7 Ways the PAOC’s Proposed Statement of Faith Adds Pentecostal Spice

After a 7-year process, this month, May 2022, the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) will vote on a new statement of faith at its General Conference. The refreshed statement uses contemporary language, like “worship” instead of “homage,” and it adds more Pentecostal spice to the statement.

Pentecostal Flavour

Some of the added Pentecostal flavour likely came about without intention, given the natural Pentecostal inclination of everyone who contributed to the proposed Statement of Essential Truths (SOET).

At the same time, the SOET does intentionally take Pentecostal theological sensitivities into account. This is reflected in the “whereas” statement for resolution #10 (the General Conference resolution to affirm the new SOET), which notes that the project “included research into both our early tradition and current Pentecostal scholarship.”

The things I identify here are not necessarily unique to Pentecostals, but they do reflect ideas that are true to Pentecostal spirituality, thereby resulting in a statement with a stronger Pentecostal flavour.

I don’t mean to suggest that Pentecostals should aim to be different—even if we are a little spicy at times. Our aim should be to be biblical. But, it just so happens that I think Pentecostal theology is—on its best days—a faithful expression of biblical teaching. I’m sure Baptists and Methodists feel the same way 😊.

Given these qualifications, here are 7 ways the PAOC’s proposed statement of faith adds Pentecostal spice:

1. Anointing

The refreshed SOET adds that Jesus was “anointed by the Spirit” (Luke 4:18). This affirmation is important as it grounds believers’ Spirit-empowered mission in the mission of Christ, who is by definition “the anointed one” (in Greek, Christos means “the one anointed”…with the Spirit).

On the one hand, knowing that believers today are anointed with the same Spirit that Jesus received gives us expectation for the wonderous ways that God will work through us. On the other hand, Pentecostal theologian David Courey reminds us not to become triumphalistic because the Spirit-anointed Jesus suffered and was rejected, and his Spirit-anointed disciples may experience the same fate.[1]

2. More Holy Spirit

There is a section on Spirit baptism and the spiritual gifts in the current Statement of Fundamental and Essential Truths (SOFET), but the section on the Holy Spirit only emphasizes the personhood and deity of the Spirit—both important and orthodox affirmations!

In the refreshed SOET, the paragraph that focusses on the Holy Spirit adds a little more spice as it describes the Spirit as giving life, drawing people to salvation, and making all believers children of God. Like the current SOFET, the refreshed SOET also adds numerous references to the work of the Spirit throughout the rest of the statement.

3. The Bible Today

Like the wider evangelical community, the current SOFET emphasizes (rightly so!) God’s past relationship with the Scripture. It was inspired (past) and, therefore, the original manuscripts, which we no longer have (past), were without error.

The refreshed SOET exhibits how Pentecostals view the Bible as more than a book of errorless facts to be unearthed through historical-grammatical interpretation, but as a place where God still speaks and through which we continue to encounter God today.

The SOET emphasizes that the Bible is (today) revelation of God’s “saving purposes,” that it is (today) true and trustworthy, and (similar to the SOFET) that the Spirit still (today) “enables its interpretation and application.”

4. The Resurrection and Ascension as Vital for Salvation

The current SOFET focusses on Christ’s atoning work on the cross. The resurrection is presented only as proof of Christ’s atoning work.

The refreshed SOET, by contrast, recognizes that “the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ provide the way of salvation.” As the Scripture states, Christ “was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25) so that he could send the Spirit and we could receive the Spirit—or be justified—by faith (Galatians 3:1-9). Without the resurrection, this would not have happened, and we would still be in our sin (1 Corinthians 15:17).

In other words, as Pentecostal theologian Frank Macchia emphasizes, the goal of the cross was not only a declaration that we are not guilty, but also for God to send the Spirit via the risen Christ, and to thereby embrace humanity through the Spirit.[2] And so, the second paragraph in the Salvation section of the SOET begins, “Salvation means [among other things] to receive the Spirit.”

5. The Transforming Presence of God

The refreshed SOET adds that “central to the church is the shared experience of the transforming presence of God.” Similarly, Pentecostal theologian Keith Warrington describes Pentecostal theology as a “theology of encounter” with God.

The SOET continues with an affirmation that the actions of the church (e.g., discipleship and the Lord’s Supper) are in response to, and I might add in the midst of, this “shared experience” of God’s presence.

6. Gifts of the Spirit

While the present SOFET is obviously not cessationist(!), the refreshed SOET is even more explicit in affirming that the Spirit continues to give “all gifts” (not just some) to the church.

7. Women Leaders

The refreshed SOET is also explicit in affirming the Spirit “empowers leaders, both female and male.” This is consistent with the Pentecostal and biblical emphasis that Jesus pours the Spirit out on “all flesh / all people” (Acts 2:17)—women and men—with the result that the early Church had female deacons, like Phoebe (Romans 16:1).

The SOET’s affirmation is also consistent with Pentecostalism’s pre-institutional days when women had unrestricted access to ministry positions and with the PAOC’s recent “Statement of Affirmation Regarding the Equality of Women and Men in Leadership.”

And More…

One could explain how many other aspects of the SOET add Pentecostal flavour. For example,

• the section on God is now placed before the section on Scripture,
• there are more references to the kingdom of God,
• the refreshed SOET adds a tip of the hat to Pentecostalism’s historic Arminian/Wesleyan majority view of salvation,
• healing is presented “as a foretaste of our future restoration,”
• and…and…

But What About Spirit Baptism and Eschatology?

Ah, you noticed that I didn’t say anything about Spirit baptism and eschatology, did you?

I’ve commented on the Pentecostal nature of the eschatology section in my previous post.

And my comments on Spirit baptism seem to warrant an additional post. So, I now expect to finish and publish a post on Spirit baptism at some point in the future.

For now, I speak in favour of resolution #10.

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You might also be interested in these posts:

• The Changing of the PAOC’s Statement of Faith … Again
• Pentecostals and the Trinity: On the PAOC’s Refreshed Statement of Faith
• Pentecostal(?) Eschatology in the PAOC’s Proposed New Statement of Faith

Andrew K. Gabriel, Ph.D., is the author of Simply Spirit-Filled: Experiencing God in the Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit as well as three academic books, including The Lord is the Spirit. He is a theology professor at Horizon College and Seminary and serves on the Theological Study Commission for the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. You can follow him on Facebook or on Twitter.