The Christian Church cele­brates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost because it marks the ful­fillment of Jesus Christ's own promise to send the Spirit from the Father to us. We are not left as orphans in this world (John 14:18)! The Spirit of Jesus Christ quickens the dead hearts of God's elect, and the Spirit gives us new power for Christian living.

The word charisma is a Greek term that is related to the term charis, which means "grace, favor, a gift freely given." In common usage of the word "charismatic",we say that a charismatic leader is someone whose personality attracts a following among people, followers that are inspired and made confident by the winsomeness, intelligence, and vision of that leader. In the church world, charismatic churches are those that stress the presence of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially all the gifts of the Spirit that existed in the apostolic age of the church. The Pentecostal movement of the 20th century has sometimes been labeled the "charismatic move­ment." But does the term "charis­matic" properly belong only to the Pentecostals?

In the Bible the word charisma is used almost exclusively by the Apostle Paul. Peter also uses the word in 1 Peter 4:10. Without looking at every instance of the word's usage, we take note of the following passages in the New Testament. Romans 5:15, 16 speaks of the free gift of God that stands in sharp contrast with the transgression of him who first sinned (Adam). The transgression leads to death for all as the only just wages. Paul then later writes that the "free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Salvation in its length and breadth is a charisma from God to us, and that gift is ours by grace, earned for us by the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.

The principle references to charismata (gifts) of the Holy Spirit are in two passages:
Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. There is a remarkable similarity to the general flow of the Apostle's discussion in both passages. The Biblical teaching about Jesus Christ here becomes intertwined with the teaching about the church and the Holy Spirit. There is one divine grace that creates the one Body of Christ. This comes in the power of the Holy Spirit. But then, just as one white light can be refracted into a full spectrum of rainbow colors, so the one Spirit gives a great variety of gifts in one body. The church as a whole is a charismatic church in the sense that everything that she has is a gracious gift of the Lord through His Spirit.

The various gifts include speak­ing, prophesying, liberality in giv­ing, service, mercy, exhorting, and many more. The purpose is edifi­cation for the whole body. The cord of unity is the attitude and practice of love, which is the high­est and greatest gift of all. Thus, after Romans 12:3-8, where Paul gives expression to his teaching about use of the Spirit's gift for all, he goes on to say in Romans 12:9, "Let love be without hypocrisy." 1 Corinthians 12 gives a fuller treatment of Paul's teaching, seeing that the demonstration of spiritual gifts was causing some problems in the Corinthian churches. But Paul, as he did in his Roman letter, tells the Corinthian Christians to follow a "still more excellent way," name­ly, that of love, the greatest of those things that will abide forever (1 Cor. 13).

The Apostle Peter writes along remarkably similar lines, although he first exhorts his readers to love and then mentions the use of spiritual charismata (the reverse of Paul's order of discussion). "Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another. As each one has received a (special) gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4:8, 10).

It is to be admitted that the question of the continuation of some of the charismata (spiritual gifts) of the apos­tolic era continues to stimulate discussion and debate. Reformed Christians are generally of the opinion that tongue-speaking, faith-heal­ing and exorcism of demons have ceased with the close of the apostolic age. They served to confirm the apostolic witness in the period when the New Testament canon was not yet closed.

Nevertheless, the Christian Church has every right to view herself as charismatic in the sense that salvation from sin and death is God's great gift to her. Plus, each Christian talent and ability, every Christian virtue and quality, as each one has received, is also a charisma (gift) of the Spirit of Jesus. In that regard there are no second-class Christians.

A true Christian is a Spiritually-gifted Christian. Furthermore, that Christian seeks to be filled even more with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18) and expressive of every fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-25). Richard Gaffin was absolutely right when he says, "Biblically speaking, 'charismatic' and 'Christian' are synonymous. The Christian life in its totality is (to be) a charismatic life. Christ's church as a whole is the charis­matic movement" (Perspectives on Pentecost, p. 48).

A 9th century Latin hymn put it this way as a prayer: Plenteous of grace, descend from high, rich in Thy sevenfold energy; Make us eternal truths receive and practice all that we believe; Give us Thyself, that we may see the Father and the Son by Thee.