It goes by many names. Commonly known as Health and Wealth gospel but it also goes by Name It and Claim It. This gospel claims there is power in the your words and therefore you can speak and change your reality. The list of these false preachers is vast and ever growing as they speak to the most basic of human desire for health, wealth, and most of all control over one's circumstances.
The similiarities between WoF and the likes of Witchcraft(Wiccan) and New Age occultism is erry. Both New Age and Witchcraft both believe in the power of words and by using the right words you can exercise power over the metaphysical. Thereby you could control the world around you and others.
Little "gods"
To fully understand fendish nature of the Word of Faith gospel, you must first understand their core doctrine, which goes all the way back to Genesis and the creation of the first man, Adam. They believe Adam was made not in the image and likeness of God but rather they believe Adam was a carbon copy of God, being a god himself. And that is where the whole mess starts. Upon this doctrine alone do all other Word of Faith false doctrines hang and fall.
The similiarities between WoF and the likes of Witchcraft(Wiccan) and New Age occultism is erry. Both New Age and Witchcraft both believe in the power of words and by using the right words you can exercise power over the metaphysical. Thereby you could control the world around you and others.
- Faith is a force that can be manipulated by words to create a reality of health and wealth.
- God has human proportions and He created humans in His physical image making us “little gods.”
- Jesus Christ gave up His Divinity and became a man, died spiritually, took Satan’s sin nature upon Himself, went to hell, was born-again, and rose from the dead with God’s nature.2
- It’s a sin and lack of faith to be sick and poor.
Little "gods"
To fully understand fendish nature of the Word of Faith gospel, you must first understand their core doctrine, which goes all the way back to Genesis and the creation of the first man, Adam. They believe Adam was made not in the image and likeness of God but rather they believe Adam was a carbon copy of God, being a god himself. And that is where the whole mess starts. Upon this doctrine alone do all other Word of Faith false doctrines hang and fall.
Therefore they say, if you are sick or poor, you must not be in God's will. |
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What does the Bible say Adam was? And where does the Bible place in relations to God? Are we an exact duplicate or something WAY lower?
Genesis 1:26-27 (KJV)
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Psalm 8:4-6 (KJV) 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: Psalm 82:6-7 (NIV) 6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High. 7 But YOU WILL DIE LIKE MERE MORTALS; you will fall like every other ruler.” Hebrews 2:7 (KJV) Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: |
And what was the first lie told by the Devil, in the form of the Serpent?
Genesis 3:5 (KJV)
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and YE SHALL BE AS GODS, knowing good and evil. |
You will notice instantly that God wasn't reproducing but creating from scratch. This alone indicates we are not exact duplicates of God for we are even inferior to the angels that are lower than God. Therefore Adam possessed ABSOLUTELY no godhood in him. He was only SIMILIAR to God in that Adam could reason and think for himself. With this idea of Adam being made a god, which is very similar to Mormonism, destroyed by the Bible itself. One has to wonder how they can still defend this unBiblical nonsense.
When Compared to Occults & New Age
Occults have long claimed the true inner nature of man is powerful, capable of exercising divine ability. This is why New Ager Benjamin Creme says, for example, "One doesn't pray to oneself, one prays to the God within. The thing is to learn to invoke that energy which is the energy of God. Prayer and worship as we know it today will gradually die out and men will be trained to invoke the (inner) power of deity" (The Reappearance of Christ and the Masters of Wisdom, pp. 135-136, parenthesis mine).
The reason that positive confessionists can place so much emphasis on the inner man and his divine power is that they think the believer is a god. Kenneth Copeland says, "You don't have a god in you, you are one" (Copeland's sermon tape The Force of Love). And Kenneth Hagin says, "The believer is as much an incarnation of God as Jesus Christ" (Hagin, Word of Faith, p. 14).
So when compared Word of Faith is identical to New Age where the human is worshiped, all packaged within Christian terminology that doesn't even come close to the true Biblical definitions they are.
Occults have long claimed the true inner nature of man is powerful, capable of exercising divine ability. This is why New Ager Benjamin Creme says, for example, "One doesn't pray to oneself, one prays to the God within. The thing is to learn to invoke that energy which is the energy of God. Prayer and worship as we know it today will gradually die out and men will be trained to invoke the (inner) power of deity" (The Reappearance of Christ and the Masters of Wisdom, pp. 135-136, parenthesis mine).
The reason that positive confessionists can place so much emphasis on the inner man and his divine power is that they think the believer is a god. Kenneth Copeland says, "You don't have a god in you, you are one" (Copeland's sermon tape The Force of Love). And Kenneth Hagin says, "The believer is as much an incarnation of God as Jesus Christ" (Hagin, Word of Faith, p. 14).
So when compared Word of Faith is identical to New Age where the human is worshiped, all packaged within Christian terminology that doesn't even come close to the true Biblical definitions they are.
There is only ONE God
The Bible is extremely clear in both Old and New Testament that there is only ONE God and no one else besides Him. That includes the fact that no one is made a "god" by God either.
The Bible is extremely clear in both Old and New Testament that there is only ONE God and no one else besides Him. That includes the fact that no one is made a "god" by God either.
Isaiah 43:10 (KJV)
10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me THERE WAS NO GOD FORMED, NEITHER SHALL THERE BE AFTER ME. |
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Only Remaining Argument
With such simple and obvious verses from the Bible, Word of Faith preachers resort to the only verse where Jesus says people are gods.
With such simple and obvious verses from the Bible, Word of Faith preachers resort to the only verse where Jesus says people are gods.
John 10:33-35
Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’[a]? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside--
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You will notice Psalms 82, which Jesus is quoting, is referring to the RULERS of their day as the "gods". Notice they are called "gods" but they are to die like mere mortals. Is that a description of a god? I don't think so.
Question for all Word of Faith believers
A good question is, if according to Word of Faith doctrine Adam was created with godhood already, why would Satan be able to tempt him with godhood afterward causing man to sin and fall? The equation just doesn't add up. The only way for the Fall to have occurred is for man not to have had godhood, in the first place, and Satan then dangling the idea of godhood before man, like a carrot.
A good question is, if according to Word of Faith doctrine Adam was created with godhood already, why would Satan be able to tempt him with godhood afterward causing man to sin and fall? The equation just doesn't add up. The only way for the Fall to have occurred is for man not to have had godhood, in the first place, and Satan then dangling the idea of godhood before man, like a carrot.
Conclusion
Clearly the Word of Faith is designed to look Christian and even uses "In the Name of Jesus" in its preaching but their core teaching is so fundamentally wrong that it repeats the very first lie of the Devil in the Garden of Eden word for word. The Bible clearly says there is only one God and none of us can ever become gods. Satan tried and was thrown out of Heaven for it. What the Bible does offer us humans is eternal life with God, not replacing God but living alongside God.
All we need to do to take God up on that offer is to repent of our sins and accept the death of Jesus of the Bible on the cross for our sins. The Bible assures us whomever believes in the Jesus of the Bible will never be turned away and will be saved from that point on and forever. Won't you like to know the real Jesus of the Bible? You can start by praying this prayer and reading the Bible that these Word of Faith preachers ignore with their blaspheme.
Clearly the Word of Faith is designed to look Christian and even uses "In the Name of Jesus" in its preaching but their core teaching is so fundamentally wrong that it repeats the very first lie of the Devil in the Garden of Eden word for word. The Bible clearly says there is only one God and none of us can ever become gods. Satan tried and was thrown out of Heaven for it. What the Bible does offer us humans is eternal life with God, not replacing God but living alongside God.
All we need to do to take God up on that offer is to repent of our sins and accept the death of Jesus of the Bible on the cross for our sins. The Bible assures us whomever believes in the Jesus of the Bible will never be turned away and will be saved from that point on and forever. Won't you like to know the real Jesus of the Bible? You can start by praying this prayer and reading the Bible that these Word of Faith preachers ignore with their blaspheme.
Dear Lord God. I know I am a sinner and need your gift of salvation from my sins. I BELIEVE IN JESUS, the Son of God, as my personal Savior. I believe that His death on the cross and resurrection provides forgiveness for ALL my sins past, present, & future. Please forgive all my sins and come into my heart and life. I hereby trust in Jesus FINISHED WORK alone, and NOT upon me & my "good works", as sufficient to make me right with you and fit for Heaven. Please forgive ALL my sins and come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Seal me with your Holy Spirit until the day you come to take me home. In your Son Jesus’ name. Amen.
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