Much of Prince’s teaching is a repackaging of concepts from the Word of Faith movement.3 He writes, “I give thanks 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.”4 Just as Hagin taught “what the individual says, that shall he receive,”5 so Prince recapitulates, “God says to you, you have an edge, your edge is your mouth. You are righteous by faith, so speak. God’s favor is all over my business…whatever I do prospers!”6 Now Prince admits, “I would preach, ‘The reason you are sick is that there is something wrong with you,’” until one day God supposedly told him, “Stop disqualifying My people! My blood has already qualified them.”7 Nevertheless he has not completely reformed from his old ways. For example, he still thinks poor and sick believers cannot bless anyone, and maintains, “Religion will tell you that ‘God’ wants you sick to teach you character and patience. Religion will tell you that ‘God’ wants you poor, so that you will learn humility. It sounds noble, doesn’t it? But these are LIES from the pit of hell!”8 Prince also uses the Word of Faith tactic of twisting Scripture to buttress the claim that God guarantees unlimited health and wealth this side of eternity. He teaches, for example, that Isaiah 53:5 means, “Sickness and diseases are not from God. On the cross, Jesus bore not just our sins, but also our sicknesses, diseases and infirmities, and ‘by His stripes we are healed!’”9 Isaiah 53:5, however, speaks of spiritual healing, as Peter makes clear, when he writes that Christ “bore our sins on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Pet. 2:25).10 Prince likewise teaches that 2 Corinthians 8:9 means, “On the cross, Jesus bore the curse of poverty!”11 However, this passage is not teaching Christians are guaranteed wealth; instead, Paul is encouraging Corinthians to be generous, as the other churches of Macedonia were generous despite their poverty (2 Cor. 8:1–6). The Christian is not promised perfect health and unlimited wealth this side of eternity. God promises incorruptible riches instead, including peace that surpasses all understanding and knowledge of Christ and the power of His resurrection (Matt. 6:19–21; Phil. 3:8–11; 4:6–7). ~ Warren Nozaki equip.org/article/joseph-prince-unmerited-favor/#christian-books-4
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 01:00:00 +0000
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