Word-Faith Movement 4

THE FORCE OF FAITH
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Let's examine Hebrews 11.1. It states:

*Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 NKJV)

Using this verse, the Word-Faith teachers' commonly held view is that faith is a force; an invisible substance that can be tapped into to acquire anything we desire -- health, wealth, success, etc. It is proposed that spoken words are the "spiritual containers" that activates the force of faith either positively or negatively. Positive words of faith incites God to act on your behalf; and negative words incites the Devil to cause havoc in your life. Whatever is confessed with the mouth, one can create in their own reality.

Spiritual laws supposedly execute the force of faith autonomously of God's sovereignty. Even God, they say, had to use the force of faith to create the heavens, the earth and mankind. Kenneth Copeland, regarded as today's chief Word-Faith representative, claims that "God cannot do anything for you apart or separate from faith" on the grounds that "faith is God's source of power....God used words when He created the heaven and the earth....Each time God spoke, He released His faith--the creative power to bring His words to pass. (Kenneth Copeland, "Freedom From Fear", Pages 11-12; "The Power Of The Tongue", Page 4)

Copeland's clone and "spiritual son", Creflo A. Dollar, echoes these same distortions: "Now, God used faith substance to make everything that He made...in every one of those words they were filled with faith substance, because words are nothing but containers....Every time God speaks, He can't help but to speak words that are filled with faith...God's guts are called faith stuff....Everything in Him is faith. What's in His heart is faith. If you were to cut God open, you're see nothing but faith. Every time He opens His mouth, He automatically fills those words with His faith material.
(Creflo Dollar, "Changing Your World", September 20, 1998)

So, what's wrong with these teachings? Firstly and noticeably, the Word-Faith Movement's unbiblical theology is branded with the fingerprints of the New Thought cultic teachings of Phineas P. Quimby, Mary Baker Eddy, and E.W. Kenyon. Secondly, faith is not a force that is carried by spiritual containers (spoken words). Thirdly, there are no scriptures in the Bible that indicate or suggest that "God's guts are called faith stuff". In Hebrews 11:1, "substance" is from the Greek Word "hypostasis" and is more accurately defined as "an assured impression, a mental realizing" extended from man to God ("The Analytical Greek Lexicon", Page 419). Other translations are rendered:

*Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (NASB)

*Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (NIV)

THE DIVINITY OF MAN
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Word-Faith theology states that man was created as little gods. Three passages of Scripture that are used to support this belief include the following:

*Then God said, "Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness..." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:26-27 NKJV)

*Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, You are gods" '? (John 10:34 NKJV)

*....by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:4 NKJV)

Kenneth Hagin in Word of Faith Magazine states, "You are as much the incarnation of God as Jesus Christ was. 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" (December 1980, p. 14).

The notion that mankind are gods is the same lie that lead to Lucifer's downfall (Isaiah 14:14); and his lying tactics are the same. As recorded in Genesis 3:5, this is the exact lie that Satan used to initiate the fall of Adam and Eve. Since then, in every age of human history, Satan has used his ministers to promote the myth of the divinity of man.

The International New Thought Alliance, an organization that also adopted the teachings of Phineas Quimby, states in their constitution and bylaws: "To teach the Infinitude of the Supreme One; the Divinity of man and his infinite possibilities through the creative power of constructive thinking and obedience to the voice of the indwelling Presence, which is our source of Inspiration, Power, Health, and Prosperity." (Source: "A History of the New Thought Movement", By: Horatio W. Dresser, 1919)

Let's reminisce the notorious Jim Jones, who led nearly one thousand men, women, and children to their brutal deaths. This infamous, misguided cult leader stated to his followers: "It is written that ye are gods. I'm a god and you're a god. And I'm a god, and I'm gonna stay a god until you recognize that you're a god. And when you recognize that you're a god, I shall go back into principle and will not appear as a personality. But until I see all of you knowing who you are, I'm gonna be very much what I am -- God, almighty God." (Jim Jones, quoted in James Reston, Jr., and Noah Adams, "Father Cares: The Last of Jonestown", program on National Public Radio [April 23, 1981])

A shareholder of Jim Jones' blasphemous viewpoint, Creflo Dollar affirms, "And if God produces man and everything produces after its own kind...if horses get together they produce what? If dogs get together they produce what? If cats get together they produce what? But if the Godhead gets together and says, 'Let us make man' then what are they producing? They are producing gods....You are gods because you came from God and you are gods, you are not just human... "
(Creflo Dollar, "Made After His Kind", September 15, 2002)

Dollar's local sidekick, Eddie Long professes, I know who I am! And, and, see when you know who you are, wherever you go, as a god, as a King -- you have an entourage. (Eddie Long, "You Are Mighty" Audio-Tape)
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Let's now consider the scriptures in their proper context and expose the errors in the Word-Faith teachers' doctrine of the divinity of man.

Using Genesis 1:26-27, the Word-Faith teachers contest that Adam and Eve were created as "little gods". Kenneth Copeland states that, "Adam in the Garden of Eden, was God manifested in the flesh" (Kenneth Copeland, "Following The Faith of Abraham I", Tape #01-3001). Copeland continues, "The man (Adam) -- created in the image of God, like Him in every way..." (Kenneth Copeland, "Fullness: God's Plan For His Family", BVOV Magazine, July/August 2004, Page 34) If this was the case, why then would Satan tantalize Eve with the statement, "you will be like God....," if she was already ranked as a god?

Adam was made in the image and likeness of God; which means he was God's paramount creation -- a reflective spiritual being who was finitely imparted with some of His attributes such as freedom of choice, sovereignty, wisdom, love, and moral values. "Image and likeness" does not mean an exact duplicate with the same omnipotent powers as arrogantly suggested by the Word-Faith teachers. God specifically states in Exodus 9:14, "...there is none like me in all the earth." In Isaiah 43:10, God says, "Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me." Jeremiah echoes God's supreme nature and power when he says, "Inasmuch as there is none like You, O Lord (You are great, and Your name is great in might.") [Jer. 10:6,10]
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Word-Faith teachers delight in quoting the words of Christ in John 10:34, to submit as proof that God created men as gods. As Eddie Long asserts, "That's the reason why when you look in the mirror, you ought to say, 'Good morning God.'
(Bishop Eddie Long, "God Is After Himself", Audio CD from ministry)

If we closely examine this passage, we will discover that Jesus was not referring to men as gods in the context of divinity. In addition to the scriptures recently mentioned, Jesus taught in the Book of Mark that there is only one God (Mark 12:29). In light of John 10:34, Christ was simply quoting scripture in Psalm 82:6 which was pertaining to the kings and judges (gods) in Israel. They were symbolically characterized as "gods" because God has entrusted His authority in human officials (Exodus 4:16, Psalm 82:1, Romans 13:1-7). Although authorities rule as "gods", they are mortal men (Psalm 82:7, Jeremiah 10:11). It is interesting how Word-Faith teachers conveniently disregard verse seven.

Unlike the Word-Faith teachers' self-proclamations of being a "little god", the Apostle Paul never made such professions and considered this sort of postulation as blasphemous. The account in Acts 14:11-15 should provide a crushing blow to the Word-Faith's theology of the divinity of man:

*Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!" And Barnabus they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in the front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.

But when the apostles Barnabus and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitudes, crying out and saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them..."
(Acts 14:11-15 NKJV)

From the passage above, it is unmistakable that Paul and Barnabus rejected the claims of the Lycaonians who referred to them as gods. They rebuffed these allegations with such abhorrence that they "tore their clothes"; which is a Jewish symbolization of disgust at blasphemy (v14).

If the great apostle Paul lived among us today, he would surely be in need of much clothing if he encountered the Word-Faith camp. In the process of ripping his clothes, he would say, "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness..." (2 Cor. 11:13-15)
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Another text of scripture that is perverted by the Word-Faith teachers to promote the divinity of man involves 2 Peter 1:4. Kenneth Copeland declares, "Now Peter said by exceeding great and precious promises you become partakers of the divine nature. All right, are we gods? We are a class of gods!" (Kenneth Copeland, TBN, February 5, 1986)

If we read the entirety of verse four through verse nine using proper biblical exegesis, it will be disclosed that Peter was not subscribing to a "little gods" doctrine, but rather about the moral concepts that accompany salvation (Romans 8:3-11). When a person accepts Christ through faith, an inner conversion process is commenced that delivers a believer's sinful nature from a morally corrupt world system to one that mirrors the moral attributes of God. Although Christians are "sons of God", they are not children by divine nature; but rather by adoption (Galatians 4:5-8). Jesus is the only person, the unique Son of God, who shares God's nature; and is co-equal with God.

With that said, it is worth repeating again that ever since the first family, Satan has attempted to breed the lie that man was created as gods. Let's not tailgate the same error made by Adam and Eve -- becoming prey to Satan's lie of the generations that men are gods. Surrendering to this falsehood will make you a victim of the "gods" of this age (2 Cor. 4:4).

THE DEMOTION OF GOD
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After the Word-Faith teachers deify man, they climb even higher on the ladder of blasphemy by having the temerity to demote God. Let's go to the following verse:

*Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand. (Isaiah 40:12 NKJV)

Referencing this verse, Kenneth Copeland claims that God is someone "very much like you and me...A being that stands somewhere around 6'2" to 6'3", that weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred pounds, little better; and has a (hand) span nine inches across." (Kenneth Copeland, "Spirit, Soul, and Body", audio tape, 1985)

Benny Hinn resounds, "What was the appearance of God the Father? Like that of a man...God has the likeness of fingers and hands and a face." (Benny Hinn, "Good Morning Holy Spirit", 1991, Page 82)

Since God is Spirit (John 4:24), Copeland and Hinn should be aware that Isaiah 40:12 is a figurative rendition rather than a literal interpretation. Failing to acknowledge their error, they have purposely misrepresented God by demoting Him into the image of man. This is plainly another tactical approach scheme designed by Word-Faith teachers to position God and man on equal status. To demote God by prescribing physical attributes to Him is a very serious challenge against the Lord and to the body of Christ. With that in mind, it should be questioned if the Word-Faith teachers are referring to the God of the Bible or a false god they have fashioned in their own minds. If you believe such a charge is unwarranted, consider the following statements by Kenneth Copeland:

"I was shocked when I found out who the biggest failure in the Bible actually is. Everybody you ask, 'Who's the biggest failure?' They say, 'Judas'; somebody else will say, 'No, I believe it was Adam'; 'well what about the devil?' He's the most consistent failure. But he's not the biggest in terms of material failure and so forth. The biggest one (failure) in all the Bible is God.
(Kenneth Copeland, TBN, April 1988)

For Copeland to demote God by alleging that He is the "biggest failure in all the Bible" is blasphemy of a higher order. The Bible clearly states that God is omnipotent and insusceptible to failure (Job 42:2, Jeremiah 32:17,27, Matthew 19:26).

In the disordered vanity of their own minds (2 Peter 2:13), statements of this nature echoed by Copeland and others are conveniently attributed as "new revelations" in spite of the fact that their claims are obviously unbiblical. If there is any veracity to Copeland's "new revelation" knowledge, it is solely because the Word-Faith camp do indeed worship a false god; for The God of the Bible never fails!