Slain
by the Holy Spirit
It’s a Biblical or anti-biblical
teaching?
Slain by The Holy Spirit, is the
English term to describe when a person falls lying on the floor dominated by
the supposed presence of the Holy Spirit. This is a practice that is being used
in the Pentecostal Charismatic churches to describe and claim an alleged
movement of the Holy Spirit upon the person.
In this writing I am addressing a very
deep and controversial topic of which many people don’t dare to touch or are
afraid to be against God. I praise God for the few who have already done!
First I want to say that I was
converted to Christianity in 1979, and after three years I was involved in the
ministry serving God and preaching the glorious gospel of salvation with the
fundamental focus of the "sound/healthy doctrine" which the Apostle
Paul recommended to Timothy and of course it is an order to every preacher of
the gospel to preach the good doctrine.
With over 30 years of service in the
gospel I have been observing how the sound doctrine of the gospel is constantly
distorted by falsehood and most terrible of all award the deceit of lies to the
Holy Spirit, Lord help us!
A scriptural call to ministers of the gospel;
2 Timothy 4:
“1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
2 preach the word;
3 For the time will come when people will not put
up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather
around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to
hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside
to myths”
Titus 2:
“You, however, must teach what is appropriate
to sound doctrine”
Mathew 24:
“24For false messiahs and false prophets will
appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have
told you ahead of time (Jesus)”Understanding the world ‘Slain’;
According to the dictionary 'slain' is
the word to describe when a person gets injured or killed on the battlefield.
In the Spanish term and within the Pentecostal charismatic movement slain is
described as this; it is when a person is taken by the Holy Spirit an falls to
the ground into some sort of a trance. Some are in a delirious mind, others are
shaking and others are like dead bodies. I've also seen some that do not fall
are but are trembling, shaking and / or screaming. But; are those
manifestations coming from the Holy Spirit? Curious I say curiously not for me
but to draw up your attention.
Have you noticed that in this practice
falls to the ground 'believers and unbelievers' as also occurs in Eastern
religions such as Hinduism, where people in the hands of Hindu gurus causes
these sort of manifestations but under the
so called ‘spirit Kundalini' but these turns not to be Christian practices.
Curious isn’t it? Well, that’s why it is necessary to conduct this study.
The spirit of Fear;
Many people that have been absorbed by
such doctrine are afraid to talk against about this because they are afraid to
be speaking against the Holy Spirit of God. To me personally, I have been told
"God rebukes you" for not being agreed to these practices and have
wondered if I have no fear of being against the Holy Spirit? Well, let me
clarify that I have no fear nor I am against the Holy Spirit of God. I am against
falsehood and deception and let me be clear that God has given me the Spirit of
Peace, not of fear, because fear does not come from God.
Given this practice, those preachers
who practice this doctrine are based on biblical evidence 'as they say', but I
want to reassure you that this practice is not in the bible therefore can not
be a biblical doctrine. Now let me first take you for a trip on the biblical
passages that are used to assert on this doctrine and then see the correct
application of those verses:
The Case of Daniel;
Daniel Chap. 8:
“18 While he was speaking to me, I was in a deep
sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me and raised me to my feet”
In this passage I want to discuss two very
important matters;
First, the
extension of the meaning of the word "asleep" in the Hebrew is the
word (רדם ) râdam or raw-dam' Whose meaning includes: amazed, astonished, surprised and / or deep
asleep or dead. So what Daniel describes here is that he fell prostrate (face down)
on to the ground being highly surprised by the revelations from the angel
Gabriel.
Second, Daniel was not in
front of the Holy Spirit but before the angel Gabriel. This is clear 'was not
the Holy Spirit' or the angel Gabriel who would cause any fall on Daniel but
this is that Daniel prostrated before him as I have described above.
Third, when Daniel was
prostrated, he was not left there for a long time since the angel Gabriel
touched him to strengthen him so he could get up immediately.
So before this event I
conclude this does "not" support to the doctrine of "falling
under the power of the Holy Spirit.
Continuing with Daniel case, we found
later in the chapter 10 of the same book another event which is also important
to look at that:
“9 Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the
ground. 10 A hand touched
me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 He said,
“Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about
to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you. And when he
said this to me, I stood up trembling. 12 Then he continued, “Do not
be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain
understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard,
and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian
kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes,
came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14 Now
I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future,
for the vision concerns a time yet to come.
15 While he was saying
this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless. 16
Then one who looked like a man touched my lips, and I opened
my mouth and began to speak. I said to the one standing before me, I am
overcome with anguish because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak.
17 How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord?
My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe. 18 Again the one
who looked like a man touched me and
gave me strength. 19 Do not be afraid, you who are highly
esteemed,” he said. “Peace! Be strong now; be strong. When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, Speak, my lord,
since you have given me strength.”
Let’s now see some facts on this
text:
In reference to the book of
Revelation in chapter 1: 11 to 17. Daniel saw in vision a character that many
have identified as the son of God Then he tells us that when he hear his voice he
felt on his face in a deep sleep, and the hand of this divine being rested upon
him and made him to stand. If we observe carefully we find that Daniel was not
‘slain’ to the ground but was strengthened to get up upon his feet. Daniel laid
prostrated without strength but still had full control of his senses so he
could talk to this divine being saying; Lord, with the vision pains have come
upon me, and I have no strength. So this divine being strengthening him saying
'fear not' and Daniel immediately regained strength and could stand.
From where then its being taking
the doctrine that shows people shaking in the ground for long periods of time
as seen in some modern churches?
Well, lets continuo with another
example where the scripture records falls of people to the ground, and from
where some used this to support the said ‘slain by the Holy Spirit”;
The case of the young men evil-possessed;
“42 Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God”
This is the case of a father who
cried out to Jesus so He could rid off the 'demon possession' from his son,
demon that his disciples couldn’t drive off of the boy. Given this request to Jesus, He commanded the
man to bring his son; then the evil spirit throws him to the ground, then
immediately Jesus rebuke the spirit and this left the boy free. Did notice what
spirit this boy was possessed? An evil spirit! Clearly we see in the passage
that the young man was drop to the ground but 'was not' by the Holy Spirit.
Wrongly is
the interpretation of this event as deeds of the Holy Spirit. Theologically it
is important to notice that during this event the Holy Spirit was at work
because Christ himself was among the people and as said was the demon that
drops down this boy. Then all the demonstrations showed when this young man
falls like; screaming, shaking and mouth-foaming although they seem like the
practice in some of our churches, were not from God but were from the evil
spirit that possessed him. Again I can say that this event was also not from
the Holy Spirit!
The Case from Paul;
Acts
Chapter 9:
“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out
murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him
for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who
belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to
Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his
journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell
to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul,
why do you persecute me? 5 Who
are you, Lord? Saul asked.Interesting passage to look at, as when Paul was persecuting the believers in Christ he was knocked down to the ground. Alike the other passages this one is also used for some preacher to continue the struggle to uphold the doctrine of falling to the ground by the power of the Holy Spirit. So once again let’s see this portion: At this time Saul (his name before Jesus called Paul) was an unbeliever and in his fanaticism for his religion he persecuted the followers of Christ. He felt to the ground for being bad, persecutor and murderer.
This event is also not from the Holy Spirit but rather a rebuke from Christ before his evil deeds. Saul may have been ridden a horse or camel and the mighty glorious light of Jesus Christ throw him to the ground. This deed was also not an act of the Holy Spirit! Therefore it is an event that can not support the so called slain by the Holy Spirit.
The case of Ananias and Sapphira;
Is also found in Acts
chapter 5 where it is also reported the falling. Let’s see again:
“Now a man named Ananias, together
with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 with his wife’s full
knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and
put it at the apostles’ feet. 3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it
that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and
have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t
it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at
your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied
just to human beings but to God.” 5 When Ananias heard this, he fell
down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then
some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and
buried him. 7 about three hours later his wife came in, not knowing
what had happened. 8 Peter asked her “Tell
me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that
is the price.” 9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test
the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are
at the door, and they will carry you out also.” 10 At that moment
she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her
dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great
fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these event
This recorded case is
also very important, because here we can see the deeds of the Holy Spirit who
‘slain’ (as in the meaning of being ‘slain by the Holy Spirit) two peoples; But
is this case and event to be used in support of the discussed teaching of
falling to the ground in today’s churches?
Let’s see what happen
here: Ananias filled his heart with the devil's lie and lied to the apostles,
not only to them but the Holy Spirit of God. We can note here that when Ananias
hears the words of rebuke from Peter he "fell down" and not only fell
but died. The Holy Spirit took his life! His wife Sapphira, also fell dead and
was buried with her husband because of the same lies. Paying a very close
attention to this case we can clearly see that this also does not support such
doctrine. But, in this case we can see the ‘true’ meaning of being slain or
killed as explained at the beginning of this writing.
And lastly a final case with the faith in my heart that God will give you
understanding and peace towards the discussed doctrines as discernment in a way
that you also can stand up to protect the good teachings of the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
The soldiers fell to the ground;
John Chapter 18:
2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had
often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the garden,
guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and
the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. 4 Jesus,
knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” 5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I
am he,”
Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When
Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
This passage shows the
event on the night when Jesus was captured while was praying in the Garden of
Gethsemane. There we see that a company of soldiers led by Judas the betrayer
came to size Jesus. Here comes a group of soldiers and I want to emphasize that
they are all ‘un-believers’. When Jesus
asked them; who is it you want? They reply to Jesus to what he responded:
"I am he" and before such response this company of soldiers felt to
the ground. They could not stand before Jesus! So, they not were surrounded by
the Holy Spirit's presence, but because they were bad and evil they could not
stand before the holiness of the Great "I Am" Jesus. No! This passage
also does not support the falls to the ground as a practice of the Holy Spirit.
Summarizing the above scriptures;
On
each of the passage above, none of them holds ground to sustain the teaching of
‘being slain by the Holy Spirit”. Therefore all Christians should open their
hearts and reject the false doctrine of ‘being slain’ as clearly we have seen
that those preacher of such doctrine interpret this scripture wrongly and it is
being use solely for personal gain; therefore they falls under the category of
false teachers of our times.
Humbly, I invite you to read the book
currently available only in Spanish “The Apostle and Prophets of our times”
which will give you a more deep insight of the false preachers
We can see that the power of the
message of the Word of God 'has declined' to give much more attention to these
practices of; falling, screaming, running, shaking, etc. to those who don’t
share the present lesson, I with the deepest on my heart invite them to respond
in their hearts the following questions:
-Is the Holy Spirit a God of order or
disorder?
-In what way glorifies God to such
practices in our churches? -Why believers and unbelievers fall?
-When and where Christ and / or the apostles of the early church made or ordain such practices?
-What the unbelievers think when attending services for the first time and see such practices?
-Why some preachers enjoy this doctrine?
-Does this practice seek God's glory? ‘or’ the glory and fame of the preacher?
-Do people change because they fall to the ground or by the power of the message of the Word of God?
-Does this practice get people closer to God?
Please respond! There is plenty space
here in my blog.
PS;
About the Hindu practice of the
Kundalini spirit, I will write something soon!
Finally; Why not to give your life to
Jesus? Call him with your lips and hart and invite Him to be your Lord and
Saviour today!
God bless you!
Gustavo E. Acevedo
www.levantateybrilla.com
Please; if this study has touch your
life, please share with other who also need to be instructed and free from
falsehood teachings.
Highly
recommended video:
Rev. David Wilkerson (Honouring a true
servant of God) Strange doctrines
Do not forget to leave your comments!
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