A Satanic Doctrine is Limiting Your Spiritual Growth

A thoroughly unbiblical teaching has been embraced and taught as a spiritual-sounding doctrine.

It’s this falsity that has contaminated so many when it comes to welcoming the unusual manifestations of the Spirit’s movement and activity. When the devil wants to hijack the advancement of God’s people, he introduces subtle, yet destructive deceptions. Deceptions that are easy for us to embrace as truth, even though they are not presented in Scripture…anywhere! I want us to consider one of these deceptions and its severe implications to every single Jesus follower or church who has bought into the lie.

Why Does the Devil Hate the Holy Spirit?

One of the enemy’s favorite topics to target is the Holy Spirit. This is no coincidence, since what the Church does with the person and presence of the Holy Spirit will determine how much of Heaven is advanced and how much darkness is restrained on earth. The more the enemy can confuse the Church about the role of the Holy Spirit, the more he can gain influence. It is unfortunate, but the very Spirit of God that empowers ordinary men and women to be a restraining force to darkness in the earth has become reduced to being a controversial doctrine that we tolerate, at best, and reject, at worst. This should not be so!

Satan hates the Holy Spirit intensely for one key reason: the Christian who fully embraces the revelation that he or she is actually filled with the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead becomes a spiritual Joshua or Caleb who enters into and releases the promised land of Heaven on earth. We begin thinking, speaking, and acting like people who are, quite literally, possessed by God. Surely, this throws a wrench into satan’s diabolical plans.

This is why the enemy so persistently perpetuates lies about the Spirit. He’s done this since the beginning of church history, causing division about how equal (or non-equal) the Holy Spirit is to God the Father and God the Son. Controversy has continued all the way up into our modern era, when everything from speaking in tongues to the continuation of miracles to being “slain in the Spirit” is on the table for theological debate and division. Yet, while Christians are dividing over the Holy Spirit, darkness is gaining ground through damnable heresy being promoted within the Church (universalism, progressive Christianity, hyper-grace teaching, etc.). This must stop if we are going to see a great worldwide revival prior to the Second Coming of Jesus.

The Lie that is Impacting Millions

There is a lie that has been widely circulating in the evangelical (and yes, even the Charismatic) church that shuts down expectation concerning the Spirit’s movement. In many ways, this lie is robbing the people of God from embracing (let alone sustaining) the supernatural culture that is the inheritance of every single believer. So, what’s the lie?

Have you ever heard someone say, “The Holy Spirit wouldn’t do that; remember, He’s a gentleman.” That’s the lie right there. “He’s a gentleman.” We’ve taken this to mean that the Spirit of God will not move with unusual power or force. He won’t make us uncomfortable. That’s a lie. You know how I know? Because God’s chief concern is not mankind’s comfort; it’s the advancement of His Kingdom. Jesus never seemed to consider comfort when He healed the sick or drove out demons. He did not seem preoccupied with what the religious leaders thought about His methods or the unusual ways people often responded to His touch. These Kingdom-advancing activities always brought great freedom to the oppressed, while simultaneously attracting significant reproach from the religious community.

This false idea about the Holy Spirit being a “gentleman” has put a ceiling on what we are expecting from God in our lives, church services, and in our world today. As C. S. Lewis classically wrote of King Aslan, “He isn’t safe. But he is good.” Yes, the Holy Spirit comes to faithfully represent King Jesus who is kind, compassionate, gentle, and caring. Yet, this Jesus is also King, Warrior, and Conqueror. He is Lamb, yes, but also Lion. He blesses little children one moment and casts out devils in the next. I don’t want a containable, fits-in-a-box Jesus. Likewise, why should we place the same expectation on the Holy Spirit?

I’m most concerned about the definition we’ve assigned to “gentleman.” While I don’t believe the Holy Spirit forcibly causes us to experience something we don’t want to, my concern is how we have lowered our expectations of what He can do, will do, or wants to do. Even Charismatic communities tremble at the prospect of “opening the service up” to the Spirit, in fear of what He might do.

Is there risk? Always. Is there potential for disorder? Certainly. As long as human beings are involved, you will have those who behave out of order. Is it worth it all to watch God crash in and transform people’s lives forever? Ask any revival leader throughout history. The answer is yes. To pay the price of risk and experience the move of God in exchange is always worth it.

In the previous chapter, we examined some of the multiple scriptural accounts of how the Holy Spirit moves. In the Old Testament, He came upon the judges and prophets with great power, anointing them for supernatural exploits. Even from His grand entrance on the Day of Pentecost, it’s quite obvious that He is not tame. He invaded the Upper Room as a mighty rushing wind (see Acts 2:2–3), and it has been His will to bring Heaven’s mighty transformation ever since. So why aren’t we seeing it as much today?

When God Shows Up

The Holy Spirit should be given “run of the show,” when it seems like He is often stuffed in a back room somewhere. Of our lives and our gatherings. Why? Out of fear. Out of shame. Out of concern that He might actually show up and do what the Bible says. Heal the sick. Cast out devils. Overcome and overwhelm those hungry for His touch. Do things shake and tremble when the Holy Spirit comes? Yes. But how could they not? To believe that we shouldn’t expect a reaction when God Himself enters our time and space, and touches human flesh, is to try and put the Almighty in a box.

Scripture makes it clear that when God shows up, things tremble and move. Creation shakes.

The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth (Psalm 97:5 ESV).

He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke (Psalm 104:32 NASB).

Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob (Psalm 114:7 NIV).

If created order responds to the movement of God, we need to be okay with people trembling, shaking, jerking, falling down, laughing, and other such phenomena as the Spirit touches them. Why these reactions are marginalized and considered offensive is truly astounding, when we have no qualms with how fellow Christians respond during sporting events or secular concerts. This is not a dig against being entertained by sports or music; it’s a call to value and pursue the superior pleasure of God’s manifest presence.

It’s Time For Us to Embrace the Spirit’s Movement

If we address this lie, I believe we are on the road to identifying solutions to many unanswered questions in Christianity today: Why aren’t we seeing more healings and miracles in Western society? Why does God seem to move more overseas than He does in America? Did the age of miracles end with the death of the last apostle or the canonization of Scripture?

Could it be that these questions cannot sufficiently be answered with some theological blanket statement like “God’s sovereignty”? I believe that we will begin to experience what we hunger for and expect. Our invitation? Let’s remove the limits from Holy Spirit, stop using this un-biblical “gentleman” language, and pursue Him in His fullness. For those who have used this language, describing the Holy Spirit as a gentleman, don’t worry—I’ve been there. I’m not criticizing you; I’m identifying and calling out the concept. I believed it too. But now, my heart cries out to experience Him without religious restraint. Truly, this is not something that should scare or spook us.

It should be the great thrill of every believer’s life to see the omnipresent God manifest Himself in our personal time and space through the wonderful Holy Spirit. Let’s press past our discomfort and cry out for more!