Invalidating the Cross

Invalidating the Cross
This section is divided into two parts. The first part addresses false doctrines and the second part examines scripture and biblical doctrines.

Part 1.
It is a serious offence to demote Christ or to reject Him as He has revealed Himself in scripture. Let’s begin by looking at Psalm 2:

11 Serve the LORD with fear, And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

In spite of this warning, false teachers proudly demote Jesus Christ. This in itself is bad enough, but as we will see, they take it a step farther. They belittle and invalidate the cross as they deny that it is our way of redemption. The Bible has this to say about the cross in 1 Corinthians 1:

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

The Bible says that the cross reveals the power of God. In spite of this, Word of Faith teachers declare the cross as useless in our salvation. Here are some examples:

"It wasn't physical death that paid our penalty on the cross - it had to be more than that. If it was physical death, any man or prophet who died over the last 4,000 years could have done it."

The thing that redeemed us was not Jesus being nailed to the cross. His spirit and soul went into Hades. He walked into the door of Hades… And they wrapped their grimy hands and the chains of hell itself around Jesus and they confined Jesus into one of the cells in the Hades section of the underworld…Jesus sat their immobile not doing anything except serving our sentence". – Fredrick Price
<Listen in Real Audio>

Kenneth Copeland declared that the Spirit of God revealed to him that Jesus was "an emaciated little wormy spirit" who suffered in the bottom of Hell (hear this on Real Audio). He then goes on to explain that any man could have redeemed mankind if they had the knowledge Jesus had.

Spirit of God spoke to me. A twice born man whipped satan in his own domain. A born again man defeated satan. You are the very image and a copy of that one. You can't mean that I could have done the same thing? Oh yes. If you had the knowledge of the word of God that he did, you could have done the same thing because you are also a born again man – Kenneth Copeland
<Listen in Real Audio>

Joyce Myers declared that unless you believe that Jesus suffered in Hell, you cannot be saved.

"There is no choice of anyone going to heaven unless they believe this truth I am presenting. You cannot go to heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in hell."

"For three days He was alone paying for our sins as "only a man."

Kenneth Hagan explains that Jesus had to taste spiritual death for every man and had to be reborn in Hell:

"Why did He [Jesus] need to be begotten or born again? Because He became like we were - separated from God. Because he tasted spiritual death for every man and because his spirit and inner man went to hell in my place. Physical death wouldn't remove your sins. He's talking about spiritual death. Jesus was the first born again man. Why did his spirit need to be born again, because it was estranged from God." – Kenneth Hagan
<Listen in Real Audio>

This Word of Faith doctrine does not come from the Bible, but comes directly from pagan religions. Reverend Sun Myung Moon who founded the pagan cult known as the Unification church and its followers were once called the Moonies taught exactly what Word of Faith teachers are now teaching. Moon declares himself to be the Messiah. For those who are unfamiliar with the Moonies, some of Rev. Moon’s quotes should clarify his pagan position:

"The whole world is in my hand, and I will conquer and subjugate the world."

"So from this time of peak every people or every organization that goes against the Unification Church will gradually come down or drastically come down and die. Many people will die -- those who go against our movement."

"The true sovereign is not the American president nor the English king, but the Lord of the Second Advent." (Which, by the way, is the title Rev. Moon claims for himself).

(Here is a supposed divine revelation given to Moon from Christ)

"Bring in the flocks. Bring in the sheep and bring them to the throne of your True Parents. Bring them to the throne of our True Parents, the mighty throne of heaven. And I will place the Crown of Glory on our True Parents' head. I will lead them. I will show them that the Lord of Lords and the Kings of Kings and the King of Glory is our precious Lord Sun Myung Moon and his beloved bride Hak Ja Han. They reign as king and queen of the entire universe. And that I, Jesus of Nazareth, known as the Christ, bow in humility before them. I bow before them. Any who will follow me must do the same. I bow before the name of True Parents. I bow before our precious Lords, our True Parents, Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han."

We can see clearly that if Moon claims that Jesus will bow humbly before him. He is challenging God by claiming to be God. The Bible pulls no punches; everyone in heaven, earth and under the earth will bow at Jesus’ feet when He is revealed in all His glory. This includes Rev. Moon. I presented these quotes to show that there can be no mistake, Rev. Moon’s doctrine is pagan to the core. In spite of this, Word of Faith doctrine adopts some of his teachings. Consider this doctrine from Moon:

"When Jesus uttered his last words on the cross, saying, 'It is finished' (John 19:30), he did not mean that the whole purpose of the providence of salvation was attained through the cross. ...Therefore, Jesus meant by the words 'it is finished' that he finished establishing the basis for the providence of spiritual salvation through the cross, which was the secondary providence of salvation." Sun Myung Moon in his work, "Divine Principle" pages 151 and 152.

Moon is claiming that Jesus’ proclamation ‘It is Finished!’ was not a declaration of victory, but miscommunication. In Unification doctrine, Jesus’ death on the cross was only the beginning of the plan of redemption. Now lets look at the Word of Faith doctrine:

"When Jesus cried, 'It is finished!' He was not speaking of the plan of redemption. There were still three days and nights to go through before He went to the throne ... Jesus' death on the cross was only the beginning of the complete work of redemption." – Kenneth Copeland

The Bible says the cross is our redemption, but Word of Faith teachers say it is not. Kenneth Copeland, Joyce Myers, Kenneth Hagan, Fredrick Price and all other prominent Word of Faith teachers have doctrines that agree with Sun Myung Moon, but how do they measure up to scripture? As we shall see, they all fall far short of what God declared as an acceptable sacrifice. The points raised by Faith teachers are: Jesus must suffer in Hell so man will not; physical death cannot atone our sin; Jesus was separated from God; Jesus lost His divinity; and the cross is not enough. I will attempt to answer each of these objections with scripture.

Part 2.What the Bible says about the cross.

Is Spiritual Death Necessary?
Word of Faith teachers boldly proclaim that Jesus’ physical death on the cross could not redeem mankind. Why? What scriptural reference supports this claim? The Bible says just the opposite. Look at Colossians 3:

13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

How were our sins taken out of the way? They were nailed to the cross. Look now at Colossian 1

21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight --

We were reconciled from our wicked works in the body of His flesh through death. If Word of Faith doctrine is true and we can’t be saved unless we believe that Jesus suffered in hell, why hasn’t spiritual death been mentioned? Romans 10:9 says, "if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved", and Word of Faith doctrine says, "You cannot go to heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in hell". The Bible says that you must believe that Jesus was raised from the dead and Word of Faith says you must believe that Jesus suffered in hell. Which version of the gospel has more credibility?

Romans 8:3 tells us that Jesus Christ condemned sin in the flesh. 1 Peter 3 says:

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit

The Bible says that Jesus’ death was in the flesh but His spirit was made alive. If the Bible teaches that death was physical and the Spirit was and is life, how can anyone claim that Jesus had to die a spiritual death?

You cannot find anywhere in scripture where it is even remotely implied that Jesus served man’s sentence in hell. In fact, there is not a single implication that Jesus suffered beyond the cross. Everything in scripture points directly to the cross as the victory over sin and death. In Word of Faith theology, Jesus suffered spiritual death and was then revived by God in Hell. He was born again with a new spiritual nature and he then emerged with the keys of hell. They point to the Apostle’s Creed as evidence that the early church believed the same things they are teaching. The point in the Apostle’s Creed in question states:

[Jesus] Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead

Where is spiritual death in this statement? Where is suffering in hell in this statement? There is no question that Jesus descended into hell because scripture clearly states this, but it does not say He suffered. The confusion comes from the KJV use of the word hell. In the Old Testament, the KJV uses the words grave and hell interchangeably. In the New Testament, the KJV makes no distinction between hell and Hades.

Understanding the word Hell
One basic principle I frequently reiterate is that the Bible is one complete revelation. To properly interpret scripture, it must be taken in light of scripture as a whole. We will see some examples that show why this is so important as we proceed. The concept of hell was not introduced until Jesus taught it in the New Testament. Old Testament saints had no distinction between hell and the grave. Jesus’ teaching is the first glimpse of hell that God ever revealed. In the Old Testament, the word ‘hell’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘sheol’. Psalm 18 provides an example of this word usage:

4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

In this Psalm, David is lamenting his sorrows. The word ‘hell’ is the word ‘sheol’. Even in the context of the passage it is being used, it is clear that the Bible is referring to the grave. Death compassed me; the sorrows of ‘sheol’ (or the grave) compassed me. It makes perfect sense to say that death and the grave is surrounding me. David was a man of God; he was used greatly by God and inherited the promise of God. He was the lineage that Christ would one day descend from. David was not going to hell when he died – at least not in the sense of today’s meaning. Sheol simply means the grave. It may be translated as hell, but it did not mean to be separated from God and tormented.

Look at Psalm 88:

3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

Sheol has now been translated as the grave in the KJV. It is the exact same word and used in the same context, but this time it is called the grave. Now let’s move to a passage that is used to show that Jesus descended into hell. Psalm 16 says:

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Is this passage foretelling of Jesus’ separation from God, or is this prophecy pointing to His death, burial and resurrection? The apostle’s save us the confusion and interpret this very passage for us. Look at Acts 2:

26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.'
29 "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30 "Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
31 "he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.
32 "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.

Only the KJV translates this as hell in verse 27. The word ‘hell’ comes from the word ‘Hades’ which means ‘the abode of the dead’ or the grave. The KJV translates three Greek words into the word hell. We will examine this in more detail shortly. To the English reader it comes across as the same word, therefore it is assumed be the same meaning, but this is not so. It is understandable that the Old Testament never addresses the issue of hell. Sheol is always used. The grave (or death) can be judgment, but it is not always. As we have already discussed, the concept of torment in hell was unknown in the Old Testament because Jesus revealed this in His teachings. Before Jesus came, the grave was a dark unknown to the Old Testament saints. The New Testament reveals a lot about hell. Understanding the different references will clarify much of the confusion about Jesus’ descent into hell.

There are three primary words translated into the word ‘hell’ by the KJV. Hades, geenna (or gehenna), and tartaroo are translated without distinction in the King James Version of the Bible. Hades is translated into the grave and hell in the KJV. Hades means the underworld, grave or place of the dead. Acts 2:27 is an example of Hades:

For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

The KJV translates this as hell, but the Greek word is Hades. The KJV translates the exact same word as grave in 1 Corinthians 15:55

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The prophecy of Jesus not remaining in Hades is talking about the body. Jesus’ body did not remain in the grave, nor did His body see corruption (or decay). This is a reference to His resurrection.

The word Gehenna is also translated into hell. Gehenna was a valley of Hinnon just south of Jerusalem. This was a wasteland where animal corpses were dumped and burned. It was a horrible place and Jesus used this as a word-picture for hell fire and judgment.

Matthew 18 is an example of this word:

9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

This word is intended to represent eternal judgment and torment. The Bible never mentions Gehenna as being the place of Jesus’ destiny after the cross.

The last word for hell is Tartaroo (or Tartarus). This means the deepest abyss of Hades. This is where the Greeks believed the wicked dead were cast when they died. 2 Peter 2 is an example of this word:

4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;

The Bible is teaching that angels in rebellion are cast into the deepest abyss to await judgment.

Putting it into perspective.
Now that we can see the different words used to describe death, the grave, hell and the abyss, let’s go back to the question of Jesus’ descent into hell. Was Jesus condemned to hell? As one Word of Faith teacher put it, "the demons threw a net around Jesus and dragged Him into hell to torture Him". This would imply that Jesus was defeated on the cross and was later rescued by God. (Which would also imply that Jesus was not God). Jesus did not suffer in hell when He died. His body went to the grave, but His spirit was fully alive. Jesus made this clear in John 2:

19 Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
20 Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"
21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.

It was the temple of His body that would be destroyed, not His spirit. When Jesus died, He immediately went to be with the Father in Paradise. Of course we don’t know the exact events or when they occurred, but we do know that after this He descended into Hades. We will discuss this in-depth a little later. Jesus’ own words give us a small glimpse. On the cross, one of the thieves repented and asked Jesus to remember him. Jesus responded in Luke 23:

42 Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."
43 And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."

Faith teachers make a great effort to discredit this verse. Joyce Myers offered her explanation of this passage. She said that Jesus did not say, ‘I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise’. She claims that the comma is misplaced. It should read, ‘I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise’. In other words, "Today I am saying this. You will be with Me in Paradise". This is reading into the text. There would be no need for Jesus to tell the thief when this statement was being made. Even so, all we need to do is read three verses farther and Jesus clears up the issue completely.

46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' " Having said this, He breathed His last.

Faith teachers say that Jesus’ spirit was dragged into hell, but Jesus said His spirit was in the Father’s hands. The Bible tells us that the first place Jesus’ spirit went was to be with the Father. In light of what He told the thief, we can assume this was in Paradise. Jesus’ body went to the grave, but His spirit was in heaven. We may not know the exact events that happened after Jesus’ physical death, but the Bible does offer several pieces to this puzzle. Look at 1 Peter 3

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

Again I want to bring your attention to the truth of scripture. Verse 18 tells us that Jesus was put to death in the flesh, but alive by the Spirit. After making this point unmistakably clear, the Bible then tells us that He also preached to the spirits in prison. Word of Faith doctrine says that Jesus died on the cross and then needed to suffer spiritual death in order to serve our sentence. They also claim that Jesus suffered silently in hell. At the end of three days, He was revived by the Spirit of God, born again in the spirit and triumphed over hell. Faith teachers say that Jesus suffered silently, but the Bible says that Jesus triumphed on the cross and preached His victory. Word of Faith doctrine attempts to squeeze all of this in between a comma and the next phrase of scripture. This doctrine is not in the Bible. Proverbs 30:6 warns us not to add to God’s words or else He will rebuke us and we will be found to be a liar. Isn’t that exactly what is happening in the doctrine of Jesus suffering in hell? Teachers are adding to God’s word what clearly is not there. The Bible always points to the cross as Jesus’ victory over sin and our redemption. The cross is the message of the gospel. If Jesus triumphantly declared, "It is finished", what right does any man have to say, "No, the process of redemption has only begun"?

Each of these passages of scripture testifies that Jesus was alive in the Spirit, in the Father’s hands, entered Paradise, etc. No passage even remotely implies that He suffered beyond the cross. If there are countless verses that teach that He triumphed over sin on the cross and He preached in victory, and no passages say He suffered spiritually, then doesn’t it make sense to take the Bible at face value on this subject?

Satan hates the cross and will attack it on every level. Look again at Colossians 2:

If Jesus made a public spectacle of Satan and his forces on the cross and through the cross He triumphed over them, is it any wonder that satan desperately wants to discredit the cross? Since the cross is a reminder of Satan’s defeat, we can surely expect that he will do anything to take attention away from the cross.

Eddie Snipes
Exchanged Life Outreach
http://www.exchangedlife.com

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