What is the “Gamaliel Argument,” you ask?

In the early chapters of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, the Spirit of God was working in powerful ways so that the preaching of the word about Jesus was resulting in thousands coming to faith in Him, and miraculous works were confirming the word of the Apostles.

In Acts 5:17 the Jewish religious leaders see the gospel (and its results) as a threat. They determine to eliminate that threat by killing the apostles.

The Sadducees and the Pharisees didn’t agree on much, but they quickly agreed that killing the apostles was the way to deal with the spread and wild growth of this “new religion.”

They would have implemented their plan were it not for one of their number, a Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel (Acts 5:34), who addressed the council with some wise advice and a warning:

“If this work be of men, it will come to nothing, but if it be of God, you can’t stop it; you will be fighting against God.” (Acts 5:38-39)

Gamaliel’s advice to his peers is “wait and see” what the results are. Let the results be the test of the validity of the work.

There are many who are using the “Gamaliel Argument” against any who might have legitimate concerns about whether what is happening at Asbury University is “of God,” claiming that the Bible says we should “wait and see,” and let the results validate the work.

Here’s why the “Gamaliel Argument” isn’t a valid justification for a “wait and see” approach to the Asbury Revival:

1. While it is true that Gamaliel’s words are in the Bible, they are not the divinely inspired word of God.
2. Gamaliel was a wise, religious man (a well-respected Pharisee as Acts 5:34 indicates), but he was not a follower of Jesus or an apostle.
3. Gamaliel isn’t speaking to the Church with the divine authority of an apostle. He is speaking to the enemies of God as one whose opinion was highly valued by his sect (the Sadducees and Pharisees bent on eradicating the Church). His words are an observation and a truism, but not the word of God to His people.
4. What Gamaliel says to the enemies of God is true: “If this work is of man, it will come to nothing; if it is of God, you can’t stop it.” But that is NOT the standard by which BELIEVERS are to discern a true work of the Spirit of God.

The “Gamaliel Argument” can be summarized as “wait and see.” Those who use this argument want us to “wait and see” what the long-term results of the Asbury Revival are before trying to discern if what is happening is a true work of the Spirit of God.

But that isn’t the “Biblical Argument.”

The Biblical Argument for discerning EVERYTHING that purports to be a work of the Holy Spirit is to IMMEDIATELY TEST what is happening by the word of God.

There is another man in the Bible who gave us this “Biblical Argument.”

His name is John, and his argument is 1 John 4:1: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits whether they be OF GOD.”

Interesting, isn’t it, how Gamaliel and John both used the words “of God” in their arguments:

Gamaliel: “If this work be OF GOD, you cannot stop it.”
John: “Test the spirits, whether they be OF GOD.”

But that’s where the similarity ends:

1. John’s words are in the Bible, not as a matter of historical record, but as the words of an apostle, thereby making them the divinely inspired words of God.
2. John was a follower of Jesus and an apostle.
3. John was speaking to the Church with the divine authority of an apostle. What he says isn’t a truism, an observation, or an opinion. It is THE word of God.
4. What John says is THE STANDARD by which believers are to discern if what purports to be a work of the Holy Spirit is indeed a work of the Holy Spirit: IMMMEDIATELY TEST THE SPIRITS.

It would be the height of irresponsibility and spiritual malpractice for the shepherds (pastors) of God’s people to take a “wait and see” attitude, and risk allowing their people to be led away into error.

As a pastor who will stand before the Chief Shepherd at the judgment to give an account of my oversight of his sheep, I’m not willing to “wait and see.”

I’ll take the words of another divinely inspired apostle as my rule: not “wait and see” but “command and teach” (1 Timothy 4:11).

“Take heed to thyself, and unto the doctrine (teaching); continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” [1 Timothy 4:16]