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BEWARE: Joseph Prince Is A DANGEROUS False Teacher - Dan Corner
Joseph Prince (born in 1963) is the Pentecostal senior pastor of one of Asia's
biggest churches (New Creation Church) and the author of the best-selling book
entitled, Destined To Reign. Concisely stated, he presents his book as a type
of secret cure all, but after comparing it to the Bible it is nothing more than
a dangerous spiritual snare to the unwary and unlearned! Joseph Prince lures
people in with his remarkable claim stated on the front cover -- The secret to
effortless success, wholeness and victorious living. Instead of Destined To
Reign being the secret to something new, it really only offers the same old
scriptural distortions used by past eternal security teachers, who have been
around for a long time! Prince even admits to such towards the back of his
book!
It was so good to hear from a seasoned man of God who had preached this same
gospel even before I was born. (Destined To Reign, Harrison House, 2007
edition, p. 254)
Sadly, Prince takes his devoted Pentecostal fans through his warped presentation
of what he calls grace and the gospel and leaves them totally off guard, misled
and an easy target for the devil! Joseph Prince is much worse than the typical
prosperity teacher. He has gone far beyond the gospel of greed as he mixes in
various once saved always saved concepts as the panacea for victorious living,
including stopping sin and getting physical healing! His effortless success
gospel has apparently been swallowed hook, line and sinker by far too many
gullible people. If not, he wouldn't have such influence and popularity as he
does. It is the purpose of this critique to prove the inaccuracy of what Joseph
Prince teaches about various key issues central to Christianity. All quotes
come from the 2007 edition of Destined To Reign by Joseph Prince and published
by Harrison House. (All emphasis is my own, unless otherwise stated).
Joseph Prince Is Wrong About How to Get Born Again
Joseph Prince teaches to become a Christian, every person must make a personal
decision to receive Jesus as Savior (p. 137). What that means to him is
revealed at the end of his book, which would be found on page 315 if numbered.
It is there that he has his Salvation Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me and dying for me on the cross. Your
precious blood washes me clean of every sin. You are my Lord and my Savior, now
and forever. I believe that You rose from the dead and that You are alive
today. Because of Your finished work, I am now a beloved child of God and
heaven is my home. Thank You for giving me eternal life, and filling my heart
with Your peace and joy. Amen.
Prince teaches a so-called gospel devoid of Biblical repentance and based on
mental assent, as he implies his heretical once saved always saved belief. Just
pray a little prayer and you're forever saved while in your sins. He brushes
off the vital necessity of turning away from wickedness by misapplying the
meaning of repentance and therefore doesn't teach saving faith and its
accompanying crucifying the flesh (Gal. 5:24). Joseph Prince stated:
Repentance just means changing your
mind. When John the Baptist said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand!" he was essentially saying, "Change your mind, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand!" (p. 233).
The truth is, if one doesn't turn away from his sins, he will never find true
salvation to begin with. That is the fate of all who believe Joseph Prince (and
many others antinomians like him). Jesus said the Ninevites repented at the
preaching of Jonah (Mt. 12:41) and Jonah 3:10 states they turned from their
evil ways. So repentance means turn from evil ways, according to the Lord
Jesus. That is Jesus' definition and he cited the actions of the Ninevites as
repentance. He further said one must do that or perish (Lk. 13:3,5). So the
first mistake Joseph Prince makes is of the greatest magnitude and involves how
to be born again and start the Christian life, but there is much more!
Permanent Righteousness Without Doing What Is Right
Joseph Prince teaches the typical eternal security imputed righteous message as
his secret, which is glaringly lethal:
My friend, righteousness is a gift because of what Jesus has accomplished on
the cross for you. All your sins - past, present and future - have been washed
clean by His precious blood. You are completely forgiven and from the moment
you received Jesus into your life, you will never be held liable for your sins
ever again. You have been made as righteous as Jesus.... (pp. 28, 29)
He sees you clothed with Jesus' righteousness. So begin to see yourself clothed
in Jesus' righteousness. (p. 29)
The more you realize that you are righteous, the more victory you will
experience over sin! Wake up every morning and give thanks that you are the
righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. (p. 31)
Is Jesus righteous before God? Yes! Then so are you. Is He accepted before God?
Yes! Then so are you. Is He well-pleasing before God? Yes! Then so are you. (p.
58)
God cannot see your sins when they are covered by the blood. (p. 209)
Don't uncover your sins or the sins of others. They have been completely
forgiven by the blood of Jesus (p. 211).
When God looks at you, all He sees is the blood of Jesus that makes you
completely righteous. (p. 251)
There is no argument that Jesus is our righteousness (Rom. 1:17; 1 Cor. 1:30;
Phil. 3:9; etc.), but that righteous standing before God can change and has for
some:
If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at
the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not
to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn
their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the
proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow
that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." (2 Pet 2:20-22)
Without question Peter is referring to people who had experienced the radical
new creation change at salvation and were set free from their sin addictions
(Rom. 6:22) at a past point. They knew the way of righteousness (Jesus Christ),
but afterwards again got entangled with sin and overcome! They became
backsliders, who were previously washed, but returned to the filth and
defilement of wickedness. Peter states they are worse off at the end than they
were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the
way of righteousness. In other words, they were not a backslidden Christian
still bound for heaven, as Joseph Prince might say. They were on the road to
hell again, but worse off than before they were born again, forgiven and made
righteous! In other words, Peter believed (and wanted all Christians to know)
one's righteous standing before God can change over sin! Joseph Prince opposes
Peter's grace teaching, and scores of other passages to teach the perpetual
righteousness heresy to the spiritual harm of all who are deceived by him.
A Christian is righteous because of his present tense faith in The Lord Jesus
(Rom. 3:22). The issues with Prince involve what type of faith in Jesus does it
take, and can that faith cease to exist or become destroyed (among other
things)? The answer is, it takes a present tense saving faith, which submits to
and follows Jesus in obedience to remain righteous after getting born again.
Moreover, true saving faith can cease to exist and become destroyed (Luke 8:13;
2 Tim. 2:18; 1 Tim. 1:19; Rom. 11:19-23). After salvation, sin can nullify a
Christian's righteous and holy standing before God and make him unholy, impure,
unrighteous and spiritually dead! [See chapter 7 of the book, The Believer's
Conditional Security: Eternal Security Refuted.] All through the Bible we are
warned that if a righteous man turns and does evil, he will die spiritually
because of it (Ezek. 33:18; Rom. 8:13 cf. Gal. 6:8,9; etc.). In contrast to
those clear scriptures, Joseph Prince teaches an ear-tickling, do-nothing
success gospel, which seems to exalt the blood of Jesus, but really dangerously
distorts it. Again, his teaching is nothing new and God surely didn't reveal to
him his secret to effortless success! [It is true that success to get to heaven
is uniquely in the Lord Jesus, but only through a submissive faith in him and
for those who endure to the end (Mt. 10:22; Heb. 3:14; Rev. 2:10,11).]
God's ETERNAL Truth About The Righteous
In an effort to protect the sheep and combat dangerous false teachers in
first-century Christianity, the Apostle John wanted all to know the vital
details about who is and who isn't righteous. His teaching seems custom made
for Joseph Prince and his tens of thousands of gullible followers:
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is
righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil
.... (1 John 3:7,8)
That passage is a devastating bombshell to the false grace and counterfeit
gospel taught by smiley Joseph Prince (and others like him) and therefore
should be memorized and taught often. NOTE: The Apostle John knew much better
about the precious holy and cleansing blood of Jesus than Joseph Prince, yet
never taught anything like, when God looks at you, all He sees is the blood of
Jesus that makes you completely righteous. John stated it is only he who does
what is right who is righteous! A person doing sinful things is of the devil.
That is God's truth and what all Christians should believe. It has nothing to
do with whether the person sinning wants to do sinful things or not! He who
does what is sinful is of the devil, but again Joseph Prince denies that,
teaches against that message and simultaneously states all through Destined To
Reign that he is hearing God's direct voice! Sometimes he and God are dialoging
with each other about the spiritual! Do NOT be deceived by such a claim!
The Apostle Paul collaborates with John and drives another nail in the
theological coffin lid of Joseph Prince's putrid grace message:
Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves,
you are slaves to the one whom you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which
leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Rom 6:16)
No one can conclude from that verse that righteousness is permanent and
unchanging, even without OBEDIENCE! So, how then can Joseph Prince successfully
deceive so many by teaching the opposite? Paul taught of a righteousness, which
comes from obedience! That isn't law, but his grace teaching!
Our Future Sins Are NOT Automatically Forgiven
The grace understanding of the senior pastor of the 20,000+ member Singapore
New Creation Church is worse than lacking, according to scripture! Prince
actually stands behind the once saved always saved concept that our future sins
are already forgiven before they are committed, which means the person in any
of the sins cited in 1 Cor. 6:9,10; Eph. 5:5-7; Mark 7:20-23; Rev. 21:8; etc.
will dismiss them as both already forgiven and hidden from God, which sets them
up to be thrown into the lake of fire! [Prince also teaches all sin is of the
same degree (p. 60) and thereby contradicts 1 John 5:16,17 and other
scriptures.] Folks, it's apparent the devil doesn't believe our future sins are
already forgiven because he continues to tempt us to sin! The devil knows, as
the Bible so clearly says from cover to cover, that spiritual death will come
on the righteous who do evil (Rom. 6:16; 8:13; Gal. 6:8; etc.). It is the devil
(and Joseph Prince), NOT GOD, who wants Christians to think their future sins
are already forgiven!
... there is no sin that a Christian is not forgiven of. (p. 91, bold emphasis
his)
His blood that was shed forgives all your sins - past, present and even future
sins. Many Christians have the erroneous belief that only their past sins have
been forgiven. They believe that when they received Christ, only their past
sins were forgiven. So they believe that they have to be very careful from that
point onwards. (p. 44)
... Jesus has cleansed you of the sins of your entire life and you are now
sealed with the promise of eternal life! (p. 95)
The more you believe that all your sins are forgiven by the blood of Jesus, the
more you will become whole - body, soul and spirit! (p. 95)
scripture teaches the Christian's future sins are NOT already forgiven before
committing them and God can see the sins committed by those who have been born
again! The scriptural evidence is clear and conclusive. Continuous forgiveness
is not automatic. To be forgiven after becoming a child of God, among other
things, one must forgive those who sin against him:
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will
also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will
not forgive your sins. (Mat 6:14,15)
That scripture alone decimates the doctrine that a Christian's future sins are
already automatically forgiven! Don't be deceived about that or God being
unable to see the sins of a person previously saved, because of the blood of
Christ. Jesus taught if you disown him, he will disown you (Mt. 10:33) and Paul
repeated the same truth (2 Tim. 2:12). Peter taught only our past sins are
forgiven (2 Peter. 1:9) - the very point Joseph Prince openly opposes!
Furthermore, all through Revelation chapters 2 and 3 you'll notice that their
future sins were not forgiven and Jesus could see them! He stated they forsook
their first love, were lukewarm, were tolerating Jezebel, holding to the
teaching of Balaam, etc. NOTE: That is the real Lord Jesus himself, after the
cross who knows all about his own blood and saving grace! Jesus told 5 of the 7
church groups to REPENT, but you will never hear that type of directive given
by Joseph Prince nor the hell warnings that accompany it (Rev. 2:5; 3:16;
etc.)! How could the same Lord Jesus who taught those spiritual treasures and
Joseph Prince be dialoging together resulting in Prince's putrid antichrist
doctrines? Impossible!
When God looks at you today, He sees you covered with Jesus' blood and
completely righteous. Only the devil, you yourself and the people around you
will bring your sins to your remembrance. (p. 98)
When you are under grace, even when you fail and fall short of God's standards,
God still sees you as righteous because of Jesus Christ. (p. 146)
Remember, Joseph Prince teaches effortless success! According to him, you don't
have to be careful to avoid all appearances of evil (1 Thess. 5:22), pray to be
led from temptation (Mt. 6:13), etc. Sin is not the issue with his gospel and
you don't need to be careful, guarded or conscious of sin. How different his
doctrine is from the Holy Spirit inspired, forever-settled written word of God
about sin and the Christian life. God's real truth is:
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any
kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy
people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are
out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral,
impure or greedy person - such a man is an idolater - has any inheritance in
the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for
because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
Therefore do not be partners with them. (Eph 5:3-7)
We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that
we do not drift away. (Heb 2:1)
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you
will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Tim 4:16)
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that
turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it
is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We
have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we
had at first. (Heb 3:12-14)
Futhermore, the Lord Jesus taught we need to make a continuous effort to enter
God's kingdom:
Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"
He said to them, "Make every EFFORT to enter through the narrow door,
because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to."
(Luke 13:23,24)
Does that seem like effortless success to you? How about these passages?
For this very reason, make every EFFORT to add to your faith goodness; and to
goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control,
perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly
kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities
in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and
unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not
have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been
cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to
make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never
fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Pet 1:5-11)
But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a
new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are
looking forward to this, make every EFFORT to be found spotless, blameless and
at peace with him. (2 Pet 3:13,14)
Make every EFFORT to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without
holiness no one will see the Lord. (Heb 12:14)
I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of
both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience
clear before God and man. (Acts 24:15,16)
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means,
when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1 Cor 9:27)
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of
shedding your blood. (Heb 12:4)
Joseph Prince Clearly Has a False Gospel Which Opposes 1 Cor. 15:2
Joseph Prince has a false gospel which glaringly contradicts and opposes the
real gospel of grace, as detailed in 1 Cor. 15:2.
By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.
Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
Under grace, the Christian is responsible to hold firmly to the truth for his
own salvation's sake! To believe in vain is to be without eternal life at that
point and apparently is a real valid danger or it wouldn't have been stated!
Many other similar warnings and Christian responsibilities are cited throughout
the New testament.
Joseph Prince Contradicts Himself But No One Seems To Notice
Like other false teachers, Joseph Prince teaches opposite messages, yet it
seems that no one notices or cares! (A contradiction is a definite sign of
error.) His popularity isn't affected and continues to grow! His followers have
turned to his myths (2 Tim. 4:3,4). Ponder these Joseph Prince teachings:
... the more you are under grace, the more sin will be depleted of its strength.
(p. 26)
... the more grace you receive, the more power you have to overcome sin. (p.
26)
When you are under God's grace and His perfect forgiveness, you will experience
victory over sin. (p. 45)
... I find that in the scriptures, victory over sin is found in the preaching
of God's grace. (p. 249)
Sin does not stop God's grace from flowing, but God's grace will stop sin. (p.
249, bold emphasis his)
According to Joseph Prince, the remedy to overcome sin is simply GRACE! Since
Joseph Prince teaches effortless grace, how can he also inconsistently teach
the following contradictions and successfully get away with them?
1. He implies in the following quote that all Christians are sinning all the
time:
If you really believe that you need to confess all your sins to be forgiven, do
you know what you would be doing? You would be confessing your sins ALL THE
TIME! (p. 107, bold and capital emphasis his)
COMMENT: Certainly there must be some Christian somewhere who understands
Biblical grace (his remedy) and would have complete victory over sin and
therefore would not have to confess his sins all the time! Isn't that true?
2. Joseph Prince thinks he is teaching like Paul, yet still smears the Apostle
Paul as doing evil (the things he hates) and not overcoming sin!
... Paul himself wrote about: "For what I will to do, that I do not
practice; but what I hate, that I do." I am writing to believers who have
this genuine struggle with the law and who like Paul are crying out, "O
wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (p.
167)
COMMENT: Just like other grace changers, Joseph Prince smears the Apostle Paul
as practicing evil and being a wretched man overcome by sin, even as a
Christian. It is the typical misuse of Rom. 7:14-25. Why wasn't Paul able to
overcome sin, as a Christian? He certainly understood grace and righteousness,
and according to Prince that's what it would take! That is a major
contradiction since Paul was a true genuine grace teacher. Joseph Prince also
compares Paul (the grace teacher) to believers who struggle with the law!
3. Joseph Prince impugns the entire church at Corinth as being sinful, implies
they didn't understand grace and were in need of more true grace teaching to
overcome sin:
Yet, we know that the church in Corinth was in a mess. The people were involved
in all kinds of outwards sins. They were in strife, envy and jealousy, and some
of them were even going to temple prostitutes ... All in all, there were all
kinds of immoral activities going on in the church of Corinth. (pp. 257, 258)
COMMENT: Since the Corinthians were taught grace from Paul (the true grace
teacher) and sound grace teaching is the key to overcoming sin (according to
Prince), then it is inconsistent to say, there were all kinds of immoral
activities going on in the church of Corinth. There would have to be NO immoral
activities going on there, since Paul taught them the real pure facts about
grace! Prince contradicts his own central doctrine, yet no one seems to notice
or care! The true holy image of being a Christian has been blotched by smearing
the Corinthians, as Joseph Prince does! The envy and strife at Corinth was
about their favorite preachers (1 Cor. 1:12 cf. 3:3-6)! There is NO evidence
that any in the Corinthian congregation were seeing temple prostitutes! NONE!
If they had been, they would be identified as unrighteous and would NOT enter
God's kingdom (1 Cor. 6:9,10). By teaching as he does, Joseph Prince apparently
believes there are Christian whoremongers, which is impossible (Rev. 21:8). The
truth about their real behavior is revealed in a passage too few seem to know:
I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people -
not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and
swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But
now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself
a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a
drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. (1 Cor 5:9-11)
How could the Corinthians not associate with professing Christians who were
sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a
swindler, IF THEY WERE DOING THE SAME THINGS? Think! Obviously, the Corinthian
Christians were NOT doing those kinds of sins and were taught about grace, yet
the grace changers (like Joseph Prince) teach otherwise!
If someone has really known and experienced grace and the gift of no
condemnation, he will NOT want to live in sin. Sin will be the last thing on
his mind!... Grace always results in victory over sin! (p. 167)
The truth is, the Corinthian Christians had the following observable evidence
of saving grace, as all Christians do:
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who
says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and
the truth is not in him. (1 John 2:3,4)
Again, the Biblical criterion for being a possessor of eternal life violently
contradicts Joseph Prince and his effortless success gospel! Dear reader, which
will you believe?
4. Repeatedly, Joseph Prince subtly downplays the seriousness of any sin
committed after getting saved by say they were already forgiven and God can't
see them! However, if you disagree with his teachings your wrong believing is
disobedience (SIN)!
The problem with the church today is wrong believing. I'm sorry to tell you
this, but if you refuse to believe what God has said about the forgiveness of
sins in the new covenant, then you are actually in disobedience. (p. 97)
COMMENT: Does Joseph Prince now believe such a SIN isn't already forgiven and
God can see it?
The No Longer Angry Mythical god Of Joseph Prince
What about God's anger and wrath - does it come on people who were once saved?
Of course the never saved do have the wrath of God abiding on them (Eph. 2:3),
but the issue at this point with Prince is over people once saved:
... His anger is toward those who have rejected Jesus ... we will never be
punished because we have already received Jesus. As believers, God is no longer
angry with us because all His anger for our sins fell upon Jesus at the cross.
(p. 41)
Under the new covenant, God will never again chastise the believer for his
sins! (p. 65)
What does this mean, my friend? This means that there is no more judgment for
you when God looks at you. (p. 127)
The Singapore ear-tickler strikes again! Joseph Prince has a very high batting
average as far as declaring venomous concepts and mere empty words! How can we
be sure? Paul taught the Ephesian Christians that God's wrath would come on
them for being disobedient in the area of immorality, impurity and greed (Eph.
5:5-7). The same passage states they would lose their inheritance to God's
kingdom over those sins. In other words, Paul's grace message warned true
Christians they could lose their salvation! Paul definitely was NOT an eternal
security teacher. Since Prince doesn't agree with Paul, Joseph Prince is
DANGEROUSLY wrong and a snare to SOULS!
Remember also that God struck Ananias and Sapphira dead for lying to the Holy
Spirit (Acts 5:1-11). Not only does that prove God got angry with them, but he
could also see their sin and that future sin was NOT already forgiven before it
was committed! It wasn't hidden by the blood of Christ! BTW, all liars go to
the lake of fire, Rev. 21:8.
Because of Jesus' finished work at the cross, He will never be angry with you
nor rebuke you even when you fail. (p. 305)
Jesus himself told the Thyatira congregation:
Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who
calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into
sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her
time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a
bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer
intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead.
Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and
I will repay each of you according to your deeds. (Rev 2:20-23)
NOTE: Sexual sin angers God and it will drag the unrepentant to eternal fire
before or after initial salvation (Eph. 5:5-7; Rev. 21:8; etc.)! That is the
consistent message of the real Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 9:43-48). Any teaching
which states once a person gets saved, his future sins can never drag him to
hell is of the devil, regardless who is speaking it out.
The Christian can never be lost.... (p. 254)
Paul and Timothy and Joseph Prince
According to Prince, if one believes in the real gospel of Jesus the result
will be health and prosperity:
... when you believe the gospel of Jesus, which is based entirely on His grace,
it will result in health and prosperity. (p. 23)
Whatever your need is today, whether it is physical, emotional, mental, social
or financial, your solution is found in a greater revelation of Jesus. (p. 189)
Since Paul and his traveling companions were dressed in rags at times and
Timothy had stomach and frequent illnesses, then logically Prince must think
neither Paul nor Timothy believed the real gospel of Jesus and needed a greater
revelation of Jesus!
To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally
treated, we are homeless. (1 Cor 4:11)
Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and
your frequent illnesses. (1 Tim 5:23)
Folks, Joseph Prince is teaching religious myths and they go on and on.
Perhaps, his convoluted unwitting conclusions, which even indict Paul and
Timothy, are possibly better understood from the following:
Some Christians are not able to receive healing because they are not able to
receive forgiveness. They are still sin-conscious and doubt their forgiveness.
They believe that God may have forgiven their past sins, but not the sins of
their whole life. (pp. 186, 187)
In other words, once you know that you have been forgiven of all your sins,
past, present and future, the healing of all your diseases follows. (p. 290)
Does it really matter if you condemn yourself and allow your sin debt to remain
on your conscience even after Jesus has overpaid it? Yes, it matters because
apart from dishonoring the work of Jesus on the cross, sin-consciousness makes
you avoid God, and can produce in you condemnation, sicknesses, diseases,
depression and a cycle of sin! (p. 185)
Sarcastically I say, had Paul and Timothy only understood things the way Joseph
Prince teaches them in Destined To Reign things could have been better for
them! They could have had health and prosperity and Paul would have been set
free from his cycle of sin. Of course, Prince is wrong and Paul was set free
from his sin addictions and was living holy and exemplary.
Once Saved Always Saved or Eternal Security
Without doubt, Joseph Prince believes in and teaches once saved always saved or
eternal security, even though he didn't clearly state such in Destines To
Reign:
A believer has already received the gift of eternal life and will never be
"subject to eternal condemnation". (p. 92)
The Christian can never be lost.... (p. 254)
You are His beloved child regardless of what you have done. (p. 302)
He loves you and will never judge or condemn you! (p. 303)
Folks, that is the essence of the devil's first lie to mankind (Gen. 3:4), that
is, sin will not produce spiritual death for the righteous. From the parables
of the Lord Jesus to the Pauline epistles to Jesus precious words to the seven
churches in Asia (Rev. 2 and 3), it is explicitly clear that there is no
eternal security. Here are just a few passages to ponder:
‘For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'
So they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:24)
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap
destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap
eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we
will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Gal 6:8,9)
My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let
him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his
soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (James 5:19,20, NASB)
Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who
overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. (Rev 2:10,11)
Tidbits Of Distortions
Here are several other shocking distortions of scripture from his book. For
your own sake, please compare Joseph Prince to the following scriptures:
Prince thinks we confess our FORGIVEN sins because we are already forgiven:
Listen carefully: We don't have to confess our sins in order to be forgiven. We
confess our sins because we are already forgiven. (p. 104)
No one could get that out of 1 John 1:9, the verse he refers to. Here is the
real truth of God:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Prince also stated:
Similarly, when you think that you can still save yourself, God's grace cannot
flow. (p. 267)
But Peter taught people to save yourselves and God's saving grace did flow to
3,000 people:
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save
yourselves from this corrupt generation." Those who accepted his message
were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
(Acts 2:40,41)
Also, if Prince is right, why did Paul write Timothy the following directive?
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you
will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Tim 4:16)
To teach sin is not an issue for a believer and a believer's future sins are
already forgiven, Prince distorts one of his primary proof texts. First is his
quote:
When the Bible declares in 1 John 1:7 that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us from all sin, the tense here in the Greek for the word "cleanses"
denotes a present and continuous action. (pp. 247, 248)
Somehow Joseph Prince forgot to state the condition needed to receive a present
tense cleansing of sin and, thereby, violently distorted its meaning. Here is
how it actually reads and must be understood:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John
1:7)
What is Prince's goal? In part, it is stated here:
Stop examining yourself and searching your heart for sin. (p. 187)
Is that a valid goal to be teaching under grace? If so, then Paul was teaching
wrongly:
A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the
cup. (1 Cor. 11:28)
Prince says if you study your Bible it will show that every time the children
of Israel murmured and complained, it only brought forth fresh demonstrations
of God's favor, supply and goodness.
Study the Bible yourself. You'll find that every time the children of Israel
murmured and complained, it only brought forth fresh demonstrations of God's
favor, supply and goodness. (p. 222)
In contrast, the Biblical record says the following about their complaining:
Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and
when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among
them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. (Num 11:1)
Could it be Prince is NOT studying his Bible, but listening to strange dark
voices he wrongly thinks is the Lord's?
Joseph Prince Exalts God's Love For Us But Not Our Love For Him
Prince stresses God's love for us and implies it is the only and ultimate
issue:
But I know the truth today. I know that even when I fail, God and I are still
"tight" (we are still "cool", you know what I mean?)
because of the blood of Jesus. God still sees me as His beloved. I have the
gift of righteousness apart from my performance. I know that God still loves
me, that our fellowship is not broken and that His favor still flows in me.
Beloved, there is nothing you can do today to make God love you more, and there
is nothing you can do to make Him love you any less. (p. 300)
The truth is, our love for God is needed for our salvation (1 Cor. 16:22; 1
Cor. 2:9; James 2:5) and, therefore, is the real issue! God loves even unsaved
people, who are on the road to hell (Mark 10:21). It is our love for God that
is a salvation issue. To show our love for God we must OBEY him:
If you love me, you will OBEY what I command. (John 14:15)
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will OBEY my teaching. My Father
will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." (John
14:23)
This is love for God: to OBEY his commands. And his commands are not
burdensome, (1 John 5:3)
According to Prince, that would be law! The truth is: OBEDIENCE is not law
keeping, legalism or a works salvation! Obedience to God's commands is love for
God and a manifestation of saving faith in Jesus. NOTE: God's commands are not
burdensome (1 John 5:3)! Jesus said his yoke is easy (Matt. 11:29), which we
wear when we follow him and do his will. So, it's our love for God that is the
variable and critical factor which the devil tries to ruin by getting us to
sin! The truth is scripture speaks of both the kindness and sternness of God,
unlike the warped image Joseph Prince gives of God. Here is the real God of the
Bible:
You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted
in." Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand
by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the
natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness
and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you,
provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut
off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God
is able to graft them in again. (Rom 11:19-23)
Rom. 11:19-23 is a devastating blow to eternal security and once saved always
saved! We are advised under true grace to be afraid because we can get cut off
too! DO NOT BE DECEIVED!
Joseph Prince WRONGLY Claims To Hear The Audible Voice Of The Lord
All through his book, Joseph Prince claims he is able to hear and sometimes
even dialogue with God back and forth about spiritual things! Imagine that!
That seems to be an unhealthy, but common, trait of the Word Faith crowd, from
which he is coming. By stating such, Joseph Prince is subtly exalting himself
to a prophet-like infallible position, where he must be correct, since he hears
God's voice directly. He starts very early in his book with his claim:
I distinctly heard the voice of the Lord on the inside. It wasn't a witness of
the Spirit. It was a voice, and I heard God say this clearly to me: "Son,
you are not preaching grace." (vii)
If you believe that Joseph Prince can hear God's voice like he claims, he has
you hooked and you will believe his lies! Logically, you would also have to
believe what he teaches! But folks, how could Joseph Prince be hearing the
voice of God since his teachings are so dangerously different from what the
Bible teaches about grace, the gospel, sin, the Christian life, eternal salvation,
etc.? He can't be! It's impossible! Do NOT be deceived! If God was speaking to
Prince he would scathingly rebuke him for his heretical teachings which are
stumbling others, but the voice he is hearing is much different! It can't be
God voice for it has resulted with the poisonous contents of his book, Destined
To Reign!
...God spoke to me. He began to show me more clearly than I had ever seen
before .... (p. 214).
I heard the Lord speaking to me on the inside. He said, "Stop
disqualifying My people! My blood has already qualified them. Stop
disqualifying them!" (p. 272)
... the Lord spoke to me and said .... (p. 278)
... the Lord asked me ... The Lord said to me ... The Lord continued ... the
Lord said to me (p. 280).
Again, and in conclusion, Joseph Prince might be hearing voices, but they are
not the voice of the Lord since his doctrines are in such disharmony to what is
stated in the Bible. Don't be deceived by the smiley, fluent and popular Joseph
Prince as he preaches, My friend, you are destined to reign in this life (p.
34). The truth is, if you aren't living holy now you aren't a Christian now and
living godly will bring about persecutions (2 Tim. 3:12) and the related! Take
warning!
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be
false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies,
even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on
themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of
truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with
stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them,
and their destruction has not been sleeping. (2 Pet 2:1-3)
The
Fresh Prince - Destined to Ruin
The Christian world has a fresh prince,
not of Bel Air, but from Singapore! 1
Joseph Prince (JP) is the senior
pastor of New Creation Church in Singapore, one of Asia’s biggest churches.2
Under Prince’s leadership, the church congregation has grown by more than a hundredfold
— from about 150 to more than 24,000.
A founding member of New Creation
Church, Prince initially served as an elder and associate pastor. However, his
appointment as senior pastor in 1990 marked a turning point in the history of
the church, which started experiencing phenomenal growth. 3
Prince, the son of a Sikh priest of
Indian origin and a Chinese mother, changed his birth name to Joseph Prince
from Xenonamandar Jegahusiee Singh, during his previous occupation as an IT
consultant.4
His name change is reminiscent of
Joseph the Hebrew Prince of Egypt. He is married to Wendy, and has two
young children. As a young man he dabbled in the occult, but he said that
‘supernatural experiences’ opened his eyes to Christianity.5
Rising to cult status, Prince is the
new ‘voice’ in the world of TV preachers, bringing a breath of fresh air,
teaching his version of “effortless” grace, and his panoramic view of God’s
love. But is this really the breath of Heaven, or is it a new wind of doctrine;
a form of grace for children desiring only milk, happy with cotton candy
Christianity? (cf. Eph 4:14; 1Cor 3:2; Heb 5:12 -14)
For a new “Christian” Prince’s teaching
sounds wonderful. But anyone with even an ounce of biblical discernment would
run from such teaching.
Joseph Prince’s Television programme,
and his books are everywhere. Prince is the new Prosperity Poster Boy.
His website boasts:
A highly sought-after conference
speaker, Pastor Prince has impacted church leaders internationally by preaching
the unadulterated gospel of Jesus with boldness. He is known for teaching God’s
Word in a fresh, practical and revelatory way that always unveils Jesus. His
humorous, dynamic and engaging style of preaching has also endeared him to a
wide spectrum of viewers who tune in to his daily television programme -
Destined To Reign. This broadcast currently reaches millions of homes across
North America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Israel on both secular and
Christian networks.
Pastor Prince is actively fulfilling
the mandate that God has given him to preach God’s unmerited favour without
compromise. Prince’s ministry continues to transform many lives, setting people
free from the heavy yoke of the law, guilt and condemnation by pointing them to
Jesus and His finished work at Calvary. Pastor Prince believes the best
in people and is committed to helping them discover how they can "reign in
life through the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness." His
desire is to help this generation of believers understand the new covenant...”6
His messages are all about grace “to
lift the heavy yoke of the law.” He is strongly into the “Word Faith” movement,
meaning his message is based on health and prosperity. Prince has changed the
basic premise from faith, to “grace,” which has far more appeal. Because he
believes the best in people he doesn’t talk much about sin! He has just enough
right teaching, mixed with wrong theology to be dangerous.
JP has been invited to preach at a
number of churches in Australia, London, USA, Canada, Norway, Netherlands,
South Africa and Indonesia.7Notably, he has been invited to preach at many a
Hillsong Conference, including this year’s (2012).8
Prince’s TV program Destined to Reign
is broadcast in more than 150 countries.9 His broadcast programme is also
streamed online through Internet and podcasts.10 Yet he has never had any
formal theological training.
Prince publishes books, CDs and DVDs.
In 2007, he published his book Destined to Reign: The Secret to Effortless
Success, Wholeness and Victorious Living, which contained teachings from his
ten years of preaching from 1997 to 2007. Six months after the book’s US
release, it was listed as one of Christian Retailing’s Top 100 Books.11 In
2010, Prince’s latest book Unmerited Favor was published worldwide by Charisma
House. 12
Joseph Prince was featured in the cover
story of the June 2010 issue of Charisma magazine, which covered his preaching
and teaching ministry.13 On October 29, 2011, JP ministered in the US for the
first time at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.
Effortless Income:
There have been criticisms about the
size of the salary paid by the church to its senior pastor.
On 5 October 2008, in an interview with
the Sunday Times, JP, who is the executive chairman of the church
council, acknowledged that he was well-paid but added that money did not have a
hold on him.14 He dismissed the rumour that his salary was $50,000 a month.15
However, on 30 March 2009, The Straits
Times reported that an investigation revealed that the independent New Creation
Church paid one employee between $500,001 and $550,000 in its last financial
year of 2008. 16
Under the revised and updated
recommendations contained in the Code of Governance for charities, all
charities and non-profit organizations in Singapore are encouraged to disclose
the salary bands of their top executives to the Commissioner of Charities. Even
though the church did not confirm if the amount went to its pastor, Joseph
Prince. It told The Straits Times that its policy is to ‘recognise and reward
key contributors to the church and Senior Pastor Prince is the main pillar of
our church’s growth and revenue’. The New Creation Church’s income was
reported to be SGD55.4million for the financial year ended March 2008. 17 On
June 7, 2010, The Straits Times and Channel News Asia reported that Joseph
Prince has not been on the church payroll since 2009.18
Prince of Prosperity
Many are becoming aware of this man’s
teachings. But not “all that glitters is gold”, as the saying goes...
Here is a quote from Joseph Prince:
I give thank(s) to God for my roots in
the Word of Faith teachings. It is truly on the shoulders of great men of God
like Brother Kenneth E. Hagin that we are able to see further into the Word of
God today. Growing up, I learned a lot about faith from Brother Hagin who truly
had a special revelation of faith from the Lord. I deeply honour and respect
him for all that he has taught me.”
19
Prince’s background has certainly
influenced his teaching on grace. In his sermon Walking in the undeserved
favour of God, he said:
Now I’ve been in the Word of Faith
circle and I find that Word of Faith preachers know about favour. The thing
that I wish many of them would say though would be this - to use that phase -
undeserved favour... Now I didn’t learn amazing grace from Word of Faith
though,... I had to learn that truly struggling on my own.20
The following are gleanings taken from
his book - Destined to Reign. This list is the crux of Prince’s teachings.
Nothing but blessings for the believer
(p.53)
No longer a need to be concerned about
God’s Judgment
Repentance and confession of sin is
never necessary
Wealth is for all Christians
God is continually restoring “New
Truths” to the church—-New Revelations (p.32)
Prince’s personal revelation from God
is: “More grace; less judgment”
Prince believes that God WILL NOT JUDGE
America because of the cross. (p.49)
The Moral law has no bearing on
Christians today; it was abolished with the Ceremonial law.
Prince says that he never encountered
anyone that said “now I can go out and sin because of grace”(p.99)
Repentance means “Only to turn around”
or a “change of mind”
He used to be conscious of sin, but he doesn’t
focus on confessing his sin/s anymore 21
Prince’s preaching on grace always
comes back to blessing and prosperity. It’s no wonder he has so many followers.
Royal Rhetoric
Prince continually assures the Believer
that, although he does not condone sin, all was forgiven when Jesus died for
the Believer. On pg 53 of his book - Destined to Reign, Prince writes:
If you receive a word from someone
which brings your sins to remembrance or instills an expectation of punishment
for sins in your life, don’t fear it, just throw it out the window...
On page 45, he writes:
God took all your sins, even the sins
that you have not yet
committed, and put them all on Jesus.
All future sins have been fully judged at the cross.’ On pages 138, 233 and 99 respectively
he states:
Believers are forever righteous
- you cannot be under grace without
becoming holy, and that he has never encountered anyone who after receiving
grace says “now I can go out and sin.”
Really?? Don’t you know of those who
truly served and loved the Lord at one time and have returned to a life of sin,
or at least failed the Lord at one point?
JP teaches that since all sins are
already forgiven, there is no need to repent of them anyway. What we need
instead is to be forgiveness
-conscious. 22 On page 103 of his book,
he writes:
Even when they (Christians) say a wrong
thing, do a wrong thing or have a wrong thought…….they see the blood of Jesus
continually
It is still wrong to murder, steal, commit adultery, etc. We are still
obligated to keep these laws. 30
You have heard that it was said by them
of old time, you shall not commit adultery: But I say to you, That whoever
looks at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in
his heart. - Matthew 5:27-28
Jesus magnified the law. In fact, Jesus
raised the laws of the Old Testament to a higher standard. If Joseph Prince is
correct; then why did Jesus make the keeping of the Moral law even tougher and
stricter cf. Matthew 5:22-44?
“It is all about Jesus and His finished
work! “The law justified no one and condemned the best of us, but grace saves
even the worst of us”(Destined To Reign p.124) “Commandments Kill”. 31
Although correct as standalone
statements, his emphasis is at the expense of a proper understanding of The
Law. Paul referred to The Law as “a schoolmaster” (Gal. 3:24). It’s not grace
replacing the law, but rather God’s grace given to fulfil the law. Prince makes
the ‘law’ and ‘condemnation’, not our ‘sin’, the enemy,!
While Prince makes some good points to
accentuate grace; one needs to read many of his quotes in their complete
context. Many times his points may be true; but his application and solution
are not.
The main idea Prince is advancing
is that through grace believers only receive blessings, they do not need to be
concerned about sin, or God’s chastening. Grace has done away with the law with
its judgment and punishment.
Antinomianism is the teaching that
under The Gospel, the moral law is of no use, nor are Christians obligated to
keep it. Antinomianism or legal irresponsibility is an extreme version of
justification by faith alone. It does not necessarily imply the embrace of
ethical permissiveness; rather it usually implies emphasis on the inner working
of the Holy Spirit as the primary source of ethical guidance. 34
Prince seeks to defend himself:
I have been accused of being an
antinomian (someone who is against the law of Moses). The truth is I have the
highest regard for the law... I am for the law, for the purpose for which God
gave the law… God did not give the law for us to keep. He gave the law to bring
man to the end of himself, so that he would see his need for a Saviour
(emphasis added). 35
Although the law was to bring an end to
ourselves;
What then? Shall we sin, because we are
not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Don’t you know that to whom you
yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey;
whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness? - Romans 6:15,16
He condemned sin in the flesh, in order
that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fully met in us, who do not
live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. – Romans 8:4
According to Joseph Prince, a Christian
can accept Christ and somehow live a life of sin and in the flesh (at least
ignorantly) because he/ she is already forgiven and there is no need to live
“holy and blameless” as the Apostle Paul admonishes us to do in 1 Thessalonians
4:7:
For God has not called us for impurity,
but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God,
who has given us His Holy Spirit.
Where is the need for repentance? With Prince’s
teaching it seems there is none?
Of course Prince denies this. Teachers
like Prince are into political “double- speak”.
There are many examples that show
Joseph Prince has warped the truth to build his “unique” grace teaching
… the power to overcome sin is found in
knowing that you are righteous. When a believer is struggling with sin, it is a
case of mistaken identity. He thinks that he is still a dirty rotten
sinner...Believers are struggling with sin today precisely because they do not
realize that they are righteous. The Bible says, “Awake to righteousness, and
do not sin.” This means that the more a believer realizes that he is indeed
righteous, the more he will start to behave like a righteous person. It is time
to awake to righteousness!” 36
The Greek word for righteousness (dikai
s) means right living. Prince makes the term some kind of word faith
confession.
Righteousness Consciousness
I have to ask the question, did Paul,
the apostle, somehow get it wrong, that we can now thank Joseph Prince for
opening up to us this NEW truth about grace? If we accept Prince’s grace
theology as true, then Paul wouldn’t have written most of
the New Testament. He wouldn’t have
expanded his writings to the churches beyond making clear to them their
‘position’ in Christ.
Yet Prince tells us to “Feed on the
letters of Apostle Paul” in order to discover the Gospel of Grace. Prince says,
God does not leave you wondering
whether you are saved or not. He tells you outright that you are His and that nothing
can ever separate you from the love of Christ. Not even sin because His
blood is greater than your sin! 37
Although he’s partly correct, Prince
seems to forget that sin does affect our communion with God; the blood of Jesus
Christ is applied when one confesses, and turns from sin, just as in salvation.
Love demands that we tell the truth to people when they have done wrong. God is
no different. He wants truth, not just grace.
26Joseph Prince states:
Colossians 2 tells us we are already
made perfect in Christ. We don’t work towards perfection. Christ has made us
perfect from the Cross. The minute you believe you are made perfect in Christ.
You work from your perfection not to it. 38
In Philippians 3: 9-16, Paul teaches
that he possesses “the righteousness which is of God by faith...”, yet he has
“not already attained, nor [is he] already perfect” (v12). He is seeking to
know more of Christ. Yet in verse 15 he concludes, “Let us therefore, as many
as be perfect, be thus minded...” (cf. James 1:3-4;1 Peter 5:10).
Matthew Henry makes this point: Those
who think they have grace enough give proof that they have little enough, or
rather that they have none at all; because, wherever there is true grace, there
is a desire of more grace, and a pressing towards the perfection of grace. 39
Prince it seems is unable to reconcile
such apparent contradictions.
The more they believe that they are
righteous, the more they experience true victory over sin... You see yourself
righteous and this gives you the power to rise above the temptation. 40
Knowing that you are completely
forgiven destroys the power of sin in your life now 41
Knowing you are forgiven before you do
something wrong can give you a freedom to do whatever you want, and here is
where the accusations of antinomianism surface.
Rom 8:1 actually says there is no
condemnation to those in Christ
Therefore, brethren, be even more
diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things
you will never fall; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into
the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ - 2 Peter 1:10,11.
The scripture exhorts us to be
diligent, giving heed, to add to our faith virtue. None of this comes
automatically from grace. We have this instilled in us by the Holy Spirit, and
we must co-operate with His work in conforming us to the Son. These are added
as we grow in both knowledge and faith. The Churches of Sardis and Laodicea are
clear warnings against casual Christianity. (Revelation 3:1-5,14 -21) Many are
building their faith on shifting sand, on Prince’s message of ALL grace, and no
responsibility.
Prince of Hyper-Grace
The missing element in Prince’s grace
mantra is sanctification.
Our sanctification began when we were justified,
but sanctification is a continuing work.
For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk
in them - Ephesians 2:10.
For this is the will of God, even your
sanctification, that you abstain from fornication - 1 Thessalonians 4:3.
Yet Prince states You are either
righteous or you are not. There is no such thing as first having ‘positional
righteousness’ and then having to maintain that through ‘practical
righteousness.’ You are the righteousness of God in Christ, period! 44
The sad fact is this extreme heresy is
spread abroad across our land today proclaiming a Saviour from hell, but not
from sin. It preaches a salvation of forgiveness but not redemption from sin.
It teaches a form of justification by faith but not sanctification by faith. It
preaches, “You must be born again” but doesn’t teach the marks of true
regeneration. It teaches that a man becomes a new creature in Christ, while he
remains just the same.
Do JP’s disciples truly believe God’s
grace can be this lopsided? Prince’s grace is hyper-grace - all of God, and
nothing of us. Prince’s positive thinking, positive confession paradigm is what
he propagates. JP claims that sin, law, repentance, conviction, are negative,
so they are excluded, and rejected from his message.
And you, that were once alienated and
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has He reconciled. In the body of
His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable in
His sight: If you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and do not be
moved away from the hope of the gospel, ... - Colossians 1:21-23.
Yet if Prince produced his own Bible
you would read, “He has reconciled us; “In the body of his flesh through death,
to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable in his sight”, and that’s
where it would stop.
To quote Martyn Lloyd Jones:
I need something further [than being
delivered from guilt and punishment]. I need a positive righteousness [by living
in accordance with God’s moral law]. I cannot stand in the
presence of God by means of the
forgiveness of sins only; I need a positive righteousness [an actual
righteousness; and ... this is the dominant use of the word righteousness in
the Bible], the righteousness that the Law postulates [demands, requires]. The
second element in salvation, therefore, is that I am clothed
with the righteousness [the actual
righteousness] of Jesus Christ. ... In verse 3 [Rom. 8:3], the Apostle tells us
how God delivers us from the guilt of sin [verse 3 definitely includes His
setting us free from the authority and power of sin, from the kingdom of sin];
in verse 4 He gives us the positive righteousness, and how He will go on doing
this increasingly through the work of the Spirit in sanctification until we are
ultimately glorified, and free from sin altogether45
Martin Lloyd-Jones continues:
In other words, the righteousness of
the Law is fulfilled in us in two ways. The righteousness of Christ is
‘imputed’ to us [positional, legal righteousness]; but, thank God, the
righteousness of Christ is also ‘imparted’ to us. 46
Martin Luther wrote:
It is just as impossible to separate
faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire! (cf. James 2:14
-23) 47
Prince takes the position that God
actually made us righteous already, therefore sanctification is seemingly
unnecessary.
But you have not so learned Christ; If
indeed that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in
Jesus: That you put off concerning the former conduct the old man, which is
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your
mind; And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness - Ephesians 4:20-24.
The scriptures declare:
For you are dead, and your life is hid
with Christ in God. .... Put off the old man, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ
(see Col 3:3, cf. verses 8-10).
Instead, Prince is giving us a
‘replacement’ theology of fancy catch phrases, and Word of Faith metaphysics.
We need to understand there is a distinction between justification and
sanctification. The following outline is taken from the writings of J.C. Ryle,
on Holiness. 48
in what ways are they alike?
Both proceed originally from the free
grace of God. It is of His gift alone that believers are justified or
sanctified at all.
Both are part of that great work of
salvation which Christ, in the eternal covenant, has undertaken on behalf of
His people. Christ is the fountain of life, from which pardon and holiness both
flow. The root of each is Christ. Both those who are justified are always
sanctified, and those who are sanctified are always justified.
God has joined them together, and they
cannot be put asunder. Both begin at the same time.
If you are a justified person, that
person begins to be a sanctified person.
No one ever reached heaven without a
renewed heart, as well as forgiveness, without the Spirit’s grace as well
as the blood of Christ, without being ready for eternal glory as well as a
title. The one is just as necessary as the other.
Ryle continued
I am persuaded that one great cause of
the darkness and uncomfortable feelings of many well-meaning people in the
matter of religion is their habit of confounding, and not distinguishing
justification and sanctification. It can never be too strongly impressed on our
minds that they are two separate things.
What practical reflections ought the
whole matter to raise in our minds? For one thing, let us all awake to a sense
of the perilous state of many professing Christians. ”Without holiness no
man shall see the Lord”; without sanctification there is no salvation
(Heb.12:14). Then, what an enormous amount of so-called religion there is,
which is perfectly useless!”
Prince of Preachers
In closing, let’s have the
scriptures speak for themselves:
For the grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present
world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a special people, zealous for good
works Titus 2:11-14.
Notice what is the true grace of God
that brings salvation? This is not the ‘grace’ Joseph Prince teaches. Joseph,
the Prince of Egypt knew suffering and humiliation, nothing that this fresh
Prince seems to identify with. He believes it’s all about reigning now. Yet the
Bible promises that “we will reign with Christ [then], IF we first suffer
with Him [now] –cf. Gen 39:20, 40:23 with 2 Tim 2:12.
The pendulum has swung so far that it
seems enough for us that our Christianity consists of having Christ’s
righteousness accounted to us, without His righteousness being worked in us.
Prince’s odd position is what we may
dub juvenilia49 justification, a youthful hybrid of Word of Faith teaching, and
half a Gospel. He suggests a “simple prayer”:
Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me and
dying for me on the cross… Your precious blood washes me clean from every sin.
You are my Lord and my Saviour, now and forever. Because of your finished work,
I am now a beloved child of God.50
His message at its core is a
sophisticated form of Universalism, packaged as God’s Grace; but it’s cheap
grace, and harbours a false peace! Prince, ignorant of God’s righteousness, is
establishing his own. cf. Romans 10:3. Sanctification somehow happens
through ‘righteous consciousness’?
Joseph Prince’s followers are asleep to
real righteousness, right living, ‘destined to be ruined’ by his grievous
gospel (cf. Acts 20:29,30). Although on an evangelical mission, Prince is
following the broad path of the Emergent Church, with its dubious doctrine, and
moral ambiguity. The only difference is his teaching is tailored to a more
“biblically” familiar audience.
Prince holds to a gospel of Christ
which makes God’s law of no effect: “believing” we are released from the
necessity of being doers of the Word.
This is part of the ancient
heresy of the Nicolaitans, which Christ so unsparingly condemned in the
book of Revelation (Revelation 2:6,15-16). 51 Prince is drawing away disciples
through the success “franchise” of celebrity, prosperity and easy believism. No
surprise really!
At the time of writing this article,
Hurricane Isaac was bearing down on New Orleans on the eve of the seventh
Anniversary (August 29, 2005) when Hurricane Katrina slammed onto the coast.52
Prince said, God would not judge America! Southern Decadence, the largest gay
and lesbian street festival held each year in New Orleans (this year, Aug 29 -
Sept 3, 2012) are planning to rave on regardless.
Although Hurricane Isaac cancelled
remembrance ceremonies for those killed by Hurricane Katrina, one of the event
co-ordinators, said that no hurricane was going to stop the festival. 53
When Homosexuality begins to dominate a
culture, it’s clear evidence of divine judgment (Rom 1:27, 32).
Isaac in the Hebrew means ‘laughter’ or
“He laughs”. I wonder who will have the last laugh (Psalm 2:4-5)?
The mission statement from Prince’s New
Creation church is “to see Jesus in all the loveliness of His Person, and the
perfection of His work, and to make Him known through the preaching of the
gospel”.54
Prince is preaching a different Jesus,
another gospel...and although he’s articulate, charismatic, convincing, and
preaching ‘grace’; he is a blind leader of the blind, leading astray the
unlearned and unstable. He is at best a false apostle, and at worst a conniving
HERETIC! (2 Corinthians 11:12-15; 2 Peter 3:16).
endnotes:
Prince:
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an
American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10,
1990, to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of
himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in
with his aunt and uncle in their wealthy Bel Air mansion, where his lifestyle
often clashes with that of his relatives
3 -
http://www.newcreation.org.sg/joseph-
wendy-prince/about-joseph-wendy-prince
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Prince
^ a b c d e “Church Pastors Like None
Other
-
From stutter to charisma”. The Sunday Times (Singapore). 5 October 2008.
7-http://whengodtouches.com/grace-favor-
seminar-live-at-hillsong-australia-2-dvd-by-
joseph-prince/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsong_London http://web.archive.org/web/20070622161253/ http://www.hillsong.co.uk/hillsongconference/
index.php?content=speakers
- http://bschool.nus.edu.sg/Portals/0/images/
CGFRC/docs/Code-20of-20Governance-20for-
20Charites-.pdf
18- Destined to
Reign: The Secret to Effortless Success, Wholeness and Victorious Living,
Singapore: 2007, page 271
19- Source: Jonathan
Koh Thoughts on New Creation Church-and grace, faith, health and wealth
21
- http://escapetoreality.org/2011/01/14/12-
reasons-why-christians-don%E2%80%99t-
need-to-confess-to-be-forgiven/ http:// wildernesschristianity.net/info/JosephPrince/ wikipedia_NewCreationChurch.html
23 -
Destined to Reign p.196
%E2%80%93-Joseph-prince 25 -
(ibid. p.16)
26 (ibid.
p.305)
27 -
Unmerited Favor, p.37 28- Destined to Reign p. 249
31 – Ibid
p.120
au/2011/02/theology-of-joseph-prince-
distortion-of.html
33- Kenneth Copeland, Take Time to
Pray, Believer’s Voice of Victory 15, 2 (February 1987)
http://sanjoaquinsoundings.blogspot.com. au/2011/02/theology-of-joseph-prince- distortion-of.html
35 – Ibid
p.122-3
36 - ibid. p.138, 139
37 -
ibid.p 94 , p.95
39 -
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Philippians 3:4-14
%E2%80%93-Joseph-prince 41 – (ibid.
p.244, 245)
42 - Destined to Reign, p.100 43 -
(ibid. p.109)
44- Destined to Reign
p. 27.
45- Romans Vol 7:1-
8:4 The law its functions
and limits pages 302, 303 http://www. christianarticles.net/articledetail.php?artid=616
9&catid=80&title=Some+Comments+on+Destin ed+to+Reign+by+Joseph+Prince+and+Righteou
sness+and+Holiness,+Part+7
46 - Ibid page304
47- Martin Luther’s Definition of
Faith: An excerpt from “An Introduction to St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans”
–end of book
52 - http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/weather/storms/story/2012-08-28/storm-isaac-hurricane/57360044/1
53 - http://www.examiner.com/article/hurricane-
issac-does-not-scare-nola-lgbtq-because-
southern-decadence-is-still-on
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lance Goodall and his wife Norilyn left
the Australian church growth movement in 2009. They both have a concern for the
knowledge of God and His glory. They carry in their heart, a love for God’s
honour, for His Word, and for the salvation of the lost. Lance can be contacted
via email
PLEASE READ PROTECTION FROM
DECEPTION
by Derek Prince
Navigating Through The Minefield Of Signs And Wonders
BEWARE: Joseph Prince Is A DANGEROUS False Teacher - Dan Corner
Joseph Prince (born in 1963) is the Pentecostal senior pastor of one of Asia's biggest churches (New Creation Church) and the author of the best-selling book entitled, Destined To Reign. Concisely stated, he presents his book as a type of secret cure all, but after comparing it to the Bible it is nothing more than a dangerous spiritual snare to the unwary and unlearned! Joseph Prince lures people in with his remarkable claim stated on the front cover -- The secret to effortless success, wholeness and victorious living. Instead of Destined To Reign being the secret to something new, it really only offers the same old scriptural distortions used by past eternal security teachers, who have been around for a long time! Prince even admits to such towards the back of his book!
It was so good to hear from a seasoned man of God who had preached this same gospel even before I was born. (Destined To Reign, Harrison House, 2007 edition, p. 254)
Sadly, Prince takes his devoted Pentecostal fans through his warped presentation of what he calls grace and the gospel and leaves them totally off guard, misled and an easy target for the devil! Joseph Prince is much worse than the typical prosperity teacher. He has gone far beyond the gospel of greed as he mixes in various once saved always saved concepts as the panacea for victorious living, including stopping sin and getting physical healing! His effortless success gospel has apparently been swallowed hook, line and sinker by far too many gullible people. If not, he wouldn't have such influence and popularity as he does. It is the purpose of this critique to prove the inaccuracy of what Joseph Prince teaches about various key issues central to Christianity. All quotes come from the 2007 edition of Destined To Reign by Joseph Prince and published by Harrison House. (All emphasis is my own, unless otherwise stated).
Joseph Prince Is Wrong About How to Get Born Again
Joseph Prince teaches to become a Christian, every person must make a personal decision to receive Jesus as Savior (p. 137). What that means to him is revealed at the end of his book, which would be found on page 315 if numbered. It is there that he has his Salvation Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me and dying for me on the cross. Your precious blood washes me clean of every sin. You are my Lord and my Savior, now and forever. I believe that You rose from the dead and that You are alive today. Because of Your finished work, I am now a beloved child of God and heaven is my home. Thank You for giving me eternal life, and filling my heart with Your peace and joy. Amen.
Prince teaches a so-called gospel devoid of Biblical repentance and based on mental assent, as he implies his heretical once saved always saved belief. Just pray a little prayer and you're forever saved while in your sins. He brushes off the vital necessity of turning away from wickedness by misapplying the meaning of repentance and therefore doesn't teach saving faith and its accompanying crucifying the flesh (Gal. 5:24). Joseph Prince stated:
Repentance just means changing your mind. When John the Baptist said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" he was essentially saying, "Change your mind, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (p. 233).
The truth is, if one doesn't turn away from his sins, he will never find true salvation to begin with. That is the fate of all who believe Joseph Prince (and many others antinomians like him). Jesus said the Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jonah (Mt. 12:41) and Jonah 3:10 states they turned from their evil ways. So repentance means turn from evil ways, according to the Lord Jesus. That is Jesus' definition and he cited the actions of the Ninevites as repentance. He further said one must do that or perish (Lk. 13:3,5). So the first mistake Joseph Prince makes is of the greatest magnitude and involves how to be born again and start the Christian life, but there is much more!
Permanent Righteousness Without Doing What Is Right
Joseph Prince teaches the typical eternal security imputed righteous message as his secret, which is glaringly lethal:
My friend, righteousness is a gift because of what Jesus has accomplished on the cross for you. All your sins - past, present and future - have been washed clean by His precious blood. You are completely forgiven and from the moment you received Jesus into your life, you will never be held liable for your sins ever again. You have been made as righteous as Jesus.... (pp. 28, 29)
He sees you clothed with Jesus' righteousness. So begin to see yourself clothed in Jesus' righteousness. (p. 29)
The more you realize that you are righteous, the more victory you will experience over sin! Wake up every morning and give thanks that you are the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. (p. 31)
Is Jesus righteous before God? Yes! Then so are you. Is He accepted before God? Yes! Then so are you. Is He well-pleasing before God? Yes! Then so are you. (p. 58)
God cannot see your sins when they are covered by the blood. (p. 209)
Don't uncover your sins or the sins of others. They have been completely forgiven by the blood of Jesus (p. 211).
When God looks at you, all He sees is the blood of Jesus that makes you completely righteous. (p. 251)
There is no argument that Jesus is our righteousness (Rom. 1:17; 1 Cor. 1:30; Phil. 3:9; etc.), but that righteous standing before God can change and has for some:
If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." (2 Pet 2:20-22)
Without question Peter is referring to people who had experienced the radical new creation change at salvation and were set free from their sin addictions (Rom. 6:22) at a past point. They knew the way of righteousness (Jesus Christ), but afterwards again got entangled with sin and overcome! They became backsliders, who were previously washed, but returned to the filth and defilement of wickedness. Peter states they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness. In other words, they were not a backslidden Christian still bound for heaven, as Joseph Prince might say. They were on the road to hell again, but worse off than before they were born again, forgiven and made righteous! In other words, Peter believed (and wanted all Christians to know) one's righteous standing before God can change over sin! Joseph Prince opposes Peter's grace teaching, and scores of other passages to teach the perpetual righteousness heresy to the spiritual harm of all who are deceived by him.
A Christian is righteous because of his present tense faith in The Lord Jesus (Rom. 3:22). The issues with Prince involve what type of faith in Jesus does it take, and can that faith cease to exist or become destroyed (among other things)? The answer is, it takes a present tense saving faith, which submits to and follows Jesus in obedience to remain righteous after getting born again. Moreover, true saving faith can cease to exist and become destroyed (Luke 8:13; 2 Tim. 2:18; 1 Tim. 1:19; Rom. 11:19-23). After salvation, sin can nullify a Christian's righteous and holy standing before God and make him unholy, impure, unrighteous and spiritually dead! [See chapter 7 of the book, The Believer's Conditional Security: Eternal Security Refuted.] All through the Bible we are warned that if a righteous man turns and does evil, he will die spiritually because of it (Ezek. 33:18; Rom. 8:13 cf. Gal. 6:8,9; etc.). In contrast to those clear scriptures, Joseph Prince teaches an ear-tickling, do-nothing success gospel, which seems to exalt the blood of Jesus, but really dangerously distorts it. Again, his teaching is nothing new and God surely didn't reveal to him his secret to effortless success! [It is true that success to get to heaven is uniquely in the Lord Jesus, but only through a submissive faith in him and for those who endure to the end (Mt. 10:22; Heb. 3:14; Rev. 2:10,11).]
God's ETERNAL Truth About The Righteous
In an effort to protect the sheep and combat dangerous false teachers in first-century Christianity, the Apostle John wanted all to know the vital details about who is and who isn't righteous. His teaching seems custom made for Joseph Prince and his tens of thousands of gullible followers:
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil .... (1 John 3:7,8)
That passage is a devastating bombshell to the false grace and counterfeit gospel taught by smiley Joseph Prince (and others like him) and therefore should be memorized and taught often. NOTE: The Apostle John knew much better about the precious holy and cleansing blood of Jesus than Joseph Prince, yet never taught anything like, when God looks at you, all He sees is the blood of Jesus that makes you completely righteous. John stated it is only he who does what is right who is righteous! A person doing sinful things is of the devil. That is God's truth and what all Christians should believe. It has nothing to do with whether the person sinning wants to do sinful things or not! He who does what is sinful is of the devil, but again Joseph Prince denies that, teaches against that message and simultaneously states all through Destined To Reign that he is hearing God's direct voice! Sometimes he and God are dialoging with each other about the spiritual! Do NOT be deceived by such a claim!
The Apostle Paul collaborates with John and drives another nail in the theological coffin lid of Joseph Prince's putrid grace message:
Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Rom 6:16)
No one can conclude from that verse that righteousness is permanent and unchanging, even without OBEDIENCE! So, how then can Joseph Prince successfully deceive so many by teaching the opposite? Paul taught of a righteousness, which comes from obedience! That isn't law, but his grace teaching!
Our Future Sins Are NOT Automatically Forgiven
The grace understanding of the senior pastor of the 20,000+ member Singapore New Creation Church is worse than lacking, according to scripture! Prince actually stands behind the once saved always saved concept that our future sins are already forgiven before they are committed, which means the person in any of the sins cited in 1 Cor. 6:9,10; Eph. 5:5-7; Mark 7:20-23; Rev. 21:8; etc. will dismiss them as both already forgiven and hidden from God, which sets them up to be thrown into the lake of fire! [Prince also teaches all sin is of the same degree (p. 60) and thereby contradicts 1 John 5:16,17 and other scriptures.] Folks, it's apparent the devil doesn't believe our future sins are already forgiven because he continues to tempt us to sin! The devil knows, as the Bible so clearly says from cover to cover, that spiritual death will come on the righteous who do evil (Rom. 6:16; 8:13; Gal. 6:8; etc.). It is the devil (and Joseph Prince), NOT GOD, who wants Christians to think their future sins are already forgiven!
... there is no sin that a Christian is not forgiven of. (p. 91, bold emphasis his)
His blood that was shed forgives all your sins - past, present and even future sins. Many Christians have the erroneous belief that only their past sins have been forgiven. They believe that when they received Christ, only their past sins were forgiven. So they believe that they have to be very careful from that point onwards. (p. 44)
... Jesus has cleansed you of the sins of your entire life and you are now sealed with the promise of eternal life! (p. 95)
The more you believe that all your sins are forgiven by the blood of Jesus, the more you will become whole - body, soul and spirit! (p. 95)
scripture teaches the Christian's future sins are NOT already forgiven before committing them and God can see the sins committed by those who have been born again! The scriptural evidence is clear and conclusive. Continuous forgiveness is not automatic. To be forgiven after becoming a child of God, among other things, one must forgive those who sin against him:
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Mat 6:14,15)
That scripture alone decimates the doctrine that a Christian's future sins are already automatically forgiven! Don't be deceived about that or God being unable to see the sins of a person previously saved, because of the blood of Christ. Jesus taught if you disown him, he will disown you (Mt. 10:33) and Paul repeated the same truth (2 Tim. 2:12). Peter taught only our past sins are forgiven (2 Peter. 1:9) - the very point Joseph Prince openly opposes!
Furthermore, all through Revelation chapters 2 and 3 you'll notice that their future sins were not forgiven and Jesus could see them! He stated they forsook their first love, were lukewarm, were tolerating Jezebel, holding to the teaching of Balaam, etc. NOTE: That is the real Lord Jesus himself, after the cross who knows all about his own blood and saving grace! Jesus told 5 of the 7 church groups to REPENT, but you will never hear that type of directive given by Joseph Prince nor the hell warnings that accompany it (Rev. 2:5; 3:16; etc.)! How could the same Lord Jesus who taught those spiritual treasures and Joseph Prince be dialoging together resulting in Prince's putrid antichrist doctrines? Impossible!
When God looks at you today, He sees you covered with Jesus' blood and completely righteous. Only the devil, you yourself and the people around you will bring your sins to your remembrance. (p. 98)
When you are under grace, even when you fail and fall short of God's standards, God still sees you as righteous because of Jesus Christ. (p. 146)
Remember, Joseph Prince teaches effortless success! According to him, you don't have to be careful to avoid all appearances of evil (1 Thess. 5:22), pray to be led from temptation (Mt. 6:13), etc. Sin is not the issue with his gospel and you don't need to be careful, guarded or conscious of sin. How different his doctrine is from the Holy Spirit inspired, forever-settled written word of God about sin and the Christian life. God's real truth is:
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person - such a man is an idolater - has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. (Eph 5:3-7)
We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. (Heb 2:1)
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Tim 4:16)
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. (Heb 3:12-14)
Futhermore, the Lord Jesus taught we need to make a continuous effort to enter God's kingdom:
Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, "Make every EFFORT to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." (Luke 13:23,24)
Does that seem like effortless success to you? How about these passages?
For this very reason, make every EFFORT to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Pet 1:5-11)
But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every EFFORT to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. (2 Pet 3:13,14)
Make every EFFORT to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Heb 12:14)
I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man. (Acts 24:15,16)
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1 Cor 9:27)
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Heb 12:4)
Joseph Prince Clearly Has a False Gospel Which Opposes 1 Cor. 15:2
Joseph Prince has a false gospel which glaringly contradicts and opposes the real gospel of grace, as detailed in 1 Cor. 15:2.
By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
Under grace, the Christian is responsible to hold firmly to the truth for his own salvation's sake! To believe in vain is to be without eternal life at that point and apparently is a real valid danger or it wouldn't have been stated! Many other similar warnings and Christian responsibilities are cited throughout the New testament.
Joseph Prince Contradicts Himself But No One Seems To Notice
Like other false teachers, Joseph Prince teaches opposite messages, yet it seems that no one notices or cares! (A contradiction is a definite sign of error.) His popularity isn't affected and continues to grow! His followers have turned to his myths (2 Tim. 4:3,4). Ponder these Joseph Prince teachings:
... the more you are under grace, the more sin will be depleted of its strength. (p. 26)
... the more grace you receive, the more power you have to overcome sin. (p. 26)
When you are under God's grace and His perfect forgiveness, you will experience victory over sin. (p. 45)
... I find that in the scriptures, victory over sin is found in the preaching of God's grace. (p. 249)
Sin does not stop God's grace from flowing, but God's grace will stop sin. (p. 249, bold emphasis his)
According to Joseph Prince, the remedy to overcome sin is simply GRACE! Since Joseph Prince teaches effortless grace, how can he also inconsistently teach the following contradictions and successfully get away with them?
1. He implies in the following quote that all Christians are sinning all the time:
If you really believe that you need to confess all your sins to be forgiven, do you know what you would be doing? You would be confessing your sins ALL THE TIME! (p. 107, bold and capital emphasis his)
COMMENT: Certainly there must be some Christian somewhere who understands Biblical grace (his remedy) and would have complete victory over sin and therefore would not have to confess his sins all the time! Isn't that true?
2. Joseph Prince thinks he is teaching like Paul, yet still smears the Apostle Paul as doing evil (the things he hates) and not overcoming sin!
... Paul himself wrote about: "For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." I am writing to believers who have this genuine struggle with the law and who like Paul are crying out, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (p. 167)
COMMENT: Just like other grace changers, Joseph Prince smears the Apostle Paul as practicing evil and being a wretched man overcome by sin, even as a Christian. It is the typical misuse of Rom. 7:14-25. Why wasn't Paul able to overcome sin, as a Christian? He certainly understood grace and righteousness, and according to Prince that's what it would take! That is a major contradiction since Paul was a true genuine grace teacher. Joseph Prince also compares Paul (the grace teacher) to believers who struggle with the law!
3. Joseph Prince impugns the entire church at Corinth as being sinful, implies they didn't understand grace and were in need of more true grace teaching to overcome sin:
Yet, we know that the church in Corinth was in a mess. The people were involved in all kinds of outwards sins. They were in strife, envy and jealousy, and some of them were even going to temple prostitutes ... All in all, there were all kinds of immoral activities going on in the church of Corinth. (pp. 257, 258)
COMMENT: Since the Corinthians were taught grace from Paul (the true grace teacher) and sound grace teaching is the key to overcoming sin (according to Prince), then it is inconsistent to say, there were all kinds of immoral activities going on in the church of Corinth. There would have to be NO immoral activities going on there, since Paul taught them the real pure facts about grace! Prince contradicts his own central doctrine, yet no one seems to notice or care! The true holy image of being a Christian has been blotched by smearing the Corinthians, as Joseph Prince does! The envy and strife at Corinth was about their favorite preachers (1 Cor. 1:12 cf. 3:3-6)! There is NO evidence that any in the Corinthian congregation were seeing temple prostitutes! NONE! If they had been, they would be identified as unrighteous and would NOT enter God's kingdom (1 Cor. 6:9,10). By teaching as he does, Joseph Prince apparently believes there are Christian whoremongers, which is impossible (Rev. 21:8). The truth about their real behavior is revealed in a passage too few seem to know:
I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people - not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. (1 Cor 5:9-11)
How could the Corinthians not associate with professing Christians who were sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler, IF THEY WERE DOING THE SAME THINGS? Think! Obviously, the Corinthian Christians were NOT doing those kinds of sins and were taught about grace, yet the grace changers (like Joseph Prince) teach otherwise!
If someone has really known and experienced grace and the gift of no condemnation, he will NOT want to live in sin. Sin will be the last thing on his mind!... Grace always results in victory over sin! (p. 167)
The truth is, the Corinthian Christians had the following observable evidence of saving grace, as all Christians do:
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1 John 2:3,4)
Again, the Biblical criterion for being a possessor of eternal life violently contradicts Joseph Prince and his effortless success gospel! Dear reader, which will you believe?
4. Repeatedly, Joseph Prince subtly downplays the seriousness of any sin committed after getting saved by say they were already forgiven and God can't see them! However, if you disagree with his teachings your wrong believing is disobedience (SIN)!
The problem with the church today is wrong believing. I'm sorry to tell you this, but if you refuse to believe what God has said about the forgiveness of sins in the new covenant, then you are actually in disobedience. (p. 97)
COMMENT: Does Joseph Prince now believe such a SIN isn't already forgiven and God can see it?
The No Longer Angry Mythical god Of Joseph Prince
What about God's anger and wrath - does it come on people who were once saved? Of course the never saved do have the wrath of God abiding on them (Eph. 2:3), but the issue at this point with Prince is over people once saved:
... His anger is toward those who have rejected Jesus ... we will never be punished because we have already received Jesus. As believers, God is no longer angry with us because all His anger for our sins fell upon Jesus at the cross. (p. 41)
Under the new covenant, God will never again chastise the believer for his sins! (p. 65)
What does this mean, my friend? This means that there is no more judgment for you when God looks at you. (p. 127)
The Singapore ear-tickler strikes again! Joseph Prince has a very high batting average as far as declaring venomous concepts and mere empty words! How can we be sure? Paul taught the Ephesian Christians that God's wrath would come on them for being disobedient in the area of immorality, impurity and greed (Eph. 5:5-7). The same passage states they would lose their inheritance to God's kingdom over those sins. In other words, Paul's grace message warned true Christians they could lose their salvation! Paul definitely was NOT an eternal security teacher. Since Prince doesn't agree with Paul, Joseph Prince is DANGEROUSLY wrong and a snare to SOULS!
Remember also that God struck Ananias and Sapphira dead for lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-11). Not only does that prove God got angry with them, but he could also see their sin and that future sin was NOT already forgiven before it was committed! It wasn't hidden by the blood of Christ! BTW, all liars go to the lake of fire, Rev. 21:8.
Because of Jesus' finished work at the cross, He will never be angry with you nor rebuke you even when you fail. (p. 305)
Jesus himself told the Thyatira congregation:
Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. (Rev 2:20-23)
NOTE: Sexual sin angers God and it will drag the unrepentant to eternal fire before or after initial salvation (Eph. 5:5-7; Rev. 21:8; etc.)! That is the consistent message of the real Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 9:43-48). Any teaching which states once a person gets saved, his future sins can never drag him to hell is of the devil, regardless who is speaking it out.
The Christian can never be lost.... (p. 254)
Paul and Timothy and Joseph Prince
According to Prince, if one believes in the real gospel of Jesus the result will be health and prosperity:
... when you believe the gospel of Jesus, which is based entirely on His grace, it will result in health and prosperity. (p. 23)
Whatever your need is today, whether it is physical, emotional, mental, social or financial, your solution is found in a greater revelation of Jesus. (p. 189)
Since Paul and his traveling companions were dressed in rags at times and Timothy had stomach and frequent illnesses, then logically Prince must think neither Paul nor Timothy believed the real gospel of Jesus and needed a greater revelation of Jesus!
To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. (1 Cor 4:11)
Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. (1 Tim 5:23)
Folks, Joseph Prince is teaching religious myths and they go on and on. Perhaps, his convoluted unwitting conclusions, which even indict Paul and Timothy, are possibly better understood from the following:
Some Christians are not able to receive healing because they are not able to receive forgiveness. They are still sin-conscious and doubt their forgiveness. They believe that God may have forgiven their past sins, but not the sins of their whole life. (pp. 186, 187)
In other words, once you know that you have been forgiven of all your sins, past, present and future, the healing of all your diseases follows. (p. 290)
Does it really matter if you condemn yourself and allow your sin debt to remain on your conscience even after Jesus has overpaid it? Yes, it matters because apart from dishonoring the work of Jesus on the cross, sin-consciousness makes you avoid God, and can produce in you condemnation, sicknesses, diseases, depression and a cycle of sin! (p. 185)
Sarcastically I say, had Paul and Timothy only understood things the way Joseph Prince teaches them in Destined To Reign things could have been better for them! They could have had health and prosperity and Paul would have been set free from his cycle of sin. Of course, Prince is wrong and Paul was set free from his sin addictions and was living holy and exemplary.
Once Saved Always Saved or Eternal Security
Without doubt, Joseph Prince believes in and teaches once saved always saved or eternal security, even though he didn't clearly state such in Destines To Reign:
A believer has already received the gift of eternal life and will never be "subject to eternal condemnation". (p. 92)
The Christian can never be lost.... (p. 254)
You are His beloved child regardless of what you have done. (p. 302)
He loves you and will never judge or condemn you! (p. 303)
Folks, that is the essence of the devil's first lie to mankind (Gen. 3:4), that is, sin will not produce spiritual death for the righteous. From the parables of the Lord Jesus to the Pauline epistles to Jesus precious words to the seven churches in Asia (Rev. 2 and 3), it is explicitly clear that there is no eternal security. Here are just a few passages to ponder:
‘For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:24)
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Gal 6:8,9)
My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (James 5:19,20, NASB)
Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. (Rev 2:10,11)
Joseph Prince (born in 1963) is the Pentecostal senior pastor of one of Asia's biggest churches (New Creation Church) and the author of the best-selling book entitled, Destined To Reign. Concisely stated, he presents his book as a type of secret cure all, but after comparing it to the Bible it is nothing more than a dangerous spiritual snare to the unwary and unlearned! Joseph Prince lures people in with his remarkable claim stated on the front cover -- The secret to effortless success, wholeness and victorious living. Instead of Destined To Reign being the secret to something new, it really only offers the same old scriptural distortions used by past eternal security teachers, who have been around for a long time! Prince even admits to such towards the back of his book!
It was so good to hear from a seasoned man of God who had preached this same gospel even before I was born. (Destined To Reign, Harrison House, 2007 edition, p. 254)
Sadly, Prince takes his devoted Pentecostal fans through his warped presentation of what he calls grace and the gospel and leaves them totally off guard, misled and an easy target for the devil! Joseph Prince is much worse than the typical prosperity teacher. He has gone far beyond the gospel of greed as he mixes in various once saved always saved concepts as the panacea for victorious living, including stopping sin and getting physical healing! His effortless success gospel has apparently been swallowed hook, line and sinker by far too many gullible people. If not, he wouldn't have such influence and popularity as he does. It is the purpose of this critique to prove the inaccuracy of what Joseph Prince teaches about various key issues central to Christianity. All quotes come from the 2007 edition of Destined To Reign by Joseph Prince and published by Harrison House. (All emphasis is my own, unless otherwise stated).
Joseph Prince Is Wrong About How to Get Born Again
Joseph Prince teaches to become a Christian, every person must make a personal decision to receive Jesus as Savior (p. 137). What that means to him is revealed at the end of his book, which would be found on page 315 if numbered. It is there that he has his Salvation Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me and dying for me on the cross. Your precious blood washes me clean of every sin. You are my Lord and my Savior, now and forever. I believe that You rose from the dead and that You are alive today. Because of Your finished work, I am now a beloved child of God and heaven is my home. Thank You for giving me eternal life, and filling my heart with Your peace and joy. Amen.
Prince teaches a so-called gospel devoid of Biblical repentance and based on mental assent, as he implies his heretical once saved always saved belief. Just pray a little prayer and you're forever saved while in your sins. He brushes off the vital necessity of turning away from wickedness by misapplying the meaning of repentance and therefore doesn't teach saving faith and its accompanying crucifying the flesh (Gal. 5:24). Joseph Prince stated:
Repentance just means changing your mind. When John the Baptist said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" he was essentially saying, "Change your mind, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (p. 233).
The truth is, if one doesn't turn away from his sins, he will never find true salvation to begin with. That is the fate of all who believe Joseph Prince (and many others antinomians like him). Jesus said the Ninevites repented at the preaching of Jonah (Mt. 12:41) and Jonah 3:10 states they turned from their evil ways. So repentance means turn from evil ways, according to the Lord Jesus. That is Jesus' definition and he cited the actions of the Ninevites as repentance. He further said one must do that or perish (Lk. 13:3,5). So the first mistake Joseph Prince makes is of the greatest magnitude and involves how to be born again and start the Christian life, but there is much more!
Permanent Righteousness Without Doing What Is Right
Joseph Prince teaches the typical eternal security imputed righteous message as his secret, which is glaringly lethal:
My friend, righteousness is a gift because of what Jesus has accomplished on the cross for you. All your sins - past, present and future - have been washed clean by His precious blood. You are completely forgiven and from the moment you received Jesus into your life, you will never be held liable for your sins ever again. You have been made as righteous as Jesus.... (pp. 28, 29)
He sees you clothed with Jesus' righteousness. So begin to see yourself clothed in Jesus' righteousness. (p. 29)
The more you realize that you are righteous, the more victory you will experience over sin! Wake up every morning and give thanks that you are the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. (p. 31)
Is Jesus righteous before God? Yes! Then so are you. Is He accepted before God? Yes! Then so are you. Is He well-pleasing before God? Yes! Then so are you. (p. 58)
God cannot see your sins when they are covered by the blood. (p. 209)
Don't uncover your sins or the sins of others. They have been completely forgiven by the blood of Jesus (p. 211).
When God looks at you, all He sees is the blood of Jesus that makes you completely righteous. (p. 251)
There is no argument that Jesus is our righteousness (Rom. 1:17; 1 Cor. 1:30; Phil. 3:9; etc.), but that righteous standing before God can change and has for some:
If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." (2 Pet 2:20-22)
Without question Peter is referring to people who had experienced the radical new creation change at salvation and were set free from their sin addictions (Rom. 6:22) at a past point. They knew the way of righteousness (Jesus Christ), but afterwards again got entangled with sin and overcome! They became backsliders, who were previously washed, but returned to the filth and defilement of wickedness. Peter states they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness. In other words, they were not a backslidden Christian still bound for heaven, as Joseph Prince might say. They were on the road to hell again, but worse off than before they were born again, forgiven and made righteous! In other words, Peter believed (and wanted all Christians to know) one's righteous standing before God can change over sin! Joseph Prince opposes Peter's grace teaching, and scores of other passages to teach the perpetual righteousness heresy to the spiritual harm of all who are deceived by him.
A Christian is righteous because of his present tense faith in The Lord Jesus (Rom. 3:22). The issues with Prince involve what type of faith in Jesus does it take, and can that faith cease to exist or become destroyed (among other things)? The answer is, it takes a present tense saving faith, which submits to and follows Jesus in obedience to remain righteous after getting born again. Moreover, true saving faith can cease to exist and become destroyed (Luke 8:13; 2 Tim. 2:18; 1 Tim. 1:19; Rom. 11:19-23). After salvation, sin can nullify a Christian's righteous and holy standing before God and make him unholy, impure, unrighteous and spiritually dead! [See chapter 7 of the book, The Believer's Conditional Security: Eternal Security Refuted.] All through the Bible we are warned that if a righteous man turns and does evil, he will die spiritually because of it (Ezek. 33:18; Rom. 8:13 cf. Gal. 6:8,9; etc.). In contrast to those clear scriptures, Joseph Prince teaches an ear-tickling, do-nothing success gospel, which seems to exalt the blood of Jesus, but really dangerously distorts it. Again, his teaching is nothing new and God surely didn't reveal to him his secret to effortless success! [It is true that success to get to heaven is uniquely in the Lord Jesus, but only through a submissive faith in him and for those who endure to the end (Mt. 10:22; Heb. 3:14; Rev. 2:10,11).]
God's ETERNAL Truth About The Righteous
In an effort to protect the sheep and combat dangerous false teachers in first-century Christianity, the Apostle John wanted all to know the vital details about who is and who isn't righteous. His teaching seems custom made for Joseph Prince and his tens of thousands of gullible followers:
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil .... (1 John 3:7,8)
That passage is a devastating bombshell to the false grace and counterfeit gospel taught by smiley Joseph Prince (and others like him) and therefore should be memorized and taught often. NOTE: The Apostle John knew much better about the precious holy and cleansing blood of Jesus than Joseph Prince, yet never taught anything like, when God looks at you, all He sees is the blood of Jesus that makes you completely righteous. John stated it is only he who does what is right who is righteous! A person doing sinful things is of the devil. That is God's truth and what all Christians should believe. It has nothing to do with whether the person sinning wants to do sinful things or not! He who does what is sinful is of the devil, but again Joseph Prince denies that, teaches against that message and simultaneously states all through Destined To Reign that he is hearing God's direct voice! Sometimes he and God are dialoging with each other about the spiritual! Do NOT be deceived by such a claim!
The Apostle Paul collaborates with John and drives another nail in the theological coffin lid of Joseph Prince's putrid grace message:
Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Rom 6:16)
No one can conclude from that verse that righteousness is permanent and unchanging, even without OBEDIENCE! So, how then can Joseph Prince successfully deceive so many by teaching the opposite? Paul taught of a righteousness, which comes from obedience! That isn't law, but his grace teaching!
Our Future Sins Are NOT Automatically Forgiven
The grace understanding of the senior pastor of the 20,000+ member Singapore New Creation Church is worse than lacking, according to scripture! Prince actually stands behind the once saved always saved concept that our future sins are already forgiven before they are committed, which means the person in any of the sins cited in 1 Cor. 6:9,10; Eph. 5:5-7; Mark 7:20-23; Rev. 21:8; etc. will dismiss them as both already forgiven and hidden from God, which sets them up to be thrown into the lake of fire! [Prince also teaches all sin is of the same degree (p. 60) and thereby contradicts 1 John 5:16,17 and other scriptures.] Folks, it's apparent the devil doesn't believe our future sins are already forgiven because he continues to tempt us to sin! The devil knows, as the Bible so clearly says from cover to cover, that spiritual death will come on the righteous who do evil (Rom. 6:16; 8:13; Gal. 6:8; etc.). It is the devil (and Joseph Prince), NOT GOD, who wants Christians to think their future sins are already forgiven!
... there is no sin that a Christian is not forgiven of. (p. 91, bold emphasis his)
His blood that was shed forgives all your sins - past, present and even future sins. Many Christians have the erroneous belief that only their past sins have been forgiven. They believe that when they received Christ, only their past sins were forgiven. So they believe that they have to be very careful from that point onwards. (p. 44)
... Jesus has cleansed you of the sins of your entire life and you are now sealed with the promise of eternal life! (p. 95)
The more you believe that all your sins are forgiven by the blood of Jesus, the more you will become whole - body, soul and spirit! (p. 95)
scripture teaches the Christian's future sins are NOT already forgiven before committing them and God can see the sins committed by those who have been born again! The scriptural evidence is clear and conclusive. Continuous forgiveness is not automatic. To be forgiven after becoming a child of God, among other things, one must forgive those who sin against him:
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Mat 6:14,15)
That scripture alone decimates the doctrine that a Christian's future sins are already automatically forgiven! Don't be deceived about that or God being unable to see the sins of a person previously saved, because of the blood of Christ. Jesus taught if you disown him, he will disown you (Mt. 10:33) and Paul repeated the same truth (2 Tim. 2:12). Peter taught only our past sins are forgiven (2 Peter. 1:9) - the very point Joseph Prince openly opposes!
Furthermore, all through Revelation chapters 2 and 3 you'll notice that their future sins were not forgiven and Jesus could see them! He stated they forsook their first love, were lukewarm, were tolerating Jezebel, holding to the teaching of Balaam, etc. NOTE: That is the real Lord Jesus himself, after the cross who knows all about his own blood and saving grace! Jesus told 5 of the 7 church groups to REPENT, but you will never hear that type of directive given by Joseph Prince nor the hell warnings that accompany it (Rev. 2:5; 3:16; etc.)! How could the same Lord Jesus who taught those spiritual treasures and Joseph Prince be dialoging together resulting in Prince's putrid antichrist doctrines? Impossible!
When God looks at you today, He sees you covered with Jesus' blood and completely righteous. Only the devil, you yourself and the people around you will bring your sins to your remembrance. (p. 98)
When you are under grace, even when you fail and fall short of God's standards, God still sees you as righteous because of Jesus Christ. (p. 146)
Remember, Joseph Prince teaches effortless success! According to him, you don't have to be careful to avoid all appearances of evil (1 Thess. 5:22), pray to be led from temptation (Mt. 6:13), etc. Sin is not the issue with his gospel and you don't need to be careful, guarded or conscious of sin. How different his doctrine is from the Holy Spirit inspired, forever-settled written word of God about sin and the Christian life. God's real truth is:
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person - such a man is an idolater - has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. (Eph 5:3-7)
We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. (Heb 2:1)
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Tim 4:16)
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. (Heb 3:12-14)
Futhermore, the Lord Jesus taught we need to make a continuous effort to enter God's kingdom:
Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, "Make every EFFORT to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." (Luke 13:23,24)
Does that seem like effortless success to you? How about these passages?
For this very reason, make every EFFORT to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Pet 1:5-11)
But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every EFFORT to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. (2 Pet 3:13,14)
Make every EFFORT to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Heb 12:14)
I have the same hope in God as these men, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man. (Acts 24:15,16)
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1 Cor 9:27)
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Heb 12:4)
Joseph Prince Clearly Has a False Gospel Which Opposes 1 Cor. 15:2
Joseph Prince has a false gospel which glaringly contradicts and opposes the real gospel of grace, as detailed in 1 Cor. 15:2.
By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
Under grace, the Christian is responsible to hold firmly to the truth for his own salvation's sake! To believe in vain is to be without eternal life at that point and apparently is a real valid danger or it wouldn't have been stated! Many other similar warnings and Christian responsibilities are cited throughout the New testament.
Joseph Prince Contradicts Himself But No One Seems To Notice
Like other false teachers, Joseph Prince teaches opposite messages, yet it seems that no one notices or cares! (A contradiction is a definite sign of error.) His popularity isn't affected and continues to grow! His followers have turned to his myths (2 Tim. 4:3,4). Ponder these Joseph Prince teachings:
... the more you are under grace, the more sin will be depleted of its strength. (p. 26)
... the more grace you receive, the more power you have to overcome sin. (p. 26)
When you are under God's grace and His perfect forgiveness, you will experience victory over sin. (p. 45)
... I find that in the scriptures, victory over sin is found in the preaching of God's grace. (p. 249)
Sin does not stop God's grace from flowing, but God's grace will stop sin. (p. 249, bold emphasis his)
According to Joseph Prince, the remedy to overcome sin is simply GRACE! Since Joseph Prince teaches effortless grace, how can he also inconsistently teach the following contradictions and successfully get away with them?
1. He implies in the following quote that all Christians are sinning all the time:
If you really believe that you need to confess all your sins to be forgiven, do you know what you would be doing? You would be confessing your sins ALL THE TIME! (p. 107, bold and capital emphasis his)
COMMENT: Certainly there must be some Christian somewhere who understands Biblical grace (his remedy) and would have complete victory over sin and therefore would not have to confess his sins all the time! Isn't that true?
2. Joseph Prince thinks he is teaching like Paul, yet still smears the Apostle Paul as doing evil (the things he hates) and not overcoming sin!
... Paul himself wrote about: "For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." I am writing to believers who have this genuine struggle with the law and who like Paul are crying out, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (p. 167)
COMMENT: Just like other grace changers, Joseph Prince smears the Apostle Paul as practicing evil and being a wretched man overcome by sin, even as a Christian. It is the typical misuse of Rom. 7:14-25. Why wasn't Paul able to overcome sin, as a Christian? He certainly understood grace and righteousness, and according to Prince that's what it would take! That is a major contradiction since Paul was a true genuine grace teacher. Joseph Prince also compares Paul (the grace teacher) to believers who struggle with the law!
3. Joseph Prince impugns the entire church at Corinth as being sinful, implies they didn't understand grace and were in need of more true grace teaching to overcome sin:
Yet, we know that the church in Corinth was in a mess. The people were involved in all kinds of outwards sins. They were in strife, envy and jealousy, and some of them were even going to temple prostitutes ... All in all, there were all kinds of immoral activities going on in the church of Corinth. (pp. 257, 258)
COMMENT: Since the Corinthians were taught grace from Paul (the true grace teacher) and sound grace teaching is the key to overcoming sin (according to Prince), then it is inconsistent to say, there were all kinds of immoral activities going on in the church of Corinth. There would have to be NO immoral activities going on there, since Paul taught them the real pure facts about grace! Prince contradicts his own central doctrine, yet no one seems to notice or care! The true holy image of being a Christian has been blotched by smearing the Corinthians, as Joseph Prince does! The envy and strife at Corinth was about their favorite preachers (1 Cor. 1:12 cf. 3:3-6)! There is NO evidence that any in the Corinthian congregation were seeing temple prostitutes! NONE! If they had been, they would be identified as unrighteous and would NOT enter God's kingdom (1 Cor. 6:9,10). By teaching as he does, Joseph Prince apparently believes there are Christian whoremongers, which is impossible (Rev. 21:8). The truth about their real behavior is revealed in a passage too few seem to know:
I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people - not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. (1 Cor 5:9-11)
How could the Corinthians not associate with professing Christians who were sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler, IF THEY WERE DOING THE SAME THINGS? Think! Obviously, the Corinthian Christians were NOT doing those kinds of sins and were taught about grace, yet the grace changers (like Joseph Prince) teach otherwise!
If someone has really known and experienced grace and the gift of no condemnation, he will NOT want to live in sin. Sin will be the last thing on his mind!... Grace always results in victory over sin! (p. 167)
The truth is, the Corinthian Christians had the following observable evidence of saving grace, as all Christians do:
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1 John 2:3,4)
Again, the Biblical criterion for being a possessor of eternal life violently contradicts Joseph Prince and his effortless success gospel! Dear reader, which will you believe?
4. Repeatedly, Joseph Prince subtly downplays the seriousness of any sin committed after getting saved by say they were already forgiven and God can't see them! However, if you disagree with his teachings your wrong believing is disobedience (SIN)!
The problem with the church today is wrong believing. I'm sorry to tell you this, but if you refuse to believe what God has said about the forgiveness of sins in the new covenant, then you are actually in disobedience. (p. 97)
COMMENT: Does Joseph Prince now believe such a SIN isn't already forgiven and God can see it?
The No Longer Angry Mythical god Of Joseph Prince
What about God's anger and wrath - does it come on people who were once saved? Of course the never saved do have the wrath of God abiding on them (Eph. 2:3), but the issue at this point with Prince is over people once saved:
... His anger is toward those who have rejected Jesus ... we will never be punished because we have already received Jesus. As believers, God is no longer angry with us because all His anger for our sins fell upon Jesus at the cross. (p. 41)
Under the new covenant, God will never again chastise the believer for his sins! (p. 65)
What does this mean, my friend? This means that there is no more judgment for you when God looks at you. (p. 127)
The Singapore ear-tickler strikes again! Joseph Prince has a very high batting average as far as declaring venomous concepts and mere empty words! How can we be sure? Paul taught the Ephesian Christians that God's wrath would come on them for being disobedient in the area of immorality, impurity and greed (Eph. 5:5-7). The same passage states they would lose their inheritance to God's kingdom over those sins. In other words, Paul's grace message warned true Christians they could lose their salvation! Paul definitely was NOT an eternal security teacher. Since Prince doesn't agree with Paul, Joseph Prince is DANGEROUSLY wrong and a snare to SOULS!
Remember also that God struck Ananias and Sapphira dead for lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-11). Not only does that prove God got angry with them, but he could also see their sin and that future sin was NOT already forgiven before it was committed! It wasn't hidden by the blood of Christ! BTW, all liars go to the lake of fire, Rev. 21:8.
Because of Jesus' finished work at the cross, He will never be angry with you nor rebuke you even when you fail. (p. 305)
Jesus himself told the Thyatira congregation:
Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. (Rev 2:20-23)
NOTE: Sexual sin angers God and it will drag the unrepentant to eternal fire before or after initial salvation (Eph. 5:5-7; Rev. 21:8; etc.)! That is the consistent message of the real Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 9:43-48). Any teaching which states once a person gets saved, his future sins can never drag him to hell is of the devil, regardless who is speaking it out.
The Christian can never be lost.... (p. 254)
Paul and Timothy and Joseph Prince
According to Prince, if one believes in the real gospel of Jesus the result will be health and prosperity:
... when you believe the gospel of Jesus, which is based entirely on His grace, it will result in health and prosperity. (p. 23)
Whatever your need is today, whether it is physical, emotional, mental, social or financial, your solution is found in a greater revelation of Jesus. (p. 189)
Since Paul and his traveling companions were dressed in rags at times and Timothy had stomach and frequent illnesses, then logically Prince must think neither Paul nor Timothy believed the real gospel of Jesus and needed a greater revelation of Jesus!
To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. (1 Cor 4:11)
Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. (1 Tim 5:23)
Folks, Joseph Prince is teaching religious myths and they go on and on. Perhaps, his convoluted unwitting conclusions, which even indict Paul and Timothy, are possibly better understood from the following:
Some Christians are not able to receive healing because they are not able to receive forgiveness. They are still sin-conscious and doubt their forgiveness. They believe that God may have forgiven their past sins, but not the sins of their whole life. (pp. 186, 187)
In other words, once you know that you have been forgiven of all your sins, past, present and future, the healing of all your diseases follows. (p. 290)
Does it really matter if you condemn yourself and allow your sin debt to remain on your conscience even after Jesus has overpaid it? Yes, it matters because apart from dishonoring the work of Jesus on the cross, sin-consciousness makes you avoid God, and can produce in you condemnation, sicknesses, diseases, depression and a cycle of sin! (p. 185)
Sarcastically I say, had Paul and Timothy only understood things the way Joseph Prince teaches them in Destined To Reign things could have been better for them! They could have had health and prosperity and Paul would have been set free from his cycle of sin. Of course, Prince is wrong and Paul was set free from his sin addictions and was living holy and exemplary.
Once Saved Always Saved or Eternal Security
Without doubt, Joseph Prince believes in and teaches once saved always saved or eternal security, even though he didn't clearly state such in Destines To Reign:
A believer has already received the gift of eternal life and will never be "subject to eternal condemnation". (p. 92)
The Christian can never be lost.... (p. 254)
You are His beloved child regardless of what you have done. (p. 302)
He loves you and will never judge or condemn you! (p. 303)
Folks, that is the essence of the devil's first lie to mankind (Gen. 3:4), that is, sin will not produce spiritual death for the righteous. From the parables of the Lord Jesus to the Pauline epistles to Jesus precious words to the seven churches in Asia (Rev. 2 and 3), it is explicitly clear that there is no eternal security. Here are just a few passages to ponder:
‘For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:24)
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Gal 6:8,9)
My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. (James 5:19,20, NASB)
Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. (Rev 2:10,11)
Tidbits Of Distortions
Here are several other shocking distortions of scripture from his book. For your own sake, please compare Joseph Prince to the following scriptures:
Prince thinks we confess our FORGIVEN sins because we are already forgiven:
Listen carefully: We don't have to confess our sins in order to be forgiven. We confess our sins because we are already forgiven. (p. 104)
No one could get that out of 1 John 1:9, the verse he refers to. Here is the real truth of God:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Prince also stated:
Similarly, when you think that you can still save yourself, God's grace cannot flow. (p. 267)
But Peter taught people to save yourselves and God's saving grace did flow to 3,000 people:
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. (Acts 2:40,41)
Also, if Prince is right, why did Paul write Timothy the following directive?
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Tim 4:16)
To teach sin is not an issue for a believer and a believer's future sins are already forgiven, Prince distorts one of his primary proof texts. First is his quote:
When the Bible declares in 1 John 1:7 that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, the tense here in the Greek for the word "cleanses" denotes a present and continuous action. (pp. 247, 248)
Somehow Joseph Prince forgot to state the condition needed to receive a present tense cleansing of sin and, thereby, violently distorted its meaning. Here is how it actually reads and must be understood:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)
What is Prince's goal? In part, it is stated here:
Stop examining yourself and searching your heart for sin. (p. 187)
Is that a valid goal to be teaching under grace? If so, then Paul was teaching wrongly:
A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. (1 Cor. 11:28)
Prince says if you study your Bible it will show that every time the children of Israel murmured and complained, it only brought forth fresh demonstrations of God's favor, supply and goodness.
Study the Bible yourself. You'll find that every time the children of Israel murmured and complained, it only brought forth fresh demonstrations of God's favor, supply and goodness. (p. 222)
In contrast, the Biblical record says the following about their complaining:
Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the LORD, and when he heard them his anger was aroused. Then fire from the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. (Num 11:1)
Could it be Prince is NOT studying his Bible, but listening to strange dark voices he wrongly thinks is the Lord's?
Joseph Prince Exalts God's Love For Us But Not Our Love For Him
Prince stresses God's love for us and implies it is the only and ultimate issue:
But I know the truth today. I know that even when I fail, God and I are still "tight" (we are still "cool", you know what I mean?) because of the blood of Jesus. God still sees me as His beloved. I have the gift of righteousness apart from my performance. I know that God still loves me, that our fellowship is not broken and that His favor still flows in me. Beloved, there is nothing you can do today to make God love you more, and there is nothing you can do to make Him love you any less. (p. 300)
The truth is, our love for God is needed for our salvation (1 Cor. 16:22; 1 Cor. 2:9; James 2:5) and, therefore, is the real issue! God loves even unsaved people, who are on the road to hell (Mark 10:21). It is our love for God that is a salvation issue. To show our love for God we must OBEY him:
If you love me, you will OBEY what I command. (John 14:15)
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will OBEY my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." (John 14:23)
This is love for God: to OBEY his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, (1 John 5:3)
According to Prince, that would be law! The truth is: OBEDIENCE is not law keeping, legalism or a works salvation! Obedience to God's commands is love for God and a manifestation of saving faith in Jesus. NOTE: God's commands are not burdensome (1 John 5:3)! Jesus said his yoke is easy (Matt. 11:29), which we wear when we follow him and do his will. So, it's our love for God that is the variable and critical factor which the devil tries to ruin by getting us to sin! The truth is scripture speaks of both the kindness and sternness of God, unlike the warped image Joseph Prince gives of God. Here is the real God of the Bible:
You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in." Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. (Rom 11:19-23)
Rom. 11:19-23 is a devastating blow to eternal security and once saved always saved! We are advised under true grace to be afraid because we can get cut off too! DO NOT BE DECEIVED!
Joseph Prince WRONGLY Claims To Hear The Audible Voice Of The Lord
All through his book, Joseph Prince claims he is able to hear and sometimes even dialogue with God back and forth about spiritual things! Imagine that! That seems to be an unhealthy, but common, trait of the Word Faith crowd, from which he is coming. By stating such, Joseph Prince is subtly exalting himself to a prophet-like infallible position, where he must be correct, since he hears God's voice directly. He starts very early in his book with his claim:
I distinctly heard the voice of the Lord on the inside. It wasn't a witness of the Spirit. It was a voice, and I heard God say this clearly to me: "Son, you are not preaching grace." (vii)
If you believe that Joseph Prince can hear God's voice like he claims, he has you hooked and you will believe his lies! Logically, you would also have to believe what he teaches! But folks, how could Joseph Prince be hearing the voice of God since his teachings are so dangerously different from what the Bible teaches about grace, the gospel, sin, the Christian life, eternal salvation, etc.? He can't be! It's impossible! Do NOT be deceived! If God was speaking to Prince he would scathingly rebuke him for his heretical teachings which are stumbling others, but the voice he is hearing is much different! It can't be God voice for it has resulted with the poisonous contents of his book, Destined To Reign!
...God spoke to me. He began to show me more clearly than I had ever seen before .... (p. 214).
I heard the Lord speaking to me on the inside. He said, "Stop disqualifying My people! My blood has already qualified them. Stop disqualifying them!" (p. 272)
... the Lord spoke to me and said .... (p. 278)
... the Lord asked me ... The Lord said to me ... The Lord continued ... the Lord said to me (p. 280).
Again, and in conclusion, Joseph Prince might be hearing voices, but they are not the voice of the Lord since his doctrines are in such disharmony to what is stated in the Bible. Don't be deceived by the smiley, fluent and popular Joseph Prince as he preaches, My friend, you are destined to reign in this life (p. 34). The truth is, if you aren't living holy now you aren't a Christian now and living godly will bring about persecutions (2 Tim. 3:12) and the related! Take warning!
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. (2 Pet 2:1-3)
The
Fresh Prince - Destined to Ruin
The Christian world has a fresh prince,
not of Bel Air, but from Singapore! 1
Joseph Prince (JP) is the senior
pastor of New Creation Church in Singapore, one of Asia’s biggest churches.2
Under Prince’s leadership, the church congregation has grown by more than a hundredfold
— from about 150 to more than 24,000.
A founding member of New Creation
Church, Prince initially served as an elder and associate pastor. However, his
appointment as senior pastor in 1990 marked a turning point in the history of
the church, which started experiencing phenomenal growth. 3
Prince, the son of a Sikh priest of
Indian origin and a Chinese mother, changed his birth name to Joseph Prince
from Xenonamandar Jegahusiee Singh, during his previous occupation as an IT
consultant.4
His name change is reminiscent of
Joseph the Hebrew Prince of Egypt. He is married to Wendy, and has two
young children. As a young man he dabbled in the occult, but he said that
‘supernatural experiences’ opened his eyes to Christianity.5
Rising to cult status, Prince is the
new ‘voice’ in the world of TV preachers, bringing a breath of fresh air,
teaching his version of “effortless” grace, and his panoramic view of God’s
love. But is this really the breath of Heaven, or is it a new wind of doctrine;
a form of grace for children desiring only milk, happy with cotton candy
Christianity? (cf. Eph 4:14; 1Cor 3:2; Heb 5:12 -14)
For a new “Christian” Prince’s teaching
sounds wonderful. But anyone with even an ounce of biblical discernment would
run from such teaching.
Joseph Prince’s Television programme,
and his books are everywhere. Prince is the new Prosperity Poster Boy.
His website boasts:
A highly sought-after conference
speaker, Pastor Prince has impacted church leaders internationally by preaching
the unadulterated gospel of Jesus with boldness. He is known for teaching God’s
Word in a fresh, practical and revelatory way that always unveils Jesus. His
humorous, dynamic and engaging style of preaching has also endeared him to a
wide spectrum of viewers who tune in to his daily television programme -
Destined To Reign. This broadcast currently reaches millions of homes across
North America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Israel on both secular and
Christian networks.
Pastor Prince is actively fulfilling
the mandate that God has given him to preach God’s unmerited favour without
compromise. Prince’s ministry continues to transform many lives, setting people
free from the heavy yoke of the law, guilt and condemnation by pointing them to
Jesus and His finished work at Calvary. Pastor Prince believes the best
in people and is committed to helping them discover how they can "reign in
life through the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness." His
desire is to help this generation of believers understand the new covenant...”6
His messages are all about grace “to
lift the heavy yoke of the law.” He is strongly into the “Word Faith” movement,
meaning his message is based on health and prosperity. Prince has changed the
basic premise from faith, to “grace,” which has far more appeal. Because he
believes the best in people he doesn’t talk much about sin! He has just enough
right teaching, mixed with wrong theology to be dangerous.
JP has been invited to preach at a
number of churches in Australia, London, USA, Canada, Norway, Netherlands,
South Africa and Indonesia.7Notably, he has been invited to preach at many a
Hillsong Conference, including this year’s (2012).8
Prince’s TV program Destined to Reign
is broadcast in more than 150 countries.9 His broadcast programme is also
streamed online through Internet and podcasts.10 Yet he has never had any
formal theological training.
Prince publishes books, CDs and DVDs.
In 2007, he published his book Destined to Reign: The Secret to Effortless
Success, Wholeness and Victorious Living, which contained teachings from his
ten years of preaching from 1997 to 2007. Six months after the book’s US
release, it was listed as one of Christian Retailing’s Top 100 Books.11 In
2010, Prince’s latest book Unmerited Favor was published worldwide by Charisma
House. 12
Joseph Prince was featured in the cover
story of the June 2010 issue of Charisma magazine, which covered his preaching
and teaching ministry.13 On October 29, 2011, JP ministered in the US for the
first time at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.
Effortless Income:
There have been criticisms about the
size of the salary paid by the church to its senior pastor.
On 5 October 2008, in an interview with
the Sunday Times, JP, who is the executive chairman of the church
council, acknowledged that he was well-paid but added that money did not have a
hold on him.14 He dismissed the rumour that his salary was $50,000 a month.15
However, on 30 March 2009, The Straits
Times reported that an investigation revealed that the independent New Creation
Church paid one employee between $500,001 and $550,000 in its last financial
year of 2008. 16
Under the revised and updated
recommendations contained in the Code of Governance for charities, all
charities and non-profit organizations in Singapore are encouraged to disclose
the salary bands of their top executives to the Commissioner of Charities. Even
though the church did not confirm if the amount went to its pastor, Joseph
Prince. It told The Straits Times that its policy is to ‘recognise and reward
key contributors to the church and Senior Pastor Prince is the main pillar of
our church’s growth and revenue’. The New Creation Church’s income was
reported to be SGD55.4million for the financial year ended March 2008. 17 On
June 7, 2010, The Straits Times and Channel News Asia reported that Joseph
Prince has not been on the church payroll since 2009.18
Prince of Prosperity
Many are becoming aware of this man’s
teachings. But not “all that glitters is gold”, as the saying goes...
Here is a quote from Joseph Prince:
I give thank(s) to God for my roots in
the Word of Faith teachings. It is truly on the shoulders of great men of God
like Brother Kenneth E. Hagin that we are able to see further into the Word of
God today. Growing up, I learned a lot about faith from Brother Hagin who truly
had a special revelation of faith from the Lord. I deeply honour and respect
him for all that he has taught me.”
19
Prince’s background has certainly
influenced his teaching on grace. In his sermon Walking in the undeserved
favour of God, he said:
Now I’ve been in the Word of Faith
circle and I find that Word of Faith preachers know about favour. The thing
that I wish many of them would say though would be this - to use that phase -
undeserved favour... Now I didn’t learn amazing grace from Word of Faith
though,... I had to learn that truly struggling on my own.20
The following are gleanings taken from
his book - Destined to Reign. This list is the crux of Prince’s teachings.
Nothing but blessings for the believer
(p.53)
No longer a need to be concerned about
God’s Judgment
Repentance and confession of sin is
never necessary
Wealth is for all Christians
God is continually restoring “New
Truths” to the church—-New Revelations (p.32)
Prince’s personal revelation from God
is: “More grace; less judgment”
Prince believes that God WILL NOT JUDGE
America because of the cross. (p.49)
The Moral law has no bearing on
Christians today; it was abolished with the Ceremonial law.
Prince says that he never encountered
anyone that said “now I can go out and sin because of grace”(p.99)
Repentance means “Only to turn around”
or a “change of mind”
He used to be conscious of sin, but he doesn’t
focus on confessing his sin/s anymore 21
Prince’s preaching on grace always
comes back to blessing and prosperity. It’s no wonder he has so many followers.
Royal Rhetoric
Prince continually assures the Believer
that, although he does not condone sin, all was forgiven when Jesus died for
the Believer. On pg 53 of his book - Destined to Reign, Prince writes:
If you receive a word from someone
which brings your sins to remembrance or instills an expectation of punishment
for sins in your life, don’t fear it, just throw it out the window...
On page 45, he writes:
God took all your sins, even the sins
that you have not yet
committed, and put them all on Jesus.
All future sins have been fully judged at the cross.’ On pages 138, 233 and 99 respectively
he states:
Believers are forever righteous
- you cannot be under grace without
becoming holy, and that he has never encountered anyone who after receiving
grace says “now I can go out and sin.”
Really?? Don’t you know of those who
truly served and loved the Lord at one time and have returned to a life of sin,
or at least failed the Lord at one point?
JP teaches that since all sins are
already forgiven, there is no need to repent of them anyway. What we need
instead is to be forgiveness
-conscious. 22 On page 103 of his book,
he writes:
Even when they (Christians) say a wrong
thing, do a wrong thing or have a wrong thought…….they see the blood of Jesus
continually
It is still wrong to murder, steal, commit adultery, etc. We are still
obligated to keep these laws. 30
You have heard that it was said by them
of old time, you shall not commit adultery: But I say to you, That whoever
looks at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in
his heart. - Matthew 5:27-28
Jesus magnified the law. In fact, Jesus
raised the laws of the Old Testament to a higher standard. If Joseph Prince is
correct; then why did Jesus make the keeping of the Moral law even tougher and
stricter cf. Matthew 5:22-44?
“It is all about Jesus and His finished
work! “The law justified no one and condemned the best of us, but grace saves
even the worst of us”(Destined To Reign p.124) “Commandments Kill”. 31
Although correct as standalone
statements, his emphasis is at the expense of a proper understanding of The
Law. Paul referred to The Law as “a schoolmaster” (Gal. 3:24). It’s not grace
replacing the law, but rather God’s grace given to fulfil the law. Prince makes
the ‘law’ and ‘condemnation’, not our ‘sin’, the enemy,!
While Prince makes some good points to
accentuate grace; one needs to read many of his quotes in their complete
context. Many times his points may be true; but his application and solution
are not.
The main idea Prince is advancing
is that through grace believers only receive blessings, they do not need to be
concerned about sin, or God’s chastening. Grace has done away with the law with
its judgment and punishment.
Antinomianism is the teaching that
under The Gospel, the moral law is of no use, nor are Christians obligated to
keep it. Antinomianism or legal irresponsibility is an extreme version of
justification by faith alone. It does not necessarily imply the embrace of
ethical permissiveness; rather it usually implies emphasis on the inner working
of the Holy Spirit as the primary source of ethical guidance. 34
Prince seeks to defend himself:
I have been accused of being an
antinomian (someone who is against the law of Moses). The truth is I have the
highest regard for the law... I am for the law, for the purpose for which God
gave the law… God did not give the law for us to keep. He gave the law to bring
man to the end of himself, so that he would see his need for a Saviour
(emphasis added). 35
Although the law was to bring an end to
ourselves;
What then? Shall we sin, because we are
not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Don’t you know that to whom you
yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey;
whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness? - Romans 6:15,16
He condemned sin in the flesh, in order
that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fully met in us, who do not
live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. – Romans 8:4
According to Joseph Prince, a Christian
can accept Christ and somehow live a life of sin and in the flesh (at least
ignorantly) because he/ she is already forgiven and there is no need to live
“holy and blameless” as the Apostle Paul admonishes us to do in 1 Thessalonians
4:7:
For God has not called us for impurity,
but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God,
who has given us His Holy Spirit.
Where is the need for repentance? With Prince’s
teaching it seems there is none?
Of course Prince denies this. Teachers
like Prince are into political “double- speak”.
There are many examples that show
Joseph Prince has warped the truth to build his “unique” grace teaching
… the power to overcome sin is found in
knowing that you are righteous. When a believer is struggling with sin, it is a
case of mistaken identity. He thinks that he is still a dirty rotten
sinner...Believers are struggling with sin today precisely because they do not
realize that they are righteous. The Bible says, “Awake to righteousness, and
do not sin.” This means that the more a believer realizes that he is indeed
righteous, the more he will start to behave like a righteous person. It is time
to awake to righteousness!” 36
The Greek word for righteousness (dikai
s) means right living. Prince makes the term some kind of word faith
confession.
Righteousness Consciousness
I have to ask the question, did Paul,
the apostle, somehow get it wrong, that we can now thank Joseph Prince for
opening up to us this NEW truth about grace? If we accept Prince’s grace
theology as true, then Paul wouldn’t have written most of
the New Testament. He wouldn’t have
expanded his writings to the churches beyond making clear to them their
‘position’ in Christ.
Yet Prince tells us to “Feed on the
letters of Apostle Paul” in order to discover the Gospel of Grace. Prince says,
God does not leave you wondering
whether you are saved or not. He tells you outright that you are His and that nothing
can ever separate you from the love of Christ. Not even sin because His
blood is greater than your sin! 37
Although he’s partly correct, Prince
seems to forget that sin does affect our communion with God; the blood of Jesus
Christ is applied when one confesses, and turns from sin, just as in salvation.
Love demands that we tell the truth to people when they have done wrong. God is
no different. He wants truth, not just grace.
26Joseph Prince states:
Colossians 2 tells us we are already
made perfect in Christ. We don’t work towards perfection. Christ has made us
perfect from the Cross. The minute you believe you are made perfect in Christ.
You work from your perfection not to it. 38
In Philippians 3: 9-16, Paul teaches
that he possesses “the righteousness which is of God by faith...”, yet he has
“not already attained, nor [is he] already perfect” (v12). He is seeking to
know more of Christ. Yet in verse 15 he concludes, “Let us therefore, as many
as be perfect, be thus minded...” (cf. James 1:3-4;1 Peter 5:10).
Matthew Henry makes this point: Those
who think they have grace enough give proof that they have little enough, or
rather that they have none at all; because, wherever there is true grace, there
is a desire of more grace, and a pressing towards the perfection of grace. 39
Prince it seems is unable to reconcile
such apparent contradictions.
The more they believe that they are
righteous, the more they experience true victory over sin... You see yourself
righteous and this gives you the power to rise above the temptation. 40
Knowing that you are completely
forgiven destroys the power of sin in your life now 41
Knowing you are forgiven before you do
something wrong can give you a freedom to do whatever you want, and here is
where the accusations of antinomianism surface.
Rom 8:1 actually says there is no
condemnation to those in Christ
Therefore, brethren, be even more
diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things
you will never fall; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into
the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ - 2 Peter 1:10,11.
The scripture exhorts us to be
diligent, giving heed, to add to our faith virtue. None of this comes
automatically from grace. We have this instilled in us by the Holy Spirit, and
we must co-operate with His work in conforming us to the Son. These are added
as we grow in both knowledge and faith. The Churches of Sardis and Laodicea are
clear warnings against casual Christianity. (Revelation 3:1-5,14 -21) Many are
building their faith on shifting sand, on Prince’s message of ALL grace, and no
responsibility.
Prince of Hyper-Grace
The missing element in Prince’s grace
mantra is sanctification.
Our sanctification began when we were justified,
but sanctification is a continuing work.
For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk
in them - Ephesians 2:10.
For this is the will of God, even your
sanctification, that you abstain from fornication - 1 Thessalonians 4:3.
Yet Prince states You are either
righteous or you are not. There is no such thing as first having ‘positional
righteousness’ and then having to maintain that through ‘practical
righteousness.’ You are the righteousness of God in Christ, period! 44
The sad fact is this extreme heresy is
spread abroad across our land today proclaiming a Saviour from hell, but not
from sin. It preaches a salvation of forgiveness but not redemption from sin.
It teaches a form of justification by faith but not sanctification by faith. It
preaches, “You must be born again” but doesn’t teach the marks of true
regeneration. It teaches that a man becomes a new creature in Christ, while he
remains just the same.
Do JP’s disciples truly believe God’s
grace can be this lopsided? Prince’s grace is hyper-grace - all of God, and
nothing of us. Prince’s positive thinking, positive confession paradigm is what
he propagates. JP claims that sin, law, repentance, conviction, are negative,
so they are excluded, and rejected from his message.
And you, that were once alienated and
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now has He reconciled. In the body of
His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable in
His sight: If you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and do not be
moved away from the hope of the gospel, ... - Colossians 1:21-23.
Yet if Prince produced his own Bible
you would read, “He has reconciled us; “In the body of his flesh through death,
to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable in his sight”, and that’s
where it would stop.
To quote Martyn Lloyd Jones:
I need something further [than being
delivered from guilt and punishment]. I need a positive righteousness [by living
in accordance with God’s moral law]. I cannot stand in the
presence of God by means of the
forgiveness of sins only; I need a positive righteousness [an actual
righteousness; and ... this is the dominant use of the word righteousness in
the Bible], the righteousness that the Law postulates [demands, requires]. The
second element in salvation, therefore, is that I am clothed
with the righteousness [the actual
righteousness] of Jesus Christ. ... In verse 3 [Rom. 8:3], the Apostle tells us
how God delivers us from the guilt of sin [verse 3 definitely includes His
setting us free from the authority and power of sin, from the kingdom of sin];
in verse 4 He gives us the positive righteousness, and how He will go on doing
this increasingly through the work of the Spirit in sanctification until we are
ultimately glorified, and free from sin altogether45
Martin Lloyd-Jones continues:
In other words, the righteousness of
the Law is fulfilled in us in two ways. The righteousness of Christ is
‘imputed’ to us [positional, legal righteousness]; but, thank God, the
righteousness of Christ is also ‘imparted’ to us. 46
Martin Luther wrote:
It is just as impossible to separate
faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire! (cf. James 2:14
-23) 47
Prince takes the position that God
actually made us righteous already, therefore sanctification is seemingly
unnecessary.
But you have not so learned Christ; If
indeed that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in
Jesus: That you put off concerning the former conduct the old man, which is
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your
mind; And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness - Ephesians 4:20-24.
The scriptures declare:
For you are dead, and your life is hid
with Christ in God. .... Put off the old man, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ
(see Col 3:3, cf. verses 8-10).
Instead, Prince is giving us a
‘replacement’ theology of fancy catch phrases, and Word of Faith metaphysics.
We need to understand there is a distinction between justification and
sanctification. The following outline is taken from the writings of J.C. Ryle,
on Holiness. 48
in what ways are they alike?
Both proceed originally from the free
grace of God. It is of His gift alone that believers are justified or
sanctified at all.
Both are part of that great work of
salvation which Christ, in the eternal covenant, has undertaken on behalf of
His people. Christ is the fountain of life, from which pardon and holiness both
flow. The root of each is Christ. Both those who are justified are always
sanctified, and those who are sanctified are always justified.
God has joined them together, and they
cannot be put asunder. Both begin at the same time.
If you are a justified person, that
person begins to be a sanctified person.
No one ever reached heaven without a
renewed heart, as well as forgiveness, without the Spirit’s grace as well
as the blood of Christ, without being ready for eternal glory as well as a
title. The one is just as necessary as the other.
Ryle continued
I am persuaded that one great cause of
the darkness and uncomfortable feelings of many well-meaning people in the
matter of religion is their habit of confounding, and not distinguishing
justification and sanctification. It can never be too strongly impressed on our
minds that they are two separate things.
What practical reflections ought the
whole matter to raise in our minds? For one thing, let us all awake to a sense
of the perilous state of many professing Christians. ”Without holiness no
man shall see the Lord”; without sanctification there is no salvation
(Heb.12:14). Then, what an enormous amount of so-called religion there is,
which is perfectly useless!”
Prince of Preachers
In closing, let’s have the
scriptures speak for themselves:
For the grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present
world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity, and purify to himself a special people, zealous for good
works Titus 2:11-14.
Notice what is the true grace of God
that brings salvation? This is not the ‘grace’ Joseph Prince teaches. Joseph,
the Prince of Egypt knew suffering and humiliation, nothing that this fresh
Prince seems to identify with. He believes it’s all about reigning now. Yet the
Bible promises that “we will reign with Christ [then], IF we first suffer
with Him [now] –cf. Gen 39:20, 40:23 with 2 Tim 2:12.
The pendulum has swung so far that it
seems enough for us that our Christianity consists of having Christ’s
righteousness accounted to us, without His righteousness being worked in us.
Prince’s odd position is what we may
dub juvenilia49 justification, a youthful hybrid of Word of Faith teaching, and
half a Gospel. He suggests a “simple prayer”:
Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me and
dying for me on the cross… Your precious blood washes me clean from every sin.
You are my Lord and my Saviour, now and forever. Because of your finished work,
I am now a beloved child of God.50
His message at its core is a
sophisticated form of Universalism, packaged as God’s Grace; but it’s cheap
grace, and harbours a false peace! Prince, ignorant of God’s righteousness, is
establishing his own. cf. Romans 10:3. Sanctification somehow happens
through ‘righteous consciousness’?
Joseph Prince’s followers are asleep to
real righteousness, right living, ‘destined to be ruined’ by his grievous
gospel (cf. Acts 20:29,30). Although on an evangelical mission, Prince is
following the broad path of the Emergent Church, with its dubious doctrine, and
moral ambiguity. The only difference is his teaching is tailored to a more
“biblically” familiar audience.
Prince holds to a gospel of Christ
which makes God’s law of no effect: “believing” we are released from the
necessity of being doers of the Word.
This is part of the ancient
heresy of the Nicolaitans, which Christ so unsparingly condemned in the
book of Revelation (Revelation 2:6,15-16). 51 Prince is drawing away disciples
through the success “franchise” of celebrity, prosperity and easy believism. No
surprise really!
At the time of writing this article,
Hurricane Isaac was bearing down on New Orleans on the eve of the seventh
Anniversary (August 29, 2005) when Hurricane Katrina slammed onto the coast.52
Prince said, God would not judge America! Southern Decadence, the largest gay
and lesbian street festival held each year in New Orleans (this year, Aug 29 -
Sept 3, 2012) are planning to rave on regardless.
Although Hurricane Isaac cancelled
remembrance ceremonies for those killed by Hurricane Katrina, one of the event
co-ordinators, said that no hurricane was going to stop the festival. 53
When Homosexuality begins to dominate a
culture, it’s clear evidence of divine judgment (Rom 1:27, 32).
Isaac in the Hebrew means ‘laughter’ or
“He laughs”. I wonder who will have the last laugh (Psalm 2:4-5)?
The mission statement from Prince’s New
Creation church is “to see Jesus in all the loveliness of His Person, and the
perfection of His work, and to make Him known through the preaching of the
gospel”.54
Prince is preaching a different Jesus,
another gospel...and although he’s articulate, charismatic, convincing, and
preaching ‘grace’; he is a blind leader of the blind, leading astray the
unlearned and unstable. He is at best a false apostle, and at worst a conniving
HERETIC! (2 Corinthians 11:12-15; 2 Peter 3:16).
endnotes:
Prince:
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an
American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10,
1990, to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of
himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in
with his aunt and uncle in their wealthy Bel Air mansion, where his lifestyle
often clashes with that of his relatives
3 -
http://www.newcreation.org.sg/joseph-
wendy-prince/about-joseph-wendy-prince
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Prince
^ a b c d e “Church Pastors Like None
Other
-
From stutter to charisma”. The Sunday Times (Singapore). 5 October 2008.
7-http://whengodtouches.com/grace-favor-
seminar-live-at-hillsong-australia-2-dvd-by-
joseph-prince/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsong_London http://web.archive.org/web/20070622161253/ http://www.hillsong.co.uk/hillsongconference/
index.php?content=speakers
- http://bschool.nus.edu.sg/Portals/0/images/
CGFRC/docs/Code-20of-20Governance-20for-
20Charites-.pdf
18- Destined to
Reign: The Secret to Effortless Success, Wholeness and Victorious Living,
Singapore: 2007, page 271
19- Source: Jonathan
Koh Thoughts on New Creation Church-and grace, faith, health and wealth
21
- http://escapetoreality.org/2011/01/14/12-
reasons-why-christians-don%E2%80%99t-
need-to-confess-to-be-forgiven/ http:// wildernesschristianity.net/info/JosephPrince/ wikipedia_NewCreationChurch.html
23 -
Destined to Reign p.196
%E2%80%93-Joseph-prince 25 -
(ibid. p.16)
26 (ibid.
p.305)
27 -
Unmerited Favor, p.37 28- Destined to Reign p. 249
31 – Ibid
p.120
au/2011/02/theology-of-joseph-prince-
distortion-of.html
33- Kenneth Copeland, Take Time to
Pray, Believer’s Voice of Victory 15, 2 (February 1987)
http://sanjoaquinsoundings.blogspot.com. au/2011/02/theology-of-joseph-prince- distortion-of.html
35 – Ibid
p.122-3
36 - ibid. p.138, 139
37 -
ibid.p 94 , p.95
39 -
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Philippians 3:4-14
%E2%80%93-Joseph-prince 41 – (ibid.
p.244, 245)
42 - Destined to Reign, p.100 43 -
(ibid. p.109)
44- Destined to Reign
p. 27.
45- Romans Vol 7:1-
8:4 The law its functions
and limits pages 302, 303 http://www. christianarticles.net/articledetail.php?artid=616
9&catid=80&title=Some+Comments+on+Destin ed+to+Reign+by+Joseph+Prince+and+Righteou
sness+and+Holiness,+Part+7
46 - Ibid page304
47- Martin Luther’s Definition of
Faith: An excerpt from “An Introduction to St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans”
–end of book
52 - http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/weather/storms/story/2012-08-28/storm-isaac-hurricane/57360044/1
53 - http://www.examiner.com/article/hurricane-
issac-does-not-scare-nola-lgbtq-because-
southern-decadence-is-still-on
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lance Goodall and his wife Norilyn left
the Australian church growth movement in 2009. They both have a concern for the
knowledge of God and His glory. They carry in their heart, a love for God’s
honour, for His Word, and for the salvation of the lost. Lance can be contacted
via email
PLEASE READ PROTECTION FROM
DECEPTION
by Derek Prince
Navigating Through The Minefield Of Signs And Wonders
Why don't you do something of your own instead if criticizing other peoples work that man has given many people hope thru his preachings something neither you or even your great grandchildren will never be able to achieve in your life or even in your grave. I sincerely pity you for you are too blind to see the truth your jealousy has blinded you so much you're just like the pharisees for they urged even with Jesus himself grow up this is childish thing to do. I don't know that man yet his messages rescued me also maybe you should do the same
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