Genesis of the Word-Faith Movement
Jesus: Be on your guard and be careful that you are not led astray (Luke 21:8)
The letter from Paul N F on 29 February - Many Christians Still Taking the Broad Way (from A W Tozer) highlights an extremely important admonition in the Word: For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh (2 John 1:7). The last words on this from Tozer are the core of avoiding deception:
We can only insist that the way of the cross (that leads home) is still a narrow way!I wanted to share some of my own experience, while emphasising that these are just some of my thoughts, on the word-faith movement. I first came across the word-faith doctrines around 30 years ago, and attended several meetings. While rejoicing in the outward vibrancy of a large, well organised church, I felt some unease about what was being taught. Over a period of time the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth) guided me to an understanding of the nature of the leaven that had infiltrated the word-faith teaching, including the chains that linked the doctrines/teaching to the spirit of antichrist.
Before doing this I would like to emphasise some points. First, I believe strongly in healing and miracles, and we will see even greater, outstanding miracles in the imminent outpouring of the Holy Spirit than we have to date. Secondly, I would like to focus on the genesis of the teachings, rather than what particular churches may be teaching today. Thirdly, there is a wide spectrum of teachings in the body of Christ and we need to be careful about ‘labelling’ particular churches or Christian writers. Fourthly, I have spent almost all of my 61 years in Pentecostal churches, and have observed much in this time.
The spirit of antichrist - John’s letters
John warns strongly about the spirit of antichrist. Just as the Antichrist (person) will be able to deceive many, so the spirit of antichrist is a deceptive and subtle influence within the body of Christ. The following verses from 1 and 2 John (Amplified) highlight the antichrist warning. Some antichrist teachings are more easy to identify than others. For example, Islam teaches that Allah has no son, clearly “denying the Father and the Son”. To discern other antichrist teachings we need to remember that Satan used God’s Word to tempt Jesus.
1 John 2:22 22Who is [such a] liar as he who denies that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah)? He is the antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son.
1 John 4:3 3And every spirit which does not acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh [but would disunite Him] is not of God. This is the [spirit] of the antichrist, [of] which you heard that it was coming, and now it is already in the world.
2 John 1:7 7For many imposters (seducers, deceivers, and false leaders) have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge (confess, admit) the coming of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) in bodily form. Such a one is the imposter and the antichrist.
Man is a spirit - the heart and spirit are interchangeable (Kenneth Hagin)
Genesis is the book of beginnings, and much truth and error can be traced back to the Book of Genesis. Similarly, we may need to look at the genesis of a teaching to discern its true nature. Kenneth Hagin is broadly recognised as the father of the word of faith movement, and he was influenced by E W Kenyon. In his book Man on Three Dimensions Kenneth Hagin taught: “Think of yourself as a spirit (being) who possesses a soul and lives in a body”. I remember a song in the church “I am a spirit”. Hagin also taught, among other things, that the words heart and spirit are used interchangeably in the Bible. Another emphasis was on rhema versus logos words.
Links in the chain to the spirit of antichrist
Unfortunately some of these teachings do not concur with the Word of God - they are often not as clear cut as presented. Many instances when you would expect word to be rhema (a quickened word) it is actually logos (for example, word of knowledge and word of wisdom). Although sometimes blurred, the Bible presents heart and spirit as different, as in Ezekiel 11:19: I will give them one heart [a new heart] and I will put a new spirit within them.
The question is do these “niceties/differences” really matter. The answer is that deception comes in with subtlety and, like a train taking a slight initial diversion, after a while you are a long way from the Truth. The path that I was taken down, led by the Holy Spirit had the following logical links:
I am a spirit (or spirit being)
I possess a soul and live in a body
My heart is also my spirit
What does Jesus say? In Luke 24:39 in His resurrected body: “See My hands and My feet, that it is I. Feel and handle Me, and see, for A SPIRIT DOES NOT HAVE FLESH AND BONES, as you see that I have.”!
So, if I am a spirit, then Jesus also is a spirit. But this contradicts what Jesus said of Himself (a spirit does not have flesh)
This brings us to the spirit of antichrist. The teaching that I am a spirit links directly to 1 John 4:3 3And every spirit which does not acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh [but would disunite Him] is not of God. This is the [spirit] of the antichrist.
Hence the link from a specific teaching to the spirit of antichrist. But how does it work its deception? Put as best I understand it, in John 1:14 we read that “the Word (Christ) became flesh and tabernacled among us.
The Word became flesh - the totality or completeness of the Word was embodied in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit then takes this totality and reveals Truth to us.
The spirit of antichrist chips away at, and breaks, this totality by disembodying the Word become flesh, mainly by selective use of the Bible and subtle changes in interpretation of the Word of God. For example, the Book of Job is not popular!
Satan sows deception into the hearts of false teachers, and before long these take root and appear to be successful. We need to stay on the narrow path!
My apologies if this is difficult to follow, but there has never been a more important time to discern deception! I hope this helps some Doves a little. In a follow up, I will share some thoughts on seven manifestations of deception that I have observed, and some advice from Jesus on how to approach deception (tares and wheat, birds in the mustard tree and leaven).
Maranatha! Denis