Introduction
We have
heard stories like when preachers just ask the congregation to lift up their
wallets to claim the financial blessings of God or waving their passports in
the air claiming the travel provisions of God or even their handkerchiefs to
use them for healing purposes. There is a sense of great faith in such gestures
but when do we say that things being preached behind the pulpit are already not
Biblical anymore?
The volume of contemporary prosperity preachers in
the world is on the rise. Hence, genuine Christians should be all the more
vigilant to preach and teach sound doctrines in light of the Bible in order not
to take multitudes into deception. Among the over emphasized matters in the
prosperity teachings today is about the Kingdom of God, particularly presenting
half-truth about the Kingdom Power. God’s power to love, show providence and
mercy alone is dangerous since half of the truth, which is God’s power to
exercise justice, is well forgotten. With this, many are being led astray and
end up worshipping a different God, very far from the God of the Bible.
Kingdom Power
in the Eye of Contemporary Prosperity Teachers
Spiritual
leaders namely E. W. Kenyon, Oral Roberts, A. A. Allen, Robert Tilton, T. L.
Osborn, Joel Osteen, Kenneth Hagin, Creflo Dollar, Kenneth Copeland, and Oprah are
just some of the popular prosperity icons being castigated in the Christian
world today. Some spiritual leaders
like Joyce Meyer and Benny Hinn recently released their statement of correction
to their own hyper-grace theology and we hope and pray that such turnaround
will awaken others too. In my country, the most recent prosperity teachers
being celebrated by their followers were the FIJ church pastors[1],
Apollo Quiboloy, and Bo Sanchez. Most of their teachings are putting spotlight
on the grace and love of God without preaching about hell or in case they do,
they stress its inexistence.[2]
Some prosperity teachings that they also promote involve the elimination of all
the negative things in life and just focus on the positive things through the
power of God because these will make us look younger and stronger and most
especially, “blessed” in the world’s perspective.[3]
And all these should start in the mind but not to a point of setting the center
of everything on ourselves and what we want because that will be humanism.[4]
Yes, most of them claim that they are against humanism but ironically leading
many to humanist lifestyle.
A lot of
the prosperity gospel teachers today will deny being called as such and will
argue that they are teaching just according to what the Bible says. If we try
listening to what they teach, it is all very pleasing to the ear of someone who
is constantly facing problems and sorrow in life. And they are quoting things
well from the Bible. Nonetheless again, they are preaching just half of the
truth, stressing God’s love over and over without teaching about the truth
about His righteousness and power in light of His justice. I would say,
half-truth is a lie. We are then to extinguish such in order not to corrupt the
churches today and call out the false teachers.[5]
Matthew
7:15: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but
inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
Acts
20:28–29 when he said, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the
flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. . . . I know that after
my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing...”
Summary of
the Orthodox Reformed Position About Kingdom Power
Vos points that Jesus’ ministry was the start of shifting the center of
gravity from God to man, since the Jews had lost the sense for this. That is
due to the expectation of the coming king exactly opposite of how Jesus
arrived.[6]
Jesus
inaugurated the kingdom with power, teaching that the bondage of sins and the
enemy are to be broken. This involved miracles such as feeding the thousands
and healing multitudes from their sickness. Vos stressed that these “signs of
the times are nothing else than the miraculous works which prove the kingdom to
be there. The forces which will revolutionize heaven and earth are already at
work..”[7]
Sadly, the understanding of this truth is distorted by prosperity leaders and
followers today.
The
interpretation of the Kingdom power in prosperity teachings becomes
superficial, emphasizing on the enjoyment of God’s blessings here on earth
without looking forward to the final consummation which Jesus reiterated in His
teachings. Like the Jews, some focus on the kingdom power as a gift, which is
true, but the problem is what is being ignored, that is the supreme object of
worship- God. The gift over the giver, so to speak.
The kingdom
power, intertwined with kingdom righteousness and kingdom blessedness,[8]
is to be seen as God’s element for His kingship. Never to be used to glorify
man but solely to celebrate God’s rule over all creations. And the Church,
according to Snyder, is the “primary point of entry of the new order of the
kingdom into present history.”[9]
Hence the Church is to become an agent of the kingdom on earth in the present
order but nevertheless in a fundamental way the sacrament and sign of the
kingdom in today’s world.[10]
It is to embody the different dimensions of our communal life as followers of
Jesus as we represent God, being His body growing organically as we approach
the Parousia.[11]
Vos says,
“.. the kingship of Christ is equivalent to the process of subjecting one enemy
after another..” Jesus overcome evil, He
conquered death, and assures us of the victory ahead in the final consummation.
This is His whole point of having the kingdom-power manifested.
As Jesus
introduces us to the end that is to come, we are oriented to God’s
righteousness, which is “always taken by Jesus in specific sense which it
obtains from the references to God as Lawgiver and Judge.”[12]
God will judge the world and as the Lawgiver, it means that some are
predestined to comply while some are not. And reckoning with God’s
righteousness, one will be rewarded according to the choices made on earth.
Although Vos did not explicitly talk about hell and only stressed on the side
of the righteous ones, it is apparent that there is a moral conduct that when
broken, negative reward is resulted and the ultimate destination is eternal
separation from God.
On another
note, Vos pointed that Christians should be aware of losing focus on the
Lawgiver, not too much emphasis on His miracles, moral codes, and so forth, as
the Jews deified the laws back in history. Jesus did not like it and
continually stressing in His ministry that the priority is God’s glory and not
our convenience or enjoyment. It is important to see that the supreme motive
for obedience to God is not out of self-centeredness.[13]
Calvin
defines lawful worship of God as the one whose chief foundation is to
acknowledge Him just as He is - "the only source of all virtue,
righteousness, holiness, wisdom, truth, power, goodness, mercy, life, and
salvation.."[14],
assigning all glory entirely to Him. “The kingdom centers in Jesus and the
coming of the kingdom in its fullness on earth still hinges on faith in Jesus
and obedience to His word..”[15]
This is to be preached to the ends of the earth.
The church, according to Snyder, raises signs of the
kingdom when it is genuinely faithful to the good news as per the Scripture and
in Jesus Christ.[16] “When the church
effectively and authentically combines her evangelistic and prophetic witness
within a vision of the kingdom, these forms of church life and ministry point
to the reality of God’s kingdom.”[17]
Hence the church is to keep Jesus as the primary need and focus of the church
and not the miracles and power, because all these will just be added unto us
when we seek God first, Matthew 6:33.
Biblical
References About Kingdom Power
Acts 1:7–8
says that “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has
fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Many Pentecostals today
stresses this kingdom-power, mentioned in Acts 1:7-8, bestowed to the Church
through the baptism of the Holy Spirit as supported by Acts 2:4, where the
“glossolalia” is the initial physical evidence. Nonetheless, such “Pentecostal
gift” is claimed to be a separate gift of the Spirit from saving faith as per
some Pentecostal scholars who based their theology from Lukan pneumatology.[18]
When it
comes to miracles, we can note innumerable accounts from Jesus’ ministry such
as what is said in Luke 11:20, “If I cast out demons with the finger of God,
surely the kingdom of God has come upon you”. And many charismatic leaders use
these to support their healing ministries and again crossing the border of
extremism.
The kingdom power in the Kingdom of God is not just
limited to the miracles and gifts through the Holy Spirit but in totality, the
rule of God in everything, even over sufferings and death, “For He rescued us
from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved
Son..” Colossians 1:13. The Church has become an agent of God to proclaim this
victory on the cross and surely not to become a playground for magical healing
and enchanted provisions.
Practical
Application
We do not
limit God and His kingdom power in the visible kingdom that Jesus has
established. But we all need to be careful in handling His truth because with
any unsound theology, multitudes may be caused to stumble. We are to speak and
act according to what God wants us to be since our direction is heavenward,
where our true home is.
Philippians
3:20, But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. John Calvin said it is the task of the church to make the
invisible kingdom visible. This is done through living in such a way that we
bear witness to the reality of the kingship of Christ in everything we do
whether in our studies, jobs, family, ministry and so forth. Christ is King
over every one of these spheres of life and this is manifested by the way we
live as citizens of heaven and subjects of the King. The Holy Spirit delights
in our hearts that are surrendered for obedience and deference to His will and
that the fear and love for God reign in our hearts, where His throne is.[19][20]
In the
ministries that the Lord has entrusted to me, I will try my best not to miss
the mark. That the Kingdom of God is here and is yet to come. That the Kingdom
of God is not a show for entertainment nor any magical stage for our
self-centered amazement. It is an inward and outward realm where God rules and
is to be solely glorified. Nevertheless, we do not mean that there will be no
miracles in the church anymore. Of course, there will be a lot. But this is to
be understood that God allows miracles to happen for His sole purpose, which is
for His glory that will result to the advancement of His Kingdom until the
final consummation.
Bibliography
John Calvin. The
Necessity of Reforming the Church. Ligonier Ministries. Indiana. 2020.
W. Menzies, et.al. Spirit
and Power. Michigan. Zondervan. 2000.
J. Meyer, Power
Thoughts: 12 Strategies to Win the Battle of the Mind, FaithWords
Publishing, 2010.
J. Osteen, Empty out
the negative, p.2. FaithWords
Publishing, 2020.
H. Snyder. Kingdom,
Church, and World. Oregon. Wipf & Stock.2001.
Geerhardus Vos. The
Teaching of Jesus Concerning The Kingdom of God and the Church. Place of
publication not identified: Fontes Press, 2017.
Online:
https://www.facebook.com/606011042765270/posts/4163595383673467/
https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/should-we-call-out-false-teachers-or-ignore-them
[1]
Ps. Arnel Cadelina recently posted in social media his sentiment about
Christian leaders castigating him for his recent proposal that there is no hell
and that God is too good to send anyone to hell and suffer. He underscored too
much about “grace wins”. https://www.facebook.com/606011042765270/posts/4163595383673467/
[2]
Pastor Arnel Cadelina presented his exegesis about the hell that Jesus was
talking about as the Gahena, which is not to be interpreted as the hell in the
final consummation. https://fb.watch/4S5ddIJe0g/
[3] J.
Osteen, “Empty out the negative”,
p.2. FaithWords Publishing, 2020. "God promises that if we
make room (for positive things), He will not only fill us with good thigs, but
He will keep us young and strong.."
[4] J.
Meyer, "Power Thoughts: 12 Strategies to Win the Battle of
the Mind", FaithWords Publishing, 2010. “Let me be clear that I am not
saying that we can think into existence anything that we want. That view of the
power of thoughts is a form of humanism, which is an ungodly philosophy.”
[5]
John Piper gives Five Factors for Calling Out False Teachers: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/should-we-call-out-false-teachers-or-ignore-them
[6]
Geerhardus Vos. The Teaching of Jesus Concerning The Kingdom of God and
the Church. Place of publication not identified: Fontes Press, 2017.
P.44.
[7]
Ibid. p.47.
[8]
Ibid. p.46.
[9] H.
Snyder. Kingdom, Church, and World. Oregon. Wipf &
Stock.2001. p.81.
[10]
Ibid.
[11]
Ibid.p.82.
[12] Vos.p.54.
[13] Vos.p.55.
[14] John
Calvin. The Necessity of Reforming the Church. Ligonier
Ministries. Indiana. 2020. p.6.
[15]
H. Snyder. p.72.
[16]
Ibid..p89.
[17]
Ibid.
[18]
W. Menzies, et.al. Spirit and Power. Michigan. Zondervan. 2000. P.121-132.
[19] Calvin.
p.7.
[20] Luke 17: 20-21, “The kingdom of God is not
coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or,
‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
