Dangerous Theology...The Word of Faith Movement

For the Christ follower, it has always been important to be able to distinguish God's Word from that which is false. God worked through a historical process to establish the authenticity of the canon so that the entire church might have a clear standard. If we now throw out that standard and redefine inspiration and revelation, we undermine our own ability to receive God's truth! If we continue to subvert the uniqueness of the Scriptures, we'll have no way of distinguishing God's voice from man's! Eventually, anyone could say anything and claim it is God's Word, and no one would have the right to deny it. We have come to find ourselves in that situation even now! This is the error of the Word of Faith doctrine. The Holy Spirit is working in the church today, but not in the way the Word of Faith teaches. We must understand that the Holy Spirit's role is to empower us as we teach, preach, talk, write, think, witness, serve and live! He does lead us into God's truth and direct us into God's will for our lives. But, He does it through God's Word, never apart from it. To refer to the Holy Spirit's leading and empowering ministry as "inspiration or revelation" is a costly error. To use phrases like "God spoke to me," or "The Holy Spirit said to me," or "This was not my idea; the Lord gave it to me," or "These are not my words, but a message I got from the Lord" CONFUSES the issue of the Holy Spirit's direction in the lives of Christ followers today! Inviting that sort of confusion plays into the hands of the error that denies the absolute authority and uniqueness of Scripture. The Bible is a closed system of truth. God has spoken. What God gave is complete, sufficient, inerrant, and authoritative. Attempts to add to the Bible, and claims of further revelation from God have always been characteristic of heretics and cultists, not the true people of God! New revelation (revelation knowledge), dreams, and visions are considered to be as binding on the Christ follower's conscience as the book of Ephesians or the gospel of Luke. Take heed. We are not to play fast and loose with the issues of inspiration and revelation. An accurate understanding of those doctrines is vital for separating the voice of God and the voice of man! Your move. Be encouraged!