Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered.
-Hebrews 5:8
False teacher Bill Johnson and many others in the Word of Faith movement believe, teach, and confess that Christ was the first Man to be born again. This is both blasphemous and stupid, and I will show why in this short essay. The text that they use to support their heretical claims is Acts 13:32-33, where we read:
“And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this He has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus,[1] as also it is written in the second Psalm,
‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’”
Johnson attempts to tie Paul’s quotation of Psalm 2:7 to Christ’s resurrection in order to say that Paul is here referencing Christ’s “second birth.” Besides the major theological error of saying that Christ, the sinless One from Heaven who alone has seen Heaven, had to be born again (something which is only necessary for those who are not sinless and who cannot otherwise see the kingdom of Heaven), the problem with Johnson’s twisting of this passage is that Paul differentiates between two types of passages of Scripture,[2]viz. the one which speaks of the Sonship of Christ mentioned in vv. 22-23,[3] and two which speak of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.[4] One doesn’t have to read anything into the text to see this very clearly, seeing as Paul explains his reason for quoting from Isaiah 55:3 and Psalm 16:10 when he says: “…as for the fact that He raised Him from the dead, no more to see corruption, He has thus spoken in this way…”[5]
And we can go just a step further. You see, for Johnson it is upon the basis of Christ’s resurrection that God says “Today I have begotten You.” Bill is interpreting “begetting” to mean “begetting from the dead.” The problem is that such a begetting from the dead would involve God declaring Christ to be His Son after the resurrection, which we know from Hebrews 5:8 is impossible, seeing as the Holy Spirit says that Christ “was a Son” who learned obedience by what He suffered – prior to His resurrection. Bill needs to repent of his blasphemy. Christ could not be born again, nor had He any need to be born again. Anyone who says otherwise is either ignorant of the truth (and in that case should NOT be masquerading in public as a teacher and prophet and pastor) or is trying to sell you a bill of goods in order to take money from you. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked.
-h.
[1] Note that Paul’s argument here is similar to what we find in Hebrews 1:1-2, where the apostle begins his epistle by emphasizing that God has spoken to our fathers, but has now finally spoken to us by Christ Jesus, His Son.
Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?
-Galatians 4:16
Missing the Exegetical Mark
I recently posted a status update on facebook indicting false teachers like Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, and T.D. Jakes. I received a lot of criticism for pointing out these teachers and informing my brothers and sisters in Christ about their heretical errors. I was accused of sinning against these individuals, but the sin of these teachers was never investigated by their proponents. It is hurtful to know that my honest concern for the Body of Christ was called “divisive” and other things, but I forgive my brothers and sisters. I just want them to know the truth about these teachers.
One of the people on my facebook wall attempted to use 1 Corinthians to support the idea that we, as believers, cannot judge the teachers who promote themselves so vigorously in the public’s eye. What is problematic about this, however, is that the divisions in the Corinthian church were not doctrinally based divisions, but were divisions rooted in the pride and self aggrandizing and self glorifying attitudes of the Corinthians who were vying for power and prestige within the church (I wrote on this topic some time ago in my entry The Corinthian Divisions: Doctrine or Practice?, where I show that such an interpretation would necessarily pit Paul, Cephas, Apollos and Christ against one another. A further logical conclusion must be fleshed out with respect to such an erroneous teaching. You see, if the Corinthian divisions were doctrinally based, and Apollos received necessary (i.e. universal revelatory knowledge for all of the church and not just the church at Corinth, which would be the claim of those who misunderstand the Corinthian divisions) revelatory knowledge, then Scripture, which has not a trace of the Apollonian doctrine (to entertain the thought proposed by those who misunderstand the Corinthian divisions), is incomplete, and the Bible is not a closed book. And if it is not a closed book, seeing as it is missing Apollos’ doctrines, then we have no sure footing to stand upon as Christians but can receive further revelation that may even contradict what has already been written, and that could be dropped at any moment, serving only temporary ends. This is, for any Christian, a conclusion that is obviously blasphemous and unacceptable).
I don’t believe that the people who grew upset with me were consciously contributing toward ecumenicalism, but I do believe that their adherence to the unbiblical idea that is wrong for believers to “test all things” (which is actually a commandment from the Lord Himself), as well as their uncritical acceptance of teachers who belong more to the New Age Occult than they belong to Christianity, does indeed contribute to the ecumenicalism that universalists like Rob Bell and Brian McLaren are promoting in the “Emerging Church Movement.” If this seems to be a recurring theme on my blog, that is because it is a serious problem in the church. In a former post, I went over the “Non-Sectarianism” of our Lord Jesus, in order to show that this had nothing to do with doctrine, and everything to do with, once again, pride (please see, “…He who is not against us is on our side…”). In another post, I examine The Curious Case of Apollos (cf. Acts 18:24-28) after having to deal with the deconstructive reading of the Bible prevalent among postmodern critics of Orthodoxy that seeks to identify “aporia” in the text of the Bible in order to overturn its obvious and plain meaning. In another post, I confront the question of universals and particulars with respect to matters of faith, criticizing the blending of Christian doctrine with Eastern thought in the hopes of showing familiar ground between the believer and the unbeliever, as well as criticizing his false view of the Israelites, which contradicts the Bible (see, Universals or Particulars Pt. 1 & Pt. 2).
What is a huge problem is the spirit of ecumenicalism that masks itself under the guise of “love” and a desire to keep “division” from occurring within the Body of Christ at the expense of truth. Such an attitude is not godly, it is sinful and must be shown to be in error. It is our job as Christians to expose these works of darkness, not be purposefully ignorant complicit propagators of soul damning heresy.
I’ve decided to post this in order to get the word out more about the false teachers that I mentioned in my initial facebook post. First I will post part 1 to a 4 part video series on the “Word of Faith” movement, a heretical theological movement which consists of false teachers like Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes, Paula White, Joyce Meyer, and Rod Parsley. then I will post links with relevant material for some very popular false teachers who need to exposed for the wolves that they are.
Please be objectively minded and do the research for yourself. It is our job to contend for the faith earnestly. If we do not do this, then we are dividing the Body of Christ by pushing His true sheep away from the church and inviting unregenerate men and women into the fold who want to do nothing more than desecrate and destroy His beloved Bride.
Justin Peters is a man with cerebral palsy who knows firsthand about the pastoral implications of the false teachings of the “word of faith” movement, and who has studied it in detail. His 6 hr DVD series is available for purchase on his website, but this free youtube video should be good enough evidence to get you started on understanding why the “word of faith” movement is satanic and not at all Christian.
False Teachers To Avoid (Relevant Links to Objective Facts Exposing their Unbiblical Teachings)
1. Joyce Meyer:
This video explains why Meyer is a false teacher, preaching another Gospel and another Jesus.
You can find very well documented resources at the apologetics website Deception in the Church, here. 2. Joel Osteen: Deception in the Church has some great articles, here.
Way of the Master Radio, hosted by Todd Friel, examines Osteen’s book Becoming a Better You.
Apologetics ministry, Let Us Reason, has a great expose, here.
3. T.D. Jakes:
Jakes is a oneness pentacostal who denies the cardinal doctrine of the Trinity. He is an unbeliever and heretical false teacher.
Equip.org has a detailed and documented review of Jakes’ Sabellianism, here.
Forgotten Word documents Jakes’ heretical position on the nature of God, here.
Christian Research Network touches on the enormity of Jakes’ heresy, here.
Other False Teachers Involved in the “Word of Faith” Movement
You can find a very thoroughly detailed and documented list of false teachers involved in the satanically inspired “Word of Faith” movement at
Please don’t fall for the satanic nonsense these dead men are trying to feed God’s people. Why let these wolves continue to devour the newly converted and the unsaved?
It is our responsibility to earnestly contend for the faith delivered once for all to the saints.
Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?
A : A 