I Am Christian
BEWARE: Joseph Prince Is
A DANGEROUS False Teacher
Dan Corner
[Permission is granted to duplicate this article in its entirety,
but only without additions, alterations or omissions of any kind,
including the author, ministry name and address at the end.
Nothing may be removed from this page including links to other pages.]
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)
Much more related truth about the Christian life is available in the 801 page book, The Believer's Conditional Security: Eternal Security Refuted. It is the most exhaustive refutation to eternal security ever written and available in both softback and hardback at Evangelical Books.]
Skull and Crossbones Awards of False Prophets and False Teachers
Aliens and Religion Do NOT Mix
Eternal Security -- Doctrine of Demons
Victorious Over Sexual Temptation
Former Roman Catholic
Jehovah's Witnesses Beliefs Answered and Exposed
Contact Us Or Join Our Email List
Evangelical Outreach
PO Box 265
Washington, PA 15301
www.EvangelicalOutreach.org
A DANGEROUS False Teacher
Dan Corner
[Permission is granted to duplicate this article in its entirety,
but only without additions, alterations or omissions of any kind,
including the author, ministry name and address at the end.
Nothing may be removed from this page including links to other pages.]
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 sc
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 ba
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 sc
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 sc
... 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)
sc
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 sc
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 sc
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 ba
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 sc
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 sc
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)
Much more related truth about the Christian life is available in the 801 page book, The Believer's Conditional Security: Eternal Security Refuted. It is the most exhaustive refutation to eternal security ever written and available in both softback and hardback at Evangelical Books.]
Skull and Crossbones Awards of False Prophets and False Teachers
Aliens and Religion Do NOT Mix
Eternal Security -- Doctrine of Demons
Victorious Over Sexual Temptation
Former Roman Catholic
Jehovah's Witnesses Beliefs Answered and Exposed
Contact Us Or Join Our Email List
Evangelical Outreach
PO Box 265
Washington, PA 15301
www.EvangelicalOutreach.org
By:
churinga
Age:
70+
,
Male
