Errors of Positive Confession and Consequences

Consider the following illustrations of Positive Confession Belief and ask yourself the following questions.

1. Would God reveal such teachings to His people for their welfare?
2. Are these formulas or words found in the Bible?
3. Are they based on trusting God or upon a presumption?
4. Are they reflecting the life and teachings of Jesus?
5. Do they make sense, or are they irrational?
6. 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?

A Preliminary Assessment of Word/Faith Televangelism

A preliminary assessment can now be made.  There are two types that are most prominent today.  The first type is that of positive or possibility thinkers such as Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuller.  The second type is that of positive confessionists, such as Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, Robert Tilton and others.

The positive/possibility thinker believes in the power of the mind, the power of visualizing, the power of imagination, the power of faith.  What one thinks, visualizes, imagines, or believes strongly enough will be realized.  One's inner potential is so enormous and one's inner energy so powerful that one can literally think, visualize, imagine, or believe into being what one desires.  To the possibility thinker, the greatest threat to the possibilities that can be brought into being are a bad self-image and an absence of self-love.  Those negative elements are produced by negative thinking, it is said, including the type of thinking that entertains mans lostness before God, not to mention his total depravity.  In fact, the emphasis upon human sinfulness is itself the cardinal sin, for such emphasis would quickly turn a beckoning success story into a string of failures.  Instead, all the God talk, Christ talk, Spirit talk, and Bible talk, in general  should be designed to bolster or produce self-esteem so that one can begin to tap one's vast inner resources and realize one's incredible potential.

The positive confessionists have much in common with this approach.  But there is a difference.  Whereas the positive/possibility thinker is more "natural" in his orientation, the positive confessionist is more "supernatural."  The former emphasizes success as the natural outflow of the enormous human spirit.  In a sense, it is one-upmanship -- what the secularist can accomplish, the Christian can achieve more effectively...with Jesus.  The latter holds out the prospect of prosperity and success as the supernatural realization of the even more enormous possibilities that are presented to him in the framework of salvation.

In short, according to the positive/possibility thinker, man succeeds by mobilizing what he already is and regards success as no surprise.  Overcoming a bad self-image, of course, is part of the total package.  According to the positive confessionist, man prospers be claiming what God promises and calls this a miracle.  Part of the package is that he rests from Satan what is already his.  .

However these types may differ, they are at one in that they place man in the center rather than God.  And in spite of their different shades, they are only too eager to cooperate with one another.  For instance, the leading proponent of possibility thinking, Robert Schuller, frequently participates in the conferences of the positive confessionists and has even contributed the forward to one of Paul Yongi Cho's books.  The objective of both groups is to secure success and happiness for man rather than to present the biblical message of sin and grace.  Forget "glorifying God and enjoying Him forever!"  The goal of the Christian life is to "name it and claim it."  

It appears that biblical theology as defined previously and a systematic theology carefully built upon that theology and, on the other hand, the two types of televangelism described thus far are worlds in collision, for a properly constructed systematic theology places our attention upon the sin-holiness polarity with all that that entails.  Biblical theology does not allow a single issue -- and a man-centered issue at that -- isolated from the thrust of Scripture to dominate the preaching enterprise.

It should further be underscored that both types of televangelism are quite pretentious and aware of the different direction they take.  The first type of televangelism holds that the perspective of self-esteem puts its own imprint upon, and therefore requires a radical change in, the way one does (systematic) theology and in one's philosophical outlook upon life.  The second type of televangelism is of the opinion that it has finally unearthed the "full Gospel," well beyond any gospel that (biblical theology) has been able to formulate.

The Apostle Paul informs the Romans that he desires to come in the "fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ" (Romans 15:29, KJV).  In the light of the context of the epistle, in which he describes the "full gospel," it is questionable whether the theology of self-esteem squares with that "gospel," or whether the theology of prosperity squares with that gospel in its "fullness."  In a nutshell, the full gospel according to Paul is that sinners are accepted in the presence of God as members of the kingdom only through the righteousness of Christ and subsequently as saints enjoy that presence and serve in that kingdom only by surrendering everything to Christ.  Prerequisite for entrance into the kingdom is a loss of self rather than an esteem of self, although characteristic of service in that kingdom is self-sacrifice rather than health and wealth.

A televangelist, just like any other preacher, must preach the Word.  He must do so properly, informed by a properly construed biblical theology, one that springs from a covenantal perspective.  He must do so fully, informed by a carefully constructed systematic theology, which is to say that he does not confine himself to some popular themes, let alone fund-raising schemes.

His preaching must be evangelistic and edificational.  In his evangelistic preaching he must invite the sinner to come to Christ with his rebellious heart for it to be killed (Romans 6:6), with his guilty record for it to be cleansed (Romans 3:25), and with his unholy life for it to be transformed (John 15:5).  In short, he must invite the sinner to come to Christ for regeneration, justification, and sanctification, the sum and substance of the New Covenant, promised by the Father, personified by the Son, and personalized by the Spirit.

In his edificational preaching, he must bring the Word of God, including promise and law, to bear upon the believer.  He must seek to bring him into an ever-closer conformity to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29) and  be intent upon mobilizing the church as the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-14) in the areas of evangelism and edification, so as to make an impact upon all of society (Acts 17:6).


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 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. 

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:

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. 

Robert Tilton's False Teachings

In the writings of "Pastor to America" Robert Tilton we can see a common theme of the Faith teachers. That theme is: In the alleged revelations God gives to these teachers, God Himself consistently promotes a "Faith" teaching and practice. Thus, as if he were a Faith teacher himself, God warns people against "walking in the natural" and promises them "supernatural abundant miracles" by using "faith as a force."

Tilton teaches that God gave him his beliefs which include the idea that "an untapped and unlimited treasury of dreams, visions, and inspired ideas is within your spirit...All you must do is speak forth this treasure. Your words release what is in your spirit, whether it is good or bad...Words have both substance and influence." For example, speaking positively about what one desires releases its substance -- as well as angels -- to bring it about.

Thus, God allegedly told Tilton to give the world this message: "I am sending out a message to wake up My people to be willing and obedient to My Word...yes, for I have come today to sup and to live within thee. To live BIG within thee. As you say YES to the good things I have for you, they will be attracted towards you...So acknowledge that health and prosperity are here. As you acknowledge [this] ...it will acknowledge you and come forth in thy life NOW."

Tilton further claims that "...there are no limits, no restraints, and no restrictions to what God will do in you, through you and for you if you simply believe and do what God has asked me to tell you."

Although Tilton, like Copeland, confesses the failures of the Faith movement, he also acts and teaches in the following manner.

Tilton claims that "the Spirit of God is upon me the same way the Spirit of God was on the Lord Jesus Christ"; thus, he thinks that the inspired thoughts and words he gives out "are the word of God."

Tilton prophesies money into existence to the readers of his books and he promises a hundredfold return to believers through their "faith" -- especially if they tithe to his ministry. For example, he promises that by giving money to his ministry, people can release God's power to that, in return, God will give them money and other nice things.

Tilton claims that faith is the spiritual substance and/or power that underlies the universe. Thus, he claims that through faith he can supernaturally manipulate his environment. For example, he believes he can declare and decree future events into existence and also "release God's Spirit and presence" into another person's life. Indeed, any man or woman can manipulate the creation if they follow Tilton's techniques: "The Creator lives inside you and wants to create through you...You have the Word of God that created everything in your mouth. Speak it out!...God created His world through faith. He gave you the means of His faith so that you could create your world." This is supposedly true because everything a person needs is already existing in the spirit realm and in order to obtain it one only need appropriate the proper spiritual laws, for example, "The name of Jesus activates the promises."

Tilton also thinks man is "a god" who determines his own destiny: "The nature of deity" is "deposited and implanted within a believer." Thus, Tilton boldly commands angels to do his will. Further, "The Lord spoke these words to me: 'I cannot loose from heaven what you don't loose on earth.'" But "Thoughts are things, and the corresponding action of faith will cause those things hoped for to come to pass and become realities in your life...You are a God-kind of creature...We succeed because...we have worked the Word...we are a new species here upon the earth. We are like super-men."

Tilton also interprets the Atonement of Christ as undergirding the "Faith" message. Thus, referring to success, happiness, peace of mind, health, and prosperity, Tilton teaches that Jesus "purchased them at Calvary." For example, he argues that "God will heal all the time, by faith...--100% guaranteed!"

Nevertheless, on his national television programs, Tilton will speak forth the thoughts of his own mind -- and yet preface them with a, "Thus sayeth the Lord." That they are his own thoughts is obvious because what Tilton proceeds to teach is frequently a blatant misinterpretation of the Bible and could not possibly be something from God's own mind. Still he confesses, "I won't change what I am preaching."

(from The Facts on the Faith Movement by John Ankerberg & John Weldon)