There are many examples where the Word-Faith doctrine demotes God. I will try to get a cross section so we can get a clear overview of how this movement views God. Understanding who God is may be the most essential part of the Christian faith. A weak god is no god at all. Once a person loses their awe of God, religion becomes the god instead of pointing us to God. The entire Bible declares God’s power, majesty and incomprehensible wonder. However, we will see that this is not the god of the Word-Faith movement. In this section, we will look at four areas where God is demoted by false teachers and we will compare this doctrine to scripture. We will examine God’s power, His dominion, His will and the failure of God according to Word-Faith teachers. Let’s begin with a look at God’s power.
Faith is God's sources of power. God cannot work for you apart from your faith. – Kenneth Copeland
Read Revelation 4:11. Is God’s role to work for man?
Charles Capps
Some think that God made the earth out of nothing, but He didn't. He made it out of something. The substance God used was faith. He used His words as a carrier of that faith.
Does this belief come from scripture?
Faith-filled words brought the universe into being and faith-filled words are ruling the universe today. - E. W. Kenyon
If God can only create by using faith, what created faith?
According to these leaders in the Word-Faith movement, God is powerless; only faith has the power. The Word-Faith doctrine is simple, but erroneous. Faith is the force – or the power behind everything and fear is the destructive power against that force. Words are containers. We fill our words with the power of the force we choose. We can fill our words with faith and spur God into action or we can fill them with fear and spur the devil into action. Either way, we are the ones in command of both God and the devil.
Does the Bible support the idea that both God and the devil are commanded by our words?
It is the Christian’s responsibility to recognize the discrepancies between these teachers and scripture. It is also our responsibility to hold up the word of God so others can see and understand the truth. We have seen the Word-Faith doctrine about God’s power; now let’s examine the scriptures to see if these things are so.
Psalm 62
11 God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God.
Psalm 21
13 Be exalted, O LORD, in Your own strength! We will sing and praise Your power.
Do these passages agree with the Word-Faith doctrine that God uses power or does the Bible say that God is the power?
Could this possibly be any clearer? God does not harvest power. God does not use the power of faith. It is God’s own strength and all power belongs to God. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that no one has the power by their own doing. It is God who determines who will be used and how His power will be used. If God says something is done, no power in the universe can prevent Him – with faith or without faith, and if God says no, the answer is no. All the faith in the world cannot over rule God. Jeremiah 27 says:
5 'I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me.
This is echoed in Psalm 68
35 O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places. The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God!
Not only does God declare that He is the source of all power and gives power to those to whom He chooses, He also warned us against the very thing the Word-Faith teachers are doing. Look at Jeremiah 5:
30 " An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?
How does this passage relate to the false teaching we have been examining?
Do we ‘tap into the power of faith’ or is it God’s power that enables us to do His will?
This describes the doctrine of these teachers perfectly. They claim falsely that they are the masters of their own destiny. They claim to create with their own power by using faith. God asks a redundant question: ‘But what will you do in the end?’ Is it worth it? The Bible says that the end is better than the beginning. The beginning is temporal, but the end is eternal. We already know the end. The Bible says that He will exalt the humble and cast down the proud. In the end, the only praise will belong to God.
Revelation 19:1 After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God!
A major point of confusion is in the area of dominion. The Word-Faith doctrine teaches that Adam was given dominion and he was tricked into giving that dominion over to satan. Faith teachers define dominion as ownership – Adam owned the earth and now satan does. Here is the Word-Faith view on God’s dominion:
God's on the outside looking in. He doesn't have any legal entree into the earth. This thing don't belong to Him. – Kenneth Copeland
Perhaps we should read Daniel 4. God exalted King Nebuchadnezzar for a purpose of judging His people. This king was lifted up with pride. Nebuchadnezzar did not acknowledge God he declared, “Look what I have done”. Nebuchadnezzar thought it was by his wisdom or power. God struck him down with insanity and he began to graze in the fields like a wild beast. God humbled Nebuchadnezzar by showing him exactly what he was without God’s power holding him up. After years of grazing, God returned him to sanity and king Nebuchadnezzar testified:
34 And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom is from generation to generation.
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, "What have You done?"
36 At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me.
37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.
Who did Nebuchadnezzar say had dominion?
Did God illegally infringe on Nebuchadnezzar’s rights?
The Bible makes it clear that God lifts up and casts down according to His purposes. All authority and all power belong to God. Word-Faith doctrine also teaches that God sought out Abraham as a way to get His foot back in the door of the earth. Abraham could have told God to get lost, according to Faith teachers, but the offer of wealth was too good to pass up. Frederick Price explains:
"Adam gave it [the earth] away. As a result, he got his behind kicked out of the garden. Now God was out of the business. God was out of the earth realm. God has no more stock in this earth realm. No more. None at all. Nothing He could do. Not a thing in this world He could do. The only way God could get back is to have an invitation. Finally He got to a point where He had His plan [to regain control] ready to go into operation. He saw a man named Abraham".
-Frederick Price
Does the Bible agree with this doctrine?
What events in the earth after Adam’s fall show that God is still in control?
Who drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden?
How did God flood the world if He did not have a legal entrée back into the earth? If Abraham had to give God permission how did God work in the earth before Abraham and outside of Abraham’s circumstances? Price avoids saying who drove Adam out of the Garden of Eden. If satan had ownership and God was out of the picture and there was nothing He could do (as Word-Faith teachers claim), then God could not have driven Adam and Eve out of the Garden. The implication is that once satan had ownership, Adam and Eve got evicted. However, the Bible makes it clear that after Adam sinned, God was still there. God sacrificed the first offering to make them clothes. For their own protection, God drove them out to keep them from the Tree of Life. God cursed the ground and the serpent. God judged Cain for killing Abel. All one has to do is read Genesis for themselves to see that God worked and was in control in every step from Adam to Abraham and is very much in control today.
Word-Faith doctrine does not return control of the earth to God. Abraham gave God a little chance to work. Copeland puts it this way:
God hasn't been running things except when he gets a little bit of a chance. When He can get in there and help a little bit.
Abraham gave God a chance to help a little bit, but now that Jesus conquered, control was returned to us. It wasn’t returned to God, but to man. Price explains this in detail that is – as he puts it – shocking.
Now this is a shocker! But God has to be given permission to work in this earth realm on man's behalf. Yes, you are in control! So if man has control, who no longer has it? God. When God gave Adam dominion, that meant God no longer had dominion. So, God cannot do anything in this earth realm unless we let Him. And the way we let Him or give Him permission is through prayer.
-Frederick Price
Read Genesis 1:28.
Why was mankind told to have dominion over the creatures, but not the earth itself?
If God has no rights, who gives God permission to judge wicked people and nations?
What does dominion mean?
The Word-Faith understanding of dominion is false from the beginning. Dominion means to oversee, reign, subdue or rule. It does not mean ownership. Psalm 24:1 makes it clear that God owns the earth – not satan and not man, “The earth is the LORD's, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.” We see this point driven home when God’s people entered the Promised Land. God divided the land and gave it to them as an inheritance. When God gave the land, He also gave certain conditions. If they turned from God, He would drive them out of the land. They could not sell the land, they could only lease it and it would return to the original owners on the year of Jubilee. The reason is that they were not the owners; they were only the stewards who cared for God’s land. We are stewards over everything we posses, but we will never own anything. When we die, we lose any investments made on this earth. It is a false assumption that dominion means ownership. Adam sinned and forfeited many of God’s blessings, but ownership was never an issue.
How can the Word-Faith doctrine teach that the purpose of prayer is to give God permission? Again the scripture has been twisted to mean the opposite of what God has declared. The purpose of prayer is not to bring God into our will, but to conform us into His will. Look at James 4
2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Two things are communicated in this passage, ask and examine your motives. The Bible is teaching us not to desire the world because it is opposed to God. To love and embrace the world is to alienate ourselves from the embrace of God. We need to first realize that we are not asking for selfish pleasure, but we are asking for what we know conforms ourselves to God’s will. 1 John 5 explains further:
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Does the Bible teach that the purpose of prayer is to give God permission work on our behalf?
According to scripture, whose must be the focus of our prayers?
Contrary to Word-Faith doctrine, prayer is not to grant God permission to enter the realm of our control; prayer is asking of God while examining ourselves and conforming to His will. Prayer is an acknowledgment of our personal relationship with God and an acknowledgement of our dependency on God. Our supreme example is Jesus, who when faced with the greatest sacrifice as He faced death on the cross said to the Father, “Not My will, but Yours”. How then can this movement challenge God’s will and proclaim Him to be the fulfiller of our will?
As we will see in this section, Word-Faith teachers do indeed challenge the will of God. They twist the scriptures so that it is not His will but ours. Here is how Kenneth Copeland interprets God’s promise to Abraham:
Copeland - Now here is the phrase that is so important and this phrase is still on the covenant today. This is God saying - 'as for Me'. In other words, God is making a proposition; you can tell Me to bug off if you don't like it.
Read Genesis 17:1-4.
Does this passage teach that Abraham is in control?
Does this passage imply that we or Abraham can tell God to ‘bug off’ if we don’t like His plan?
Does this passage show God’s need for Abraham, or Abraham’s need for God?
This supposedly comes from Genesis 17:4 where God is making a covenant with Abraham. How does the phrase, ‘as for Me’ equate to ‘you can tell God to bug off’? Perhaps we should read verse 1 which says, “I am Almighty God, walk before Me and be blameless”. Far from being a proposition, this is a declaration of God’s power and the command of His word. Because Abraham was walking with God, he was counted as blameless. Abraham was justified by his faith years before. It is because he was justified that he was able to walk before God and he was blameless because God made him blameless because of faith – trusting in God (Genesis 15:6). Because Abraham was doing God’s will, God blessed him and granted Abraham the covenant. The promises of God are only found within the will of God. The only ‘proposition’ is found in Deuteronomy 11, “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God”. We can bug off and chose the curse, but it is foolish to think we can tell God to bug off.
Rather than showing the vulnerability of God as Word-Faith teachers claim, this passage declares Almighty God’s power to keep His promises to those who obey. It also reveals Abraham’s need for God, not God’s need for Abraham. I have included three other Word-Faith leaders also challenging God’s will. Here is what Paul Crouch has to say:
Quit this old cop out prayer 'if it be thy will' - bunk!
Kenneth Hagan popularized this idea among the Word-Faith followers. Here is his explanation:
Because we didn't understand what Jesus said and because we have been religiously brainwashed instead of New Testament taught, we've watered down the promises of God. And tacked on something that Jesus didn't say. They have added something else to it. 'If it is His will, but it might not be His will' people have said. And yet, you don't find that kind of talk in the New Testament.
Frederick Price agrees by saying:
"When I was saved they told me to say, 'the will of the Lord be done'. It sounds humble, but its really stupidity. If you have to say, 'thy will be done', then you are calling God a fool".
Can someone speaking for God call His word ‘bunk’, stupidity or foolish?
How can this movement say you don’t find this kind of talk in the New Testament? All we need to do is read the New Testament. The overarching theme is to God’s will. Jesus and the apostles taught we should pray, “if Thy will be done”. In Matthew 6:10, Jesus taught His disciples to pray by saying, “Your will be done…”. 1 John 5:14-15 tells us that if we pray anything ‘according to His will’ He hears and grants our requests. James 4 says:
13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit";
14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."
16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
Read Matthew 6:7-10 and 1 John 5:14-15.
Can anyone accurately say that praying for God’s will is watering down God’s promises and is not found in the New Testament?
According to James 4:16, how does God define those who do not consider His will?
Jesus and the apostles taught to pray for God’s will and Word-Faith teachers say we should not. Who is more credible?
The Bible says concerning those who don’t consider God’s will, such boasting is evil, yet the Word-Faith movement teaches that it is stupidity if you say, ‘the Lord’s will’. Who do you think is more credible? This doctrine claims it is not found in the New Testament, but any Bible student can see that submitting to God’s will through Christ is the theme of the New Testament. Word-Faith says that praying for God’s will is bunk, but Jesus said that we are to pray for God’s will. Is there any question that the doctrine of the Word-Faith movement is in direct opposition to the teaching of scripture? Not only do these teachers challenge God’s will, they also challenge God Himself and label Him as a failure.
In a sermon, Kenneth Copeland stated:
"I was shocked when I found out who the greatest failure in the Bible was. Many say Judas, but it wasn't him. Many say Satan. He was the most consistent failure, but he wasn't the biggest. The biggest failure in the Bible is God."
I also am shocked that anyone would have the nerve to make such a claim publicly while claiming to be a spokesman for God. Copeland continues his assault on God’s character:
"He lost His top ranking most anointed angel, the first man he ever created, the first woman he ever created, the whole earth and all the fullness therein, 1/3 of the angels at least. That is a big loss man. If you figure it, that's a lot of real estate, brother - gone down the drain. The reason you don't think of God as a failure is because He has never said he is one."
Does the Bible teach that God is a failure?
Did God lose any of the these things as Word-Faith doctrine claims?
Is God too proud to admit His mistakes?
Does God make mistakes?
Not only is God a failure in the Word-Faith doctrine, but He is losing ground fast and also is either self-delusional or too proud to admit His own failures. Therefore, we need the Faith teachers to point it out. We have already addressed the obvious flaw that claims God lost the earth. Contrary to this doctrine, the Bible makes it clear that heaven and earth are the Lord’s and all that is in it. The Bible makes it clear that this has never changed. God did not lose man; God gave man a choice. Without the ability to disobey, there is no way for man to be obedient and to love God. We were not created to be gods and we were not created to be robots. We were created to reflect the image of God, have a personal relationship with Him and abide in His glory. But, as Romans tells us, all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Instead of reflecting His glory, we have fallen and are seeking our own. Why did God allow satan to fall? We can never know for sure. Perhaps it was to allow man to have a choice to sin so that a true loving relationship out of choice to obey could be possible. We can speculate, but we can never know for sure. In a way, the Bible does address this issue. Look at Deuteronomy 29:
29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
If God wanted us to have all the answers, He would have provided them. God provided enough information so we could have understanding and believe, but some things will not be revealed until we stand before Him – if then. We know that God has said that all things work together for His will and our good. We may not understand how, but we know for certain that in the end we will stand amazed at the wisdom of God’s plan and in awe of His loving care as He fit us within His plan with our benefit in mind.
Having said that, let’s look at an illustration I occasionally use. It helps me to grasp the big picture and I hope it will also help you. It begins with Adam at creation:
Adam was created sinless to have a face-to-face relationship with God. In the beginning, mankind was open to God and the relationship was open. It was man who failed through sin, not God as Word-Faith teaches. As time passed, mankind grew distant from God until the time of the flood. Only 8 souls heeded the warning of God and entered the ark. God used Noah to start anew. Once again, mankind was open to God and the relationship was open. Over time, however, mankind grew distant and sinful and man closed the relationship with God. Through Abraham God began a new covenant which would benefit man and reopen that relationship. The nation of Israel was born and was intended to be the light of the gospel to the world. Over time, the relationship again closed and the people were in bondage. God introduced the law, which guided mankind to holiness through faith and obedience. Israel was again focused on God and the relationship was open. As man failed again, they turned from God and the relationship was closed. God then became a man to bridge the gap between God and man. He paid our debt and opened the relationship again through grace by faith alone.
If we look at the big picture, do we see God’s failure or God’s plan?
If man never saw his need for grace, could man appreciate the grace of God?
If we look at the overall picture, we see a pattern. God is carrying mankind by the hand back to the same place where man began. Ultimately our destiny is to once again be face-to-face in a loving relationship with our Creator. Each step we see a progression of greatness. What is the only possible next step? We had innocence in Adam, the promise through Abraham, escape from judgment through Noah, the law through Moses, and justification through Jesus Christ. In Christ God veiled His glory. The only possible next step is His glory unveiled. We don’t see a failure, but the careful plan of God as God again brings us back to innocence through the cross of Jesus Christ. We are now living in the time of the cross where people can enter into that innocence. Once that time has passed, we will again see the glory of God and we will joyfully and confidently stand before Him as it was intended to be from the beginning. However, to get to this point, man first had to realize the dependence on God and His love for us. We have failed each time we have taken the reigns, but God has used man’s failure to guide us back to the Garden.
Contrary to the Word-Faith doctrine, God is not the biggest failure, man is. But in spite of this, God has used man’s failure to reveal His loving grace. Who could know the depth of God’s love and grace if we did not need it? Only in failure can man see the power, grace and love of God. Those who demote God are, by choice, blind to the glory and the love of God.
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