"a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit"         (James 2:15-16 NKJV)

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Pentecostal can also mean "pertaining to Pentecost".
The Pentecostal movement within Evangelical Christianity places special emphasis on the direct personal experience of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as shown in the Biblical account of the Day of Pentecost. Pentecostalism is similar to the Charismatic movement, but developed earlier and separated from the mainstream church. Charismatic Christians, at least in the early days of the movement, tended to remain in their respective denominations.


Beliefs
There are three basic streams of Pentecostal churches. The majority believe that one must be saved by believing in Jesus as Lord and Savior for the forgiveness of sins and to be made acceptable to God. Pentecostals also typically believe, like most other evangelicals, that the Bible has definitive authority in matters of faith. To this first group, speaking in tongues is the sign of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, but not necessary for salvation. The other two groups fall under an "Acts 2:38" based salvation message which says that a person needs to repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and then receive the Holy Spirit. Receiving the Holy Spirit is necessary for salvation and includes speaking in tongues. Of the Acts 2:38 based churches, they fall into two categories of "Jesus Name" or "Oneness" Pentecostals which baptize in Jesus name only, and those that baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Because many Pentecostal denominations are descended from Methodism and the Methodist Holiness Movement, Pentecostal soteriology is generally Arminian rather than Calvinist, believing that the ability to believe in Jesus is a power of the human free will.

This is in fact one of the distinctions that separates Pentecostal traditions from those of the Second Wave Charismatic and Evangelical churches, which tend toward a Calvinistic soteriology. One of the main points of division is the definition of eternal security, which is thoroughly Calvinist in the later Evangelical denominations and follows the Arminian tract in Pentecostal churches and denominations. This is most clearly illustrated by the belief held in Pentecostal groups that crediting the charismatic gifts and expressions to demonic or carnal motives and spirits qualifies as an unpardonable sin (Blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, Matt. 12:32). In Charismatic and Evangelical churches, this view is marginalized or replaced with the belief that refusing to convert to Christianity before death is the only unpardonable sin.[citation needed]

Pentecostals believe in water baptism as an outward sign of conversion and that the baptism in the Holy Ghost is a distinct spiritual experience that all who have belief in Jesus should receive. Most classical Pentecostals believe that the baptism in the Holy Ghost is always accompanied initially by the outward evidence of speaking in tongues. It is considered a liberalizing tendency to teach contrary to this historic position. This is another major difference between Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians, who believe that a Christian baptized in the Holy Ghost may exhibit certain supernatural signs, including speaking in tongues, "being slain in the spirit" (where people fall to the ground as if asleep or in convulsions), prophecy (i.e., a vision or a word of God, spoken or felt in the spirit), miraculous healings, miraculous signs, etc.

One of the defining marks in some Pentecostal groups is emotionalism in worship and prayer. They are known for raising their hands while singing and praying. They tend to be very vocal and expressive in their prayers, with cries of "Yes, Lord!," "Thank you, Jesus!", "Hallelujah!" and other spontaneous expressions of praise. There are other more conservative branches of Pentecostal groups, where the worship is enthusiastic, but not as emotional.

Some large Pentecostal denominations reject any connection between personal salvation or conversion and the baptism in the Holy Ghost and teach that it is not necessary for salvation, but a gift from God available to all Christians regardless of denominational affiliation. This doctrine was a development of the teachings of Stephen Galbraith regarding what he called the Third Moment of Grace and as such is linked to soteriology. However, some Pentecostal denominations regard such scriptures as Rom. 8:9, John 3:5, and Acts 2:37-39 as pointing to the necessity of Holy Ghost baptism to salvation. Many early Pentecostals believed that the revival of the gifts of the Spirit were a sign from God of the latter rain, a period of restoration before the end of the age and the coming millenial reign of Christ. Traditional Protestants believe that one is baptized with or in the Holy Ghost upon regeneration, the work of the Holy Ghost that enables faith and belief in the unbelieving heart. Pentecostals would not deny that regeneration is an activity of the Holy Ghost or that it results in the indwelling of the Holy Ghost in the believer. Instead they distinguish this indwelling from a subsequent, more intense relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Protestants most often reject such concepts as a "second grace", while not rejecting the idea of periodic or even weekly renewal through repentance and the ordinances of the church. Classical Pentecostals, unlike their Charismatic or evangelical counterparts, hold a peculiar form of sacerdotalism. For this reason many will not use the term Sacrament, preferring the term sacerdotal function or ordinance. This belief invests the efficacy of the ordinance in the obedience and participation of the believer and the witness of the celebrant and the congregation. This view stems from a highly developed concept of the priesthood of the individual believer. The activity of the ordinance takes on a sacerdotal rather than sacremental role in that it is a sacrificial act offered by the believer on his or her own behalf, rather than a ritual which has an inherent power of its own.
 

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