The Bible Shows Faith Teachers' Errors

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).

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.