The cults are expert marketers. They know how to give us what
we want. They appeal to our pride by exalting us at the expense of demoting
God.
The Word-of-Faith (WoF) movement also exalts man at the
expense of God. Creflo Dollar taught that Jesus isn’t God but became God:
·
“Jesus didn’t come as God, He came as man, and
He did not come perfect.” (Christian Research Journal, B. Hunter)
Consequently, the Word-of-Faith preachers exalt us to
godhood. C. Dollar stated:
·
“I’m gonna say to you right now that you are
gods, little ‘g.’ You are gods because you came from God and you are gods.” (CRJ)
R.C. Sproul claimed:
·
“[Kenneth] Copeland writes, ‘Every man who has
been born again is an incarnation and Christianity is a miracle. The believer
is as much an incarnation as was Jesus of Nazareth.’” (Michael Horton, The
Agony of Deceit, 44).
Also: “You don’t have a god in you. You are one!” (92).
“Jesus is no longer the only begotten Son of God.” (100)
Clearly, there is much that sets us apart from God. According
to Jesus, the best of us are unworthy:
·
“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.’” (Luke 17:10)
Paul claimed that we are nothing, apart from God:
·
For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is
nothing, he deceives himself. (Galatians 6:3)
A powerful Roman centurion admitted that he was deserving of
the Lord’s presence:
·
"Lord, I do not deserve to have you come
under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. (Matthew
8:8)
For his humble acceptance of the truth, Jesus had commended
him. However, WoF preachers suggest that we shouldn’t regard ourselves as lowly.
WoF TV evangelist, Copeland, offered an alleged prophecy from Jesus Christ
Himself:
·
“Don’t be disturbed when people accuse you of
thinking you are God…They criticized me [Jesus] 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.’” (101)
Do we presently have such great authority or must we await
Jesus’ return? Elsewhere, Copeland claimed:
·
“He never made the assertion that He was the
most High God. In fact, He told His disciples that the Father God was greater
and mightier than He. Why didn’t Jesus openly proclaim Himself as God during
His 33 years on earth? For one single reason. He hadn’t come to earth as God,
He’d come as man.” (114)
However, Jesus had no problem in receiving the worship
reserved for God alone:
·
And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My
Lord and my God!" (John 20:28)
Although Jesus never explicitly said “I am God,” He often
equated Himself with God and always received worship, even from demons.
However, deceased WoF evangelist, Kenneth Hagin, had claimed
that we are not different from Jesus:
·
The believer is as much an incarnation as was
Jesus of Nazareth. (Horton,112)
·
Even many in the great body of Full Gospel
people do not know that the new birth is a real incarnation, they do not know
that they are as much sons and daughters of God as Jesus…So He was in the flesh
a divine-human being. I was first human, and so were you, but I was born of
God, and so I became a human-divine being.” (Horton; R.C. Sproul quoting K.
Hagin)
However, Hagin’s assertions are contradicted by Scripture:
·
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass,
you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering
yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill
the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is
NOTHING, he deceives himself. (Galatians 6:1-3)
We are nothing, a mere speck of dust in the universe of
billions of galaxies, apart from Christ. Apart from Jesus, we are helpless to
do anything of any spiritual value:
·
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you
abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in
him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)
In contrast, WoF offspring, Andrew Wommack, claims that we
are loaded with healing power:
·
God has already placed His healing power within
us, and it is now under our authority. It isn’t up to God to determine who
receives healing; it’s up to us! (“Faith For Healing Is Based On Knowledge”)
This begs the question, “Who are we in Christ? Are we
utterly dependent on Jesus, or are we powerful and independent? Wommack claims
that we shouldn’t ask Christ to heal. Instead, by our vested authority, we
should demand it:
·
The Lord never told us to pray for the sick in
the sense that we ask Him to heal them. He told us to heal the sick,” and
“Jesus told us to heal the sick, not pray for the sick.
(http://www.awmi.net/extra/article/authority_releases),
·
When [people who do not claim such authority as
theirs] see that some sickness, disease, tragedy comes into their life, instead
of taking their authority and rebuking the devil and commanding him to leave,
instead they go to God … and they beg God, “Oh God please change this
situation. Oh God please get the devil off my back.’ And it’s not within God’s
power and authority. He gave us that power and authority.” (“The Believer’s
Authority,” part 3)
According to Wommack, God has surrendered His authority to
us. Consequently, God is now unable to help us. He has dis-empowered Himself.
This is a different religion than the one we find in the
Bible, where we encounter an all-powerful God who can work all things for our good,
and in whom we can trust for all the needs of our life:
·
He only is my rock and my salvation, my
fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my
mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out
your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. (Psalm 62:6–8)
·
Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the
land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give
you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and
he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your
justice as the noonday. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who
carries out evil devices!
(Psalm 37:3–7)
(Psalm 37:3–7)
The Gospel is about finding peace and joy through trusting
in Him, not in ourselves:
·
do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6–7)
Consequently, love, joy, and peace are fruits of the Spirit
and not of our own powers and authority. According to James, we lack such
authority and, instead, are an insubstantial mist:
·
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we
will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a
profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For
you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you
ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is,
you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:13–16)
Consequently, we cannot claim anything good as coming from
ourselves:
·
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think
of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. (2 Corinthians
3:5; James 1:17)
To believe otherwise is evil and arrogant.
2 comments:
Do you think it's evil to believe God has given freewill ? (I don't mean freewill as on the vein most reformers would use it.). God is sovereign but He also cried Jerosalem Jerosalem.... but you woul not . And Ye stiff necked people you always resist the Holy Spirit . It seems clear to me at least that God was not ordaining their resistance . Do you agree ?
Oh, nor am I WOF :) although I do believe faith is necessary in asking as Jesus said it was . I think you would be in agreement too
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