C-14. DEFENDING the Word of FAITH Movement!
Let me begin by saying that there is a VAST DIFFERENCE between the Word of Faith Movement and the prosperity message. What do I mean by this? What I mean is that there is at least one FALSE teaching in every church denomination, even the one you may be attending or even be the pastor of or perhaps even the founder of the denomination itself. So while I am against the GREED and methods being used among the prosperity teachers to consume the church’s wealth upon themselves I am a strong voice for the “word of faith” found in the Bible itself which is what the Word of Faith Ministry bases their teachings upon. I expose the errors of the prosperity message in the study called “IS THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL GOOD OR BAD?” and in this study, it is my prayer that you will see that the FAITH which the word of FAITH teachers teach is SOUNDLY based in God’s word of truth, the Holy Bible. Now the Christians who are warning God’s children to stay away from the word of faith teachers are doing harm to the body of Jesus Christ and what they SHOULD be doing is to warn Christians to stay away from the “PROSPERITY MESSAGE”. Let us say you are eating a delicious watermelon and you bite down on a seed, do you just spit out the seed or do you throw the whole watermelon away? No, you just spit out the seed and continue eating that which is GOOD. I mean if you left every church that had false teaching you would soon run out of the churches to fellowship in. So then, let us learn to discern what is GOOD and throw out what is in error without crucifying the teacher, preacher or church denomination. It is the false MESSAGE that needs to be dealt with and thrown out and not the teachers themselves. I was introduced to the Word of FAITH Movement when I was given a book on FAITH written by Kenneth E Hagin. I grew by leaps and bounds in my faith by reading his books. Over time I have read almost every book he has written. And I have listened to almost every teaching series he has made available. Now, I myself never heard Kenneth E Hagin teach faith in the way to gain great wealth. His definition of being rich is to have an abundant supply so you can bless OTHERS. Others may interpret his words differently just as they sometimes do mine. But the way I see his teaching has always been to believe God to meet your NEEDS. Some argue that he just copied E. W. Kenyon’s teachings but in truth, Kenneth E. Hagin had already been preaching for some 12 years before he ever heard of E. W. Kenyon. Take the time to watch this ten-minute video on YouTube “THE ROOTS OF THE WORD OF FAITH Part 1” and you will clearly see that the Holy Spirit taught Kenneth E. Hagin what he teaches from the Bible. My point is that Almighty God himself is the ORIGIN of the Word of Faith Movement who then taught the word of faith to Jesus who taught it to his apostles and disciple who wrote it down in the Bible for us to learn. So to ME to throw out the word of FAITH is to throw out the Bible itself.
Please read Roman 10:8-10.
“But what says it? (The word of God) The word is nigh you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the WORD OF FAITH, which WE preach; 9. That if you shall CONFESS with your MOUTH the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. 10. For (Or because) with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.”
Now those Christians who are against the Word of Faith Movement boast that they do not believe in that “name it and claim it” positive confession stuff saying that it is not taught anywhere in the Bible. Well if they do not believe in CONFESSING what they believe in their heart then they are not saved. Of course, they believe in positive confession and heart faith for that is how we are SAVED. So then Almighty God the Father himself is the author of the Word of Faith Movement which he founded or began with Jesus.
Please read 1 Timothy 6:12.
“Fight the good fight of FAITH, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto you are also called, and have PROFESSED a good PROFESSION (Or a POSITIVE CONFESSION of FAITH) before many witnesses.”
Hebrews 3:1.
“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our PROFESSION (Our POSITIVE CONFESSION of FAITH), Christ Jesus;”
Hebrews 4:14.
“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our PROFESSION (Or POSITIVE CONFESSION of our FAITH in Jesus).”
Hebrews 10:23.
“Let us hold fast the PROFESSION of our FAITH (Or the POSITIVE CONFESSION of our FAITH) without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)”
So then WHAT FAITH are we CONFESSING? Or what are we to be BELIEVING in our heart and then CONFESSING with our MOUTH unto salvation? It is right there in Hebrews 10:23. We are to BELIEVE and CONFESS the PROMISES of God found in his WORD. In other words, we are to have FAITH in the WORD of God. Hence the Word of Faith, which the apostles of Jesus teach in the New Testament under the New Covenant. Jesus said that if we CONFESS him before MEN then he will confess us before his Father in heaven.
Matthew 10:32,33.
“Whosoever, therefore, shall CONFESS me before men, him, will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33. BUT whosoever shall DENY me before men, him, will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.”
Here we see a POSITIVE CONFESSION of FAITH and NEGATIVE CONFESSION of doubt and unbelief which is what some sincerely believe in their HEART or they would not confess before men that they are an atheist. Now, this SAME principle works on EVERY PROMISE written in God’s word. There are Christians who believe in their heart and make a POSITIVE CONFESSION with their mouth for healing UNTO SALVATION and they are healed. And there also are Christians who believe in their heart that healing is not for today and they confess with their mouth a NEGATIVE confession denying the promises in God’s word are NOT for today and they are not healed. The meaning of the Greek word “SOZO” that is translated as SAVED also means delivered, set free, HEALED, made whole, and placed in a right relationship with God. Jesus said in Matthew 24: that he who ENDURES unto the END the SAME shall be saved. And likewise, he or she who ENDURES unto the END of their CONFESSION of FAITH to receive healing the SAME shall be “SOZO” saved, HEALED. If a Christian CASTS AWAY their POSITIVE CONFESSION of FAITH in Jesus and given up they will NOT receive the PROMISE of eternal life in the world to come. So how is it any different if a Christian CASTS AWAY their POSITIVE CONFESSION of FAITH in the PROMISES in God’s word for HEALING and they give up and do not receive the promise of healing any different. Some Christians really come down hard on the Word of Faith Movement for giving false hope to Christians to be healed and many are not healed. But what about the many who ARE healed? Was that false hope as well? Did they just get lucky? Or did they ENDURE unto the END until they RECEIVED the promise of healing? I can stand before God and honestly say that I have received healing every time I ENDURED until the end until I received healing. Now there have been a few times when I gave up and placed my trust in the doctor and medicine and over time I did eventually receive my healing. And I will be honest and tell my readers upfront that I have only been healed INSTANTLY a handful of times and the rest of the times were a FIGHT of FAITH to ENDURE unto the end.
Let me ask you who DOUBT a simple question. Do you believe God’s WORD? If so please read 1 John 5:14.15.
“And this is the CONFIDENCE that we have in HIM, that, if we ask ANYTHING according to HIS WILL, he HEARS us: 15. And if we KNOW (Or if we BELIEVE in our HEART) that he HEARS us, whatsoever we ask, (According to his WILL believing in our heart) we know that we HAVE the petitions that we desired of him.”
Now if you do NOT receive the petitions that you KNOW are according to his WILL then you did not ENDURE unto the END or God is a liar. I myself am willing to admit that when I do not receive then it is MY giving up my positive confession of faith. I will admit that I have given up. But if it was something I desired bad enough then I would build my faith by reading and meditating on God’s WORD and then HOLD FAST to my PROFESSION of faith and receive what I was believing to receive. So BUILD YOUR faith in God’s word and on the promises in his word.
Please read Mark 11:21-24.
“And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which you cursed is withered away. (Jesus SPOKE what would happen to the fig tree and the next day it came to pass) 22. And Jesus answering said unto them, Have faith in God. 23. For verily (Or TRULY) I say unto you, That whosoever shall SAY unto this mountain, Be you removed, and be you cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he SAYS shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he SAYS. 24. Therefore, I say unto you, What things soever you desire when you pray, BELIEVE that you RECEIVE them, and you shall HAVE them.”
Jesus said that the works he did WE shall do ALSO. Please read John 14:12-14.
“Verily, verily, (Or truly, truly) I say unto you, He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13. And whatsoever you shall ask (Or command) in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14. If you shall ask (Or command) anything in my name, I will do it.” plus Luke 9:54.
Now, when the disciples of Jesus asked Jesus if they should COMMAND fire to come down from heaven and devour those that did not receive Jesus he did not laugh in their face and say to them, you really think you can command fire to come down from heaven like Elijah? But rather Jesus rebuked them for having a wrong “spirit,” the spirit of the enemy, and NOT for BELIEVING that they could call fire down from heaven. I have no doubt that Jesus knew that his disciples believed that they could command in the name of Jesus for a fire to come down from heaven and fire would come down from heaven. The disciples of Jesus BELIEVED the words of Jesus. When they saw Jesus walking on the water Peter called out to Jesus and said bid me come. Jesus said come and Peter got out of the boat and walked on water and he did so UNTIL his faith in the words of Jesus became FEAR of the storm.
Please read Matthew 15:25-31.
“And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit, and they cried out for fear. 27. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it is you, bid me come unto you on the water. 29. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30. But when he SAW the wind boisterous, he was afraid; (FEAR is the biggest thief of our faith than perhaps anything else and that is why we walk by FAITH and NOT by SIGHT and what we FEEL) and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O you of little faith, wherefore did you doubt?”
Peter started out in FAITH. He received the DESIRE he SPOKE but when he took his eyes off the one he trusted in and allowed the fearful circumstance around him to STEAL his faith. His faith turned to FEAR and his desire of walking on the water took root and he began to sink. He got his eyes back on Jesus and cried out to be saved and Jesus pulled him back up out of the water and they got into the boat. Jesus did not say, well it must have not been God’s will, but rather told Peter that he lacked faith and it was his doubting that caused him to sink. I see this as Jesus saying Peter you were doing great, you were walking on water but then you allowed FEAR to enter into your heart and that is why you began to sink. If you take a closer look at the times Jesus healed people he almost always made a statement like, be it done ACCORDING to YOUR faith. But yet those who are against the Word of Faith Movement put down the Christians who BELIEVE the words of Jesus to have FAITH. One pastor I sat under for a time used to be a Word of Faith believer and received many healings for himself and his family but one day he prayed for his mother to be healed and she was not healed and that was the end of his faith in healing. All it took for the enemy to win was one failure for this brother in the Lord to not receive an answer to his prayer. We all have times when our faith grows weak and we need to build our faith back up again. Reading and meditating on God’s word is how we build our faith.
Please read Joshua 1:8,9.
“This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make you way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. 9. Have not I commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be you dismayed: for the LORD your God is with you whithersoever you go.”
Please read Proverbs 4:20-24.
“My son, attend to my words; incline your ear unto my sayings. 21. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart. 22. For they are life unto those that find them, and HEALTH to all their FLESH. 23. Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24. Put away from you a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from you.”
One place some Christians fail in is to KEEP their HEART and to NOT put away NEGATIVE confessions. Please read the study “THE POWER OF OUR WORDS!” for an in-depth study will all the verses in the Bible related to speaking RIGHT WORDS of FAITH in order to receive from God what he has already PROMISED in his word. You received your SALVATION in this manner so why would it be any different in receiving the other promises of God that are written in his word? I also implore you to read other related studies on faith and healing that I have listed in the menu list of studies. Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus. So, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading >>>D-0. THE BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of JESUS!<<< And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading >>>C-0. THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH!<<< This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century. So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament.
To learn more TRUTH, then please return to
VERSES USED TO TEACH THAT JESUS PREEXISTED!
To me, the best way to know the ONE true God in ONE person is to know who Jesus TRULY is according to the WHOLE word of Almighty God. So please read ALL of the studies under the heading >>>N-0. WHO is JESUS ACCORDING to the BIBLE?<<< and you will see that the Bible itself teaches us that Jesus was CREATED by his God and Father. And if you have any questions related to the correct meaning of certain verses of Scripture on this subject of who Jesus is please read all the studies under the two headings >>>U-0. VERSES used for THE TRINITY!<<< and >>>V-0. VERSES used to TEACH that Jesus PRE-EXISTED!<<< These two headings have ALL of the studies that I have on who Jesus truly is according to what the Bible itself teaches us in simplicity. I compiled these three headings to make it easy for my readers to send just one, two, or three links to those you desire to help understand what the Bible itself teaches concerning who Jesus is in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. If you have any questions, please feel free to write to me. My contact email is MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail .com. Thanks again for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of Almighty God.
Your Brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark.
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Always be faithful to share, to preach, and to teach the whole gospel of Jesus Christ! |
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