Found here. Our comments in bold.
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It wasn't long ago that Mr. Becker appeared in another of our posts. He did not acquit himself particularly well there, nor does he improve his performance in today's post.
Mr. Becker seems to have difficulty with the difference between the biblical case for his beliefs vs. contemporary charismatic practices and what might be wrong with them. He goes back and forth between explaining his view on Bible passages and attacking those with whom he disagrees.
He doesn't do a very good job doing either. We find this strange given the substantial opportunity (nearly 5000 words) to explain and document his position. Also, it is very nearly amazing how little Scripture Mr. Becker quotes.
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“…having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5) is a portion of a verse that’s often quoted by those who claim to operate in the supernatural, exercise the supernatural gift of their choice, and have “enounters” (sic) with God. They quote this part of the verse in a disparaging sense, directed at individuals or churches that in their view are not “spirit filled,” don’t operate in supernatural gifts, “quench the Holy Spirit,” and resist the current “revival” or “move of God.” (Irony alert. Notice that Mr. Becker takes issue with the disparaging manner in which charismatics apply this Scripture to people like him, but he will go on to use a similar tone himself through out his article.)
They view the ones that deny the power as people with a “religious spirit,” or people under the influence of an antichrist spirit. They accuse them of being opposed to any form of the supernatural; people whose devil is bigger than their God because they’re afraid of taking risks in the supernatural and being deceived. Boring people, content with doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers. But when we examine the context of the verse (2 Tim 3:1-5), we’ll discover that some who abuse this text (whom I’ll refer to as having a false view of the supernatural) are in fact guilty of “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” (So Mr. Becker will simply turn the Scripture right back at his theological opponents, having previously bristled at receiving similar criticism.)
Those who quote this verse in the manner described above, usually have a false view of the supernatural. Before we delve into the text, and for the sake of clarity, allow me to explain what I mean by a “false view of the supernatural.” (We hope it will be the biblical case...)
It’s a belief typically found in some Charismatic or Pentecostal churches, and churches that have embraced the aberrant doctrines of the New Apostolic Reformation. A False view of the supernatural:
1. Every believer can operate in the supernatural, and has received a supernatural gift – every believer can speak in tongues, prophesy, and if they exercise enough faith and are in a right relationship with God, can perform the same and even greater miracles than Christ (It’s this particular belief that’s caused Bethel’s “school of supernatural ministry” franchises to spread across the world).
This is false because 1 Cor 12 makes it clear that it’s the Holy Spirit “who apportions (gifts) to each one individually as he wills” (vs 11). (This is very odd. Mr. Becker appeals to a Scripture that negates his assertion. The verse clearly states that "each one individually" gets at least one spiritual gift. But the title to this section seems to suggest that not everyone receives a spiritual gift. Mr. Becker inserts the word "supernatural" as if some gifts are supernatural and others are not. This is false, for every gift is a supernatural empowerment from the Holy Spirit.
Thus every Christian has a "supernatural" spiritual gift.)
Secondly, the chaos and bizarre manifestations in NAR type churches and various Charismatic churches, are a violation of Paul’s instruction to the Corinthians regarding order during worship: “But all things should be done decently and in order” (1 Cor 14:40). (Maybe some of these things are not in order, but we think the problem is they violate Mr. Becker's sensibilities. Ananias and Sapphira [Ac. 5], the shaken prison walls [Ac. 16:26], Cornelius' encounter [Ac. 10:4], the seven sons of Sceva [Ac. 19:14], all seem to indicate that Mr. Becker's opinion regarding what constitutes proper order is not correct.)
Finally, the “greater works” that Jesus mentioned in John 14:12, does not refer to greater miracles. (Mr. Becker links to a sympathetic source, who simply chooses the rendering which suits his doctrine the best.
It's a shame Mr. Becker doesn't quote the passage in context. In fact, it's probably a deliberate tactic:
Jn. 14:11-12 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Jesus directly appeals to His miracles to call forth faith. Then His very next statement is that "anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing." What had Jesus been doing? Miracles.)
2. Signs and wonders are normative. The scriptures include many accounts of miracles, signs and wonders, which cause some to believe that they are normative. This is false because the following is not taken into account:
• The sign gifts were not given to all believers (1 Cor 12). (There is no such thing as "sign gifts." Scripture does not use the phrase.)
• The scriptures span a period of approximately 4000 years.
• There were centuries that went by during this time, without any recorded miracles. ("Recorded." Indeed, that is key. What is recorded is not the same as everything that happened. We discuss this in detail here.)
• The number of people who performed miracles were relatively few. (Again, the number of people RECORDED as performing miracles were relatively few.)
• The major reason for signs and wonders in the New Testament has been fulfilled – to authenticate the message and ministry of the apostles (2 Cor 12:12), (The miraculous was not to authenticate the apostles. This verse does not say that. We discuss this in detail here. And what does Mr. Becker mean by "major?" What are the other "minor" reasons for signs and wonders?) and to authenticate the identity, message and ministry of the messiah (John 10:36-39). (This is certainly true about Jesus, but not about the apostles.)
3. The office of apostle and prophet still exist. (If you’re wondering why I’ve included this point under a false view of the supernatural, it’s because both offices involve some form of the supernatural such as extraordinary miracles, (No Scriptural reference for this supplied. We would note that non-apostles performed miracles [Ananias and Stephen, for example.)
writing scripture, (No Scriptural reference for this supplied. Jude, Luke, and Mark were not apostles.)
and infallible prophecies (No Scriptural reference for this supplied. In fact, there are no prophecies identified as apostolic recorded in Scripture, except for the book of Revelation [Re. 1:3] and some minor statements [Ac. 22:21, 1Co. 7:10])).
This is false because it’s impossible for anyone to qualify for the office of apostle. One of the qualifications for the office of an apostle was that they had to be a witness to the resurrection of Christ (Acts 1:22). (This is spectacularly false. Mr. Becker changes the words to suit his doctrines. The verse does not say "be a witness," it says "become a witness." This is not a qualification, but rather, a duty for the new apostle. We discuss this in detail here.)
Although Paul was unique in that he was saved after the resurrection and the last apostle, (Undocumented false statement.)
he was called directly by Christ (Gal 1:1), and saw the resurrected Christ (1 Cor 9:1; 15:5-9). (But Paul had not "been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out..." Paul does not qualify under this criteria. Therefore the Eleven were not setting a template for any and all apostles, but rather just for the replacement for Judas Iscariot.)
Secondly, and this ties in with the previous point, there were “extraordinary” (Acts 19:11) and specific signs and wonders that could only be performed by the apostles – “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works” (2 Cor 12:12). For example, only apostles raised the dead in the book of Acts – Peter (Acts 9) and Paul (Acts 20). (This is nothing more than an Argument from Silence. The book is called "Acts of the Apostles" for a reason. Its focus is on what the apostles did. So we don't know what unmentioned people did. Thus it is false to assert that only the apostles did this or did that based on what Acts does not say.)
Take note – “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles” (Acts2:42-43). ("... and no one else." Oh, wait. The verse doesn't say this, does it? As we mentioned, Stephen [Ac. 6:8] and Ananias [Ac. 9:17] violate Mr. Becker's rule. In addition, Cornelius had a vision [Ac. 10:1]. And of course, there is 1Co. 12:28, where the working of miracles is a listed as a spiritual gift, which also violates Mr. Becker's rule.)
Those who claim to hold the office of prophet, with the same authority and function as old testament prophets, (Hmm. Mr. Becker seems to like slipping in these little modifiers and qualifiers. There is no Scriptural requirement that NT prophets must have "the same authority and function as old testament prophets." We discuss this in detail here.)
need to explain the need for their prophecies, since the scriptures are complete. (Writing Scripture was not the only reason for prophecy. Paul writes, "but I would rather have you prophesy [1Co.14:5]." Were they all writing Scripture?
This ought to be obvious to Mr. Becker.)
Furthermore, by their own admission and history, their words are not infallible and rarely accurate. This contradicts the biblical test for prophets which has never been modified in scripture – one false prophecy makes you a false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:20-22). (Um, no. Scripture has indeed modified the test of prophecy for the last days. We no longer put false prophets to death. If Mr. Becker is going to apply one criteria from Deuteronomy 18:20-22, he needs to apply the other, or explain what has changed. Again we direct the reader to our discussion.)
The foundation for “God’s household” is the “apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” (Eph 2:20). That foundation is complete, and the true apostles and prophets are still speaking through the scriptures. (Quite true, but how is this relevant to the argument?)
4. In their pursuit of encounters and taking risks in the supernatural, God will not allow them to be deceived because they trust in his ability to keep them, more than they trust in their own ability to be deceived. This is false because their assumption is that they’re born again, and many are not, and therefore not able to discern truth from error. ("Many?" Another wiggle word. What about the ones who are born again?)
Secondly, God sends a delusion upon those who have rejected the truth, a delusion that includes the signs and wonders these people pursue: “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11.) (Hmm. Is the lawless one already here?
Again Mr. Becker is happy to bludgeon his theological opponents, having previously bristled at receiving similar treatment from them.)
There goes the argument that “God will never allow me to be deceived.” (Who has said this? Source?)
If you reject the truth (Who has rejected the truth?)
and pursue the supernatural, (Pursuing the supernatural is rejecting the truth? Now Mr. Becker is making things up. Where does the Bible say this?)
God will allow you to be deluded. (see also Matthew 7:21-23) (???)
In addition, apart from “Satan’s activity,” or counterfeits, what is often assumed as being “supernatural,” is actually psychological, or plain skullduggery – the leg lengthening trick is a prime example.
Those with the false view believe that anyone who rejects their experiences or teaching on the supernatural – such as the manifestations in their midst, or teachings that anyone can operate in signs and wonders, are in fact rejecting the true operation and work of the Holy Spirit. (So some unnamed people once again cause Mr. Becker to bristle.)
Nothing could be further from the truth. Discerning believers are rejecting:
• manifestations that are found in various cults and the occult such as kundalini manifestations, incoherent babbling, animal noises, being slain in the spirit and convulsing like the demon possessed.
• lens flares in a photography that are supposedly angels or an anointing captured in a photograph.
• glitter, “glory clouds,” smoke, breezes, scents, “angel feathers”, gold fillings, gemstones, or any other manufactured “sign and wonder.”
• tall stories about trips to the third heaven, angelic encounters, new revelations, fire tunnels, and countless unverifiable “miracles.”
(None of these are biblical arguments or come to bear on what the Bible teaches.)
Discerning believers who reject charlatans and their counterfeits are not rejecting the real work of the Holy Spirit, neither do they deny that God can work miracles. The Christian life is a supernatural life. It begins with a miracle – being born again. The indwelling Spirit of God working in and through believers is miraculous. There are times when God has intervened on our behalf in miraculous ways that we may be unaware of. There are times when God does heal – according to his will. You cannot seperate (sic) the supernatural from the life of a believer! Discerning believers are rejecting deception and error, it’s those who have rejected the truth, that are deluded and resisting the Holy Spirit. (Hmm. How do we know that "discerning believers" are not deluded for not believing in miracles and healing? We are unable to see the difference here between "discerning believers" and "deluded believers.")
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