Word of Faith Part 2

The second major error of the WOF movement is a dualist tendency. A strict dualist would differentiate consciousness including subjective experience and the physical world. He or she would claim that consciousness is a metaphysical concept and does not belong to the merely physical.

Word of Faith dualism is the idea that there are two great forces struggling in opposition to each other and all the world hangs in the balance. On the side of good is God and the force of faith. On the side of evil is Satan and his tricks and demons. God and Satan are engaged in a universal struggle for the world, and we stand in the middle as empowered beings who can sway the balance. This is obviously the seductive part. I am powerful. I hold the key. I. I. I. Me. Me.

The WOF scenario goes something like this:

God created the world with certain rules. He gave the world to Adam. He gave Adam dominion over the earth, and Adam bowed his knee to the serpent thereby giving legal title of the earth to Satan. God connived a way to get it back though. He brought forth Jesus who never sinned. Now Satan was allowed to kill anyone who sinned because the wages of sin is death. Jesus never sinned yet Satan still killed him and violated the rules. Christ took back the deed or title (or keys) over the earth and presented it to us. So, once again, we are in control. We need to learn to use these laws of faith in order to effectively battle the works of darkness.

The first problem with this WOF doctrine is that when God gave Adam dominion over the earth he didn’t give him an irrefutable title or ownership which could supersede God’s powerfully irrevocable claim to the world.

Gen 1:26
(26) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

I am the Operations Manager at MAISCO. In practicality Dan, the owner, allows me dominion over the daily operations of the business. However, I’m not free to give the business away or to supersede Dan as the owner. The Bible repeatedly asserts the Lord God’s absolute ownership and control over the earth.

Psa 24:1
(1) The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

This verse is after the fall of mankind through Adam, but before Christ’s redemptive work, and the WOF doctrine falls flat before it. The truth is that God knew Adam would fall.


Rev 13:8
(8) And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

God has a chosen people who He has redeemed by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Satan is not a combative force that resists the will of God. He can do only what God allows and in fact ordains. It must be so. The story of Job is evidence of this, and the fact that Satan’s very existence is completely dependant upon God’s active will.

Speaking of Christ:

Heb 1:3
(3) Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

I’ll finish by stating that the Bible never once says that Satan killed Christ. There was no deception. Isaiah states very clearly that it wasn’t Satan who killed Christ.

Isa 53:10
(10) Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

What was Christ’s work? It was to assuage God’s anger toward man for their sinfulness. It wasn’t to trick Satan into making an illegal move.

So here is the difference. WOF is about tricks and technicalities resulting in a teeter-totter effect with us swaying the balance between good and evil. The truth is that God created, owns and rules everything.

Word of Faith Part 1

The defining doctrine of the word of faith movement is Gnostic idea of the God’s power. It goes something like this:

God’s power in this natural realm is called electricity, and God’s power in the spiritual realm is called the force of faith. Just like there are natural laws which govern the force of electricity there are spiritual laws or principles of faith which govern God’s power in the supernatural. As we learn these principles of faith and put them into practice we can further God’s kingdom here on earth.

What are the errors here? First, there seems to be a design here to draw a wedge between God and His power; however, scripture draws no such division. God’s power is not a force to be harnessed, rather it is something intrinsic within Him. The best translations of God’s power or the power of God should be something like “God powerful”. God’s power is himself. He doesn’t use His knowledge of his power to harness it. He is it.

The idea that God would punish or reward people for slight and exacting terminology and formulas for prayer or confession is an anathema to me. The thought of an absent minded “I’m sick of this” making one ill or “Ahhh… that just kills me!” leading to one’s death isn’t a Christian or Biblical idea. It is rather a superstitious and witchcraft like idea. Get our formulas and our mantras just right and God must act on our behalf.

The subtle appeal of this is that while we credit God for our victories and our blessings we really know that it is a direct result of our ability and knowledge to do or say the right thing. The movement is not God centered it is man centered. The negative side is that when we are in a state of suffering or affliction, it is our own fault. We are either in sin or we don’t have enough faith. Rather than suffer with the afflicted among us, we point at them like Job’s friends and discuss their failings.

My God is a sovereign, loving, jealous, consuming fire who holds me in the palm of his hands and provides for my every need whether or not I say just the right thing or have just enough faith. Lord I believe. Help thou my unbelief.