Positive confession is not a biblical teaching and the scores of Scriptures used to support it are typically misinterpreted or misapplied. For example, in reference to Matthew 6:20 ("lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven") we are told by Kenneth Copeland, "Jesus is not referring to when we get to heaven. He was teaching about God providing for us now." Anyone who wishes to prove to himself how extensively such verses are taken out of context need only examine Positive Confession literature and then consult standard commentaries to prove their errors.
For example, 3 John 2 (that you may "prosper and be in good health") is a personal wish for Gaius, not a divine promise of money and health to every Christian. It was a standard greeting in antiquity and had nothing to do with money. How many of us would really end up "spiritually prospering" if we were rich? Likewise, Mark 10:29, 30 ("the hundredfold return") is not literal but figurative since believers do not literally receive one hundred mothers and sisters and brothers as well. So why is it used literally only in reference to money? Also, Jesus says this is true only of those who have nothing now because they have left everything behind to follow Him, which is not true of most Christians. It is especially not true of the prosperity teachers who are generally very wealthy.
Instead of having the poor people send them money, if the hundredfold return is really true, why don't the prosperity teachers (such as Kenneth Hagan, Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Charles Capps, etc.) send $100 to every person on their mailing list in order to get billions of dollars in return? But it doesn't seem to work that way.
The Bible, far from stressing the spiritual benefits of wealth, encourages us to be content with what we have. We are told, "keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have . . . " (Hebrews 13:5). In fact, it often warns about the perils of money. Jesus said, "You cannot serve both God and Money" (Matthew 6:24, James 5:1-5). The Apostle Paul "suffered the loss of all things" (Philippians 3:7,8). He was content to live in poverty, hunger, and to suffer need (Philippians 4:12). He also noted that most Christians were "poor" and "had nothing" (2 Corinthians 6:10). Paul said not wealth but "the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance" (2 Corinthians 1:5). If these "prosperity" teachings really came from the Lord, why did the Lord Himself and His disciples end up poor and martyred?
Paul also said that greed was the same as idolatry (Colossians 3:5). The Bible teaches we are to place God's will first in our lives -- not self-will. We cannot "write our own ticket with God." "And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us" (1 John 5:14). Even Jesus Himself, when He prayed for deliverance before the cross did not demand of God but said, "if you are willing . . . " (Luke 22:42). James taught that it was "arrogant" and "evil" to presume of the Lord. He said, "instead you ought to say, 'if the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.' but as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil" (James 4:15-16). Paul himself said "if the Lord wills . . . " (1 Corinthians 4:19). He referred to those who supposed that godliness (religion) was a means of financial gain and he said, "for we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang" (1 Timothy 6:7-10).
Showing posts with label Kenneth Copeland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kenneth Copeland. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Errors of Positive Confession and Consequences
Consider the following illustrations of Positive Confession Belief and ask yourself the following questions.
"God wants His children to . . . wear the best clothing. He wants them to drive the best cars, and He wants them to have the best of everything . . . just claim what you need."
"Too few people today know that they can write their own ticket with God."
"Believers are not to be led by logic. We are not even to be led by good sense . . . . The ministry of Jesus was never governed by logic or reason."
"We have said, 'Oh, it looks like the wicked prosper.' Well, we said they were, that is one reason they are prospering."
"In fact, I am convinced the only thing you can't have here on earth is the glorified body. You can have the kingdom [of heaven] and the benefits of it right here on earth."
But did God ever teach these things in the Bible? Does God require of us a certain state of consciousness -- or simple trust in Him? Do we have power over creation or does God? Is visualization really the "deeper language" of the Holy Spirit?
Cho has recently and correctly rebuked the American Faith teachers for excesses and imbalance. But in his book Salvation, Health and Prosperity he teaches that apart from knowing the truths of the threefold blessings of salvation, of health, and of prosperity, we cannot properly understand the Bible . . . . He also teaches, "if Jesus is with us now, the same things which He did 2000 years ago should appear daily in our lives. By this we can judge whether Jesus' sayings are true or not: if these things are not happening among us, the promises of Jesus have become empty words to us."
For example, like Christian Scientists and Jehovah Witnesses, some Christian parents accepting the faith teachings have let their own children die by withholding from them life-saving medication. They have done this under the mistaken assumption that, in spite of evidence to the contrary, their child was divinely healed. Thus, to continue to give them medication would supposedly be a "lack of faith" in their divine healing. Does anyone need to be told that teachings that cause the deaths of others are not godly, no matter how godly they sound?
The problems and destruction already wrought by these teachings is considerable, yet thousands of churches and millions of Christians continue to support these "ministries," while godly ministries suffer for lack of support. Why would some Christians continue to supply the very funds without which these ministries could not exist? Put simply, because they are promised what they want to believe. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths" (2 Timothy 4:3,4).
- Would God reveal such teachings to His people for their welfare?
- Are these formulas or words found in the Bible?
- Are they based on trusting God or upon a presumption?
- Are they reflecting the life and teachings of Jesus?
- Do they make sense, or are they irrational?
- Are they wise or foolish -- or could they be dangerous?
E. W. Kenyon
". . . When God imparts to us His nature, there comes with it all the attributes of God Himself. They are undeveloped but they are there lying latent in our human spirits."Kenneth Hagin
"Give what you can't afford.""God wants His children to . . . wear the best clothing. He wants them to drive the best cars, and He wants them to have the best of everything . . . just claim what you need."
"Too few people today know that they can write their own ticket with God."
Kenneth Copeland
"As a born again believer, you have the same spiritual capacity Jesus has.""Believers are not to be led by logic. We are not even to be led by good sense . . . . The ministry of Jesus was never governed by logic or reason."
Charles Capps
"He [God] said, [to Capps] . . . I am not the one causing your problems. You are under an attack of the evil one and I can't do anything about it. You have bound me by the negative words of your mouth.""We have said, 'Oh, it looks like the wicked prosper.' Well, we said they were, that is one reason they are prospering."
"In fact, I am convinced the only thing you can't have here on earth is the glorified body. You can have the kingdom [of heaven] and the benefits of it right here on earth."
Robert Tilton
"[re: John 15:7] Jesus didn't put any limits on this . . . . You are wall-to-wall Jesus . . . the miraculous should be commonplace in every church . . . He [Jesus] was talking about demanding your rights and having restored back to you what the devil stole from man in the fall!"Paul Yonggi Cho
Dr. Cho is one of the less extreme Positive Confession teachers. He claims God spoke to him and revealed His teachings about the "law" of faith involving "incubating our subconscious through visions, visualization (mental imaging directed toward a specific goal), and dreams. . . . Physical reality may be altered in accordance with the visualized desires. By picturing what we desire inwardly in our subconscious mind, we somehow enter an/or manipulate "the fourth dimension" in order to actually permit God to produce miracles for us in the physical realm. . . . Your word actually goes out and creates [reality]. Cho believes that genuine pagan miracles are part of the potential of the human spirit . . . . Visualization is held to be the secret of victorious praying. It is our mental power to alter the fourth dimension which produces effective ministry here on the earth.But did God ever teach these things in the Bible? Does God require of us a certain state of consciousness -- or simple trust in Him? Do we have power over creation or does God? Is visualization really the "deeper language" of the Holy Spirit?
Cho has recently and correctly rebuked the American Faith teachers for excesses and imbalance. But in his book Salvation, Health and Prosperity he teaches that apart from knowing the truths of the threefold blessings of salvation, of health, and of prosperity, we cannot properly understand the Bible . . . . He also teaches, "if Jesus is with us now, the same things which He did 2000 years ago should appear daily in our lives. By this we can judge whether Jesus' sayings are true or not: if these things are not happening among us, the promises of Jesus have become empty words to us."
Logical Consequences May Follow this Belief System
Without the slightest hesitation we may say the health and wealth gospel of Positive Confession is a blight upon the church. It is a perverted gospel of cheap grace which reverses biblical values, produces fear and spiritual bondage or intimidation, holds out false promises, leads to false guilt and despair, in some people, produces apostasy and in others results in personal tragedy.For example, like Christian Scientists and Jehovah Witnesses, some Christian parents accepting the faith teachings have let their own children die by withholding from them life-saving medication. They have done this under the mistaken assumption that, in spite of evidence to the contrary, their child was divinely healed. Thus, to continue to give them medication would supposedly be a "lack of faith" in their divine healing. Does anyone need to be told that teachings that cause the deaths of others are not godly, no matter how godly they sound?
The problems and destruction already wrought by these teachings is considerable, yet thousands of churches and millions of Christians continue to support these "ministries," while godly ministries suffer for lack of support. Why would some Christians continue to supply the very funds without which these ministries could not exist? Put simply, because they are promised what they want to believe. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths" (2 Timothy 4:3,4).
Are You Attending "The Church of the Itching Ear"?
If you attend "The Church of the Itching Ear", with all of its false teachings, are you going to heaven?
Saturday, August 10, 2013
False Prophesies and a "Born-Again" Jesus
Those who teach the "little gods" heresy have also embraced other serious errors. Among them are (1) the teaching that Jesus never claimed to be God when on earth and (2) the belief that Jesus died on the cross spiritually as well as physically, assuming the nature of Satan, going to hell, suffering punishment at Satan's hand, and being "born again" in the resurrection. All of this had to happen, it is said, for our Lord to be our complete Saviour. Deriving such blasphemies from E.W. Kenyon, Kenneth Copeland offered his followers and alleged prophesy from Jesus Christ Himself: "Don't be disturbed when people accuse you of thinking you are God. . . . They crucified me for claiming that I was God. But I didn't claim that I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that He was in me. Hallelujah, that's what you're doing."
Elaborating on this later, Copeland declared, "I didn't say Jesus wasn't God. I said He didn't claim to be God when He lived on earth." In response to his many critics, Copeland said, "Search the Gospels for yourself. If you do, you will find what I say is true." Having done just that, we find that what he says is not true and that Jesus contradicted him in the Gospel of John by affirming He was the great I AM of Exodus 3, for which the Jews sought to stone Him, claiming blasphemy as their ground. They understood what apparently escaped Kenneth Copeland (i.e., that Jesus claimed deity). Prophesies such as Copeland's do not originate with Christ or the Holy Spirit, and Scripture flatly rejects them as false. We are, therefore, warned not to fear false prophets (Deut. 18:22).
In his Phillipians epistle, Paul confirms Christ's own self-understanding: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, [existing or never ceasing to be in the form of God] nevertheless: took upon Him the form of a servant." (2:5-7, KJV).
The "born-again" Jesus concept perverts, on the other hand, the doctrine of Christ's finished work on the cross, as demonstrated in the following quotations:
It was not sufficient for Christ to offer up only His physical life on the cross. His human spirit had to "descend into hell" . . . . While Christ was identified with sin, Satan and the hosts of hell ruled over Him as over any lost sinner. During that seemingly endless age in the nether abyss of death, Satan did with Him what he would, and all hell was "in carnival." (Billheimer, Destined for the Throne, pp. 83-84.)
Jesus is the first person ever to be born again. Why did His spirit need to be born again? Because it was estranged from God . . . . What is spiritual death? The opposite of spiritual life . . . . Spiritual death means something more than separation from God. Spiritual death also means HAVING SATAN'S NATURE . . . . When one is born again, he takes upon himself the nature of God. Sin is more than a physical act; it is a spiritual act. He became what we were, that we might become what He is . . . . His spirit was separated from God. And He went down into hell in our place. (Kenneth E. Hagin, The Name of Jesus, pp. 29-32)
If Jesus paid the full penalty of sin on the cross only, that is, by His physical death alone, then sin is wholly a physical act . . . . Jesus' work was not finished when He yielded up His physical life on the cross. (Billheimer, Destined for the Throne, p. 94.)
It is unnecessary to analyze this error further. It proclaims itself. When Scripture speaks of Christ's being made sin for us (II Cor. 5:21), both the context and grammar indicate that He became a "sin offering," of which Isaiah spoke (Isaiah 53:4-7, 10) and which is duly recognized by a footnote on the passage in the New International Version.
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
Elaborating on this later, Copeland declared, "I didn't say Jesus wasn't God. I said He didn't claim to be God when He lived on earth." In response to his many critics, Copeland said, "Search the Gospels for yourself. If you do, you will find what I say is true." Having done just that, we find that what he says is not true and that Jesus contradicted him in the Gospel of John by affirming He was the great I AM of Exodus 3, for which the Jews sought to stone Him, claiming blasphemy as their ground. They understood what apparently escaped Kenneth Copeland (i.e., that Jesus claimed deity). Prophesies such as Copeland's do not originate with Christ or the Holy Spirit, and Scripture flatly rejects them as false. We are, therefore, warned not to fear false prophets (Deut. 18:22).
In his Phillipians epistle, Paul confirms Christ's own self-understanding: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, [existing or never ceasing to be in the form of God] nevertheless: took upon Him the form of a servant." (2:5-7, KJV).
The "born-again" Jesus concept perverts, on the other hand, the doctrine of Christ's finished work on the cross, as demonstrated in the following quotations:
It was not sufficient for Christ to offer up only His physical life on the cross. His human spirit had to "descend into hell" . . . . While Christ was identified with sin, Satan and the hosts of hell ruled over Him as over any lost sinner. During that seemingly endless age in the nether abyss of death, Satan did with Him what he would, and all hell was "in carnival." (Billheimer, Destined for the Throne, pp. 83-84.)
Jesus is the first person ever to be born again. Why did His spirit need to be born again? Because it was estranged from God . . . . What is spiritual death? The opposite of spiritual life . . . . Spiritual death means something more than separation from God. Spiritual death also means HAVING SATAN'S NATURE . . . . When one is born again, he takes upon himself the nature of God. Sin is more than a physical act; it is a spiritual act. He became what we were, that we might become what He is . . . . His spirit was separated from God. And He went down into hell in our place. (Kenneth E. Hagin, The Name of Jesus, pp. 29-32)
If Jesus paid the full penalty of sin on the cross only, that is, by His physical death alone, then sin is wholly a physical act . . . . Jesus' work was not finished when He yielded up His physical life on the cross. (Billheimer, Destined for the Throne, p. 94.)
It is unnecessary to analyze this error further. It proclaims itself. When Scripture speaks of Christ's being made sin for us (II Cor. 5:21), both the context and grammar indicate that He became a "sin offering," of which Isaiah spoke (Isaiah 53:4-7, 10) and which is duly recognized by a footnote on the passage in the New International Version.
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
More Misapplied Texts
2 Peter 1:4
Another passage often seized upon by "little god" proponents, 2 Peter 1:4, reads:
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (KJV).
The first word, "partaker," is interpreted by faith teachers to mean that man actually takes the divine nature for himself, that he actually participates in the divine nature or essence. It could be pointed out that on my last birthday, I partook of my birthday cake but I did not become part of the cake. Similarly, Peter is certainly not teaching, in violation of all divine revelation, that man -- a finite being -- actually becomes one with the substance of deity. Let us find out what he was saying.
Hebrews 1:3 in the original Greek reminds us that Jesus Christ is the incarnate "character" of God, and herein lies the answer. Because of Christ's death in our place, we have figuratively "died" to sin (Romans 6:2) and are to live in the glory and power of His resurrection (Romans 6:5). We are to seek those things that are above where Christ dwells at the right hand of God, since we are "seated. . . in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians. 2:6). We, like Jesus before us, are to reflect the character of God in our lives. We have been redeemed. God has recorded to our account the righteousness of His Son and has charged His Son with our guilt (Romans 4:4-8). The Christian, therefore, is justified by faith in Jesus Christ because he has become a partaker of the divine nature and character of God.
The image of God in man, which was shattered, marred, and defaced by sin, due to the first Adam, is restored in the last Adam, the Lord from heaven. We have become recipients of a new set of attributes patterned after the last Adam, motives and affections that are constantly at war with our fallen nature (Rom. 7; Gal. 5:17).
We partake of the divine nature in the sense that we imitate, not duplicate, His character in our own lives. We were "predestined to be conformed to the likeness of [God's] Son" (Rom.8:29). As we were partakers of the fallen, Adamic nature, so now we are partakers of the resurrected Christ's character -- not partakers of His divinity but of His sanctifying grace. We are being conformed to Christ's moral image (likeness), not to His essential deity. We are called to resemble Him in our lifestyle, but we cannot become Him (deity) in any way, shape, or form.
John 1:12-13
"Yet to all who received Him" says the gospel, "to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -- children not born of natural descent nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."
This text is usually offered, along with other passages referring to man as "begotten" by God, to erroneously prove that the believer, through a direct creative act of the Holy Spirit, becomes a god-bearing person, as Christ Himself was. (This is known in church history as the Apollinarian heresy.) But do such texts really teach that, as "born again" children of God we ourselves share God's divinity?
In the same text cited by the faith teachers (John 1:12-13), John is urging for the uniqueness of Christ's relationship to the Trinity as "the only begotten Son of God." As believers, we are adopted children (Romans 8:15, 23; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 1:5). When, for instance, Kenneth Copeland states "God begets gods," He is ignoring the meaning of the term begotten and therefore falsely concludes, "You are all little gods."
Jesus Christ is the unique, one-of-a-kind, incarnate Son of God and is, therefore, different from believers. "In the beginning was the Word," says John. "And the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). John the Baptist, our Lord's elder in age, nevertheless said of Christ, "He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me." (v. 15). The Baptist recognized that Jesus' origin was eternal. "No-one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side has made him known" (v. 18). We are adopted in time; Jesus is God's eternally-begotten Son, whose origin and deity never began but have always been.
Kenneth Hagin, therefore, is gravely mistaken when he asserts that the Christian "is as much an incarnation [of God] as is Jesus of Nazareth." And Kenneth Copeland is wrong when he insists "Jesus is no longer the only begotten Son of God." When the Word became flesh, God the Son remained what He always was -- the second Person of the Trinity. Man is not an incarnation. He is never spoken of as such in scripture -- limited as he is to finite humanity.
None of these texts in any way suggest that redeemed men are or ever will be gods. As we have noted, Scripture forbids this as idolatry and blasphemy, in both testaments. We can see, then, that from their very language those who maintain the "little gods" doctrine are affirming a type of pagan polytheism over against classic monotheism. This constitutes, by any measurement, heretical doctrine.
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
Another passage often seized upon by "little god" proponents, 2 Peter 1:4, reads:
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (KJV).
The first word, "partaker," is interpreted by faith teachers to mean that man actually takes the divine nature for himself, that he actually participates in the divine nature or essence. It could be pointed out that on my last birthday, I partook of my birthday cake but I did not become part of the cake. Similarly, Peter is certainly not teaching, in violation of all divine revelation, that man -- a finite being -- actually becomes one with the substance of deity. Let us find out what he was saying.
Hebrews 1:3 in the original Greek reminds us that Jesus Christ is the incarnate "character" of God, and herein lies the answer. Because of Christ's death in our place, we have figuratively "died" to sin (Romans 6:2) and are to live in the glory and power of His resurrection (Romans 6:5). We are to seek those things that are above where Christ dwells at the right hand of God, since we are "seated. . . in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians. 2:6). We, like Jesus before us, are to reflect the character of God in our lives. We have been redeemed. God has recorded to our account the righteousness of His Son and has charged His Son with our guilt (Romans 4:4-8). The Christian, therefore, is justified by faith in Jesus Christ because he has become a partaker of the divine nature and character of God.
The image of God in man, which was shattered, marred, and defaced by sin, due to the first Adam, is restored in the last Adam, the Lord from heaven. We have become recipients of a new set of attributes patterned after the last Adam, motives and affections that are constantly at war with our fallen nature (Rom. 7; Gal. 5:17).
We partake of the divine nature in the sense that we imitate, not duplicate, His character in our own lives. We were "predestined to be conformed to the likeness of [God's] Son" (Rom.8:29). As we were partakers of the fallen, Adamic nature, so now we are partakers of the resurrected Christ's character -- not partakers of His divinity but of His sanctifying grace. We are being conformed to Christ's moral image (likeness), not to His essential deity. We are called to resemble Him in our lifestyle, but we cannot become Him (deity) in any way, shape, or form.
John 1:12-13
"Yet to all who received Him" says the gospel, "to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God -- children not born of natural descent nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."
This text is usually offered, along with other passages referring to man as "begotten" by God, to erroneously prove that the believer, through a direct creative act of the Holy Spirit, becomes a god-bearing person, as Christ Himself was. (This is known in church history as the Apollinarian heresy.) But do such texts really teach that, as "born again" children of God we ourselves share God's divinity?
In the same text cited by the faith teachers (John 1:12-13), John is urging for the uniqueness of Christ's relationship to the Trinity as "the only begotten Son of God." As believers, we are adopted children (Romans 8:15, 23; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 1:5). When, for instance, Kenneth Copeland states "God begets gods," He is ignoring the meaning of the term begotten and therefore falsely concludes, "You are all little gods."
Jesus Christ is the unique, one-of-a-kind, incarnate Son of God and is, therefore, different from believers. "In the beginning was the Word," says John. "And the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). John the Baptist, our Lord's elder in age, nevertheless said of Christ, "He who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me." (v. 15). The Baptist recognized that Jesus' origin was eternal. "No-one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side has made him known" (v. 18). We are adopted in time; Jesus is God's eternally-begotten Son, whose origin and deity never began but have always been.
Kenneth Hagin, therefore, is gravely mistaken when he asserts that the Christian "is as much an incarnation [of God] as is Jesus of Nazareth." And Kenneth Copeland is wrong when he insists "Jesus is no longer the only begotten Son of God." When the Word became flesh, God the Son remained what He always was -- the second Person of the Trinity. Man is not an incarnation. He is never spoken of as such in scripture -- limited as he is to finite humanity.
None of these texts in any way suggest that redeemed men are or ever will be gods. As we have noted, Scripture forbids this as idolatry and blasphemy, in both testaments. We can see, then, that from their very language those who maintain the "little gods" doctrine are affirming a type of pagan polytheism over against classic monotheism. This constitutes, by any measurement, heretical doctrine.
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Ye Shall Be As Gods
Throughout almost two thousand years of her turbulent history, the Christian church has been set upon by many adversaries. The Apostle Paul, in his great charge to the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20, anticipated the threat of heresy, and schism in his own lifetime:
... Savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them...
[This is exactly what happened in the formation of Barrie Victory Centre -- talk to the people at Mapleview Community Church and they will confirm that this is how Barrie Victory Centre had its beginnings. I wonder who the "savage wolves" are in this case?]
It should be observed that Paul mentions two specific categories for the attacks being made upon the Church. The first category includes overt enemies of the faith; atheists, agnostics, sceptics, secularists, and scoffers. It also includes non-Christian religions, the cults, and the occult. But the "savage wolves" are even more dangerous when they are part of the second category: "Even from your own number," says Paul, "men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them." [The twenty or so couples who were drawn away from Mapleview Pentecostal Church in the beginning will remember exactly how this happened.] Today the words of Paul are fulfilled in plain sight as the church is divided by schismatic sheep who mix cultic and occultic doctrine with biblical truth, perverting the Gospel of Christ.
Some, for example, teach that Christians are actually gods. The Mormons teach that men may become gods by accepting their revelations and by submitting to their authority. However, this is something that takes place in the future and is designated as exaltation. Since the Mormons are genuine polytheists (i.e., believing in "many gods") as opposed to monotheists (accepting only one God), they maintain that faithful Mormons can eventually become gods in the same manner and of the same nature as Jesus Christ and His Father. Mormonism has never been recognized by the Christian church as a bonified Christian faith since its inception in 1830 through the work of Joseph Smith, Jr.
We should not fail to note that Mormons affirm that the divinity of man is to be accomplished after the death of the body, a bad enough departure from the Christian faith but, sadly, there are those who function within the Christian church who do not hesitate to make the claim now!
The "Little Gods" Doctrine
Earl Paulk, Charles Capps, Robert Tilton, Kenneth Copeland, and Kenneth E. Hagen are among the leading proponents of the "little gods" teaching.
Earl Paulk writes "Adam and Eve were placed in the world as the seed and expression of God. Just as dogs have puppies and cats have kittens, so God has little gods." But, he says, "we have trouble comprehending this truth." He adds, "Until we comprehend that we are little gods, and we begin to act like little gods, we cannot manifest the Kingdom of God."
Robert Tilton asserts, "You are . . . a god-kind of creature. Originally you were designed to be as a god in this world. Man was designed or created by God to be the god of this world . . .. Of course, man forfeited his dominion to Satan who became the god of this world."
Kenneth Copeland insists that "man had total authority to rule as a god over every living creature on earth, and he was to rule by speaking words. His words would carry the power and annointing of God that was in him from the time he was first created."
Casey Treat, Pastor of Seattle's Christian Faith Centre, tells us in his taped series "Believing in Yourself" to come to the point where we feel comfortable claiming our godhood:
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost had a conference and they said, 'let us make man an exact duplicate of us' . . .
When God looks in the mirror, He sees me! When I look in the mirror, I see God! Oh, hallelujah! . . .
Kenneth Copeland informs us, "You don't have a god in you. You are one!" Others in the worlds of the cults teach variations on the above themes of human divinity. Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God, for instance, teaches that there is a "god family" in which all Armstrongists will eventually share. They will become just as much deity as the Father and Son. (Armstrong denies the personality of the Holy Spirit, as do Jehovah Witnesses.)
Christian Science, the Unity School of Christianity, the Science of Mind or Religious Science, New Thought Metaphysics, and so on, believe that all humans have within themselves the "Christ-consciousness," or "Christ idea," which is allegedly the true divinity of all men. They maintain that Jesus Christ had possessed this divinity to a greater degree than others which is what sets Him apart, but none of those groups confess the eternal deity of Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, and His unique relationship to the Father as the only "Begotten Son." (see John 1:18; 3:16).
In the mind science cults man is already divine -- in the Hindu - New Age sense of shared deity, or, as Mary Baker Eddy once wrote, "Man as God's idea is already saved with an everlasting salvation." "God, Spirit, being all, nothing is matter," said the founder of Christian Science. The Unity School of Christianity confirms that thesis: "God is not a person . . . but very real, something we call life." "The Christ, or perfect man . . . is the true spiritual higher self of every individual."
As we have previously noted, these cultic views are expressed by organizations that are recognized as outside the pale of the Christian church. Nevertheless, the "little gods" doctrine taught by the leaders of the "Faith Movement" is firmly situated within groups generally -- but falsely -- regarded as evangelical. It is circulated in Christian bookstores all over the United States [and Canada] and is widely disseminated via Christian radio and television. The president of Trinity Broadcasting Network, Paul Crouch, has taught this doctrine openly and once spent almost two hours attempting to convince me and three other ministers that we were "little gods." Many evangelical organizations, consciously or not, are helping "savage wolves" spread such diabolical errors.
[If your church denies being part of the Faith Movement, but at the same time, recognizes the likes of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, or Kenneth E. Hagen as spiritual leaders in any way, shape, or form, rest assured that you are part of the Faith Movement because your leaders are identifying and connecting with the leaders of the Faith Movement. There's no denying it. If Kenneth and Gloria Copeland or any of the leaders of the Faith Movement names appear in your weekly church bulletin for either conferences or reading materials, you are definitely involved in the Faith Movement and consequently, you believe the "little gods" doctrine which is a cultic belief.]
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
... Savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them...
[This is exactly what happened in the formation of Barrie Victory Centre -- talk to the people at Mapleview Community Church and they will confirm that this is how Barrie Victory Centre had its beginnings. I wonder who the "savage wolves" are in this case?]
It should be observed that Paul mentions two specific categories for the attacks being made upon the Church. The first category includes overt enemies of the faith; atheists, agnostics, sceptics, secularists, and scoffers. It also includes non-Christian religions, the cults, and the occult. But the "savage wolves" are even more dangerous when they are part of the second category: "Even from your own number," says Paul, "men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them." [The twenty or so couples who were drawn away from Mapleview Pentecostal Church in the beginning will remember exactly how this happened.] Today the words of Paul are fulfilled in plain sight as the church is divided by schismatic sheep who mix cultic and occultic doctrine with biblical truth, perverting the Gospel of Christ.
Some, for example, teach that Christians are actually gods. The Mormons teach that men may become gods by accepting their revelations and by submitting to their authority. However, this is something that takes place in the future and is designated as exaltation. Since the Mormons are genuine polytheists (i.e., believing in "many gods") as opposed to monotheists (accepting only one God), they maintain that faithful Mormons can eventually become gods in the same manner and of the same nature as Jesus Christ and His Father. Mormonism has never been recognized by the Christian church as a bonified Christian faith since its inception in 1830 through the work of Joseph Smith, Jr.
We should not fail to note that Mormons affirm that the divinity of man is to be accomplished after the death of the body, a bad enough departure from the Christian faith but, sadly, there are those who function within the Christian church who do not hesitate to make the claim now!
The "Little Gods" Doctrine
Earl Paulk, Charles Capps, Robert Tilton, Kenneth Copeland, and Kenneth E. Hagen are among the leading proponents of the "little gods" teaching.
Earl Paulk writes "Adam and Eve were placed in the world as the seed and expression of God. Just as dogs have puppies and cats have kittens, so God has little gods." But, he says, "we have trouble comprehending this truth." He adds, "Until we comprehend that we are little gods, and we begin to act like little gods, we cannot manifest the Kingdom of God."
Robert Tilton asserts, "You are . . . a god-kind of creature. Originally you were designed to be as a god in this world. Man was designed or created by God to be the god of this world . . .. Of course, man forfeited his dominion to Satan who became the god of this world."
Kenneth Copeland insists that "man had total authority to rule as a god over every living creature on earth, and he was to rule by speaking words. His words would carry the power and annointing of God that was in him from the time he was first created."
Casey Treat, Pastor of Seattle's Christian Faith Centre, tells us in his taped series "Believing in Yourself" to come to the point where we feel comfortable claiming our godhood:
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost had a conference and they said, 'let us make man an exact duplicate of us' . . .
When God looks in the mirror, He sees me! When I look in the mirror, I see God! Oh, hallelujah! . . .
Kenneth Copeland informs us, "You don't have a god in you. You are one!" Others in the worlds of the cults teach variations on the above themes of human divinity. Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God, for instance, teaches that there is a "god family" in which all Armstrongists will eventually share. They will become just as much deity as the Father and Son. (Armstrong denies the personality of the Holy Spirit, as do Jehovah Witnesses.)
Christian Science, the Unity School of Christianity, the Science of Mind or Religious Science, New Thought Metaphysics, and so on, believe that all humans have within themselves the "Christ-consciousness," or "Christ idea," which is allegedly the true divinity of all men. They maintain that Jesus Christ had possessed this divinity to a greater degree than others which is what sets Him apart, but none of those groups confess the eternal deity of Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh, and His unique relationship to the Father as the only "Begotten Son." (see John 1:18; 3:16).
In the mind science cults man is already divine -- in the Hindu - New Age sense of shared deity, or, as Mary Baker Eddy once wrote, "Man as God's idea is already saved with an everlasting salvation." "God, Spirit, being all, nothing is matter," said the founder of Christian Science. The Unity School of Christianity confirms that thesis: "God is not a person . . . but very real, something we call life." "The Christ, or perfect man . . . is the true spiritual higher self of every individual."
As we have previously noted, these cultic views are expressed by organizations that are recognized as outside the pale of the Christian church. Nevertheless, the "little gods" doctrine taught by the leaders of the "Faith Movement" is firmly situated within groups generally -- but falsely -- regarded as evangelical. It is circulated in Christian bookstores all over the United States [and Canada] and is widely disseminated via Christian radio and television. The president of Trinity Broadcasting Network, Paul Crouch, has taught this doctrine openly and once spent almost two hours attempting to convince me and three other ministers that we were "little gods." Many evangelical organizations, consciously or not, are helping "savage wolves" spread such diabolical errors.
[If your church denies being part of the Faith Movement, but at the same time, recognizes the likes of Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, or Kenneth E. Hagen as spiritual leaders in any way, shape, or form, rest assured that you are part of the Faith Movement because your leaders are identifying and connecting with the leaders of the Faith Movement. There's no denying it. If Kenneth and Gloria Copeland or any of the leaders of the Faith Movement names appear in your weekly church bulletin for either conferences or reading materials, you are definitely involved in the Faith Movement and consequently, you believe the "little gods" doctrine which is a cultic belief.]
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
The Gnostic Heresy
One of the earliest and most potent threats to early Christianity came from the heretical group known as the Gnostics. Blending elements of Christianity, Greek philosophy, and Oriental mysticism, the Gnostics denied the orthodox view of God, man, the world, and Christ. The Apostle John included them in the camp of the Antichrist.
The Gnostics were so-called because of their view of Revelation. The word, gnosis, is the Greek word for "knowledge." In many cases the Gnostic heretics did not make a frontal assault against the apostles or against the apostolic teaching of Scripture. In fact, many of them insisted that they were genuine, Bible-believing Christians. It wasn't that they rejected the Bible; they just claimed an additional source of knowledge or insight that was superior to or at least beyond the knowledge of Scripture. The "gnostikoi" were "those in the know." Their knowledge was not derived from intellectual comprehension of Scripture or by empirical research, but was mystical, direct, and immediate. God "revealed" private, intuitive insights to them that carried nothing less than divine authority.
Here is a typical Gnostic statement:
We cannot communicate with God mentally, for He is a Spirit. But we can reach Him with our Spirit, and it is through our Spirit that we come to know God . . . This is one reason God put teachers (those who are really called to teach) in the church -- to renew our minds. Many times those who teach do so with only a natural knowledge that they have gained from the Bible and other sources. But I am referring here to one of the ministry gifts. Those who are called and annointed by the Spirit to teach.
God has given us His Word, and we can feed upon that Word. This will renew our minds but He also puts teachers in the church to renew our minds and to bring us the revelation of the knowledge of God's Word.
Notice that this quotation does not include a direct assault on the Bible. The Bible is recognized as God's Word. But in order to understand the Bible we need something beyond our natural mental ability. We need the Spirit-annointed teachers to "bring us the revelation of the knowledge of God's Word." This is a typically Gnostic statement, but the quote is not from Valentinus or any of the other early Gnostics. It is from the pen of a modern missionary of Gnosticism, Kenneth E. Hagan [founder of the Faith Movement]. It is from Hagan's Man on Three Dimensions. Hagan's theology echos the tripartite epistemology of early Gnosticism (man as having three separate entities: body, soul and spirit).
Robert Tilton [Faith Movement] also claims a direct pipeline to divine revelation:
God showed me a vision that almost took my breath away. I was sucked into the Spirit . . . , caught away . . . and I found myself standing in the very presence of Almighty God. It just echoed into my being. And He said these words to me . . . exactly these words . . . .
"Many of my ministers pray for my people, but I want you to pray the Prayer of Agreement with them." . . . I have never seen the presence of God so powerful. This same annointing flooded my Spirit-man . . . .It's inside of me now and I have supernatural faith to agree with you.
From that day forth, as I have been faithful to that heavenly vision, I've seen every kind of miracle imaginable happen when I pray the Prayer of Agreement with God's people.
It seems that in Robert Tilton the church is blessed with a twentieth-century apostle whose visions of revelation exceed that of the Apostle John and whose miracle powers surpass that of the Apostle Paul. If we are to believe Tilton's astonishing claims, there is no reason we should not include his writings in the next edition of the New Testament.
Paul Crouch of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), has revelatory dreams and has warmly embraced the neo-Gnostic dogma. His network has become a prime distribution center for the growing movement. Kenneth Copeland also receives phrases from God in "his spirit."
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
The Gnostics were so-called because of their view of Revelation. The word, gnosis, is the Greek word for "knowledge." In many cases the Gnostic heretics did not make a frontal assault against the apostles or against the apostolic teaching of Scripture. In fact, many of them insisted that they were genuine, Bible-believing Christians. It wasn't that they rejected the Bible; they just claimed an additional source of knowledge or insight that was superior to or at least beyond the knowledge of Scripture. The "gnostikoi" were "those in the know." Their knowledge was not derived from intellectual comprehension of Scripture or by empirical research, but was mystical, direct, and immediate. God "revealed" private, intuitive insights to them that carried nothing less than divine authority.
Here is a typical Gnostic statement:
We cannot communicate with God mentally, for He is a Spirit. But we can reach Him with our Spirit, and it is through our Spirit that we come to know God . . . This is one reason God put teachers (those who are really called to teach) in the church -- to renew our minds. Many times those who teach do so with only a natural knowledge that they have gained from the Bible and other sources. But I am referring here to one of the ministry gifts. Those who are called and annointed by the Spirit to teach.
God has given us His Word, and we can feed upon that Word. This will renew our minds but He also puts teachers in the church to renew our minds and to bring us the revelation of the knowledge of God's Word.
Notice that this quotation does not include a direct assault on the Bible. The Bible is recognized as God's Word. But in order to understand the Bible we need something beyond our natural mental ability. We need the Spirit-annointed teachers to "bring us the revelation of the knowledge of God's Word." This is a typically Gnostic statement, but the quote is not from Valentinus or any of the other early Gnostics. It is from the pen of a modern missionary of Gnosticism, Kenneth E. Hagan [founder of the Faith Movement]. It is from Hagan's Man on Three Dimensions. Hagan's theology echos the tripartite epistemology of early Gnosticism (man as having three separate entities: body, soul and spirit).
Robert Tilton [Faith Movement] also claims a direct pipeline to divine revelation:
God showed me a vision that almost took my breath away. I was sucked into the Spirit . . . , caught away . . . and I found myself standing in the very presence of Almighty God. It just echoed into my being. And He said these words to me . . . exactly these words . . . .
"Many of my ministers pray for my people, but I want you to pray the Prayer of Agreement with them." . . . I have never seen the presence of God so powerful. This same annointing flooded my Spirit-man . . . .It's inside of me now and I have supernatural faith to agree with you.
From that day forth, as I have been faithful to that heavenly vision, I've seen every kind of miracle imaginable happen when I pray the Prayer of Agreement with God's people.
It seems that in Robert Tilton the church is blessed with a twentieth-century apostle whose visions of revelation exceed that of the Apostle John and whose miracle powers surpass that of the Apostle Paul. If we are to believe Tilton's astonishing claims, there is no reason we should not include his writings in the next edition of the New Testament.
Paul Crouch of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), has revelatory dreams and has warmly embraced the neo-Gnostic dogma. His network has become a prime distribution center for the growing movement. Kenneth Copeland also receives phrases from God in "his spirit."
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Settling for Mud Pies
What's Missing?
Many of today's preachers make appeals that focus on fulfilling human desires -- especially health, wealth, and happiness. But other things, too, like peace of mind, joy, satisfaction, self-esteem, power, and victory. It's not that these things are always wrong in themselves. Indeed, they are often gifts of God. However, it is difficult to resist the impression that there are preachers who have set their sights too low.
C.S. Lewis gave us the following insight:
Many of today's preachers make appeals that focus on fulfilling human desires -- especially health, wealth, and happiness. But other things, too, like peace of mind, joy, satisfaction, self-esteem, power, and victory. It's not that these things are always wrong in themselves. Indeed, they are often gifts of God. However, it is difficult to resist the impression that there are preachers who have set their sights too low.
C.S. Lewis gave us the following insight:
Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
Many preachers, reflecting a common emphasis in modern evangelicalism generally, are settling for "mud pies" because they "cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday by the sea." These preachers appeal to our selfish instincts, which may be momentarily satisfied by promises of success, unfailing happiness, and good times, when all the while our deepest needs, our truest needs -- for eternal love and acceptance in a world where performance is usually a prerequisite for acceptance, for certainty in the midst of doubt, and for purpose in a period of despair -- go untouched.
Our desires are too weak if we are simply making our own comfort and success our focus, while ignoring the larger issues. Our desires should be broader, transcending our self-centredness. We are far too easily pleased!
Something is missing. Let's discover the identity of that missing element. The particular type of message many media preachers communicate has come to be known as the "Health and Wealth Gospel." Prosperity teaching abounds on their television programs as well as in their written material. One statement summarizes the technique used: "God's got it, I can have it, and by faith I'm going to get it."
We see additional examples in titles such as Kenneth E. Hagin's pamphlet, "How to Write Your Own Ticket with God" and Robert Tilton's magazine, Signs, Wonders, and Miracles of Faith, in which testimonials of financial and physical success abound. Or in Kenneth Copeland's brochures "God's Will is Health" and "God's Will is Prosperity" Oral Roberts promises people on his mailing list "Prosperity Miracles That Are Within Fingertip Reach of Your Faith," and his most recent book to date is titled How I Learned Jesus Was Not Poor. Peter Popoff invites his followers to wash with an "anointed" sponge and then to send a monetary gift to his ministry. This "will unlock heaven's storehouse of blessings for you."
We have seen responses to such teachings in Bruce Barron's The Health and Wealth Gospel and Gordon Fee's The Disease of the Health and Wealth Gospel Yet whether or not the Health and Wealth teachings are true, they do reduce life to a tragically narrow and trivial focus, meeting only surface needs. They ignore a larger vision of reality. Christians must know truth about all areas of life and must develop a character that is able to make commitments to people, the community, and the nation outside themselves. These teachings promise a satisfaction of our desires. But we need to ask, "Are these desires too weak? Are they too trivial? Are we far too easily pleased?"
-- Art Lindsley
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The Agony of Deceit - Part 3
Clearly, we are in perilous times. We have paid the price of ignorance and shallowness, and our fall has been great. Heretics have been tolerated as divinely-appointed messengers. Nevertheless, God has proved Himself faithful in the trials of our own unfaithfulness. Though we do not despair, we do call upon the body of Christ to repair its own system of beliefs and to bring its faith and life into line with sound biblical teaching without delay. That reformation, as we see it, must take two forms: first, it must be defensive. Those who propagate heresy among us and refuse correction must be excommunicated by their local, regional, and national bodies. Denial of the Trinity is, after all, more damnable than pornography. Second, it must offensive. We must put ourselves to the arduous -- but exciting -- task of feeding the sheep on the great themes of biblical faith. The laity are begging for substance. They are often more anxious to deepen their faith than their pastors are to help them deepen it.
Paul makes holding to "the deep truths of the faith" a prerequisite for holding the office of deacon or elder (I Tim. 3:9). Those who lead our churches -- whether ordained or layperson -- are required to be educated in biblical and systematic theology. They must not just assent to a series of simple fundamentals but must be trained in the "deep truths of the faith." After all, said Paul, the church is "the pillar and foundation of the truth" (v.15).
We must heed a final caution from Peter: "False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies." "In their greed," Peter said, "they will exploit you with false words" (II Peter 2: 1-3). So, too, today, the "Word of Faith" movement in particular is a destructive heresy of "false words" and it is a growing movement. Kenneth Copeland has gone from a weekend spot to a daily telecast -- and other "Word" ministries are increasing in popularity.
These heretics, Peter continues, "indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord." (v v 10-11). So, too, today many of the leading televangelists rave about their power over Satan and make sport of taunting and teasing the devil concerning their alleged authority over him. "But these" said Peter, "like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed (v 12).
Throughout church history, periods of heresy, apathy, and ignorance have been both times of danger and of opportunity -- opportunity to set the record straight, to confront a new age with a old message, such a time is upon us. Only through a renewing of our minds, a rededication of our hearts, and a reformation of our church can such a chapter of history have a happy ending, like so many chapters before it.
Paul makes holding to "the deep truths of the faith" a prerequisite for holding the office of deacon or elder (I Tim. 3:9). Those who lead our churches -- whether ordained or layperson -- are required to be educated in biblical and systematic theology. They must not just assent to a series of simple fundamentals but must be trained in the "deep truths of the faith." After all, said Paul, the church is "the pillar and foundation of the truth" (v.15).
We must heed a final caution from Peter: "False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies." "In their greed," Peter said, "they will exploit you with false words" (II Peter 2: 1-3). So, too, today, the "Word of Faith" movement in particular is a destructive heresy of "false words" and it is a growing movement. Kenneth Copeland has gone from a weekend spot to a daily telecast -- and other "Word" ministries are increasing in popularity.
These heretics, Peter continues, "indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord." (v v 10-11). So, too, today many of the leading televangelists rave about their power over Satan and make sport of taunting and teasing the devil concerning their alleged authority over him. "But these" said Peter, "like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed (v 12).
Throughout church history, periods of heresy, apathy, and ignorance have been both times of danger and of opportunity -- opportunity to set the record straight, to confront a new age with a old message, such a time is upon us. Only through a renewing of our minds, a rededication of our hearts, and a reformation of our church can such a chapter of history have a happy ending, like so many chapters before it.
-- Michael Horton
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
For more information on Victory Churches and the Faith Movement, go to the Reference Library. Click on any book title to get a brief overview of the book. All books on the list are available through www.amazon.com.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
1. Why Would God Allow Dedicated Christians To . . .
. . . Experience the Sign and Revelatory Gifts if they are not from Him?
Some evangelical churches have lapsed into cold, lifeless formalism. They may be doctrinally right, but they may have lost their fervent love and zeal for God. If a Pentecostal/Charismatic church has a high regard for the Bible, prayer, soul-winning zeal and a willingness to attempt great things for God, then this fills a void left by less-emotional churches. Among these good things there resides a deceiving cancer that undermines the good that is being done. This cancer is the matter of new revelations from God, of tongues, prophecy, words of knowledge, visions or dreams.
Neil Babcox, a former charismatic pastor left the charismatic church because of this issue. He says, "When a prophet said "Thus said the Lord"", he meant that the very Word of God was being proclaimed, with infallibility, purity and divine authority. The prophecies that I had spoken and heard others speak paled and diminished to the point of nothingness compared with the Bible".
Ezekiel protested "Thus saith the Lord God, Woe unto the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!" Ezekiel 13:3.
Isn't that what we were -- "prophets who had seen nothing?"
When the genuine prophets of God spoke, they spoke with certainty regarding every word. This finds no parallel today. The Bible's prophets knew with 100% certainty that they were speaking the very words of God.
"The spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me." Ezekiel 2:2.
Many who prophesy and claim to speak new revelations from God today know in their own hearts that they don't have the certainty of the Bible prophets, yet they continue to speak "new" revelations.
"Then the Lord said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart". Jeremiah 14:14.
It is no small thing to claim to speak new revelation from God, given the deception of Mormon prophecy.
This emphasis on new revelation undermines the authority of Scripture. Dave Hunt rebukes the positive and possibility thinking of Paul Yonggi Cho and Robert Schuller with their occultish visualisation techniques, temptation to power and deification of man which is invading the church.
Charismatics teach that a proper understanding of Scripture does not come through correct interpretation, but through revelation (only to certain leaders), and that these new revelations supplement the Bible, and that these must be accepted as a "great move of God".
Some evangelical churches have lapsed into cold, lifeless formalism. They may be doctrinally right, but they may have lost their fervent love and zeal for God. If a Pentecostal/Charismatic church has a high regard for the Bible, prayer, soul-winning zeal and a willingness to attempt great things for God, then this fills a void left by less-emotional churches. Among these good things there resides a deceiving cancer that undermines the good that is being done. This cancer is the matter of new revelations from God, of tongues, prophecy, words of knowledge, visions or dreams.
Neil Babcox, a former charismatic pastor left the charismatic church because of this issue. He says, "When a prophet said "Thus said the Lord"", he meant that the very Word of God was being proclaimed, with infallibility, purity and divine authority. The prophecies that I had spoken and heard others speak paled and diminished to the point of nothingness compared with the Bible".
Ezekiel protested "Thus saith the Lord God, Woe unto the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!" Ezekiel 13:3.
Isn't that what we were -- "prophets who had seen nothing?"
When the genuine prophets of God spoke, they spoke with certainty regarding every word. This finds no parallel today. The Bible's prophets knew with 100% certainty that they were speaking the very words of God.
"The spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me." Ezekiel 2:2.
Many who prophesy and claim to speak new revelations from God today know in their own hearts that they don't have the certainty of the Bible prophets, yet they continue to speak "new" revelations.
"Then the Lord said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart". Jeremiah 14:14.
It is no small thing to claim to speak new revelation from God, given the deception of Mormon prophecy.
This emphasis on new revelation undermines the authority of Scripture. Dave Hunt rebukes the positive and possibility thinking of Paul Yonggi Cho and Robert Schuller with their occultish visualisation techniques, temptation to power and deification of man which is invading the church.
Charismatics teach that a proper understanding of Scripture does not come through correct interpretation, but through revelation (only to certain leaders), and that these new revelations supplement the Bible, and that these must be accepted as a "great move of God".
- Charismatics often say: "...we have revelation knowledge as God continues to speak to His people". This sounds really spiritual, but it is in fact adding to Scripture.
- John Wimber states: "rational control (of the mind) must be forfeited for tongues speaking to occur, for ecstatic worship, for messages from God to be received directly into the mind, and for miraculous healings to happen".
- Charismatics Kenneth Copeland and Kenneth Hagin's heresies were exposed in "The Agony of Deceit". (available at www.amazon.com)
- John White, a famous author, claims that Jesus Christ personally appeared to him on three occasions to give new revelation that would become part of Scripture.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Kenneth Copeland's False Teachings
In his now infamous prophesy which he claimed was "from Jesus Christ," Kenneth Copeland said that Jesus promised that new and dramatic angelic manifestations were going to increase in the church and that many "will have visitations from the Spirit realm." In this prophesy, Jesus also denied His own deity: "Don't be disturbed when people accuse you of thinking you are God...They crucified me for claiming that I was God. But I didn't claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that He was in me. Hallelujah. That's what you are doing."
Copeland attempted to avoid the implications of his prophesy by later claiming that Jesus only meant to say He never claimed to be God while on earth. But first, this is not what "Jesus" said in the "prophesy"; second, it is also incorrect since the Gospels are full of the claims of Jesus that He was God while on earth (John 5:18, 23; 8:58; 10:30; 14:9; 15:26; 20:28, 29, etc.).
Copeland has refused correction or even correspondence on the subject of the nature of Christ and has reaffirmed his position, standing by his alleged revelation and his interpretation of it. Thus, he teaches that Jesus did not come to earth as God, but as a perfect human being with the limitations this implies. Therefore, Jesus never believed Himself to be God while on earth.
Although Copeland has also taught that Jesus "was and is God manifested in the flesh," he has contradicted himself when he implies Jesus gave up His deity and came to earth only as a man. Essentially, Jesus was a man with tremendous human potential who, after the resurrection, resumed His divine nature. On earth, He had no innate powers until He was anointed by the Holy Spirit. Thus, He is our example showing that we too can do the things He did by relying upon the Holy Spirit. After all, Jesus was a reborn man; therefore, all Christians who are "reborn" should be able to do the same things He did. Copeland teaches that Christians must realize that they are not spiritual schizophrenics or half-God/half-Satan, but "you are all God."
In other words, with proper "faith" teaching and training, any Christian has the power to become a Jesus. Thus, "You have the power of God at your disposal. By getting the word deep into your spirit and speaking boldly out of your mouth, you release spiritual power to change things in the natural circumstances of your life. Jesus possessed authority in the earth, and He exercised that authority by the use of words." Copeland also teaches Jesus was made obedient to Satan, took the devil's nature, was tormented by demons, and was the first man to be born again -- in hell. Thus, imagine:
having to make yourself obedient to Satan...and to take on his nature. He allowed the devil to drag Him into the depths of hell...He allowed Himself to become under Satan's control...For three days...every demon in hell...tortured Him beyond anything that anybody has ever conceived...[but] the voice of God spoke to the death-whipped, broken, punished spirit of Jesus that was suffering in the bowels of the earth...and changed the spirit of Jesus with resurrection power! [Therefore] ... Jesus was born again...a born again man had defeated Satan, hell, and death...
Gloria Copeland reflects the teaching of her husband when she says: "After Jesus was made sin, He had to be born again...[Therefore] Jesus is a born-again man. This is the same new birth that the Good News of the gospel still offers to any man who will accept it."
What's wrong here? What's wrong is that Kenneth Copeland and his wife don't know the Bible. Kenneth, at least, confesses as much. In his Sunday, July 12, 1992, sermon he conceded: "I don't know all that much anyway. All I know is what I've learned and that's all I'm preaching...I'm not 100 percent right. Dear Lord, I don't know what the percentage is, but I expect it's probably pretty heavy on the wrong side...there are certain things I am wrong about just simply because I don't know any better."
If Kenneth Copeland confesses this state of affairs perhaps his followers should take him at his word -- and perhaps Kenneth should spend more time studying the Bible. Then he won't have to worry about being wrong most of the time "simply because" he doesn't "know any better."
(from The Facts on the Faith Movement by John Ankerbeg & John Weldon)
Copeland attempted to avoid the implications of his prophesy by later claiming that Jesus only meant to say He never claimed to be God while on earth. But first, this is not what "Jesus" said in the "prophesy"; second, it is also incorrect since the Gospels are full of the claims of Jesus that He was God while on earth (John 5:18, 23; 8:58; 10:30; 14:9; 15:26; 20:28, 29, etc.).
Copeland has refused correction or even correspondence on the subject of the nature of Christ and has reaffirmed his position, standing by his alleged revelation and his interpretation of it. Thus, he teaches that Jesus did not come to earth as God, but as a perfect human being with the limitations this implies. Therefore, Jesus never believed Himself to be God while on earth.
Although Copeland has also taught that Jesus "was and is God manifested in the flesh," he has contradicted himself when he implies Jesus gave up His deity and came to earth only as a man. Essentially, Jesus was a man with tremendous human potential who, after the resurrection, resumed His divine nature. On earth, He had no innate powers until He was anointed by the Holy Spirit. Thus, He is our example showing that we too can do the things He did by relying upon the Holy Spirit. After all, Jesus was a reborn man; therefore, all Christians who are "reborn" should be able to do the same things He did. Copeland teaches that Christians must realize that they are not spiritual schizophrenics or half-God/half-Satan, but "you are all God."
In other words, with proper "faith" teaching and training, any Christian has the power to become a Jesus. Thus, "You have the power of God at your disposal. By getting the word deep into your spirit and speaking boldly out of your mouth, you release spiritual power to change things in the natural circumstances of your life. Jesus possessed authority in the earth, and He exercised that authority by the use of words." Copeland also teaches Jesus was made obedient to Satan, took the devil's nature, was tormented by demons, and was the first man to be born again -- in hell. Thus, imagine:
having to make yourself obedient to Satan...and to take on his nature. He allowed the devil to drag Him into the depths of hell...He allowed Himself to become under Satan's control...For three days...every demon in hell...tortured Him beyond anything that anybody has ever conceived...[but] the voice of God spoke to the death-whipped, broken, punished spirit of Jesus that was suffering in the bowels of the earth...and changed the spirit of Jesus with resurrection power! [Therefore] ... Jesus was born again...a born again man had defeated Satan, hell, and death...
Gloria Copeland reflects the teaching of her husband when she says: "After Jesus was made sin, He had to be born again...[Therefore] Jesus is a born-again man. This is the same new birth that the Good News of the gospel still offers to any man who will accept it."
What's wrong here? What's wrong is that Kenneth Copeland and his wife don't know the Bible. Kenneth, at least, confesses as much. In his Sunday, July 12, 1992, sermon he conceded: "I don't know all that much anyway. All I know is what I've learned and that's all I'm preaching...I'm not 100 percent right. Dear Lord, I don't know what the percentage is, but I expect it's probably pretty heavy on the wrong side...there are certain things I am wrong about just simply because I don't know any better."
If Kenneth Copeland confesses this state of affairs perhaps his followers should take him at his word -- and perhaps Kenneth should spend more time studying the Bible. Then he won't have to worry about being wrong most of the time "simply because" he doesn't "know any better."
(from The Facts on the Faith Movement by John Ankerbeg & John Weldon)
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