KENNETH COPELAND AND OUR “RIGHTS” BEFORE GOD

 

 

 

 

In He Did It All For You, Kenneth Copeland argues that, since we are the righteousness of God, we have also been granted rights, authority, and power. However, ultimately, it is in heaven that we become free from anything that defiles. For now, even the best of us are miles away from the fulfillment of His promises. Therefore, Scripture informs us that we have not arrived:

·       1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

 

Therefore, Paul lamented:

 

·       Romans 7:24–25 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

 

·       Galatians 5:17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

 

Jesus taught that blessedness was not a matter of having power and authority but their opposite:

·       Matthew 5:3–5 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

 

While Copeland is correct that we are the righteousness of God, God hasn’t completed His work in our lives. It is like other things in the Christian life. We are saved once we truly believe, but salvation is also a process (Philippians 2:12-13) and culminates in heaven:

 

·       Matthew 10:22 "and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved."

 

·       Matthew 24:13–14 "But the one who endures to the end WILL be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

 

Nevertheless, when we are saved, it is a done-deal, even though the details must be and will be worked out.

 

The same principle also pertains to our adoption and redemption. While we are adopted and redeemed when saved, this process must yet be completed:

 

·       Romans 8:23–25 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

 

However, Copeland teaches that we have these heavenly realities right now! We just have to understand what is rightfully ours and claim it:

 

·       As a believer, you are a citizen of the kingdom of God and have a right to everything in the kingdom…You have a right to everything God has. (56)

 

·       You have a right to expect your Heavenly Father to answer.  (59)

 

Can we claim our rights, or do we receive all good things from Him as gifts (James 1:17)? It seems that our God is never in the position that He owes us anything. Instead, we are to regard ourselves as undeserving servants:

·       Luke 17:10 “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”

 

There is only one thing that we deserve from God—death:

 

·       Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

We have no rights before God. Instead, everything is granted to us through His love and mercy and not as an entitlement. It is this awareness that produces gratefulness and adoration for our Lord (Romans 11:35).

 

Copeland claims that we have power over our lives:

 

·       We have more power over our lives as the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ than Satan had over us while we were in sin.  (63)

 

Our lives are characterized by weakness and complete dependence upon our Lord (Psalm 62), while Copeland claims that our lives should reflect power:

 

·       When you do [Awake to your righteousness] it will stop the sin in your life.  As long as Satan can convince you that you don’t have any right to things of God, he can keep you under his thumb and sin will control your life.  But when you awake to righteousness, you will realize that Satan is a defeated foe and the struggle is over. (66)

However, Scripture assures us that sin and brokenness will continue:

·       James 3:2 For we all stumble in many ways.

 

·       1 John 1:10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

 

·       2 Corinthians 4:8–10 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

 

Instead, I fear that what will make us vulnerable to Satan is the inevitable discouragement we experience when we find that we continue to struggle daily against sin, tribulation, and weakness. Instead, our answer is Jesus, not our rights or powers:

·       John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

 

Our hope is that Jesus has overcome the world. However, Copeland believes that we should be characterized by “healing…strength…and prosperity.”:

 

·       We have thought sickness instead of healing…weakness instead of strength…trouble instead of victory…poverty instead of prosperity…sin instead of righteousness.  We have attended to these other things, almost completely ignoring the power of the Word of God to deliver us from the flesh.  (67)

 

However, God refused to heal Paul of his messenger of Satan, the thorn in his flesh. Instead, He explained that His strength is made perfect in weakness rather than in strength:

·       2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

 

Why then are our lives not characterized by “strength” and “victory?” According to Copeland, our problem is “sin consciousness” not God’s will, which requires us to suffer as Jesus had (Hebrews 12:5-11):

 

·       Sin consciousness produces defeat and a false sense of humility.  It attempts to be humble by debasing itself and pushing itself back.  The Lord did not say, “Debase yourself.” (56)

 

However, many times, our Lord instructed us to humble (“debase”) ourselves:

 

·       Matthew 23:12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (Luke 14:11; 18:14)

 

Copeland is correct regarding past sins which we have confessed and turned from:

 

·       But the Word of God says the blood of Jesus purged our sins—they no longer exist.  So we should take the Name of Jesus and drive out this sin consciousness.  (57)

 

However, we are instructed to examine ourselves to see if we are in sin, lest we be judged by God:

·       1 Corinthians 11:29–32 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

 

Consequently, we not only need to judge ourselves, but we also need to confess our sins that we’d be forgiven and cleansed (1 John 1:9). Besides, the Spirit convicts us of sin. Are we to tell Him, “I reject sin consciousness?”

 

If we rid ourselves of this consciousness, will we then have power over Satan? Our problem is not that we have consciousness of sin, but that we deny our sin enabling Satan to gladly convict us having lost God’s protection because of our arrogance:

 

·       The only reason we have been such easy targets for Satan is because we have not known our rights and privileges in Christ.  Therefore, he could easily usurp authority over us.  (71)

 

·       When you lean on your righteousness in Jesus Christ, you’ll know what belongs to you and you’ll not lie down under sickness or any other attack of Satan.  (71)

 

Instead, when we have refused to repent of our sins, we become easy targets for Satan. Jesus had warned us that if we refuse to repent, we will suffer (Luke 13:1-5), the very opposite counsel offered by Copeland.

 

Can we take authority over Satan? Copeland insists that we can and also over our bodies. Nevertheless, we all die. This alone should cause us to question what authority we have:

 

·       After you have prayed to God and taken authority over Satan, you should take authority over your physical body.  Speak to it in the Name of Jesus and command it to conform to the Word of God that says it is healed by the stripes of Jesus.  I have done this and had my body shape up immediately.  (59)

 

However, Paul confessed that he lacked such authority:

 

·       2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God (John 15:4-5).

 

Both Peter (2 Peter 2:11) and Jude (9) deny that we have such authority within ourselves.

Copeland mixes sound teachings with what is highly unsound, causing his book to sound like another gospel. Instead, what a consolation to know that we belong to Him, and our weaknesses and failings actually become our strengths in the hands of the One who is working everything together for good for those who love Him.

THE ENCOUNTER

 

 

I never thought of myself as a rebel. I never carried a placard or joined a radical movement to protest an injustice or acted-out against it. However, my parents regarded me a rebel. I was dark, sullen, and brooding, a volcano ready to erupt, its lava ready to consume everything in its path.

 

I had become a product of the prevailing psychological society in which there is no honor or dishonor, no right or wrong, but rather psychological hungers clamoring to be fed.

 

However, I had not always feasted upon this worldview. Instead, I had filled myself with other dreams—hitting the longest home run or rescuing the world, whatever it took to give me a sense of value and honor.

 

I needed this sense of worth and mission, but the psychologist quietly and unintentionally robbed me of my dreams and left me with the conviction that I merely needed to find what made me feel good about myself. It was all about me, but this “awareness” further imprisoned me in a cell of self-absorption. I now became burdened with the endless quest to become self-actualized.

 

However, I was a very unlikely savior. I regarded others as maggots and disgusting scum. I think I learned this from my parents. As an eight-year-old, I awoke crying, and this awoke my parents. I had recently returned from a tormenting sleep-away summer camp where I had no friends and felt that I too was a maggot.

 

My parents hardly ever talked. Therefore, I was surprised when they came to my bedside to ask me why I was crying. Fighting to regain composure, I related to them how I had been rejected by everyone.

 

Instead of surrounding me with hugs, kisses, and the assurances of their love, they assured me that I shouldn’t feel bad about myself, because everyone else was garbage, and this reasoning became my comfort. If I couldn’t lift myself up, I could at least put others down.

 

My parents meant well. Mother kept my clothes ironed and made sure to get me to the doctors’ appointments on time. Dad was a good provider, and I always satisfied my material needs, but gloom and emptiness filled our house. No one talked or touched.

 

When I was 13, a friend invited me for dinner. His parents began to talk at the dinner table. I was horrified, no less than had they come to the table without a stitch of clothing. Then they began to ask us questions about school. “How could they do such a thing,” I thought.

 

When I was 16, my father amazed me by asking, “How was your day today, son.” I was speechless! I knew he meant well, but I was unable to answer.

 

He had been an absentee father. Coming home from the office, he would retreat into his room and close the door, to either practice his piano or read the Times. In either case, Mom always warned us to not disturb Dad.

 

Emotionally, both were off-limits. My mom wanted to be a good mother, but she was poorly equipped for the job. She didn’t enjoy children. Mom once confided that she never held me. She had read a book about how to raise the male baby, which advised that, if you don’t want your son to be a sissy, you shouldn’t hold him.

 

Consequently, I was an anti-social child who didn’t fit in. I felt uncomfortable with others, knowing that they would eventually reject me. Therefore, I would reject them before they could.

 

When I was 14, my parents convinced me to see a psychologist, but nothing changed except for my growing assurance that I was damaged merchandise. I was beyond cure, unable to change.

 

As a college student I was drawn to the anti-heroes. The movies were beginning to present the outcast as the good guy. They too felt rejected by society and its standards, but they were affirmed by the movies. How refreshing, even if they didn’t supply the affirmation I craved, and I always needed a greater fix.

 

However, it was when I was bleeding to death from a horrid chainsaw injury that a Person who was able to provide this “fix” encountered me in my helpless condition. Instantly, I knew that I was beloved and protected. Even if I died, I KNEW He would be there for me. I was ecstatic. Only one thing now mattered— discovering the identity of my mysterious Lover. Only one fear remained—this might be about Jesus.

 

I was a committed Zionist and had lived in Israel for three years, hoping to find my meaning of life there. Consequently, the idea of becoming a Christian had been utterly abhorrent to me. I would sooner have become a zombie or a worm, a minor betrayal compared to becoming a Christian. However, I knew that the One I had met transcended any ethnic identity:

 

·       If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32)

 

I had experienced a love I had never dreamed possible, a love even promised in my Hebrew Scriptures:

 

·       The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4)

 

This is the One who had come to my rescue! Jesus has now shepherded me through some deep valleys for 47 years. Yet, I am more convinced than ever of His love and care for me, and this has made all the difference.