THE WORD-FAITH MOVEMENT
WOLVES IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING
By: Victor T. Stephens
"For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears." (Acts 20:29-31)
REFUTING WORD-FAITH ATONEMENT OF CHRIST
Let's examine Matthew 12:40 and Ephesians 4:9-10.
"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." (Matt. 12:40)
(Now this, "He ascended" -- what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) [Eph. 4:9-10]
In these two passages of Scripture, the phrases "the heart of the earth" and "He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?" is referring to a temporary section in hell (Sheol [Hebrew] / Hades [Greek]) known as "paradise." Paradise was the place where the righteous dead remained until after the death of Christ. It was a place of blessedness known as "Abraham's Bosom" (Luke 16:22). Recall in Luke 23:43 that Jesus said to the thief on the cross, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." At Christ's ascension, He transported the righteous saints (including the thief) along with the region of paradise from the "lower parts of the earth" to Heaven, its current location (2 Cor. 12:2-4; Rev. 2:7).
Let's now inspect 1 Peter 3:18-20.
Let's now inspect 1 Peter 3:18-20.
"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, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 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." (1 Peter 3:18-20)
This passage has brought some difficulty and confusion for some in the body of Christ. One perspective shared by Word-Faith teachers is that during the three days Christ's body was in the tomb, Jesus went to Hell. When we look at 1 Peter 3:18-19, at first glance, that angle appears to be a valid point of view. However, I do not support such a viewpoint.
Verses nineteen and twenty say, "by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah...." Notice that verse nineteen says, "by whom also He went and preached...." This segment is alluding to the time of Noah when Jesus (in Spirit), through Noah, also preached... Through Noah, Jesus was preaching God's Truth to the wicked people of that generation. When Jesus preaches to people, His primary goal is to bring them to repentance. Once a person/people die and enter Hell, it is then too late to repent. Hebrews 9:27 says,
"And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment...." (Heb. 9:27)
Luke 16:26 says,
"And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us." (Luke 16:26, emphasis mine) See also Matthew 25:1-12.
Thus, there is categorically no indication from Scripture that there is more than one opportunity for redemption following death. When using proper hermeneutical interpretation, there should be no enforcement of a rendition upon a difficult biblical passage which causes it to clash with other cleartext.
Now, moving back, the people of Noah's generation were wicked and rebellious when Christ preached to them through Noah. As a result, they suffered the consequences of their disobedience, and at death, went into Hell's prison. In 1 Peter 3:19, Peter is alluding to the spirits in prison at the then current time whom Jesus through Noah preached to during the time of Noah before their deaths. To put it another way, when Christ spoke through Noah and preached to those wicked people, they were living. However, when Peter penned his letter, this generation of wicked people had long died, with their spirits imprisoned in Hell. In essence, Peter was bringing two time periods together to portray one well-organized expression. Thus, this passage has no connection with the thought that Jesus went into the section of Hell for the unrighteous.
Let's now investigate Matthew 27:46 and 2 Corinthians 5:21.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46)
"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
(2 Cor. 5:21)
Referring to these two verses, Kenneth Copeland asserts:
"On the cross, Jesus was separated from the glory of God. He allowed Himself to be made sin for us, and He became obedient to death." (Kenneth Copeland, "The Power of His Resurrection")
"The righteousness of God was made to be sin. He accepted the sin nature of Satan in His own spirit. And at that moment that He did so He cried, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'" (Kenneth Copeland, "What Happened from The Cross to The Throne.")
Factually, God never abandoned Jesus. In his humanity, the words of dereliction Jesus spoke fulfilled the prophecy of the Psalmist (Psalm 22:1). When God inflicted His wrath and judgment on Christ, like David, Jesus was experiencing a sense of abandonment rather than an actual disseverance. Psalm 22:24 indicates this; and thus, repudiates Copeland's belief that God abandoned Christ on the cross.
"For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard." (Psalm 22:24)
Further, Jesus did not become "sin for us" in the sense that He became a sinner and inherited the nature of Satan. The word "sin" in 2 Corinthians 5:21 is a metonym. A "metonym" is:
"a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept. For instance, 'London,' as the capital of the United Kingdom, could be used as a metonym for its government," Source: Wikipedia.
T.J. Crawford states:
"there can be no doubt that the expression is metonymical, since it is impossible that Christ, or any other person, could be literally sin." (Thomas J. Crawford, The Doctrine of Holy Spirit Scripture Respecting the Atonement, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1954)
The Word of God says that Jesus is God the Son, and He is changeless. Hebrews. 13:8 states:
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Heb. 13:8)
Although Jesus came to earth as a man, he still retained the attributes and nature of God. For Jesus to become sin, it would be necessary for him to change in his nature, which is contrary to Scripture. If Christ had become a sinner and acquired the nature of Satan, as Copeland suggests, then it would seem reasonable that Jesus would need a savior. But such speculation is unnecessary. John says:
"Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin." (1 John 3:4-5)
Psalm 16:10 and Acts 2:31 also dismiss Copeland's contention that Christ was made sin and "accepted the sin nature of Satan." In actuality, Jesus became the "likeness" of sin...", "taking the rap" for us and bore the sins of mankind on the cross (Isaiah 53:12; Romans 8:3). However, he did not become defiled with mankind's sinful nature. It was because Jesus was a sin offering, eternally righteous and Holy without blemish (Heb. 9:14; 1 Peter 1:19) that qualified His sacrifice acceptable to God.
Although Christ was not a sinner, God substitutionally treated him as though he were. Similarly, granting the fact that Christians are sinners, God treats them as though they were righteous. Using this concept of substitution, God inaugurated a restyling in the sinners' condition that delivers them from a state of isolation to a place of forgiveness and reconciliation. Thus, by way of Christ, God will display believers "faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." (Jude 24)
Let's now view John 19:30.
So when Jesus received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. (John 19:30)
Referring to this verse, Copeland claims:
"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 (In hell) before He went to the throne.... Jesus' death on the cross was only the beginning of the complete work of redemption." (Kenneth Copeland, "Jesus --- Our Lord of Glory," Believers Voice of Victory, April 1982)
Factually, when Jesus spoke the words, "It is finished!" he sacrificed himself as a sin offering, bore our iniquities, and paid the debt for our sins on the cross (Matt. 26:28; Eph. 5:2; Heb. 10:5-18). The single Greek word for "It is finished!" is "tetelistai," which does not mean "It has just begun and will continue later," but is defined as "fulfilled," "completed," or "paid in full." The Bible does not denote any other incidents continuing afterward which contributed to our salvation.
Word-Faith teachers also argue that Jesus' closing words "It is finished!" refers to the termination of the Abrahamic covenant. There are no scripture references, however, which provide credence to this allegation. Factually, the fulfillment of the Mosaic covenant with its sacrificial laws came by the atoning death of Christ (Matt. 5:17-19; Col. 2:13-14). The completion of Christ's work on the cross and the commencement of the new covenant was made evident by the instantaneous splitting of the temple curtain (Mark 15:38). Furthermore, in the account of Luke 23:46, Jesus demonstrates the conclusion of his work on the cross, where he stated:
"Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit." (Luke 23:46)
There are no scripture passages in the Bible that indicate Jesus submitted His Spirit to Satan in hell. The truth of mankind's redemption is seen on the cross, not in the unrighteous regions of hell as inferred by Copeland and other Word-Faith advocates.
Paul stated:
"God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ..." (Gal. 6:14).
Paul most certainly did not ever speak of a magnificent redemption achieved in hell. It was in the glory of the cross which he referred. The Bible has much to say regarding the atonement of Christ on the cross. Worth noting for study are Acts 20:28, Ephesians 1:7, Ephesians 2:13, Colossians 1:14, Colossians 1:20, 1 Peter 1:19, 1 John 1:7, Romans 5:9, Hebrews 9:14, Hebrews 10:19-20, Hebrews 13:12, Revelation 1:5, and Revelation 12:11. There is no mention in the above scripture references or any other place in the Bible where the completion of salvation took place in hell. Word-Faith teachers misconstrue carefully selected passages of Scripture while ignoring other passages which teach that believers are made righteous by Christ's physical death on the cross.
Word-Faith atonement theology is contrary to New Testament scriptures and the sacrificial system of the Old Testament model of substitutionary atonement. The Old Testament model of substitutionary atonement required the animal sacrifice to be perfect and holy. Any defect would invalidate the animal. The sin offerings were a bull, a goat, and a lamb (Lev. 4:3, 23, 32). According to Word-Faith theology, the sacrifice (Jesus) became imperfect (sin). Under the Old Testament sacrificial system, animal sacrifice was perfect. According to Ron Rhodes:
"... the sacrificial animal did not thereby actually become sinful by nature; rather, sin was imputed to the animal and the animal acted as a sacrificial substitute." (Ron Rhodes, "What Does the Bible Say About…?," Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1997, Page 351)
The Word of God reveals that Christ's sacrifice was a proper substitutionary sin offering because it was perfect and sinless. Peter refers to the Old Testament sacrificial system when he says:
"...but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ." (1 Peter 1:19)
For Word-Faith teachers to hold on to the erroneous view that redemption took place in hell are alleging that Christ was accursed (1 Cor. 12:3), and his work on the cross was imperfect. Such allegations are a dangerous charge of monumental proportion, and like a hazardous virus, should be quarantined from the body of Christ.
