be the downside to it. That is, there were those who simply didn't receive the gifts. And the law part of this then begins to come out: Why haven't I received the gift of tongues? Or if I've received that gift, why not the other gifts? How do I pursue these? How do I cultivate them? How do I see them to be realized in my own experience, in my own life? One of the unfortunate results is kind of an inward turning that characterized many of these folks. And as a pastor, I did deal with people who had gone through this very difficult reality. That is to say they received a first work of grace. They believed the teachings of the Scripture. They believed that Jesus Christ had died and risen again to take away their sins. But they had been desperately waiting for this second work of grace, the initial evidence of which was speaking in tongues. And in never seem to come. It never came; it never came. And I would oftentimes hear them appeal to me: Pastor, I just want to hear God speak to me once again and give me this kind of language that others seem to have. To which I would turn them back to the Scriptures and say: Hear the voice of your shepherd. Here it is. He speaks to you a Word of grace and comfort. Your sins are forgiven. You are my own dear can child. And I have gone onto prepare a place for you. It's really a matter of drawing the attention out from themselves and putting it onto Christ. But what oftentimes became the case in the 20th Century and in many of the churches was a new kind of talk. Namely, that where we had seen great emphasis in the early church on God the Father and in the Reformation period on God the Son, the Holy Spirit had not been given his proper due over the course of church history. And that as we moved into the 20th Century, this was the century of the Spirit and emphasis upon him. Some of the great preachers of that century were folks that had committed themselves deeply to this message. I could use any number of them. But two that come to mind. Aimee Semple McPherson, preacher and founder of the Foursquare Gospel Church. Her point was the church had preached Christ well over the ages but had not given the four square Gospel, the full Gospel, of healing, of gifts, of life in the Spirit. She said the preaching had been sufficient to create Christians. But insufficient to make complete Christians. Others would emphasize this in a different direction. The Seed Faith movement was often tied in within the Pentecostal churches. So that the idea was that if one made a deposit well beyond what one was able to provide by virtue of present day gifts, then one would, in fact, receive a super abundant gift in response. With a do I mean? Well, Seed Faith would say you must exercise your faith if you would go to the next level. You must exercise your faith in order to release the abundance of the Spirit in your life. The way it played itself out was usually in terms of financial gifts. So for example, the TV preacher, Robert Tilton, would say over and over again: If you have $1,000, that's not enough. Give 1500. You must give more than you have as an act of faith to release the ultimate gift of the Spirit. If you do, said these Seed Faith preachers, you will receive in turn double. The covenantal action of God demands that he respond at least double in terms of what you have given. Well, there are plenty of other ways that we can take a look at this. There are more how shall we say main line Pentecostal denominations that have experienced tremendous growth and have connected with people in profound ways over the course of the 20th Century. The Assemblies of God is simply one that comes immediately to mind. Others are evident, as well. The Church of God, for example. Cleveland, Tennessee. But also the Church of God in Anderson, Indiana. Plenty of different denominations that it find themselves in this particular extreme, particular tradition. What's especially difficult with these groups to identify is a single common confessional statement. It's simply not there. What emerges, however, is a common practice, a common experience. And a common vocabulary describing God's work particularly through the presence of the Spirit. And from that we extrapolate then, the centrality, the material principle of the Pentecostal movement, which is the experience of the Holy Spirit evidenced through speaking in tongues. But think about it in the bigger picture, if you would. In terms of what we've been discussing over -- well, a long time with Calvinism and then Arminianism. Calvinism with its fatalistic predestination that sets a person in their track. And always leaving them with that question mark: Where am I? And the answer of the Arminians saying: The choice is yours. You can make the decision about where you end up. But when you will evidence that decision on the basis of your sanctified life. We can quantify, if you will, the workings of the Spirit in the carrying out of the sanctified life. And then the Pentecostals say that we can even identify that more firmly through the spiritual gifts that attend the presence of the Spirit, the main one being speaking in tongues. In many ways the message that's been brought forward does carry forward the Gospel of Christ. Does bring his atoning work forward so that the Holy Spirit can work through that. What I often find tragic in this particular case, though, in these developments, is the manner in which the determination of those who are in or out or those who have made the right choice and, therefore, are converted is often so inwardly turned using the referent point as the individual subject. Rather than the objective and clear Word of the Gospel. The message of the Scripture that comes through clearly at every point that God so loved the world that he gave his Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. The great gift we have as preachers in the Lutheran Church is to clearly proclaim that unconditional Gospel trust. That he has fulfilled God's law in every point for us, more clearly, for you and for me. That he has suffered the penalty for sin once and for all. For me and for you. And that he is risen triumphantly for our justification and ascended to the right hand of God. From whence he will come again to raise the quick and the dead to gather us to himself as his own dear children. The clear Gospel of Christ. And as those engrafted into him, connected to Christ the vine, we have the assurance of life everlasting in his gracious presence.