Word and Spirit: what Reformed Christians believe about the Holy Spirit

Pentecostal and Reformed Christians both believe that the Holy Spirit is God, that nobody becomes a Christian without him, and that he is at work today. They differ on how he ordinarily works and how his presence shows itself. This article describes the Pentecostal view in its own terms and then explains what Reformed churches teach, so that a Pentecostal visitor knows what to expect and why.

What Pentecostals believe

The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, the largest Pentecostal body in the country, sets out its beliefs in a Statement of Essential Truths. Three teachings mark Pentecostalism out.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Pentecostals teach that, in addition to the new birth, there is a further experience in which Christ baptizes the believer in the Holy Spirit, giving power for witness and service (Acts 1:8; Acts 2:4). This experience is understood as distinct from and following conversion. The PAOC teaches that its initial evidence is speaking in tongues, as on the day of Pentecost.

The gifts of the Spirit. The gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12, including prophecy, tongues, interpretation and healing, are for the church today and are to be sought and exercised in orderly worship.

Divine healing. Healing is provided in Christ’s atonement and is the privilege of believers; prayer for the sick, with anointing by elders, is a normal part of church life (James 5:14–15).

Around these convictions grows a recognizable way of worship: expressive, expectant, with room for spontaneous prayer, raised hands and testimony. Pentecostals emphasize personal experience of God, evangelism and mission, and the Spirit’s presence in everyday decisions.

What Reformed churches believe about the Spirit

Reformed Christians confess with the Nicene Creed that the Holy Spirit is “the Lord and giver of life,” fully God with the Father and the Son. Everything that follows rests on that.

The Spirit works through the Word. The heart of the Reformed view is that the Spirit and the Bible belong together. The Spirit gave the Scriptures, and he ordinarily works through them: when the Bible is read and preached, the Spirit uses it to create faith and to strengthen it (Romans 10:17; Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 65). This is why a Reformed service is built around preaching and why the sacraments are always joined to the Word. Reformed Christians expect the Spirit to be at work on an ordinary Sunday in ways that are quiet but real.

Regeneration. The new birth is the Spirit’s sovereign work (John 3:5–8). A person does not make themselves alive; the Spirit does it, using the gospel. The Canons of Dort describe this as a work of God as powerful as creation itself, which does not override the will but renews it.

One baptism in the Spirit. Reformed churches teach that every believer receives the Holy Spirit at conversion, and that being baptized in the Spirit is what happens when a person is joined to Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 8:9). Growth in the Spirit is real and ongoing, and there may be seasons of unusual nearness to God, but Reformed Christians do not look for a second, separate experience marked by tongues.

Assurance and prayer. The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children (Romans 8:16). Reformed Christians find assurance through God’s promises in Scripture, the evidence of a changed life, and the Spirit’s inward witness. Prayer is the chief way that thankfulness is expressed, and the Heidelberg Catechism says God gives his grace and his Spirit to those who ask for them (Q&A 116). Reformed churches pray for the sick, and their elders will pray with the sick who ask for it, trusting God to heal as he wills.

The extraordinary gifts. Most Reformed churches understand tongues, prophecy and apostolic healing as gifts given especially to establish the church in the apostles’ generation, when the New Testament was not yet complete. They do not deny that God can do as he pleases, and they do not doubt the sincerity of Christians who report such gifts. But they do not seek them, and they test every claimed revelation by the written Word.

Common ground

The list is long. Both believe the Spirit is a person, not a force. Both believe nobody can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). Both believe the Bible is the Spirit’s book and the standard for every teaching. Both believe in holiness of life, the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23), the urgency of mission and the power of prayer. Both expect God to act. A Pentecostal and a Reformed Christian praying together will find that they are praying to the same God, in the same name, for the same things.

The differences, without contempt

The honest differences are these: whether Spirit baptism is a second experience after conversion; whether tongues are its necessary evidence; whether the extraordinary gifts continue; and how much weight experience should carry beside the Word. Pentecostals sometimes find Reformed worship subdued, and wonder whether the Spirit is being quenched. Reformed Christians sometimes worry that a strong emphasis on experience can leave believers unsure of their standing when the feelings fade.

Neither concern is foolish. Reformed churches would ask a Pentecostal visitor to consider that quietness is not absence, and that the Spirit who filled the upper room also fills a plain room where the Bible is opened and explained. A Pentecostal would rightly ask a Reformed church whether it truly expects the Spirit to work, or has settled for order alone. Both questions deserve a hearing.

If you would like to see what “Word and Spirit” looks like on a Sunday, the local Reformed church listed on this site would be glad to have you visit and to talk afterwards.