Pentecostals vs. Lutherans: How They View the Holy Spirit

Pastor, what's the difference between Pentecostals and Lutherans?

Pentecostals and Lutherans both believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, but they tend to emphasize different aspects of His work.

So Pentecostals often emphasize the Holy Spirit's extraordinary gifts like speaking in tongues, healing, and prophecy.

But Lutherans emphasize something that's even more miraculous than that.

The Holy Spirit takes people who are dead in their trespasses and sins and makes them alive in Jesus Christ. Now, think about that.

Someone who is spiritually dead, an enemy of God, condemned to eternal death, is given faith in Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sin, the promise of everlasting life. And how does the Holy Spirit accomplish this astonishing miracle?

Through what Lutherans call the means of grace, God's Word, baptism, and the Lord's Supper. So through these seemingly ordinary things, the Holy Spirit works extraordinary wonders.

He creates faith where there was unbelief.

He comforts consciences burdened by guilt.

He transforms hearts of stone into hearts that love God and love the neighbor, and He sustains that faith all the way to eternal life.

So Lutherans certainly believe that God can and does perform miraculous healings and other wonders, but what's more miraculous than that is raising someone from spiritual death and giving him eternal life, and that's the Holy Spirit's great work, and He accomplishes it through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Like and subscribe.