Dangerous Heresy

[LadyRaven]

Word of faith doctrine is heretical and dangerous. Too many Christians believe in it or accept it as "just a movement in the church" without really understanding what it is.

1. Word-Faith teaches that God is bound by the law of faith and this means He is obligated to obey the faith-filled commands and desires of believers. (Copeland, Laws of Prosperity, pp. 60-62). This is hogwash. We as creations have NO right to command God, though we can request things in faith. And God the almighty has the right to say NOOOOO if He decides it best. WE do not presume to command God, GOD commands US. God is the only One who ever created reality by the power of His Word (Genesis 1:3).

2. Word of Faith teaches that man is not the "image of God" but that man is divine." God's reason for creating Adam was His desire to reproduce Himself...He was not a little like God. He was not almost like God. He was not subordinate to God even" (Copeland, Following the Faith of Abraham, 1989, Tape #01-3001). "You don't have a God in you you are one!" (Copeland, The Force of Love, 1987, Tape #02-0028). This is a direct contradiction of scripture and is a heresy of the highest order. He was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26, 27; 9:6), but bearing God's image does not make him a "little god." By definition, God is an "uncreated" or self-existent Being. Obviously, humans were created and therefore are not self-existent or divine; only God has a divine nature (Galatians 4:8; Isaiah 1:6-11, 43:10, 44:6; Ezekiel 28:2; Psalms 8:6-8).

3. Word of Faith doctrine is heretical as related to the nature and work of the atonement."Physical death will not remove sins" (Hagin, The Name of Jesus, p. 29). In other words, it took the spiritual death of Jesus "Do you think that the punishment of our sins was to die on the cross? If that was the case, the two thieves could have paid our price. No, the punishment was to go into hell itself and to serve time in hell separated from God" (K. C. Price, Ever Increasing Faith Messenger, June 1990, p. 7). "Just as Adam died spiritually, Jesus died spiritually. The spiritual death He suffered caused His physical body to die.... When Jesus accepted the sin nature of Satan into His Spirit He cried 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' He was separated from God... He was ushered into the bowels of hell" (Kenneth Copeland, Classic Redemption, p. 13) "Spiritual death means having Satan's nature" (Hagin, The Name of Jesus, p. 31). Jesus becomes a sinner in need of redemption. "Jesus was born again in the pit of Hell....The Church started when Jesus was born again in the gates of Hell" (Charles Capps, Authority In Three Worlds, pp. 212 13). This is all lies from the bowels of hell. The real truth is here....(Hebrews 9:22). Christ said, "It is finished" (John 19:30), which translates tetelistai meaning "paid for in full." Payment for our sins took place on the cross (Matt. 26:28; 1 Pet. 2:24; Col. 1:20-22; Heb. 10:10, 12, 14, 19 20). There was nothing more to pay beyond the cross (Heb. 10:18).

4. Word of Faith has a heretical view of man: Kenneth Copeland says, "And the whole New Testament calls Him the first-born....The word "born" began to ring in my spirit; it just began to roll around: born, born. I never had let Him go through that in my own thinking....And while I was laying there thinking about these things, the Spirit of God spoke to me. And He said, "Son, realize this: Now follow Me in this, don't let your tradition trip you up." He said, "Think this way: A twice-born man whipped Satan in his own domain." And I threw my Bible down. I said, "What?" He said, "A born-again man defeated Satan. The first-born of many brethren defeated him." He said, "You are the very image and the very copy of that one." I said, "Goodness gracious, sakes alive!" And I began to see what had gone on in there, and I said, "You don't mean--you couldn't dare mean, that I could have done the same thing?" He said, "Oh, yeah, if you'd had the knowledge of the Word of God that He did, you could have done the same thing, 'cause you're a reborn man, too."Kenneth Copeland, "What Happened from the Cross to the Throne" tape # 02-0017. I hope I really don't have to explain what is wrong with this??

There is alot more to word of faith doctrine, but this should be a good start.

[Floatingaxe]

I understand that there is no such thing as a doctrine called "Word of Faith", but rather it is a label used to lump certain believers together and ostracize them. Isn't that so?

Thank you for providing this info for me anyhow.

[LadyRaven]

I understand that there is no such thing as a doctrine called "Word of Faith", but rather it is a label used to lump certain believers together and ostracize them. Isn't that so?

Thank you for providing this info for me anyhow.

It is not a doctrine title as in "the doctrines of grace", "arminianism" or "transubstantiation" would be.

It is a title given to a certain set of doctrines due to it's emphasis on faith being a force which you use to create reality through the spoken word. It is also called "word faith" or "the faith movement" or the doctrine/theory of "positive confession". It used to just be a "movement" similar to "the emerging church" "the emerging conversation" or "Emergent" today, but it has evolved into a doctrinal system in and of itself.

The title is used by the adherents themselves similar to the fact that I'm perfectly comfortable being called a "calvinist" or a "presuppositionalist."

Heretical doctrine should be pointed out and teachers of that doctrine should be ostracised, do you not agree?

[gypc]

LadyRaven you are so right....................I was in the WOF movement for years and the things you quote are really what these men teach.

This is something I wrote a while back, it's called Roadmap of a new religion.........It is obvious false doctrine yet people keep giving their money to support it!

Road map of the new religion.

God makes man in his image. He makes him a little god. His name is Adam and he was made on terms of equality with God(KH) Adam was in the presence of God without any consciousness of inferiority(KH) He is not even subordinate to God(KC) He is made a god of earth. He is given all authority of the Earth and he could fly. He flew to space.(BH)

Then God became the greatest failure in the Bible.(KC) Adam sins and gives his lordship authority to satan. Now satan is God of Earth. God cannot do anything because he is bound by spiritual laws. God is on the outside looking in(KC) The only way God can come back in is by making covenents with men.

[Marnie]

Very good post.

[st. Worm]

Word of faith doctrine is heretical and dangerous. Too many Christians believe in it or accept it as "just a movement in the church" without really understanding what it is.

1. Word-Faith teaches that God is bound by the law of faith and this means He is obligated to obey the faith-filled commands and desires of believers. (Copeland, Laws of Prosperity, pp. 60-62). This is hogwash. We as creations have NO right to command God, though we can request things in faith. And God the almighty has the right to say NOOOOO if He decides it best. WE do not presume to command God, GOD commands US. God is the only One who ever created reality by the power of His Word (Genesis 1:3).

2. Word of Faith teaches that man is not the "image of God" but that man is divine." God's reason for creating Adam was His desire to reproduce Himself...He was not a little like God. He was not almost like God. He was not subordinate to God even" (Copeland, Following the Faith of Abraham, 1989, Tape #01-3001). "You don't have a God in you you are one!" (Copeland, The Force of Love, 1987, Tape #02-0028). This is a direct contradiction of scripture and is a heresy of the highest order. He was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26, 27; 9:6), but bearing God's image does not make him a "little god." By definition, God is an "uncreated" or self-existent Being. Obviously, humans were created and therefore are not self-existent or divine; only God has a divine nature (Galatians 4:8; Isaiah 1:6-11, 43:10, 44:6; Ezekiel 28:2; Psalms 8:6-8).

3. Word of Faith doctrine is heretical as related to the nature and work of the atonement."Physical death will not remove sins" (Hagin, The Name of Jesus, p. 29). In other words, it took the spiritual death of Jesus "Do you think that the punishment of our sins was to die on the cross? If that was the case, the two thieves could have paid our price. No, the punishment was to go into hell itself and to serve time in hell separated from God" (K. C. Price, Ever Increasing Faith Messenger, June 1990, p. 7). "Just as Adam died spiritually, Jesus died spiritually. The spiritual death He suffered caused His physical body to die.... When Jesus accepted the sin nature of Satan into His Spirit He cried 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' He was separated from God... He was ushered into the bowels of hell" (Kenneth Copeland, Classic Redemption, p. 13) "Spiritual death means having Satan's nature" (Hagin, The Name of Jesus, p. 31). Jesus becomes a sinner in need of redemption. "Jesus was born again in the pit of Hell....The Church started when Jesus was born again in the gates of Hell" (Charles Capps, Authority In Three Worlds, pp. 212 13). This is all lies from the bowels of hell. The real truth is here....(Hebrews 9:22). Christ said, "It is finished" (John 19:30), which translates tetelistai meaning "paid for in full." Payment for our sins took place on the cross (Matt. 26:28; 1 Pet. 2:24; Col. 1:20-22; Heb. 10:10, 12, 14, 19 20). There was nothing more to pay beyond the cross (Heb. 10:18).

4. Word of Faith has a heretical view of man: Kenneth Copeland says, "And the whole New Testament calls Him the first-born....The word "born" began to ring in my spirit; it just began to roll around: born, born. I never had let Him go through that in my own thinking....And while I was laying there thinking about these things, the Spirit of God spoke to me. And He said, "Son, realize this: Now follow Me in this, don't let your tradition trip you up." He said, "Think this way: A twice-born man whipped Satan in his own domain." And I threw my Bible down. I said, "What?" He said, "A born-again man defeated Satan. The first-born of many brethren defeated him." He said, "You are the very image and the very copy of that one." I said, "Goodness gracious, sakes alive!" And I began to see what had gone on in there, and I said, "You don't mean--you couldn't dare mean, that I could have done the same thing?" He said, "Oh, yeah, if you'd had the knowledge of the Word of God that He did, you could have done the same thing, 'cause you're a reborn man, too."Kenneth Copeland, "What Happened from the Cross to the Throne" tape # 02-0017. I hope I really don't have to explain what is wrong with this??

There is alot more to word of faith doctrine, but this should be a good start.

Indeed LadyRaven. There is no worse cult hiding under the guise of Christianity and biblical terminology. It has nothing to do with the Law or the Gospel or the God of the Bible. It is worse than a magic show since at least most people leave a magic show knowing it is just entertainment and an act. It exploits the ignorant and the poor and rakes in more money than any legitimate churches could ever hope to raise. All you have to do to fool some is use the word Jesus and faith. Word of Faith followers know neither. To them God is only as good as his latest staged miracle.

sw

[cag7800]

I was in the WOF most of my life.I am so thank for that I finally saw the LIGHT

[LightofJesus]

qypc

I must say this was a mouth full. When I was first born again I listened to all these ministers and stopped, oh about two or three years into my walk. I was going to a very well know church here in Ohio and the Lord led me out of that church cause the teachings started to change. I just recently noticed when those changes started taking place and it was after the mentor of this pastor had passed on to the Lord. There was a big shift in his teaching, but like I said until I was removed from it I really didn't notice and even then it took about four years for God to really expose the things I was being taught was wrong. I thank God for His faithfulness and for His knowing my heart!!! I really was unaware and seeing how unaware I was I know all my sisters and brothers that are still under these teachings are also unaware, this is our dangerous these teachings are and I pray that the Lord open all their eyes in the way that only God can do!! Amen?

[LadyRaven]

One doctrine of the Word Faith variety that gets alot of attention is Positive Confession:

In his work The Tongue, a Creative Force (1976), Charles Capps, teaches that words, can under certain circumstances, become vehicles for creative or supernatural power. When these "faith-filled" spiritual words are spoken they alter the physical and spiritual world. Capps says, "You see there is more to it than just saying it. The words must originate from the inner man where spiritual power is released through words." Later..."The spirit of man is not of this world, it is of the spirit world. The creative ability of man comes through his spirit. He speaks spirit words that work in the world of the spirit. They will also dominate the physical world. He breathes spirit life into God's Word and it becomes a living substance, working for him as it worked for God in the beginning. These spirit words dominate the natural world" (p. 117-118).

This is because God, "by His faith" spoke this physical world into existence; the believer as little god exact replica can do the same thing. We can speak things into existance, good or bad. Being nervous about a job interview and saying "aw man i just know I'm going to not get this job" can cause you to not get it because you spoke your future into existance.

The main problem with this is that God doesn't NEED to have faith, his word is already effective (Hebrews 4:12 Phillipians 2:16). It is not necessary to activate it by speaking words of faith. It is by hearing the "living" word that one is brought to salvation through faith in Christ. (Romans 10:17)

This doctrine changes both the nature of God (making him subject to a believer's faith, making him subject to his own faith) and diefies the human, saying he can do the same thing. We need to remember that we are but dust, we need to remember the HE is Omnipotent. He is not subject to my will, He doesn't have to have faith in anything. HE does not exist to serve ME, I exist to serve HIM.

I'm not saying we should go around saying things which are detrimental to our own mental health and sabotage our future by saying these things over and over until we believe them and act like they are true. But making a doctrine out of mankind's ability to believe our own nonsense...is....nonsense.

[apothanein kerdos]

I understand that there is no such thing as a doctrine called "Word of Faith", but rather it is a label used to lump certain believers together and ostracize them. Isn't that so?

Thank you for providing this info for me anyhow.

No, it points out false doctrines that believers have, even though it comes in different varieties, so that we can understand these beliefs are absolutely, 100% false.