- Question : I am a Homosexual, but I am a believer. Would God approve me and accept me as I am?
Answer : Yes. You don't have to worry about that. Our God is a Gracious God and he accepts you just as you are. If you believe in your heart that Jesus died for you and if you have accepted him as your personal savior, then you are saved. When you think of sin, then you start to sin again. So don't think about your sin. You are righteous in Christ
- Question : I am a believer. Do I need to confess my sins when ever I am reminded of my sins?
Answer : No. You Don't have to confess your sins and ask for repentance. The Holy Spirit will only convict the non believers of their sins. But for a believer like you, you don't have to confess and repent for your sins. You are already made righteous when you accepted Jesus to come into your heart. Now you don't have to confess your sins at all. TheHoly Spirit will never convict a believer of his sins. He will only remind the believer of his righteousness in Christ Jesus
If you are confused with the above two answers and if you think that there is something wrong with the two answers, I welcome you to the new-age-teaching on Grace by Joseph Prince. Many call his teaching as "Cheap Grace teaching".But I would never agree with them. I have been reading his books and listening to his videos for many years; and in the last two years, I am very closely following his teachings by attending New Creation Church in Singapore. I would not term his teaching as "Cheap Grace or Sloppy Grace " teaching. His teaching is simply "Non-Grace" teaching.
When a Prophet cries out loud from the desert, the stone hearted would not listen to his call; the stiff necked would attack the prophet and the deceived will stone him. Only those who have a heart of flesh will listen to the Prophetic voice and only the humble will learn. I certainly believe that only a very few will be Saved. Yes; Narrow is the way to Truth and Life and only a very few will find it. I strongly urge the readers to discern this article with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Read it with an open mind.
I am not gonna start a theological discussion on a Calvinist- Armenian thought. This article is to open the eyes of the deceived poor sheep who are fed with non-spiritual- stench that is puked out by Joseph Prince week after week.
Who is this Joseph Prince and what is his ministry?
I am not gonna write anything about his personal life here. Joseph Prince’s ministry finds its roots in what many people have referred to as the Word Faith Movement. Proponents of this movement include E W Kenyon (whose writings gave rise to most of the radical ideas that inform the movement), Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copleland, Joyce Meyer et al. [ If you are a follower of the word-Faith movement, you would surely hate me for this aticle]. They teach a collective theology which propounds that God has promised to bless His people based on His finished work on the cross, as well as the believer’s positive confession of faith (in other words, if you speak forth your need, and lay hold of it by faith, the spoken need will in due time come to pass. Put simply, if I desire a car, I claim it in Jesus’ name, and the car will come my way). Critics have written quite extensively on Word Faith teachings, so i will not talk further about it here.
What I do want to highlight is that JP’s teaching over the last ten years does not move beyond the whole theme of justification by faith. In fact, there has been no mention of the sanctification process or the need for it. In his teachings, believers become righteous from appropriating the finished work on the cross. There is no need to work out one’s salvation, one simply needs to “rest”.
JP’s teaching on Grace suggests a lack of basic understanding of God’s redemptive work. The Martin Luthers and Calvinists will tell you the only time a believer ever takes a rest in his walk with God is when he is getting saved through the finished work of Christ. One can’t earn salvation through his own good work, but he can by His grace and mercy as demonstrated by His outstretched arms on the cross. This is the turning point in a sinner’s life, when the sinner decides to take up the cross and follow Jesus, so that more and more he can be called to be in His image.
Positionally, the believer is forever saved, but the old man in him still needs to be transformed. Now, this walk of sanctification, JP Ministry completely ignores. It is interesting that JP perceives any effort on the believer’s part to act out God’s imperatives as the believer’s attempt to keep the law. He teaches that under the New Convenant, one does not keep the Law, but lives only by God’s grace. According to him, God has not only rescinded the need to keep the ceremonial laws, He has categorically abolished all laws, including the Decalogue (or Ten Commandments)!
Joseph Prince should get a grip of the old covenant and the New covenant before he even attempts to talk on the subject of Grace. He has a great presentation style, a smiling face (just like Joel Osteen), a charismatic body language and a wonderful root language knowledge (which he twists often)
My questions for all to consider:
1. If God has truly abolished the Decalogue, which reveals His moral character and absolute standards for human decency, then what should a believer hold fast to in order to live out his faith in a corrupt and decadent world? “We are in the world, but not of the world.” God also calls us “the salt of the earth”. What keeps us salty if God removes His standards/values for us? What is Grace? Is it a form of moral standard by which we can define and govern our thought life and behaviour?
2. If,according to JP’s theology, those of us who are trying to work out our salvation with fear and trembling are guilty of earning our salvation through our own “stinking efforts”, then what is the Holy Spirit for in our lives?
I have read almost all his books. One of his books "Destined to reign" is totally unbiblical and promotes anti-christian theology.Check this book review on his book "Destined to reign" with a prayerful heart ( Read slowly and carefully and compare it with Bible with the guidance of Holy Spirit)
I have reviewed many of his books. I am not gonna feed the whole haystack in this article. Would share the other reviews at a later point of time.
In the mean time, also take a look at this video message of Joseph Prince where he preaches that turning away from sin is not necessary for justification or forgiveness. The link also has a wonderful exposition of the sermon by a child of God.
Many word-of-Faith exponents proclaim that Jesus did not finish his work on the cross. Instead he was subjected to torture in Hell for three days. If the root is bad, the tree would be bad too. Please keep this man in your prayers. May God open his eyes and May God open the eyes of the sheep too.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says.
Shielded in God's Love,
- The Voice from the desert
Note : I thank all the Prophets of God who shared their inputs for this article.
