Exposing False Accusations

THE TEXT IN BLUE is my correction of this nightmarish attack on the Word of God and on those who preach it right.

The Following Is An Article Taken From the Internet

Word Faith Movement

The world’s fastest-growing false religion tells us that  our faith is a “force,” and the words we speak have the power to create something new.

Yes, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue.” (Proverbs 18:21).

The Word of Faith proponents promise we can obtain health, wealth, success, and more if we simply have enough faith. Biblical Christianity says no.

Wrong. It says “yes” (2 Cor 1:20, 3 John 2, Joshua 1:8). Jesus said all things are possible to him who believes, especially the covenant promises that are laid out in the New Testament. This doesn’t mean people will never die. And it doesn’t mean all Christians are automatically “uber wealthy”. But it does mean there is a pathway to receiving the blessing of God, and it happens by faith, just as it did in the Bible. Living by Bible principle guarantees success in spiritual life and natural life, as well as financial stability and supply from God (Matthew 6:25-33). And living by faith opens the door for miracles of divine health and healing.

Fast Facts:

Known as Positive Confession, Name-it-and-claim-it, Word of Faith or Word-Faith.

Fastest-growing segment of Christianity

That’s because as it turns out, it’s the gospel. And it’s more accurate than the weaker gospel that was preached in the past. And it was in the Bible the whole time.

Sometimes (but not always) linked with the New Age and with New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).

The right faith doctrine is unrelated to these.

The WOF movement grew out of the Pentecostal movement in the late 20th century.

Its founder was E. W. Kenyon, who studied the metaphysical New Thought teachings of Phineas Quimby.

There is no founder. There are only those who’ve finally began preaching the gospel as laid out in the New Testament. The first person to call the gospel the “word of faith” was Paul the Apostle, “the word of faith that we preach…” (Romans 10:8). There were many before Kenyon who had this same revelation of the Word of God, and many after. Word of faith has never been a denomination where everyone was “trained” together.

Mind science (where “name it and claim it” originated) was combined with Pentecostalism, resulting in a peculiar mix of orthodox Christianity and mysticism.

No, those who taught mind over matter had no clue about the spirit of man and faith in the heart of man. Mind over matter is wrong, and mysticism is wrong.

Kenneth Hagin, in turn, studied under E. W. Kenyon and made the Word of Faith movement what it is today.

Kenneth Hagin had no idea of E.W. Kenyon at the time Hagin was healed on his death bed at age 16. How was he healed? It was by believing a truth from God’s Word (took him six months lying in bed, reading his Bible), and then acting on his belief by getting up and being miraculously healed.

Then he began learning and teaching how that happened….by faith. The attackers don’t know how to discuss this part, because it involves the power of God, of which they know very little. Later, K. Hagin found E.W. Kenyon’s writings and realized he was teaching the same thing about the faith and the power of God that Hagin had found.

And many of us are in the same category. I personally was healed as a child, quoting a scripture out loud (believing and speaking) because my mom had heard that it could do something. So I knew that miracles were more than just some accidental thing God willed for some and not others. It changed my life. I recognized that miracles were triggered by a person’s specific faith in God on a certain matter, just like in Jesus day when He would say, “thy faith has made thee whole.” And it wasn’t until later as an adult that I heard of Kenneth Hagin and began to read the Bible for myself, coming to the same conclusion.

Beliefs

“Word-Faith,” the supporters of this movement believe that faith works like a mighty power or force.

Absolutely it does, “by faith the worlds were framed by the Word of God…(Heb 11:3)” the entire universe was created by faith, by God, by His Words!

Through faith, we can obtain anything we want — health, wealth, success, whatever.

Out of context, that sounds selfishly immature. But it’s still true. How about saying it this way, “Through faith, God allows us to access all of His goodness and promises for all of life’s rational needs and desires.”

And then we can add: “through faith, we can obtain salvation, peace, joy, all of our needs met, victory over the devil and temptation, healing, deliverance, success and every other human necessity.”

And then even add a scripture, “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12). Read Hebrews Chapter 11 for a whole list of what “faith can do”.

If they want to throw out health, wealth, and success, then they’ll need to throw everything else out too, since the Bible includes promises for everything (even ‘success’ itself, Joshua 1:8).

However, this force is only released through the spoken word.

Yes, but it also includes some other things like “action”, and “being in the will of God” and “following the Spirit”.

As we speak the words of faith, power is discharged to accomplish our desires. Kenneth Hagin’s theme, as found in his booklet How to Write Your Own Ticket with God, can be summarized as follows (Christianity in Crisis, pp. 74-75):

In the opening chapter, titled “Jesus Appears to Me,” Hagin claims that while he “was in the Spirit” — just like the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos — a white cloud enveloped him and he began to speak in tongues. “Then the Lord Jesus Himself appeared to me,” says Hagin. “He stood within three feet of me.” After what sounded like a casual conversation about such things as finances, ministry, and even current affairs, Jesus told Hagin to get a pencil and a piece of paper.

Jesus certainly appears to people today, and He certainly speaks to all who can hear His voice. But these attackers are “anti-power” Christians who don’t understand the supernatural, so they make it all sound hokey. The Spirit-filled Christians have always been persecuted and hated by this group.

He then instructed him to “Write down: 1,2,3,4.” Jesus then allegedly told Hagin “if anybody, anywhere, will take these four steps or put these four principles into operation, he will always receive whatever he wants from Me or from God the Father.” That includes whatever you want financially. The formula is simply: “Say it, Do it, Receive it, and Tell it.”

Step number one is “Say it.” “Positive or negative, it is up to the individual. According to what the individual says, that shall he receive.”

Step number two is “Do it.” “Your action defeats you or puts you over. According to your action, you receive or you are kept from receiving.”

Step number three is “Receive it.” We are to plug into the “powerhouse of heaven.” “Faith is the plug, praise God! Just plug in.”

Step number four is “Tell it so others may believe.” This final step might be considered the Faith movement’s outreach program.

Jesus said more than that. He told Kenneth Hagin exactly where to find it in the Bible…

Mark 5:25-34 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26 and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came behind [Him] in the crowd and touched His garment. 28 For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” 29 Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in [her] body that she was healed of the affliction.

30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” 31 But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ” 32 And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. 33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

What happened to the woman? She heard of Jesus, decided something by faith, and made a declaration that she would be healed. She did it—she went to him. She touched and received the power into her. Then she told the testimony of it. And Jesus told her exactly why the miracle happened. He attributed the miracle to her faith (Not on God, though we know He did it. Not on Jesus, though certainly Jesus carried the power. And not on the power itself, though we see that it went into her. No, Jesus said her faith caused the miracle.)

It’s that simple. And nothing to be ashamed of! Those who attack this do not want to admit that our faith has anything to do with miracles, because that puts responsibility on us and actually answers the question why so many prayers of the “non-believing believers” go unanswered (also, because they misunderstand “faith”, thinking that Jesus was referring to “general faith” (as in: belief in God or initial saving faith), rather than specific belief for a specific promise of God or scripture believed.)

The Deification of Man

Faith teachers like to teach, based upon serious mishandling of passages such as John 10:31-39 and II Peter 1:4, that Christians are “little gods.” Copeland says, “Now Peter said by exceeding great and precious promises you become partakers of the divine nature.

Yes, that’s 2 Peter 1:4. We partake of the divine nature through learning the promises, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature”. How else are we going to interpret that scripture?

All right, are we gods? We are a class of gods!” (Christianity in Crisis, p. 116). Benny Hinn declares, “God came from heaven, became a man, made man into little gods, went back to heaven as a man” (Christianity in Crisis, p. 382 n. 43). Earl Paulk wrote, “Until we comprehend that we are little gods and we begin to act like little gods, we cannot manifest the kingdom of God” (Satan Unmasked, p. 97).

Out of context, it seems ridiculous. But why didn’t this article actually write out John 10:31-39 above? Because then it’s clear that Jesus actually said it, “Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ‘? (John 10:34).

And then they would have to explain it, which they are not offering to do in this article, are they? They’re only trying to twist people into their accusation group.

Jesus was referencing Psalm 82:6 “I said, “You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High. (“gods” in the Hebrew is elohiym, which is the same word used for “God” throughout the Old Testament.)

The right way to teach it is that in no way are we “gods” to be worshipped. There is only one God, one Lord. But word of faith people didn’t write that scripture. The Holy Spirit did.

Other Scripture says we “reign in life by Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). And we will rule the earth for 1000 years with Christ. There is no arguing that. But we will never be gods in the sense of being worshipped. That’s ridiculous, and neither Kenneth Copeland nor Kenneth Hagin ever believed that.

The truth that we can all agree on is this: We are sons of God. We are made in His image after His likeness. That was the point…sons of God. Well, a son of a natural father has the same nature as the father, right? And grows up to be a man, just like his dad. It’s the same with our spiritual Father. We are born again of the same nature and essence. That was God’s doing, not some strange preacher doctrine. We are sons of God.

And that’s exactly why they got made at Jesus. “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18). Well, isn’t God our Father, too?

Romans 9:26 “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You [are] not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God.” Gal 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” I’m sure the attackers would agree on this point, since it’s clear in Scripture, but they want to taint those who know the power of God with deceitful, out of context half truths.

The Humanization of God

While man is glorified, God is humiliated in the Faith system.

No, He is not.

Copeland claims that God is a being who stands about 6’2″-6’3″, weighing somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred pounds, and has a hand span of 9″ across (Christianity in Crisis, p. 121). Copeland also declares “Adam was the copy, looked just like (God). If you stood Adam beside God, they looked just exactly alike. If you stood Jesus and Adam side-by-side, they would look and sound exactly alike” (Christianity in Crisis, p. 137).

Many have seen Jesus and described him about that height, etc. But it’s not necessary to preach as if it’s truth, because it can’t be confirmed in the Scriptures.

However, these attackers are attacking because they don’t believe that spiritual visions and dreams are real. But real Bible believers know that certainly God can and will give visions and dreams, Acts 2:17-18 “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:”

Many of the Word-Faith teachers also embrace a heresy known as Tritheism, which in essence teaches that there are really three separate Gods. Hinn, under supposed inspiration, explains:

“Man, I feel revelation knowledge already coming on me here. Holy Spirit, take over in the name of Jesus. … God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person; and He is a triune being by Himself separate from the Son and the Holy Ghost. Say, what did you say? Hear it, hear it, hear it. See, God the Father is a person, God the Son is a person, God the Holy Ghost is a person. But each one of them is a triune being by Himself. If I can shock you — and maybe I should — there’s nine of them. Huh, what did you say? Let me explain: God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person with his own personal spirit, with his own personal soul, and his own personal spirit-body. You say, Huh, I never heard that. Well you think you’re in this church to hear things you’ve heard for the last 50 years? You can’t argue with the Word, can you? It’s all in the Word (Christianity in Crisis, p. 123-124).

Hinn, under fire, later retracted his remarks, only to reaffirm them two years later.

This was a ridiculous thing for B. Hinn to preach. It’s not correct. I remember when he did it. And he retracted it as far as I know.

Jesus supposedly told Copeland, “They crucified me for claiming that I was God. But I didn’t claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that he was in me” (Christianity in Crisis, p. 137-138). Many of the Faith heresies concerning God can be traced to the notes found in Dake‘s Annotated Reference Bible.

Best Bible annotation ever compiled. Dake wasn’t perfect, but his Bible commentary is more accurate than most any other Bible commentary.

The Distortion of the Cross

Four atonement-related errors on the part of the Faith teachers can be documented:

I agree with these four corrections, if that’s how they were said.

1. Christ was re-created on the cross from divine to demonic. To put it in Faith vernacular, Jesus took on the very nature of Satan himself.

This is a bit tricky. First off, the Bible never says it that way, so it’s wrong to elaborate for dramatics by calling Jesus “Satanic”. However, the Bible does say that Jesus was made to be sin, and therefore took on the sin-nature, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21).

So, not only did God place all iniquity on Jesus at the cross, “the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6), He also actually made him be sin. So, how do we explain that very important aspect of the cross event? The attackers certainly aren’t trying. But I would agree that there’s no reason to elaborate so dramatically and wrongly about Jesus being demonic. (Then again, this could have been taken completely out of context, just as all the others.)

2. Your redemption was not secured on the cross, but in hell. In fact, many Faith teachers claim that Christ’s torture by all the demons of hell was a “ransom” God paid to Satan so that He could get back into a universe from which He had been banished.

Not the right way to teach it. The Bible never says that Jesus was tortured by demons nor suffered in hell. For the right teaching, read my article:

>>> Did Jesus Actually Go Down To Hell for the Three Days?

3. Jesus was reborn (or born again) in the very pit of hell.

No Scriptural proof of this. See article above.

4. Christ was reincarnated through His rebirth in hell and that those who (like Christ) are born again can become “incarnated” as well.

No good faith preacher uses the word “reincarnated”, which is eastern false religion. Jesus was resurrected and then glorified when he ascended, and so will we be.

Thus, Faith teachers take Christ, the spotless Lamb, and pervert Him into an unholy sacrifice on the cross (Christianity In Crisis, p.153).

No. This book they keep using as reference came out in 1995, or so, and it is the very definition of “demonic”. I knew it was twisted after reading one page, way back then. The author is one of the biggest opponents of the power of God, tongues, and all things related to miracles. He is quite mean, rough, and wrong. Just as when Jesus walked the earth, the Pharisees could handle Him until he began working miracles, and then they hated him for it. It happens today. Those who don’t understand the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and power many times persecute those who do.

Practices

While many, even within the Word-Faith churches, are unaware of some of the doctrinal heresies of the movement, none can plead ignorant of the strange and bizarre practices and emphasis of its leaders.

There have certainly been some bizarre things said and done by those who should have known better. But just so we’re clear, Kenneth Hagin is not one of them that we need to be cautious of. He was the most precise and genuine Bible teacher in this modern era.

The following things are standard occurrences in virtually every one of their television broadcasts, evangelistic campaigns, and church services.

A Prosperity Gospel

Prosperity is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a covenant blessing and promise of God, and always has been. There are hundreds of money principles found in Scripture, which if we follow, we will experience wealth and prosperity. But ‘wealthy’ is relative and means “more than enough”, and “abundance”. It does not mean “millionaire” or “extravagant”.

I agree that the prosperity message was taken way too far by some and applied quite wrongly. The main error was that it caused people to pursue wealth and become too money-minded, trying to get rich quick. All three of those are warned against in scripture. Regarding preacher extravagances, I would never manage someone else’s money, nor criticize any man/woman of God. I also know that I have definite lines and restraint for my own life on how I use money, so as never to cause someone to stumble.

Before he died in 2003, Kenneth Hagin recognized the same prosperity extremes being preached by some, and published a book attempting to correct the error. (The Midas Touch)

Nothing will create more euphoria in the average person than the promise to make them wealthy, and this the Word-Faith leadership knows very well. The Word-Faith teacher’s lifestyle is clearly identified by opulence, luxury, riches, and the assurance that all of this can be his followers as well — if only they apply certain principles.

The Bible absolutely has many money principles that we should all follow. If we do, we’ll find ourselves wealthy, yes. Of course, each individual has his own grace and calling, and therefore there are different levels for everyone.

Robert Tilton is normative. On a Trinity Broadcasting Network program in 1990 he said:

“Being poor is a sin, when God promises prosperity. New house? New car? That’s chicken feed. That’s nothing compared to what God wants to do for you” (Charismatic Chaos, p. 285).

No. Robert Tilton gave the word of faith a very bad reputation. He was way off regarding money and ended up shipwrecked. Though he once helped many and can be honored for it, after his extremism, few people follow him anymore.

Fred Price on a similar broadcast explains how it works:

“If you’ve got one dollar faith and you ask for a ten-thousand dollar item, it ain’t going to work. It won’t work. Jesus said, ‘According to your [faith],’ not according to God’s will for you, in His own good time, if it’s according to His will, if He can work it into his busy schedule. He said, ‘According to your faith, be it unto you’” (Charismatic Chaos, p. 286).

Of course, the road to prosperity somehow always leads to the offering plate of the Word-Faith Movement. Gloria Copeland (Kenneth’s wife) pulls no punches in her bookGod’s Will Is Prosperity:

“Give $10 and receive $1000; Give $1000 and receive $100,000 … give one house and receive one hundred houses or a house worth one hundred times as much. Give one airplane and receive one hundred times the value of the airplane. … In short, Mark 10:30 is a very good deal” (p. 54).

Out of context, without any supporting scriptures, it’s not the way to preach it. It’s not magic. And it’s not to be used to squeeze money out of people. But Jesus, Himself, is the one who presented the “hundredfold” return in Mark 10:30. How will you apply it?

A Health Gospel

The “name-it-and-claim-it” pundits are not content with mere wealth; they want to feel well enough to enjoy their prosperity. So do most of their listeners. So while you are giving away wealth, why not dispense health as well?

God always provided healing in His covenant with people, even in the Old Testament, but especially in the New.

The Word-Faith teachers, as is true of many other charismatics, believe that Christ provided for physical healing at the cross.

Yes, He did. “Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:17, Isaiah 53:3, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 3:8). This is a major Bible doctrine that Christians should be taught!

As a result, not only are Christians saved from sin, they are promised a life of health.

Promised, yes. But promises must be received by faith. So, nothing is automatic, only possible.

Kenneth Copeland writes in Healed … to Be or Not to Be:
The first step to spiritual maturity is to realize your position before God. You are a child of God and a joint-heir with Jesus. Yes. Consequently, you are entitled to all the rights and privileges in the kingdom of God, and one of their rights is health and healing” (p. 25).

Yes.

But, if healing is part of the atonement, why do Christians get sick? Lack of faith, as Benny Hinn explains:

“The Bible declares that the work was done 2,000 years ago. God is not going to heal you now — he healed you 2,000 years ago. All you have to do today is receive your healing by faith” (Rise and Be Healed, p. 44).

Yes, receiving the promises of God is done by faith. Consider this: Christians can live full of joy and peace with zero depression. But are they? It takes faith, and it’s not always easy because our soul is very complex. In the same way, Christians can walk in divine health and be healed of big problems, but it’s not always easy, because there are great complexities in the soul of man regarding our faith and doubts. That’s why even some faith preachers wear eyeglasses, get sick, and sometimes die prematurely. It doesn’t mean it’s wrong teaching, but only that’s it’s not easy and automatic, just like “not sinning” is possible, just not necessarily easy.

Of course reality, in the form of sickness, has to be faced even by the Word-Faith leaders. Fred Price may proclaim “we don’t allow sickness in our home,” but his wife still has cancer. Kenneth Hagin brags that he has not had a headache, the flu, or even “one sick day” in nearly 60 years, but he has had four cardiovascular crises.

No. Kenneth Hagin died when his heart gave out at age 86. Hagin had been healed of a deformed heart at age 16….by faith. But just as with all things, we must keep the miracle by faith as well…as an adult, he had symptoms one time, but the Lord instructed him where his faith and obedience had been lacking, and then the symptoms disappeared immediately when Hagin repented. But the attackers are never going to tell the full story because they don’t know it (or if they do know it, they’re being deceitful).

Paul Crouch may have healed Oral Roberts of chest pains on a TBN Broadcast, but it didn’t stop Oral from having a heart attack a few hours later (Christianity in Crisis, pp. 237-238). How are these things explained away? Predictably, by blaming them on the devil. Sickness in the Word-Faith camp is usually seen as satanic attacks that must be repelled by words of faith (i.e., “positive confession”).

Again, the attackers are clueless about the devil, the power of God, and divine healing.

Experiences

The faith leaders make some amazing claims. Hagin, for example, has visited (so he says) both heaven and hell as well as had out-of-body experiences (Christianity in Crisis, p. 334). He has had many visits from Jesus and angels.

Many Christians have visited heaven and hell and had visions. It’s these attackers who know nothing of it.

He boasts of the ability to heal, cast our demons, and levitate people (p. 336).

He didn’t boast about any of it. Laying hands, healing the sick, and casting out demons is absolutely part today’s gospel, and most Spirit-filled Christians rightly believe it and do it and have seen it work.

But Hagin never said he could levitate people. He tells one story where something supernatural happened in a meeting with a lady who danced off the stage into mid-air, but he hadn’t caused it and wasn’t even directly involved. There have been many stories both present and past of odd occurrences happening in genuine gospel meetings. You can decide what you wish about them.

[But this liar who wrote Christianity in Crisis should be shunned by his peers for fabricating stories and only presenting half truths in his pursuit to divide the Body of Christ in the name of “protecting it”.]

Hinn opens his best selling book with these words:

“It was three days before Christmas 1973. The sun was still rising on that cold, misty Toronto morning. Suddenly He was there. The Holy Spirit entered my room. He was as real to me that morning as the book you are holding in your hand is to you. For the next eight hours I had an incredible experience with the Holy Spirit. It changed the course of my life (Rise and Be Healed, p. 1).

Hinn speaks of frequent personal visits from the Lord, the first being at age eleven:

“I saw Jesus walk into my bedroom. He was wearing a robe that was whiter than white and a deep red mantle was draped over the robe. I saw his hair. I looked into His eyes. I saw the nailprints in His hands. I saw everything. … When it happened, I was asleep, but suddenly my little body was caught up in an incredible sensation that can only be described as ‘electric.’ It felt as if someone had plugged me into a wired socket. There was a numbness that felt like needles — a million of them — rushing through my body. And then the Lord stood before me while I was in a deep, deep sleep. He looked straight at me with the most beautiful eyes. He smiled, and His arms were open wide. I could feel His presence. It was marvelous and I’ll never forget it” (Rise and Be Healed, p. 22).

Glory to God is all I can say!!!!

When Hinn describes his conversion, he does not mention the cross, repentance, or faith; rather, it is all couched in terms of experience:

Not true.

“What I really felt, though, was that this surge of power was cleansing me — instantly, from the inside out. I felt absolutely clean, immaculate, and pure. Suddenly I saw Jesus with my own eyes. It happened in a moment of time. There he was. Jesus” (Rise and Be Healed, p. 31).

Yes, this happens to people sometimes at the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, or sometimes the moment of salvation. “Rejoicing” is the way to respond to hearing of this. It’s amazing that these attackers have the same response as the Pharisees did when Jesus worked miracles.

They miss the entire glory of the miracle and become bitter that someone had something powerful happen. It’s these attackers who are going to answer to God one day for misleading innocent believers.

Hinn claims power of a supernatural nature often emanates from his body:

“Once, my mother was cleaning the hallway while I was in my room talking with the Holy Spirit. When I came out, she was thrown right back. Something had knocked her against the wall. I said, ‘What’s wrong with you, Mama?’ She answered, ‘I don’t know?’ Well, the presence of the Lord almost knocked her down” (Rise and Be Healed, p. 42).

Both the appeal of the book and its dangers are evident in this quote:

“Are you ready to meet the Holy Spirit intimately and personally? Do you want to hear His voice? Are you prepared to know him as a person? That’s exactly what happened to me, and it drastically transformed my life. It was an intensely personal experience, and it was based on God’s Word. You may ask, ‘Was it the result of a systematic Bible study?’

No, it happened when I invited the Holy Spirit to be my personal friend. To be my constant guide. To take me by the hand and lead me ‘into all truth.’ What He will uncover and reveal to you in Scripture will make your study of the Bible come alive” (Rise and Be Healed, p. 48).

Both the Word-Faith leaders and their followers make the same mistake of basing their lives on experiences and feelings rather than upon the inspired Word of God.

Not true, we preach just the opposite: to evaluate everything based on the Word of God and not on experiences.

What the Bible says:

The Bible defines “faith” as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Our “faith” cannot override the will or nature of God.

Correct. We are to have faith “in His will”, which is “His Word”. Once we know a particular scripture from His Word, we can have faith for that specific thing, without doubting even a little.

But our faith that He is able to accomplish all good things for His glory is a necessity for prayer and petition to God.

Notice this one sentence. It is the exact fundamental difference I mentioned in point #6 above. Rather than mention at all having faith in God’s expressed will from the Bible, they are skipping straight to the “trust God to do what He knows best”, implying that we can’t really know what God will do and that we shouldn’t try to be too specific. The whole foundation of the word of faith is that we can (many times) know what God will do!

Why? Because the Scriptures are His Word! Certainly, we usually have no idea how God will accomplish something or turn it around for good and for His glory. So, trust God even when you don’t know the details. But don’t skip the “faith for what His Word already says” and jump to the “trust God anyway” part with an implication that He might not answer “because that might be His plan for accomplishing all good things”. Sure, He might not answer your prayer for a specific life detail that’s not found in Scripture. That would require the Spirit’s affirmation. But if it’s a scripture, He certainly will.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God.

Yes.

Instead of stressing the importance of wealth, the Bible warns against pursuing it.

Yes, it does. We are never to pursue money, only expect it for labor provided and from our Father.

Believers, especially leaders in the church (1 Timothy 3:3), are to be free from the love of money (Hebrews 13:5).

Yes.

The love of money leads to all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). In sharp contrast to the Word of Faith emphasis on gaining money and possessions in this life, Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19). The irreconcilable contradictions between prosperity teaching and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is best summed up in the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:24, “You cannot serve both God and money.”

Yes, that’s right!

One final point. Before Christ, faith was not the main point, but now it is. Now, the righteous live by faith. That means we better learn what living by faith means. And it begins with the word of faith principle.

“But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Gal 3:23-25).” Now the righteous shall live by faith…”(Heb 10:38).