New Apostolic Reformation - NAR Movement

The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a term assigned to certain believers of Jesus by other believers who do not share those same beliefs or doctrines. This is a relative new term that was developed over the last 80 years or so. This article will go through each major doctrine of NAR and compare it with scripture to determine if they are Biblically accurate. 

The leading cause that plunges believers into deception is their own bias, theologies of men taught in church, or other doctrines of men spoken by people they know. If we really desire to know the truth of the word of God, we must lay down our own biases and believe the word of God. This article will use scriptures to either support or reject NAR movement doctrines. 

Faith is important when we examine the truth in scriptures. Some scriptures are not currently being fulfilled before our eyes on a daily basis. But does that mean those scriptures are false? Of course not. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). True faith believes what God says in His word even when those scriptures are not actively occurring before our eyes this very second. True faith believes because God says. We are supposed to walk by faith, not our natural sight. Those who walk by their natural sight won’t believe God’s word by faith. Do you see the test brothers and sisters? 

Abraham was tested by God. He was promised a son by Sarah, and his faith was tested for many years. True faith must be tested over many years in order to be proven by God. Are we going to disbelieve God and His word because we don’t see something happening or because of bad experiences we’ve had in the church? The church is full of imperfect people who mess up doctrine and Christian living, so we would be foolish to formulate our doctrines on hurtful or bad experiences. The only safe way to proceed is to formulate our doctrine on the truth in the word of God. Anything else will lead us to deception. 

There have been some believers who used to practice certain Biblical truths but have now completely turned away from them because of a hurtful and bad experience in the church. The enemy loves to shut down the true reality of the kingdom of God by allowing bitterness into people’s hearts. If Satan cannot stop us from being saved, he will do everything he can to stop us from going all the way with the Lord. Satan knows that we cannot continue journeying with the Lord if we reject truths in the word of God that are for the New Testament Church. This is because when we reject truths that are for the church, we are actually falling into unbelief and thus calling God a liar. Every individual truth we reject in scripture will ultimately keep us further from the Truth Himself, Jesus Christ. 

The answer is not for believers to “draw back” because they have witnessed Christians' misusing Biblical truths or preaching error. We must not use the mixture in the church for our example or standard. The answer is to stand in the truth of the Bible and be voices for the truth. 

Before we can explore the scriptures relating to the New Apostlic Reformation doctrine, we must first establish a clear lens in which to view scripture. The New Testament was written as a blueprint for the New Testament Church. We are that church. How stupid would it be for God to spend one whole century setting up the perfect blueprint for His church (that would continue for at least 2,000 years) and then say to His people, "Well, now that the first century is over, some of My word no longer apples anymore. So I want you guys to figure out what still applies and fight about for the next two thousand years.” 

God is not a God of confusion. He takes a lot of time to prepare vessels and then give His blueprint through them to us, His church. Any believer or teacher who rejects what God said in His word will be held accountable for sowing division, deception, and false doctrine into the body of Christ. This is a very serious thing, and we should have the fear of living God in us. The Lord certainly would not set up a blueprint for His church and then be alright with men changing that blueprint by their own doctrine or traditions. 

Knowing the truth is really quite simple. We simply read the Bible and believe God’s design for His church. We will either believe God, or we will believe the doctrine, traditions, and teachings of men. We will all be held accountable for who or what we chose to believe. The church of God are living stones built into a spiritual house. Therefore, the church of our day needs the same truth and life as the first-century church. The church in our day is partly in mixture and confusion because we are not embracing the full truth and life of the scriptures.

I must also preface this writing with what the Christian walk is truly about. It is about knowing the Lord intimately and following Him as a disciple. During this process, your self-life is crucified, and Christ lives through you. Then the nature and character of Christ come forth from you as you are conformed to the image of Jesus. The full gospel is knowing and being transformed by the Person who is the Gospel. Journeying with the Lord must remain our first priority and not individual truths or doctrines. We must only use individual truths in scripture to lead us into a great revelation of the Truth, Jesus. It’s the pursuit of knowing Him and becoming more like Him that is the most important, and that keeps us on the path of life. 

Leaders who spend most of their ministry focused on arguing about why certain New Testament scriptures don’t apply anymore have gotten off into a deep ditch and are no longer on the path of life. Leaders who overemphasize certain Biblical truths and don’t focus on Christ have also fallen into a ditch. We do not want to be in one of these groups. We want to be following the Lord Jesus on the path of life and progressing in our knowledge of the Lord. 

Personal Revelation 

Many people know about the Lord, but do they actually know Him personally? You can only know the Lord personally from spending time with Him. Abraham was considered to be God’s friend, and he could hear the Lord. Abraham didn’t write scripture, yet he could understand the voice of the Lord. It's funny how some unbelieving believers don’t believe the Lord can speak to His people. Just because God speaks doesn’t mean it’s scripture or additional scripture. This is foolish reasoning. Again, God spoke to Abraham, and Abraham didn’t write any scripture. I’m sure they had a lot of conversations that were never shown and recorded by Moses in the Bible. 

Do you understand how much pride we have as believers if we tell God He can’t or doesn’t speak to His people anymore? The Lord can do and say whatever He chooses to. Only believers who don’t know Him very well would make ignorant statements such as God doesn’t speak to His people anymore. The scriptures actually show that He does:

“But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” (John 10:2-4 NKJV)

Throughout the entirety of the Bible, people received personal revelation from the Lord. He loves us and desires to communicate with you. The scriptures reveal the unchanging Godhead and how He has always interacted with mankind. The Bible is an invitation to know Him. If we believe by faith that the Lord speaks to us, then He will. He teaches us how to hear His voice over time as we follow Him and don’t give up on the process. If you don’t believe that God speaks, then you may not hear from Him. Just because the Lord gives personal revelation does not make it scripture. It simply means He is communicating with us. 

No true follower of Christ believes that personal revelation from the Lord supersedes the Bible. This is a false accusation from believers who don’t understand what they are talking about. True insight or revelation from the Lord will never contradict scripture, and any prophetic revelation that does contradict scripture should be rejected. The Mormon church was founded because a man named Joseph Smith believed revelations that contradicted the Bible. This tragedy caused many people to drift into deception. The Bible is our anchor of truth, and it should not be set aside.

Prophecy 

The Bible never states that prophecy or the gifts of the Spirit have passed away. If we reject or despise prophecy, we will grieve the Holy Spirit. If we really love the Spirit, how could we choose to grieve Him by rejecting the word of God?

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 NKJV)

We are to embrace prophecy because it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Think about how it feels when the loving Holy Spirit tries to give His children a precious gift such as prophecy, only to have that child slap that gift from His hand while stating they don’t believe in that gift. This quenches Him and damages the church. 

We are to judge prophecy to see if the Spirit bears witness and if it lines up with the scriptures. If the prophecy is a fantasy or a mixture from the soul of a man or woman, then we reject the prophecy. Just as rejecting good prophecies grieves the Holy Spirit, so receiving bad prophecies also grieves Him. We must increase in spiritual maturity so that we can discern the difference between good and evil prophetic utterances. 

The gifts of the Spirit will be done away with when Christ (that which is perfect) comes. However, the only One who is perfect has not come yet, so we continue to see in part, know in part, and prophesy in part until He comes. (1 Corinthians 13)

The will of the Father is for His children to ask for the Holy Spirit. This includes everything the Bible states regarding the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Some teachers are sowing doubt and confusion into the church by teaching against the gifts and the baptism of the Spirit. The Father desires for us to approach Him with childlike faith and seek the Holy Spirit until we have Him. The test is that of trust. Do you trust the Father to give you what is pure and holy, or do you believe the false teaching in the church that causes you to turn away from and distrust the Father?

“So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts [gifts that are to their advantage] to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him!" (Luke 11:9-13 AMPC)

Apostles and Prophets

Critics of the NAR movement say that the movement is characterized by the restoration of apostles and prophets. Critics argue that apostles and prophets ceased operating at or near the end of the first century. However, the Bible does not say this is the case. Here is what the scriptures do state:

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,” (Ephesians 4:11-14 NKJV)

Apostles and prophets (along with the rest of the gifts) were given UNTIL we all come to the unity of the faith. Has the church of Jesus Christ arrived at the unity of the faith? The clear answer is, “No.” Has the church come to full maturity (unto the stature of Christ)? Clearly, we have not arrived at that place of spiritual maturity, as we are still being tossed around by the false doctrines of preachers that state apostles and prophets are no longer functioning.

Isn’t it interesting that the scriptures never state that apostles and prophets should not function any more? The scriptures actually establish their functioning in the church. It’s a serious sin to nullify the scriptures with our own doctrine. We must conform to the word of God. Some use the following scripture to justify that prophets no longer function:

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;” (Hebrews 1:1-2 NKJV)

This scripture does not say that prophets no longer function or that Ephesians Chapter 4 is void. These books were actually written around the same year. Hebrews was making a comparison between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The gift that Christ gave to New Testament leadership is Christ Himself. Christ comes in us and ministers through us. As New Testament church leaders yield to Christ, then He ministers through the leaders as an apostle, prophet, or teacher/shepherd. Christ the prophet is in His prophets and speaks through them to the church! In these last days, God has chosen to speak by His Son who dwells in us. Jesus spoke to us when He walked the earth, but now He speaks from within His people. We are His new creation, and His kingdom is within us!

New Testament Church apostles and prophets have been in existence since God established them in the first century. However, the church lost sight of these functions because the church went into apostasy during the dark ages. The church even called ministers priests instead of pastors during this period. God had to recover the ministry of the pastor because it had been almost excluded. The Lord has been bringing this truth back to the church over the last hundreds of years. A few leaders who have functioned in the apostolic ministry through the centuries without even knowing it are Martin Luther, William Booth, and John G. Lake.

There are currently about four categories of apostles (or prophets). The first is those who are claiming to be apostles and are not (false apostles). The second are those who were called as apostles and in active ministry but were never sent by the Lord because they had not yet come to a certain level of Christ’s stature. These are the ones who title themselves and create messes in the church because they are full of mixture. Some believers are hurt by their ministries. The third group is the apostles who are still being privately prepared by the Lord and have not been released into full-time ministry yet. The fourth group is the few (very few) apostles who have been commissioned and are currently functioning in ministry preaching Christ and His cross. 

We must not reject truth in the scriptures:

“And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.” (I Corinthians 12:28 NKJV)

We need to ask ourselves, "Are apostles and prophets a NAR doctrine or are they a Biblical doctrine"? If the Bible says they are apart of God’s leadership for His church, are you going to believe the modern teachers who are teaching something different than the Bible? All those who believe teaching that contradicts the Bible will open themselves up to deception and delusion. These are the ones who become enemies of God by speaking against His revealed will in the scriptures, all while thinking they are doing God a service. 

God never “un-appointed” these leaders.

It is extremely scary when leaders and believers start cutting out certain scriptures from the Bible and say they no longer apply to us today. Meditate on that. If you can remove one scripture and argue that it no longer applies in the modern church, you can start removing other scriptures. It is a dangerous slope that leads to the pit of Hell. If believers can remove a scripture about apostles they don’t like, then they can remove scriptures about sexual sin! We won’t even have a Bible anymore if we think it’s okay to nullify God’s word by our own opinions or justifications. We are living in dangerous times. 

It would appear that there really is not a “New Apostolic Reformation.” Believing in what the scriptures say about the Lord’s church and His leadership is simply repenting from the sin of unbelief. When the church disregards and rejects certain scriptures over a long period of time, the Holy Spirit will initiate a movement to bring us back to the word of God and reveal truth. So there is not a NAR but we should be returning to the word of God that we have been neglecting or rejecting.

Dominionism

Critics say that the NAR is heavily steeped in Dominion Theology. I would have to agree with this to a point. Dominion theology basically states that believers will take control of society by dominating the seven cultural spheres that govern society. These spheres are: government, media, family, religion, education, entertainment, and business. The scriptures show that believers will not control these cultural mountains before Christ returns. In fact, the antichrist will achieve global dominion for the final three and a half years of this age. Then Christ will return and set up His kingdom (which will dominate the earth). 

A careful study of Revelation Chapters 13 and 17 will provide proof that the antichrist will be dominating the earth during the final years of this age. The antichrist will only be stopped by the second coming of Christ, not the church. The church will be persecuted, and some will be killed by the antichrist’s global government. The only “golden age” that is coming is when Christ returns to the earth and sets up His glorious kingdom. The church will not create its own utopia by ruling the seven cultural mountains and subduing evil world governments. Dominionsim is a fantasy that I believe came from false visions, because it certainly did not come from the Bible.

Believers should definitely be standing for Jesus and being light in the midst of the deep darkness. We should allow Christ to shine in us and make a difference in the world around us in whatever sphere of authority that the Lord has given us. Jesus commanded us to be the light:

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16 NKJV)

The light exposes darkness, and that is why the darkness hates the light. The church is called to stand against darkness. That is why the antichrist system hates the church and will try to destroy her. 

Obviously, the church should be dominating the religious sphere. However, the church is currently not dominating this sphere. There are currently more people trapped in a religious system masquerading as the church than there are true believers apart of the true church. Revelation chapter 13 shows us that the false prophet will control the global system of religion and cause many to worship the antichrist, thus taking worship from the Lord Jesus. 

The church should also be impacting the family sphere very heavily. The Lord desires us to have healthy families that love and serve Him. The battle we are now facing revolves around the destruction of the family. We must fight for our families. The Lord does not want us to simply sit back and allow our families to be destroyed by Satan. We are to wage good warfare against spiritual forces of wickedness, as Ephesians chapter 6 states.

The church will not be taking over the world before Christ returns, but we are to resist the Devil. Resisting the Devil includes resisting the antichrist, whom the Devil is going to empower. We must resist the globalist one-world-order antichrist agenda and government until Christ returns to establish His kingdom upon earth. We still have time to pull many people out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light. We should be coming together in unity as believers in order to accomplish this. Instead, many teachers are attacking believers who actually believe what the scriptures state regarding apostles and prophets and are thus damaging the body of Christ. 

Christians are not going to transform society or the culture as a whole, but there can be areas and locations that are Christian strongholds. Revelation chapter 12 clearly shows that areas of the earth will be provided for God’s people and will serve as locations of safety and refuge during terrible times. The Lord will build His church that the gates of Hell will not prevail against in locations of His choosing. The Lord will have a remnant church that is without spot and wrinkle and a bride that is made ready for Him. Jesus will use His overcoming bride to transform and rule the world after He comes and establishes His kingdom on earth.

“But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations— ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’— (Revelation 2:25-27 NKVJ)

Preterism - Amillennialism

Preterism and Amillennial theologies are part of the driving force behind Christians' believing that we will bring forth God‘s kingdom on earth in full measure before he comes. Dominion theology comes out of these belief systems. Preterism is the belief that the end-time events spoken of in Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation already occurred in 70 A.D. Amillennialism is the belief that we are already in the thousand-year reign of Christ. According to scripture, these are false doctrines.

A simple read of the book of Revelation will clearly demonstrate that the “end of the age” events have not occurred yet nor has the return of Christ. There has never been a global “mark” instituted in which people could not buy or sell without taking it. A false prophet has not called down fire from heaven and caused multitudes to worship the antichrist by means of his powerful deceiving miracles. A third of the earth's population has not yet been wiped out, as Revelation chapter 9 states. We could go on, but these examples are sufficient to demonstrate that the events of the book of Revelation did not occur in 70 A.D. Not to mention that most scholars date the writing of the book around 95 A.D., when John was exiled to the island of Patmos.

The Power of God

We are never to focus on the miracles, healings, and deliverances. Our focus must remain on Jesus Christ and the process of being transformed into His image. However, we must not reject or deny what the scriptures teach regarding the power of God. The Lord desires to use believers in His power to administer His love and mercy to the dying world. The Father desires to demonstrate His compassion to people because He loves them and so that they would have an opportunity to choose Jesus Christ. 

Jesus does not hand out power and authority to heal the sick and cast out demons like candy. He only gives His power to those who follow him as disciples (Luke 9:1-2). Simply reading the scripture and believing it does not qualify you to carry the power of God. Only when believers reach a certain point in the discipleship training process will they be trusted with the power and authority to heal the sick and cast out demons.

A secondary qualification for walking in the power of God is only doing the things that you see the Father doing. Jesus did not do his own will or pray for the people that He thought it best to pray for. He only prayed for those that his Father led him to pray for. Many believers have experienced great failure and praying for the sick because they’re praying for people who they desire to pray for. They are being led by their own will instead of the will of the Father.

Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. (John 5:19 NKJV)

Believers in the charismatic church who are teaching we should be raising everyone from the dead are deceived. During Jesus‘s ministry, He only raised three people from the dead, and it was according to the direction of the Father. When people in the Charismatic Church teach soulish doctrine, it actually turns people away from the truth in the word of God. The ministry of healing the sick and casting out demons was never supposed to cease. In fact, Jesus told his first disciples to teach other disciples to do the very same things that they themselves were taught (which included healing the sick and casting out demons):

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV)

The scriptures make it clear that those who follow Jesus and believe can do the same work as Jesus did. However, if believers don’t actually believe what Jesus said in the scriptures, then they will not be doing the works of power that He did. There are many in the church that fall into this category, and they are called "unbelieving believers." We must cling to the scriptures in faith:

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:15-18 NKJV)

Another major key to healing the sick and casting out demons is to understand that it’s not us doing it. It’s Jesus Christ who dwells in us and does the works of power through us. Jesus demonstrated this for us:

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. (John 14:10-14 NKJV)

Either we are going to believe Jesus in faith, or we are going to speak against the scripture and call Him a liar. My recommendation would be to stay away from all teachers who are rejecting the above scripture and thus making Jesus a liar. Obviously, we must ask and pray according to the will of the Lord and not our own will. That is certainly the qualifying factor for the above passage.

God's Will Over Our Theology 

“NOW IN the church (assembly) at Antioch there were prophets (inspired interpreters of the will and purposes of God) and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger [Black], Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Separate now for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then after fasting and praying, they put their hands on them and sent them away. So then, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from [that port] they sailed away to Cyprus.” (Acts 13:1-4 AMPC)

What if the early church had a doctrine that there could only be 12 apostles and that the Holy Spirit doesn’t speak anymore? Then the majority of the church would not have believed that Paul and Barnabas heard from the Lord. They would not have believed that Paul and Barnabas were functioning in apostolic ministry. The unbelieving church would have rejected the will of the Lord because of their own man-made theologies. But that’s exactly what has happened in our day. The church in our day disbelieves the scriptures because they are taught something different by men in the church. 

Conclusion 

The New Apostolic Reformation doctrine seems to be an attempt by religious teachers to group many charismatic believers into a specific movement. The NAR doctrine should be more properly titled "NAR Accusation." Believers who are in what is referred to as "NAR" don’t actually consider themselves NAR and do not wish to be accused of being part of this movement. The NAR accusation has some truth to it, but it is also partly false. Neither the accusers nor some who are being accused have their doctrines correct according to scripture. 

Christians who have believed the fantasy that the church will conquer the seven cultural mountains, spread the Kingdom of God across the globe in a massive end-time revival, and bring complete societal transformation should repent of their unbiblical belief system.

Religious teachers, who are preaching against the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the spirit, prophecy, divine revelation, the power of God, and apostles and prophets, should repent of their unbelief and from their departure of the word of God. They are in sin for disbelieving the scriptures and speaking against God’s revealed will. They will stand in judgment for canceling the word of God with their own doctrines. 

The true conclusion is that the teacher’s preaching against the New Apostolic Reformation are incorrect according to the scriptures. Also, some believers who are in what is referred to as the NAR Movement have false belief systems that need to be addressed since they will lead them into deception if not repented of. We must adhere to the Bible and not the teachings or traditions of men.

-Ty Unruh (November 2024)