RevIrene River Heads Ecclesia Ministry

 

 

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It was my privilege to be born as the elder child of two of Brisbane’s earliest Pentecostals so I have been a Pentecostal believer all my life.  For many years, I thought it impossible that we Pentecostals in our particular denomination could have embraced any wrong doctrines.  This idea is contrary to Scripture.

The early church was “Pentecostal”.  Nevertheless, most of the epistles were written to counteract wrong doctrines and heresy.
Consider the churches of Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Colosse, Thessalonica and the epistles of Peter, James and John.  It is not surprising that similarly today in our midst, can be found wrong doctrine, denominationalism and heresies.  Popularity, the publication of many books and a prolific Television and Radio following numbering millions, does not guarantee the preacher as having correct doctrine or that he or she is free of heresies. Romans 5:15,16 state conclusively that the action of Jesus when He was crucified, died and was buried, was one of grace.

It is compared to the act of Adam’s sin and is shown to be the reverse of what Adam did.  The NEB and other translations, read “But the act of grace did not after all correspond exactly to the act of sin” and “for from one act of transgression (Adam’s) began the process of judgment which leads to condemnation, but the act of grace (Christ’s), wrought in a context of many transgressions, leads to justification”.  Wuest translates it “one act of righteousness”.

Christ’s act of obedience unto death was not the same as Adam’s act of sin that led to death.  Our sin has led to death and Christ’s act of grace (of obedience) has led to our justification before God and thus to life. In the light of these scriptures alone, it can never be said that Jesus took on the nature of sin or of Satan.

He took our sin upon Himself in the grace of obedience to His Father.  N.I.V. reads, “the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ”.  Grace is totally of God.  The grace of Jesus Christ is of God and can never include any act whereby He could take on a nature of rebellion and sin against God.  Such an act would preclude its being one of grace.  It could never be part of any “act of righteousness” as Wuest translates it.

For some years many have taught that Jesus had to be “born again”.  It is most important that we understand clearly the Person and Work of Jesus Christ in securing our redemption.  His life was beyond the reach of death.  Hebrews 7:16 shows that Christ is a priest “after the power of an endless life”.  As our Saviour on the cross who faced death, He Himself was never under the power of death.  In the power of His endless life, He “went through death”, as revealed in 1 Peter 3:18, “He was put to death in the body but made alive, or ‘set apart’, ‘kept in life’ by the Spirit”.  It says clearly that He died “in the body” and does not mention that He died “in spirit”.  He always was conqueror over death, He who is the “I Am” “the Almighty”, Revelation 1:8; 22:12,13. Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven”.  Not once did He say that He Himself had to be born again.

In the New Testament Christ is called “Lord”.  This word in the Septuagint, is used to translate the Hebrew “Adonai, Elohim and Yahweh”.  The eternal Son of God became the sinless Son of man that the sinful sons of men might become the sons of God. In Isaiah 53:10, it says, “You have made his soul an offering for sin”.  The soul is a living part of man.  The soul of Jesus was made an offering for sin while He was still alive on the cross.

When His soul died, as a man the offering had already been made.  His spirit as a man was with God.  No part of Him thus could have descended into Hell, the domain of Satan.  There are hundreds of references in the Bible, in type, prophecy, reference, actuality or fulfilment to the death of Christ.  Not once does it say “He died spiritually”.  If it were so, why has it not been stated?  That being the case, to say “He died spiritually” is to go beyond the revelation of the Word of God.  His death was spiritual in its import, as He offered Himself by the Spirit (Holy) but He did not die spiritually.  It is stated clearly about Jesus in Romans 1:4, “who through the spirit of holiness (Jesus’ own human spirit), was declared with power to be Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord”.  His own human spirit being holy, how could He die spiritually? It is wrong to say, “Jesus died spiritually”.

This statement is meant by such teachers, to refer to His act of redemption.  Even Colossians 1:22 alone proves that belief wrong.  It reads, “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death”.  Salvation was brought to man through the physical body and suffering of Jesus Christ on the Cross.  It was through the suffering of his physical or bodily death, not having “died spiritually”.  In His humanity He

actually suffered and He actually died.  It was in His human flesh.  He died, in our place, suffering under God’s sentence of condemnation that was upon us.  He suffered and died in His body of flesh with its sinless human nature, so that we could be freed from condemnation. To die spiritually means the person is a sinner.  God says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die”.  The person is dead spiritually with death working in his body and soul.  Scientists now state that the first cell from which every one grows in the womb, has death working in it.  No one could say that the first cell of Jesus had death working there.

Eventually, until Jesus comes, death will have worked so effectively in every body that the human life is no more.  Man is so dead spiritually that he does not know God or call upon God from that condition.  Jesus called upon God at the very moment of physical death, as He hung upon the cross, When we are born again we receive new life, the life of Christ that is eternal.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was never a sinner so that He could never die spiritually – from this point of view alone.  On the cross He was God, who is the great I AM, whose whole being cannot have an incursion of death.  “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself”.  Even the Roman centurion, in Mark 15:39 acknowledged, “Truly this man was the son of God”.  From that aspect, Jesus could never die spiritually. Also, if He died spiritually, He could never raise Himself from the dead.  He “raised Himself from the dead” as referred to in John 10:118, “No man takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord.

I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up”.  The whole Being of God, the Trinity, was involved in the resurrection.  The Father raised Him from the dead, the Spirit also as well as the Son. Had He died spiritually, He would have ceased to be God and in fact, could never have been God.  He is the “eternal” Son of God, with no break in being eternal.  Neither could He have had the Spirit of life in Him.  He did not cease to be Life at any time, which He would have done had He died spiritually.

He said, “I Am the Life”.  The I Am is eternal and thus Christ is and was eternal The Life could never know death in His spirit, or as God. He is called Priest “after the power of an endless life”, Hebrews 7:16.  Other translations say, “By the power of an indissoluble life”; “by virtue of an indestructible life”; “according to the energy of an indissoluble life”‘; “with the power of an indissoluble life”; “by virtue of a life beyond the reach of death”.  Can all those preachers and saints following the doctrine, beloved as they are, consider that they are going against all scholarship and centuries of basic belief from the beginning of the true church? The Alpha and Omega, the I Am, the Almighty of the book of Revelation by John, could not die spiritually.

This teaching that “Jesus died spiritually” is prevalent throughout Australia in Pentecostal and C.O.C. churches and indeed other Charismatic places.  It is believed, without their giving much thought to it, due to the prevalence of  Kenyon’s books (all of which I have read thoroughly) that have been the basis of Hagin’s and Copeland and followers’ teachings.  I myself have heard Kenneth and Gloria say they listened to Hagin’s teachings on tape, day in and day out.  Hagin basically plagiarised Kenyon’s teachings – which I began to delve into, ignorantly a life-time ago.  Kenyon went to a Christian Science Seminary (that also teaches healing, of a sort) and was not Pentecostal.  His books, such as “Three Days from the Cross to the Throne” are heretical so that all who follow those teachings are following heresy and indeed, although unknowingly, blasphemy. Even such books as “The Two Confessions”, “The Two Kinds of Faith” and the one on Righteousness are grossly erroneous.

Contrary to the beliefs set out in them, there is only one confession and one kind of spiritual faith.  We can never be “The righteousness of God”.  According to the Scriptures, “Christ is made unto us righteousness”.

In actuality Kenyon’s whole system of theology is contrary to Scripture.  He calls it a “Revelation” as does Hagin, who has copied Kenyon’s “Revelation”! To have died spiritually, Jesus would have taken our sins into His very Being and become a sinner.  He never was nor could be a sinner and never had the nature of Satan as they teach.  Their belief that the Hebrew word in Isaiah 53 should be “deaths” plural is contrary to all the sound scholarship I can find.  Regarding 2 Corinthians 5:21, perhaps we should consult the NEB that translates it, “Christ was innocent of sin, and yet for our sake God made him one with the sinfulness of men” and “so that through union with Him, we might become the Righteousness of God” (or right standing, or justification). To say that Jesus took on the nature of Satan or took on the nature of sin is indeed blasphemy.  He is the holy, sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

Those who read the above verse in that manner, do so because they have taken one phrase out of its content and have disregarded the rest of the Bible. They have disregarded the meaning of the various offerings depicted in the book of Leviticus, that all were without spot or blemish, thus  pointing to Christ, the Lamb of God.  Only because He knew no sin (1 Peter 2:22; Hebrews 4:15; 1 John 3:56; Hebrews 7:26) was He able to make atonement for sin.

At no time did He know sin.  If that is the case, how could He take on the nature of sin or of Satan?  He bore our sin as is stated in many scriptures.  1 Peter 3:18 states He suffered for our sins, “the Righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God”.  To become sin in His nature would mean that at some time He became unrighteous.  This scripture shows clearly He was always Righteous even while bearing the sin of the unrighteous and suffering for them. 2 Corinthians 5:21 does not say God made Him a sinner.  One with the nature of sin is a sinner.

God did not make Him a sinner and neither did He become the nature of sin.  To be made sin means that God made His innocent Son, incarnate as a Man, the object of His judgment on sin.  He was indeed made a sinner – but by imputation only and not in actuality.  To have been an actual sinner is against the whole tenor of Scripture, both in the Old Testament and the New.  Please note again, the verses mentioned above.  Isaiah 53:6 says “laying all our iniquities upon Him” – not “making Him to become the nature of our iniquities”.  Our guilt was transferred upon Him.  He took our punishment.  God did not reckon Him to be a sinner inherent in His nature.  He was punished with the punishment due to our sins – not because supposedly He took on a nature of sin or of Satan.

In relation to the erroneous belief that Jesus took on the nature of sin or of Satan, if one thinks about it, one must admit it is impossible even from this point of view, viz. That on the cross and in His death, Jesus was totally obedient to God.  Not once did He disobey God.  Yet to have the nature of Satan or sin would mean that at some time He would have disobeyed God and obeyed or done the works of Satan because John 8:44 shows that to be a child of the devil (or have his nature) is to do the works of the devil.  Jesus not once was in this position.  Those taken up with Kenyon’s, Hagin’s and Copeland’s heresies should be willing to think clearly about the matter and be led by the Spirit, not by their books, tapes, videos or TV shows. Romans 6:10 shows He died to sin and not in sin or with the nature of sin or Satan – “The death he died, he died to sin, once for all”.

1 Peter 2:24 reads “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross” and not that He became sin with a sinful nature.  Let the scriptures speak for themselves. We refer to Luke 11:15-23 it is obvious that if Jesus did not cast out demons by Beelzebul that He did not need Satan or his nature so as to overcome him, as they teach He did in hell.  In view of these Scriptures He could never overthrow Satan by taking on his nature or a sin nature.  He could not die spiritually.  Jesus says that someone stronger  than he, Satan, overpowers him.  Were Jesus to have taken on the nature of Satan or of sin, He would never have been stronger than him.  He would never have been strong enough to overpower Satan.  Praise the Lord He is the great I Am, the Almighty Conqueror over sin, death, hell and Satan – because He was a sacrifice, holy and separate from sinners.  As He said in Mark 3:23, “How can Satan cast out Satan?”  In verses 28-30 Jesus spoke strongly against the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and of being guilty of an eternal sin.  Should we not be careful that we do not fall into that same category, if we say that Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, the Holy One of God, was not holy by supposedly taking on the nature of sin and of Satan? “To be made sin” simply taking it into account as a phrase, is only once in the Bible.  Yet someone said to me, “Atonement” is mentioned only once in the New Testament.  If so, that puts atonement and this phrase on equal ground.  However, she was wrong.

Romans 5:11 says, “By whom we have received … the atonement”.  Hebrews 2:17 reads “to make a sacrifice of atonement”.  The atonement was made when He died as a sacrifice for sin on the cross.  Hebrews 10:12 shows Christ “offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins”.  The sacrifice was made on the cross and not in the grave.  Therefore atonement was never made in the grave.  The sin verse above is taken out of context of its passage and the whole Bible.  The atonement verses are not taken out of context and conform with the whole Bible that Jesus Christ made atonement for our sins on the cross, as the sacrificial Lamb of God. The atoning work of Christ covers sacrifice, propitiation, reconciliation and redemption.  He was obedient unto death.  Hebrews 9:6-15,23,24; 13:10-13 all relate to atonement in the Old Testament, that is typical of the atonement of Christ in the New Testament.  The offerings under Moses were patterns of “the heavenly things”, of the offerings of Christ Himself by which the things in the heavens were purified, Hebrews 9:14. “Propitiation” is mentioned in Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10.

Christ propitiated the wrath of God – on the cross.  So “atonement” is not mentioned only once in the New Testament.  Atonement, its connotation and extent of coverage in salvation is mentioned often in the New Testament.  “Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures”, 1 Corinthians 15:3. The idea of atonement, propitiation, reconciliation or redemption is not based on only one verse in the New Testament.  Yet the idea that Jesus took on a nature of sin is based on one verse only.  That cannot be.  We are told in 2 Corinthians 13:1 “Every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses”.  Even this premise is not based on only one verse of Scripture.  It is also found in Deuteronomy 19:15 and Numbers 35:30.

There in the Scriptures about even this fact, are three witnesses as the verse declares necessary.  The old Pentecostal Pastors used to teach that there cannot be a doctrine formed on merely one verse of Scripture, in accordance with the above three. Why are the present day preachers ignoring what our spiritual fathers taught us?  This teaching that Jesus took on a nature of sin or of Satan can never be a true doctrine. May I suggest in love, that all the Pentecostal and Charismatic brethren who have ingested the errors of Kenyon, Hagin and the Copelands, really read their Bibles by the hour and study them very diligently without having as their basis, the heretical doctrines of the above men and woman.  This is not to be regarded as an attack on them personally. /

God is their Judge.  It is an attack on their heresies and blasphemies. “Become the righteousness of God in Him” should be noted carefully as saying our righteousness is found as we are “in Him”.  The emphasis is on our relationship with God.  Even as our sin was imputed unto Him, so His righteousness is imputed unto us as we are in Him, or united with Him.  “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” . To say “I am as righteous as Jesus” is just as wrong as to say “Jesus died spiritually”. May all who have believingly read the above things, listened to them or heard them, repent of their turning away from the Truth.  Obviously, many people follow these teachings through ignorance of the Scriptures.  However, many people follow the teaching that Mary is to be worshipped and is our mediator with God, through ignorance. Without our faith resting in the Christ of the cross, not of the grave and resting on the finished work of atonement of Christ on the cross and not in the grave as the above people believe, is it possible to make heaven? Christ experienced separation from God on the cross when He cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me”.  He suffered, on the Cross, in His soul, the torments of condemned and forsaken men.

Darkness fell upon the land, for three hours.  He was crucified at the third hour, at the sixth hour, 12 noon, darkness fell and at the ninth hour, 3 p.m., Jesus cried as darkness disappeared, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”, Mark 15:25,33-34.  Darkness symbolizes separation from God who is light and in whom “there is no darkness at all”, 1 John 1:5.  Our sins sent Christ to experience Hell but not Hades, the abode of the dead.  It was to the “hell”, that is the place of torment, as punishment to which our sins condemned him before His body died.  Until that moment, He had never experienced our experience of being born into a condition of darkness and separation from God.  He could thus understand our dilemma for the first time. The second call, as in John 19:30 as, “It is finished”.  This is the Greek word, “tetelestai”.  It is in the perfect tense and means “it has been and will for ever remain finished”.  He had done what He came into the world to do.

Then, as He died, He cried, “Father, into your hands I commit My spirit”.  “At that moment”, the curtain in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  This showed that the barrier of sin separating men from God, had been removed.  The way into His presence was opened.  After death, Jesus’ body of flesh that died did not see corruption. In His sinless humanity He made a full and complete atonement for the sins of the world, on the Cross.  This was never accomplished in the grave or in Hell, by Jesus supposedly taking the nature of Satan and then defeating him, as Copeland, Hagin and Kenyon say.  That is heresy.  Colossians 2:14-16 shows clearly that the devil and his demons were not defeated in Hell or by Jesus Christ.  It was the power of God that did it, as those verses state and it was done when Jesus was on the cross making atonement for sin. They say Jesus meant the Abrahamic Covenant was finished on the Cross.

Copeland also is recorded as saying on one of his tapes, “He was not speaking of the plan of redemption.  The plan of redemption had just begun, …What was finished?  The Abrahamic covenant had come to a close”.  How could that be when Galatians 3:14-18,29 states clearly that the promises of the Covenant God made with Abraham are fulfilled in Christ, who is alive, not on the cross.  The full blessing of Abraham that was promised was never to be “It is finished”.  It continues on.  The covenant promise comes to Jew and Gentile through faith by Jesus Christ.  This accords with Galatians 3:6-9 “Just as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, so you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham.  And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you’.  For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed”. See also Genesis 17:7; 13:15. Galatians 3:29 stands today and did not finish at the cross, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise”.

The ideas of the “Abrahamic Covenant” are wrong as indicated by Paul in Galatians. Kenyon’s so-called “revelations” are a form of Deism.  Deism is a natural religion that needs no revelation on the basis of the revelation of the Bible from God.  It also says “All roads lead to God”.  There may be added to this Fideism, the doctrine that knowledge depends on faith or revelation.  The latest “Moves” place their emphasis on “experience”, the result of new revelation and faith.  Kenyon taught two kinds of faith and two kinds of confession, the basis of which many Pentecostals and Charismatics try to get healing, prosperity whatever.  It is error.  All must depend on God. In 1 Thessalonians 5:10 it is indisputable that we obtain “salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us”.  He died on the Cross, not in the grave.  1 Corinthians 1:18 shows that the Gospel is “the Word of the Cross”, not of the grave, in verse 17 it is “that the cross of Christ may not be emptied of its power”. </>

It was on the cross and not in the grave that the power of God was revealed in redemption.  In verse 23, “We preach Christ crucified”, not in the grave. With regard to our sins and consequent death, the only thing it is said in the Scriptures that Christ did for us was “to die for us”.  He died on the cross and not in the grave.  Note also 1 Corinthians 5:7 “For our Passover also has been sacrificed – Christ.  1 Corinthians 15:3, “Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures”. “Now once in the end of the age He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (as God and man), Hebrews 9:26.  The sacrifice was to God and not to Satan as the Seventh Day Adventists say and also as Copeland etc. would have us believe that atonement was made by His taking on the nature of Satan and going to Hell.  There is not much difference in those two heresies.  It was as the Lamb of God that Jesus took away our sin.  The Atonement happened when the Lamb was slain on the Cross and not in the grave or in Hell.

Whoever rests his faith and belief on something different is following a false Jesus, even a doctrine of demons.  The Faith Movement based on Kenyon’s writings is a Satanic cult with doctrines of demons.  It has led to other grave errors in belief and esoteric practice in the latter day Pentecostal Movement of the West and in the Charismatic churches. An examination of Leviticus 16, the Day of Atonement and Hebrews chapters 9 and 10 will show that in Leviticus, first of all the High Priest sprinkled the Holy of Holies, the Mercy Seat, as soon as the animal had been killed.  Then he came out.  It was Jewish tradition that all waited with bated breath outside to see if he did come out.  If he did not, it would mean God had not accepted the blood of the atonement.  This was a type of the death of Jesus and His shed blood with the sprinkling of that blood by Jesus Himself, a High Priest after another order in heaven. As High Priest after the order of Melchizedek He offered Himself up to death as the offering and sacrifice for sin.  He offered Himself up as “living in death”.  His life was imperishable and His sacrificial offering of Himself is an offering that lasts forever.

John 12:32 shows that lifted up out of the earth on the cross, He “will draw all men” unto Himself.  He could only do this as a sacrifice, to have life forever as He went through death.  Also, there could have been no resurrection if first of all, the wrath of God had not been averted.

Before resurrection, expiation for sin in the heavenlies had to occur.  He accomplished this when His spirit went to His father, with His blood.

All this took place in the invisible, heavenly sphere. As the Anti-type of what happened on the Day of Atonement, as soon as Jesus said, “It is finished” and yielded up His spirit to His Father He ascended into heaven as High Priest with the blood of His sacrifice, sprinkling the heavenly things as atonement for our sin.  “The life of the flesh is in the blood”. See John 19:30 and Hebrews 9:12.  Jesus, a Melchizedek High Priest “after the power of an indestructible life” Hebrews 7:16, in the power of that life went up into heaven with His blood, the blood of God, Acts 20:28, the life of God.  He had to do this first before taking “captivity captive”, Ephesians 4:8, in His ascension in His resurrected body into heaven as in Acts 1.

This bodily ascension occurred forty days after His resurrection.

In the light of all this, He could not have had a nature of Satan and gone to hell for three days. Paul “decided to know nothing among” the Corinthians, “except Jesus Christ and him crucified”, 1 Corinthians 2:2.  He does not even suggest that the message of the gospel was that Jesus went into the grave, took on the nature of Satan and defeated him to be then the first man to be born again, as Copeland etc. teach.  Those who believe that are trusting in a “man”.  How can that bring salvation, when the Word of God says, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man”, Jeremiah 17:5?  The message of the gospel is Jesus Christ and him crucified as Son of God and Son of Man, human and divine.  Any other so-called gospel preaches a false Christ and a false Spirit, as in 2 Corinthians 11:4.

The Scripture clearly states that Jesus has arisen as another priest other than one according to the order of Aaron, “through the power of an indestructible life”, Hebrews 7:16.  An “indestructible life” is one never able to be destroyed, has never been destroyed and never will be destroyed.

The Word of God is definite in its declaration that Jesus’ life is eternal.

Therefore, he could never have died spiritually as Kenyon, Hagin and Copeland are always teaching. Many of the Epistles in the New Testament as well as leaders in the early church had to deal with heresies concerning the Person of Jesus Christ.  Some said He did not come in the flesh.  There were those who thought that Christ descended on Jesus as He was being baptised.  Then the Gnostics said Jesus was the “material form for a heavenly revealer”. We need to know and preach the Christ of the Bible.  Otherwise, we have a false Christ.  The Scriptures we are looking into are Hebrews 1:6; Colossians 1:15,18; Romans 8:29; Acts 2:27; Psalm 16:10; Isaiah 53:9; Ephesians 4:9, Revelation 1:5.There is being taught by certain world-famous and Television Pentecostal preachers in the U.S.A. who reach hundreds of millions a week, that Jesus “died spiritually” and “partook of the nature of Satan,” was “in hell three days” and was “born again” after “having the nature of Satan removed”.  Born again means that Jesus “had His sins blotted out”, even as our sins were blotted out.  How can one who is inherently righteous, as Jesus Christ, be turned into sin?  Adam was created in innocence, not righteousness and he himself became sinful.

We have Videos that have been copied from videos taken in the meetings of Hagin, Copeland, Hinn and Rodney Howard-Brown.

The Satanic operations are obvious.  In two of Hagin’s videos one is confronted by devilish manifestations.  Hagin and others are hissing like snakes and putting their tongues in and out.  A man and woman sitting in the front row laughing, suddenly show changed expressions on their faces as they become demon-possessed.  They slide to the floor like snakes.  The laughter of the people, supposedly “holy”, makes the church look and sound like a madhouse.

Kenneth Copeland is there.  He gets down on hands and knees, laughing like crazy.  He keeps on pointing at different people who start laughing uproariously.  Then Copeland sits on his seat.  He has quit laughing and his face assumes a vacant and crazed look, like the demon-possessed.  Hagin has to be supported by four helpers.  He cannot stand on his own. In another of Hagin’s meetings, someone is singing a religious song with a beat used as in heathen Caribbean.  The people in the church race around, round and round, singing ” Money, money, money”.

Hagin relates how years ago (it is one of his books) a woman walked in the air.

Also, he tells how in one of his meetings, a young girl stood fixed to the floor for hours and could not be moved or pushed.  That is not the power of God.  Rather it is Satan’s power.  It is a paranormal state and not one from the Spirit of God.  Hagin, who appeared right to many of us sometimes, now is shown to have been a False Prophet deceiving the people of God for fifty years.

Copeland even says on one video, “Jesus had the nature of his mother, Mary”. In the Pensacola supposed Blessing, one Pastor’s wife falling over on and off, had to call out to her husband in the audience to tell her where they came from.  Under the power of Satan her memory went.  One Indian Keralite, who has preached in many countries over the years recently was in U.S.A.  He told us, “I said to A.O.G. Churches and other Pentecostal Churches there, ‘You have repudiated Hinduism as being not of God.  Now you have received Hinduism into your churches’.” It is demonic and New Age.  Prominence of animals is in most meetings of these Moves in the West.  People bark like dogs, roar like lions, meow like cats, howl like wolves etc.

Worship about animals and their sounds is not Christianity and neither is rolling over and over and laughing without control, or falling over (slain) and sometimes getting into an unconscious state.  Hebrews 2:6-8, “‘What are human beings that… You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned them with glory and honour.’  Now in subjecting all things to them…”  We have not been created higher than the animals.

All manifestations of the Spirit of God are higher than man’s ordinary state, instanced in Divine healing, Divinely given Words of Knowledge and Divinely given prophecies.  Animal antics and animal noises are not higher but lower than man’s natural state.  These animal noises can never be by the Spirit of God.  In fact, we have known the demon possessed or demon affected to bark like dogs and often fall to the floor or roll around and even laugh! Many in Australia follow Kenyon, who was neither Pentecostal, Charismatic nor Evangelical and who said that “sickness is spiritual”.  He taught that “sin and sickness come from the same Source.  Satan is the author of both”.  This leads to their belief that Christ was to die spiritually having being made the nature of Satan, having been made sin and thus following the first Adam.

In the theology of these preachers, Christ’s physical sufferings and blood shed in death have no more power to atone and deliver than anyone else’s.  They actually by-pass the atonement.

They consider the cross was a failure. It is possible to obtain from Kenneth Copeland Ministries, copies of his letter some time ago that stated, “Jesus went into hell to free mankind from the penalty of Adam’s high treason… When His blood poured out it did not atone… Jesus spent three horrible days and nights in the bowels of the earth getting back for you and me our rights with God”.  This is heresy.  Pentecostals in the past have called those who had such beliefs “Cults”, viz.

Christian Science and the Lord Witnesses. Hagin in his books wrongly says, “Man is a spirit.  We live in a body but we are spirit beings”.

This is contrary to the Word of God.  God created man, spirit, soul and body.  Yet millions listen to these preachers.  How is it that the Pentecostals, who formerly regarded such things as heresy, are taking on these doctrines?  The Charismatics for the last forty years have allowed gross errors for the sake of supposed love and through lack of searching the scriptures for themselves. Against these beliefs it must be said that we had no Satanic nature as Hagin teaches we have.  We are as stated, born in a sinful state,  “In sin did my mother conceive me”, Psalm 51:5 or as Tay says it, “I was born a sinner, yes, from the moment my mother conceived me”.  Jesus was perfectly and legally righteous and did not need to die for Himself.

He did not die as us but for us.

We are going to prove from Scripture that to say Jesus partook of the nature of Satan, was in hell three days as punishment and had to be born again is grave error.  In John 14:30 Jesus said Satan “has no power over me”.  That means Jesus could never come under the control of Satan by receiving the nature of Satan. Strangely and blasphemously, they are likening Christ to Mahout, who, the Moslems say, that the Night of Power, when he aspired to prophethood was the night of his spiritual birth.

It does indignity to the very Person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  This error, this heresy gives a wrong perception of His Very Person.  Those preachers are blasphemous false apostles, however famous they are.  They make the Cross of Christ of no effect as they say atonement was made in Hell.

These same teachers say, “We are gods”, which is similar to the Eastern Orthodox Churches’ doctrines.  They say that we are made in the image of God and in salvation take on the likeness of God, through the Grace of God and our own human efforts.  We are deified, they say, gods, as also says the Eastern Orthodox churches.  They are also saying the same thing as a Moslem would say, i.e. “Down inside we become Allah (their God)”. It has a connection with the early “Ransom Theory” of the atonement, revitalised in our day by a man called Aulen.

It considers there was a cosmic drama in which God in Christ does battle with the powers of evil and gains the victory over them.  The view was that Satan had usurped God’s rule over the earth and only triumph over him through Christ’s death could effect the salvation of mankind.  There were some early church fathers who believed this, including Catholic theologians and popes.  Man was enslaved to Satan who had established control.  The ransom had to be paid to him, so that man could be redeemed!  This removed from these church fathers any necessity to see beyond the love of God or to consider that sin brings the wrath of God. People generally do not like to hear that God’s wrath is upon sin and thus can reach the sinner.  They dislike hearing about the judgement of God.

They would prefer to hear only that God is love.

That was how Eve felt when Satan approached her in the garden.

He caused her to ponder “Has God said”, implying a following judgement.  Her decision was against any wrath and judgement of God.  Man to this day thinks like Eve and Adam. None of these early theories included wrong thinking that Jesus needed to be “born again”.

Their error was that they thought it was the devil towards whom Christ’s death was directed.  They neglected the fact that the direct effects of Christ’s atoning death were upon God and then upon man.

Hebrews 2:14 shows that Christ, “through death” made the devil powerless.  It was not through any battle over demonic powers in an underworld where there was neither the scene of a battle nor victory. It is heresy to focus the atonement in Hell by Jesus’ supposed defeat of Satan there, as the above modern teachers do.  Jesus was never in Hell and He defeated the Satanic powers on the Cross.  Moreover, the Word of God shows that the Cross was the place where Jesus was glorified.  He said in John 12:32 “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself”.  This lifting up was not merely a death for sinners that was rewarded by His exaltation in heaven.

The death on the Cross was the culmination of His sufferings both on the Cross and that which began in the Garden of Gethsemane.  It was part of His being glorified. He was glorified on the Cross and was lifted up to ascend into heaven through death.  He is now forever glorified and exalted in heaven.  His glory is revealed in the whole experience into which His death introduced Him.  He cried as He died, “It is finished (and it is forever finished)”.  This meant His act of atonement for our sin was complete. His birth for the purpose of dying on the cross portrayed humility, a Divine attribute of God as  He alone could possess.

This first of all shows itself in His birth and here on the cross.  It is  disclosed in Philippians 2:5-8 -.

Then we hear His cry on dying, “It is finished” or “I have paid it to the full”.  This is the glory of the atonement He made for our sin, with  its  reconciliation to God. There was glory when His flesh was torn to open the way for us to enter the presence of God in His sanctuary.  What glory is conveyed in His spirit being received by the Father as  acknowledgement of the virtue of His obedience and sacrifice!   His body lying uncorrupted in the grave, His defeat of death, His resurrection and subsequent appearance to hundreds and then His ascension into heaven to be received by the “clouds” were all wrought with glory.

What happened in the grave was a dead body preserved from corruption and a coming out of the grave with glorious resurrection life in a glorified body, the first fruits of the dead believers.  This is the glory of the cross of Christ that showed the love and grace of God. Jesus said in John 13:31,32,  “Now the Son of Man has been glorified and God has been glorified in him.  If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once”.  This He said at the Last Supper, the celebration of the Passover, that spoke of His death as the Lamb of God.  The power and glory of God is revealed in creation and in His providence in overseeing that creation.

The greatest glory is revealed in the Cross of Jesus Christ.  There we see Christ glorified and God glorified in Him.  This fact contradicts everything Kenyon, Hagin and Copeland say about the death of Christ.

That fact alone is sufficient to prove their teachings are erroneously heretical. In John 17:1 Jesus prayed, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you” and in verse 5, “So now, father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed”.  The hour for the glorifying of the Son that had come was the hour of the Cross.  That is where His glorification began. It was the Lord of Glory who died, 1 Corinthians 2:8; As Lord He could never have died spiritually.  The Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds did not have, “Jesus went down into Hell”.  This statement was not included until the sixth century, into such as the Apostles’ Creed and the Athanasian Creed.  We saw this part “Jesus descended into Hell”, in the Creed inscribed on the wall behind the altar in an ancient Lutheran church in Tamil Nadu, India.  The scholar we were with had not been aware that it did not become part of a church Creed until a few hundred years after Christ.  We gladly informed him of the true facts.  Luke 23:43 and 2 Corinthians 12:2 show clearly that Jesus did not go into Hell but into Paradise and the third heaven. Today, it is part of the Creed of certain Orthodox churches, such as the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox.  They have not followed the early Creeds and thus the reciting of these Creeds by millions has promulgated heresy in that area. In Luke 23:43, it is contrary to what Copeland teaches.  He says, it would be, “I tell you today, you will be with Me in paradise”.  That is unreasonable.  Why would Jesus have to say, “I tell you today?” The thief knew he was saying it “today”.  The English translations read, “Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise”.  The Greek-English New Testament reads, “And he said to him, Truly you I tell, today with me you will be in the paradise”.

1. Let us look at Hebrews 1:6 “And again, when he brings in the first-begotten into the world, He says ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him’,” King James Version says incorrectly.  The real meaning is shown by the Interlinear Greek/English that agrees with other translations.  They all read with the meaning “When he again brings in the firstborn into the world”.

Rather the Scriptures are saying that God brings His Son the first begotten, “again” into the world.  It indicates that a second time God brings in the first begotten into the world, which some wrongly say could refer to the second coming of Christ.  Young’s translation reads, “and when again He may bring in the first-born to the world, He says.”  Wuest says “And whenever He shall have brought again the first-begotten into the inhabited earth, He says.”  In Hebrews 5:8 we learn Jesus Christ was Son even before He was required to “learn obedience”. The beginning of Hebrews 1 relates to the eternal Son of God, through whom God has spoken in these last days.  He made purification for sin.  He then “sat down in the highest honour beside the great God of heaven.”  Then in verse 5 God has spoken “Son of mine thou art, I this day have begotten thee.”  It relates to the act of God the Father in establishing an official relation with His Son at the resurrection. As the Amplified version says, “begotten You (that is, established You in an official Sonship relation, with kingly dignity).”  This is from Psalm 2:7 that is a Messianic Psalm.  Verse 6 concerns the quotation from Deuteronomy 32:43, “Praise O heavens, his people, worship him, all you gods!  For he will avenge the blood of his children and take vengeance on his adversaries”, New Revised Standard Version. It is the victory of God over His enemies, as in 2 Thessalonians 1:7,8 and Revelation 19:11-16.  The former prophesies “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those …who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” In view of the above, Hebrews 1:6 cannot be used as a basis for the teaching, “Jesus died spiritually and was born again, being the ‘first-born’!” “First-begotten” is the translation of ‘PROTOTOKOS’ and is also used by Paul in Colossians 1:15.  In Hebrews, it describes the relation of the risen Messiah in His glorified humanity to man.  In Colossians it speaks of the priority of Christ to all creation and His sovereignty over all creation.

2. Colossians 1:15.  Christ is “the firstborn of every creature”.  Williams translates it “His firstborn Son who existed before any created thing”, while others say “First-born and Head of all creation”, or “the primacy over all created things”.

Colossians 1:18.  He is “the beginning, the firstborn from the dead”.  Other translations say, “First-born from the dead, he is to the Church the Source of its life”, “in virtue of his primacy as the first to be born from the dead”, “it begins with him since his was the first birth out of death”, “Life from nothing began through him and life from the dead began through him”, “He is the origin, the first to return from the dead”. The verse closes with “He is, therefore, justly called the Lord of all”, or “to be in all things alone supreme”.  We notice from these verses that He is called “firstborn” due to His being in the most exalted position there is.  He is supreme. In Revelation 3:14 He is said to be the “Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God”, or the “the source of the entire creation”.  Bas translates it, “the head of God’s new order” and Beck, “The Origin of God’s creation”. It is so that “in all things he might have the pre-eminence”.  The Greek word for “pre-eminence” means “to be first, to hold the first place”. When we read this latter phrase in verse 18, we have to admit that even in being the “firstborn from the dead” Christ had an experience that was different.  In being the firstborn from the dead He was in supremacy (N.I.V.).  This indicates strongly that Jesus could not have had a “born again” experience in His spirit at all, otherwise in having such an experience, He would not have “supremacy”.  Later, we will cite many reasons from Scripture why this could not be. Sufficient to say at the present, that the very verses the exponents of that theology use as a basis for their doctrine, in themselves correctly understood, disprove their erroneous doctrines.  The resurrection of Jesus from the dead, as the Messiah who is both God and Man, was somewhat different from the experience of redeemed mankind. Having come out of death, His experience speaks of “pre-eminence, holding the first place”, something different and exalted. The Son of Man is indeed the Son of God, both God and Man.  This is somewhat different from the experience of redeemed mankind.  These verses in Hebrews and Colossians, supported by Romans 8:29, with the one in Ephesians below, form the basis of this unscriptural belief that “Jesus was born again, as the first-begotten from the dead”.

3. Romans 8:29, “to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren”.  Barclay translates it “God marked them out to become like the pattern of his Son, for it is his purpose that his Son should be the first and eldest of a great family”.  The term “firstborn” concerns the priority and supremacy of Jesus Christ.

The purpose of God is to have a family, each member being “conformed to the image of His Son”.  As a result, Christ becomes the “firstborn among many brethren”.  In the whole of this verse, Jesus Christ is given priority and supremacy.  He is the Unique One.  He is different from us, albeit we are made like Him.  He is unique because He is the Eternal Son.  Because He is the firstborn, He becomes pre-eminent and different from others. Being the “Son”, means that He is the only begotten, verses 3, 32.  He is the unique and eternal Son of God.

Whoever saw Him as man saw the Father, as Jesus on earth was God.  We can never be conformed to Him in that relation and capacity.  He alone is the unique, eternal Son of God.  We can never be made to be Divine.  We do not become gods. Unfortunately, they leave us with the idea that Jesus was on earth as a man, having left His divinity behind.  This is error, as the following verse proves. In John 1:18 the Interlinear Greek-English New Testament reads, “God no man has seen never; only begotten God the being in the bosom of the Father, that one declared (Him).”

The New International Version has a footnote, “but God the only begotten”, that explains their translation which is “but God the only (Son), who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known”. This Word who became flesh, in the flesh was God. We are made Christ-like, or God-like.  We are conformed to Christ to include our bodies to be changed to become like the body of Christ’s glory, Philippians 3:21,  “change them into glorious bodies like His own”, or “that it may be conformed to the body of his glory” We are also to be conformed to his image as the incarnate and glorified Son.  We are to be conformed to the image of him who is the eternal and only-begotten Son.

This means we will be “similar” to Him, or “form according to pattern”.  Wuest says that “conformed” is “to bring to the same form with some other person or thing, to render like”. This is the outward expression of an inward essence or nature.It occurs in the process of sanctification, when the saint is transformed in his heart and life to resemble the Lord Jesus, which results in a change of outward actions.  “Image” is eikon, “a derived likeness”.  Trench states “The monarch’s head on the coin is ‘eikon’ (Matthew 22:20), the reflection of the sun in the water is eikon, the statue in stone or other material is eikon (Revelation (13:14) and the child is the eikon of his parents.” We are predestined to be “moulded into the image of his Son” or “to be made like to the pattern of His Son”.

This happens within us.  The image of the Lord Jesus that is in the saint, that is the believer, is derived from Him, as the likeness of a child is derived from its parents. Through the new birth we become children of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:13).  We inherit His image.  We receive His holiness and are made Christlike.  He is glorified in us as our elder Brother and Head.  Romans 8:30 says, “these He also glorified”.  Dean Alford comments that “He clothed them with glory”.  This is not innate glory.  Nothing we have been given in salvation is innate. Jesus Christ is the image and glory of God.  He is the exact impression.  He is the effulgence, the out-raying of the glory of God.  This is not merely the outshining of that glory but that Christ Himself is a Divine centre of the out- raying of God’s glory co-existent with the Father, of the same substance as the Father, very God of very God, possessing in Himself life and light.

The Lord Jesus is not merely the outshining of God’s glory but the outshining of that glory which in itself becomes a centre from which the glory of God out-rays itself.  So says Wuest, a Jewish Greek scholar.  Bruce says “The substances of God is really in Christ, who is its impress, its exact representation and embodiment.”  As is the Father, so is the Son.  What the Father is, does, has so also the Son is, does and has. “The express image” means the”express character”.  The whole nature of God is in Him and by Him, God is declared and expressed to us.

This is:  a. All the glorious perfections of the nature of God belong to and are in the Person of the Son;  b. The whole manifestation of the nature of God TO US are by and through the Person of His Son. This is the Person by whom God spoke to us, in Hebrews 1:1,2.  This is the Person who was on this earth.  Jesus was the very image of God while on earth.  He did not lay aside His Deity.  This is the One, who in verse 3, “made purification of our sins”, on earth, on the Cross.  This is the Jesus the disciples saw and touched, the “express image” of the Father. This Jesus, this “image and glory of God” is He by Whom God spoke to us, on earth, while the Eternal Son was in His human body. This shows clearly how He is “the Image of God”, different from us who are “made into His image”. Everything that Christ is and has is innate – it is part of Him. After His resurrection, He was glorified in His essence.  Then God exalted Him.  He had abased Himself to the very depths.

Now He is exalted. As Man, He is raised to that exaltation possessed only by Deity.  Never did Jesus Christ become totally like us.  He retained His Deity, laying aside the expression of the glory of that Deity, for a time.  Now He has been glorified with the eternal glory that He had, now He is incarnate Deity exalted.  He was our sin-bearer and never did our sin penetrate into His very Being.  He is Lord, the great I AM, even on the Cross and in the grave.

He could never be “born again”. Christ is referred to in the midst of His suffering on the Cross by the Lord, as being, “The righteous one, my servant”, who “shall make many righteous”,  Isaiah 53:11, where it also says, “Out of anguish he shall see light”. In John 10:18 regarding laying down His life, He said,  “No one takes it from me but I lay it down of my own accord.  I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again”.  These are not the words of a Man who “took on the nature of Satan and had to be born again”.  That would have put Him in a place of no authority  “to take up His life again”. His holy body was in the grave under the care of the Holy Spirit and ministering angels.  Psalm 16:10 shows the necessity “his soul should not be left in Sheol (the grave)”.  NRSV states “For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit”.

This is quoted by Peter in Acts 2:31,32 “David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying, ‘He was not abandoned to Hades, (Wey. “the grave”), nor did his flesh experience corruption'”.  In the King James, it includes the phrase, “his soul”.  Those words are considered by scholars not to be in early manuscripts.  The verse is speaking about His body. Jesus was never in Hell with Satan.  In Psalm 16:9, we read, “Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure” would forbid all conjecture that Jesus was in Hell in a Satanic nature.  During the time of His physical death, His heart experienced joy.  Had He received a nature of Satan, the body of Jesus would have begun to corrupt.  It did not.

4. Acts 2:27.  Satan did not get the soul of Jesus, the spirit of Jesus or the body of Jesus.  “God did not leave (“forsake”- left there without glory and resurrection) Him in Hades (Sheol); neither did His body see corruption” Acts 2:27; Psalm 16:10,11 (1 Thessalonians 5:13, blameless).

David believed for preservation from death of the inner man and his body.  This was prophesied of Jesus Who would not fall into the hands of death. “You will show me the way of life”.  He gave up the ghost, His spirit and His soul.  He left His body, that had been tortured and mangled on the Cross.The moment He surrendered His spirit into the hands of His Father, death came only to His body.  It was placed in the sepulchre.  God preserved that body from the beginnings of corruption, which always takes place in a body once the person is dead.  Therefore, even in death, Satan had no part in the Person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man.  His spirit, soul and body were preserved inviolate. He, as the Life passed through death  Life itself cannot die.  While lifted up on the cross, John 12:32,33, He “drew all men unto Him” by the Life He was in eternity and was on the Cross.  He never ceased to be that Life.  1 John 1:2 clearly shows this, “The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it and we proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and has appeared to us”.  Eternal life is “eternal” and never can at any point, whether in time or eternity, cease to be “eternal”.

In John 3:14, Jesus likens His death and being “lifted up” to the incident in Numbers 21:8,9 when Moses “lifted up” the bronze serpent so that those who looked might be healed of their snakebite.  Many use this to say that Jesus became actual sin on the Cross.  They forget that Moses did not lift up an actual snake but a bronze replica.  Jesus was not actual sin on the Cross but a “replica” in the sense that He was a “figure” of sin, representing us in our sin.  Our sin was laid upon Him and more specifically, the judgment of its power and guilt. “It is finished”.  John 19:30.  He had finished, on the Cross, His voluntary act of giving Himself as an offering and a ransom for sin.  That work was totally finished.  It is also recorded in Matthew and Mark.

The Greek word used is “tetelestai”, meaning “it has been and will for ever remain finished”, being in the Perfect Tense.  This was before he died.  He had accomplished what He came into the world to do, to bear our sins.  He took our judgment.  He obtained then, salvation for us and established a new covenant, bringing us forgiveness of sins.  It was completed before He went into the grave.  Please note the two paragraphs about the Abrahamic Covenant on Page 5. It was not done or completed in Hell, as these false teachers are saying.  This was the last thing He said for us in His state of humiliation, which state is set out in Philippians 2:6-9.  He did not empty Himself of His Divinity – only of the full manifestation of that Divinity.  His next voluntary act is to give His spirit into the hands of His Father.  Then the action of death takes place.  His living spirit leaves His body that dies.  His uninterrupted Life continues with the Father.  Only His body is in death and that not to enter corruption.

5. Isaiah 53:9,12.  It is not “deaths” which is Hebrew “mammoth”, Jeremiah 16:4.  The Hebrew reads “maveth” death as Genesis 25:11.  He poured out His life.

He offered Himself as living in death, John 12:32.  Hebrews 7:16 shows Him as Priest “by virtue of a life beyond the reach of death”, not dying spiritually.  In Revelation 1:18, the Aorist tense of Greek is used and reads “who became dead, yet lived”, meaning the One who was alive even while He was dead, the ever-living One.  He is, even in death, “the Living One: who has life in Himself and is the fountain of all life, natural, spiritual and eternal.

• Now We Come to Ephesians 4:8-10.  It says  ‘He ascended’, what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth?”, This was the incarnation involving humiliation, Philippians 2:5-11, then exaltation on ascension, Acts 1:11.  Some wrongly say Jesus went down to Hell, where He was for three days in a state of spiritual death (Kenyon, Hagin, the Copelands).  Regarding Kenyon’s teachings, there is not one point that can be said to be scriptural.  Hagin and Copeland add all his teachings to what they have received in the Baptist and Pentecostal churches.  Anything right the latter two have in their theology is nullified by the damnable heresies.

When one looks at Acts 2:26,27, one reads “Moreover my flesh will live in hope, For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One experience corruption”.  The word for “Hades” represents the Hebrew, “li-Sheol”, “the grave”.

 

These verses are a quotation from Psalm 16:10.  `This reads “For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit (Hell)”.  It is confirmed in Acts 13:35-37.  The body of Jesus saw no corruption.  Had He been made sin with the nature of Satan in hell, His body would have had to have corrupted.  It did not, because He was holy, even in death. Whoever says that Satan conquered Jesus on the Cross, after which Jesus, with the nature of Satan, went to Hell and there made atonement, does not believe in the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, on the Cross.  As he does not believe this, how can he be saved? There is a teaching that as we are redeemed from the Curse of the Law, there is provision in Christ’s atonement for prosperity and no sickness.  They use Galatians 3:13 and Romans 4:13.  The latter promise is for those of faith and has nothing to do with Law.  The promise to inherit the world is not the world of this age and its material possessions but the new heavens and the new earth that Abraham looked for, as in Hebrews 11:9,10. In regard to the removal of the curse, those leaders are wrongly taking the things out of context.  They go back to Deuteronomy 28 and its list of blessings and curses for the Children of Israel and for them under the Law.  We are not under the Law, with its promised blessings and curses, as it clearly states in Galatians 3:9-12.  Those under the Law if they practice all its precepts shall live and receive blessings.  If not, they will die and receive curses.

Now the Law with its curse has been superseded by the gospel of faith with its spiritual blessings and heavenly ones.  Jesus did promise in Matthew 6:33 that all things needful would be added unto those who seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.  However, it is not part of the Gospel but rather an adjunct to the Gospel. We, under faith, are not under the Law that was always accompanied by its blessings and its curses.  The curses attending those who did not obey the Law were taken by Christ who became a Curse.  We do not have the Law for us to obey, as it was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, Galatians 3:19, 23,24; 4:5-7.  According to Matthew 6:32, our Heavenly Father who knows our needs answers them on the basis of our being now His children and not on the basis of any prosperity as part of the Gospel Message.  We have the message of faith in Christ.  Therefore we are subject neither to the blessings or curses of that Law. We, by faith, can expect material blessings.  Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all things needful will be added unto you”.  Philippians 4:19, “My God shall supply your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”.

Hebrew 13:5, “Let your conduct be free from covetousness (without fondness for money) and being content with what you have for God Himself has said, ‘I will never let you go or desert you'”.  1 Peter 4:9, “Keep open house for all with a glad heart”.  2 Corinthians 8:7,8 “God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work”.  This is the way of grace that works through faith. Early churchmen believed that Hell was subterranean.  One modern preacher in the seventies in Brisbane said that Hell was “down” in the middle of the earth that was full of fire!  It cannot be the interior of the earth, which it would have to be if this meaning is to be received.  The souls of the wicked dead are not material, so they could never go “down” into some subterranean area or even into the middle of the earth.

Therefore this verse can never mean that the soul of Jesus was “down in Hell” for three days! Some would connect it with 1 Peter 3:19 and 4:6, where it actually refers to the preaching to those who, though now dead, were still living on earth when they received God’s warnings.  It does not mean that Christ descended into Hell and preached to the souls of the wicked dead.  In any case if He is supposed to have died spiritually, how could He have had life enough to preach? Peter clearly states that through the Spirit, Jesus preached to those who in the days of Noah, while the ark was being built.  The Spirit of Christ was in Noah, who did the preaching, being called “Preacher of righteousness” in 2 Peter 2:5.  Peter had already made reference to the Spirit of Christ being in these men of God, in 1 Peter 1:10,11, when he said “the prophets spoke as the Spirit of Christ was in them”. The purpose of Paul in this verse can only be that He stresses the comparison between His ‘descending’ with Christ’s ‘ascending’ “that he might fill all things”.  It is not to show any supposed three days’ stay in Hell by Jesus. Jesus ascended into heaven itself, the very dwelling place of God, where He was glorified, to “fill all things”.  After having emptied himself and becoming obedient to the extent of death by a cross, then God raised him to the highest place in heaven and earth.  See Psalm 139:15,16.  Also, He is the Eternal Lamb of God, as such in heaven now, Revelation 5:6; 8:1. The descent mentioned can only mean to the realms of this earth and further than that, to experience the humiliation of becoming a man and then the shame and ignominy of the Cross.

He died and because of His obedience unto death for our redemption, God raised Him from the dead and received Him into glory where He was seated upon the right hand of the Father.  Such was His ascent. Colossians 2:15 should be understood in context.  We quote from the New International Version, which includes translators from all denominations, including the Pentecostal ones and the Assemblies of God.  Beginning at the end of verse 13 through to 15, “He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away nailing it to the cross.  And having disarmed the powers and authorities he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them BY THE CROSS.” New English Version is “On that cross He discarded the cosmic powers and authorities.” Williams says “made a public display of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”  TCNT (Twentieth Century New Testament) translates it – “and held them up to open contempt, when he celebrated his triumph over them on the cross!” Wuest aptly states “having obliterated the hand-written document… which was against us …He removed it out of the midst with the result that it is no longer there, having nailed it to the Cross; having stripped off and away from himself the principalities and authorities.”  Evidently with the use of “having”, Wuest intends us to understand that it all happened on the Cross.

Barclay’s, which is one of my favourite translations of this verse, says – “On the cross he stripped the demonic powers and authorities of their power and made a public spectacle of them, as if they had been captives in a victor’s triumphal procession.” We notice from all these translations, that Christ divested Himself of these powers and authorities on the Cross not in Hell during a three day period. The Amplified Bible, which many like to quote, even illuminates the fact that it happened on the Cross and not while Jesus was supposedly in Hell – “God disarmed the principalities and powers ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it (the cross).” Good News – “And on that cross Christ freed himself from the power of the spiritual rulers and authorities; he made a public spectacle of them.” The Cross was the sphere of the triumph of Jesus Christ – not any subterranean place. As He hung on the cross, the powers of evil clung to Him because of our sin that was laid on Him.  He submitted Himself to the death of the cross.  The cross did not take away His life.  Satan and his hordes did not take away His life, His soul or His spirit.  He willingly gave up His life.

The Father Himself offered Jesus up in death. As the evil principalities and powers laid hold of Him as He hung upon the cross, He triumphed over them there.  He did not have the nature of Satan.  He threw them off.  The victory they thought they held over Him as He hung there became for them defeat.  His was the victory.  He Himself put off the body of the flesh upon which they fastened themselves, as He bore our sins.  He gave His human soul and body over to death.  See Romans 8:1-4.  This victory finally becomes ours totally, in the redemption of our bodies to receive heavenly bodies, Romans 8:23. In Hebrews 10:20 His flesh is spoken of as a veil.  When He hung upon the cross and died, His veil was torn, i.e. His flesh.  At the same time, God tore the veil in the Temple in two, from top to bottom.  This signified that by the tearing of the flesh of Christ, we have entrance into the Holy of Holies, which is the very presence of God. The veil hinders entrance to God.  The veil removed means that the hindrances are gone.  This happened when Jesus died on the Cross.  Sin is a hindrance.  Satan is a hindrance, as evidenced by his attempting to blacken Job before God.  Satan is the accuser of the brethren.  His power over people stops them from approaching God. This power of sin and Satan was the hindrance symbolised by the veil.  The veil of the flesh of Jesus took our sin that had placed us in Satan’s power and He was a substitute for us.  He did not identify with us in our sin.  He took our place as the sinner, on the cross.  Also, the sacrifice of Himself was as a sweet smelling savour unto God.

He reconciled us to God by His death on the Cross. This did not happen in any underworld while the body of Jesus lay in the grave but on the Cross.  Of course the Cross ended in death and the grave, followed by the resurrection.  Without the resurrection, His death would have been in vain. Christ offered Himself without spot to God.  He had no sin.  As happened with Job, so Satan would appear before the Judgment Seat of God pointing out the sin of all.  He had the power of death.  He would stand before God and enter as one with that right.  In this Satan himself was judged, John 16:11, “because the prince of this world is judged”. This was done through the atoning death of Christ where atonement for sin was made on the Cross and not in Hell.  Revelation 5:9 shows this clearly, stating “You were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints…”.  It was this death of Christ that accomplished it, not any descent into Hell. The man Christ Jesus is the manifested Life, 1 John 1:2.  During all the days of his flesh, from the cradle to the grave, He was this.  Every incident, miracle, discourse, grace, wisdom and love is part of this manifestation of LIFE.  This is the eternal life which was with the Father.  That Life is unchanging, eternal and shared with the Everlasting Father and maintained in and by Jesus while He was on earth.  It is now shared with us.

That Life with the Father manifested to us, overcame dark death.  He, the Life, could not die spiritually and go to Hell!  During the three hours of darkness on the Cross, Jesus suffered the pains of hell, in their nature and being, weight and pressure. He is Priest after the “power of the endless life” of Him who is the “Life”.  As Jesus on earth, He had endless life.  His priesthood is after the Order of Melchizedek, Hebrews 7:15,16.  This priesthood did not begin after His resurrection but before He went to the Cross, He was Priest to offer the Sacrifice of Himself.  Even while in death, He was still Priest.  He died in His human nature but He was still alive in His Person that could not be dissolved.  His soul and body were inseparably united in His Person unto the Son of God.. By the atonement Satan lost his power over sinners who receive Christ and that is how Satan was judged.  His power over sinners was removed and his kingdom overthrown.  Satan obtained power over sins due to God’s wrath again sin.  Sinners were cut off.

Through that Satan obtained power over sins.  Now through the atonement we have received, our consciences are cleansed and we serve the living God. His spirit did not die/He did not die spiritually.  In Luke 23:46 He cried to the Father,  “Into your hands I commit my spirit”.  The Father could never receive a naturally dead spirit or a spiritually dead spirit.  It is said wrongly that Jesus experienced death or “separation from God”, as we did.  If this were correct, He could never have said while in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane as in Matthew 26:53, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”  He said this after He had begun to drink the cup of the guilt of our sins, as in verse 42 of that chapter. An old hymn says, “Lest I forget Gethsemane, lead me to Calvary”.  What He suffered, sweating drops of blood on His forehead, was the beginning of Calvary on our behalf.  There He experienced being separated from His Father, as our Saviour, our Substitute and the last Adam.  As the eternal Son in the Garden of Gethsemane, He did not experience separation from His Father, in His Divine and Eternal spirit.

The eternal Son, as He is Eternal and Life, could never experience total separation from the Father, being the Person He is, always was and always will be.  As said in Revelation 1, “I am the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega”. 1 Peter 3:18 from the Revised Standard Version – “He was put to death in the body but made alive in the spirit”.  Tay says – “But though His body died, His spirit lived on.”  This must be correct as He had indestructible life.  In addition, there is no mention of being resurrected or brought to life in the body in the first phrase so that the second phrase can have no connection with being brought to life again in the spirit (born again), as these teachers say. In the Interlinear Greek-English, it reads, “being put to death on one hand in (the) flesh, quickened on the other in (the) spirit”.  “Zoopoieo” is translated “quickened”.  Thayer’s Lexicon gives the meaning as “endued with new and greater powers of life”.  This would be speaking of His glorification. New English Bible reads –  “In the body he was put to death; in the spirit he was brought to life.” Williams puts it  – “being put to death in physical form but made alive in the Spirit.”  It should be noted that this indicates His death was only physical.

It was never that “He died spiritually” as those false teachers say.  His new resurrection body was such that it enabled Him to be as in 1 Corinthians 15:45 “The last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving spirit” in contrast to Adam having been created “a living soul”. Beck reads – “He was killed in His body but made alive in His spirit.” New King James –  “made alive by the Spirit.”  His body was resurrected, His spirit never having died.  At the resurrection His actual glorification began, even though His Gethsemane experience and His death on the Cross glorified Him, John 12:23; 13:31,32. New American Standard says – “having been put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” N.I.V. reads – “made alive by the Spirit”. Tay says –  “His spirit lived on”.  This translation is perhaps the closest to the original Greek, that as above, shows His death on the cross brought about new and greater powers.

These were to be manifested after His resurrection, particularly on His ascension into heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father. TCNT clearly reveals – “his body being put to death but his spirit entering upon new Life.” It is obvious that His spirit did not die and that therefore He did not go into Hell with Satan. 1 Peter 4:1 shows that “Christ suffered in His body” – not in His spirit. This is confirmed by verses 12 to 16, that speak of the physical suffering of persecution that those Christians were enduring.  In 1 Peter 5:1, the apostle says he was a witness to Christ’s sufferings.  That meant all of His sufferings.  There were no sufferings in Hell.  Had that been the case, such sufferings would have been invisible.  Peter saw all of His sufferings.  They were physical, on earth and not in Hell. If it had happened that His spirit died and He descended into Hell as a sinner, it would put Him in our position of sin and spiritual death.  If God could get Him out of that position without an atonement from someone else of like sinfulness, why could not God get us out without an atonement from someone else of like sinfulness?  This teaching is demonic. We sinners only had “dead” spirits.  At death He entered upon new Life immediately, He who is the Life and this Life was that which preceded the raising of His body to immortal Life and glory.  He said, “I am the resurrection and the Life”.  Life can never die.

Hebrews 7:16 says He is a priest like Melchizedek, “through the power of an indestructible life”. As man Christ redeemed us on the Cross.  As Deity, He defeated Satan for us on the Cross.  There is no doubt that it was as God, the Son of God, that He defeated Satan, 1 John 3:8; Hebrews 2:14; Matthew 16:16,18, Colossians 2:14,15, Galatians 2:20.  All those verses reveal Him as the Son of God who is being spoken about or speaking.  As God, He could not take on the nature of Satan.  It is blasphemy to even hint at it.  He did not take on the nature of Satan.  Had it been so, such a one with that nature could not have defeated Satan.  Satan himself would have been much stronger than someone who only had his nature and did not become the person of Satan.  At such a time, Jesus would have no Divinity and there would be no Trinity or God (God was in Christ).  Nevertheless it s a “Spiritual Death” with spiritual implications but not a death of His spirit. “Into Your hands I commit My spirit”, He said on the Cross.  This rules out any underworld descent by the disembodied soul of Christ in the time between his death and resurrection, as one full of sin.

Christ’s death was physical, not spiritual.  His resurrection was in the realm of the spiritual, that is in the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is the resurrection that is the source of the spiritual and this is for our benefit.  In 1 Corinthians 15:45, 49 Paul speaks of our receiving spiritual bodies at the resurrection of the dead. When Christ died, He died to the natural sphere of existence but He had life in the spiritual sphere of existence.  Jesus was and is One Person with two natures.  As God, He could never die.

7. Jesus Under Judgment.John 18:28,  “They led Jesus into the hall of Judgment”.  Isaiah 53:8 “He was taken from prison and from judgement.”  Like a criminal, the Servant of the Lord has been brought before a judge and condemned to death – for us.  In an oppressive, unrighteous, judicial proceeding.  John 19:4-16.  As Pilate sits in his judgement chair, Rome, the Jews, the world and God say “I condemn Jesus Christ”.

In the condemnation He bore instead of us, there is acquittal for us.  This was the purpose of God so that through the judgement of men He could be taken to the Cross, the place of judgement before man and God.  He did this in our place.  The wrath of God fell on Him instead of on us.

Isaiah 52:14;53:5,10, “the Lord has delighted to bruise Him, when He makes Himself an offering for sin”.

4. God’s judgment fell on Jesus; He was abandoned, Mark.15:34.  That was on the Cross.  For three hours there was darkness, while Jesus suffered the tortures of Hell.  Isaiah 53:11 “After the suffering of His soul”.  It touched not only His body but His whole inner being.  Hell is not so much a place as a condition – separation from God.

The final judgement on sin is the place and eternal condition of separation from God.  The final Hell is a place of fire, Revelation 20:15.  Jesus was judged instead of us. (the unity of the Trinity was unbroken, God was in Christ reconciling unto Himself), to bear our sin’s burden, judged with the fire of hell, Galatians 3:13.  Jesus suffered the fire of hell. Jesus said, in Mark 9:48 that “their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched”.  The worm is inward and means the gnawing sins that are forever with them in Hell.

The fire is the fire of Hell that comes from outside.  It is outward.  Jesus could not experience any worm eating within Him.  He had no sin of His own.  He prayed, “My God”, so had not become “sin”. Thus He did not suffer the worm of sin in that time on the Cross.  The worm did not touch Him inwardly.  Therefore the actual worm did not begin to eat His body.  The fire of Hell came at Him from the outside and not because His spirit was suffering in a literal Hell.  His spirit was with His Father at the point of His death. The weight of our sin and guilt was upon Him.  Therefore He suffered, as it were, the fires of Hell when darkness came upon Him for three hours.  Then He had to say, “Eli, Eli, Why have you forsaken Me?”  He was forsaken of God.  That is Hell.  Death is not annihilation.  It is separation.

1. Jesus suffered Hell, for us, WHEN He was on the Cross and Starting in the Garden. It was separation, from God, as punishment for us.  He suffered Hell for us while still alive, being separation from God and before His spirit and soul were separated from His body in death.  Note that His heart was free from sin.  He had not become sin itself, else He would never have had even a desire to pray to His Father.

He prayed twice while on the cross.

• It is Appointed Unto Man, Once to Die and After Death, the Judgment, Hebrews 9:27.  To mankind, sin and death (the worm) come first and then judgement (the fire).  Within Jesus, there was no sin and no death.  The fire was present in Him, before His death, that was objective death, not subjective.  His Being did not die.  His body eventually died.  Death came at Him from the outside.  During those three hours of torment, suffering the judgement and wrath of God, Psalm 22, death was swallowed up.  Death died.  Life was everlastingly present within Him.  To Him, it represented eternity in Hell, of separation from God.
• Isaiah 53:11  “After thesuffering of His soul, He will see the light of life”.  His soul suffered there on the cross.

 

In verse 9, His innocence is declared.  In verse 10, God afflicts Him with heavy sufferings.  Why?  It was the Lord will so that He should present a voluntary sin offering to redeem mankind through His sufferings.  Nowhere does it say Jesus suffered after His death.He is High Priest, Sin-Offering and Sacrifice.  Isaiah 53:10 “When He has brought a sin-offering, He shall see a posterity”.  This is the Messiah.  Verse 5, “the punishment was laid on Him” (as Sacrifice), verse 11, “bear their sins”.  Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2; 4:10. iii.  During that time, the forces of Hell itself came upon Him  He conquered them, as is stated in Colossians 2:14,15a and He conquered them on the Cross where He suffered the pangs of Hell.  He did not descend into Hell, the place, the eternal abode of Satan, demons and unbelievers.

“He cancelled the note that stood against us, with its requirements, He took this list of sins and destroyed it by nailing it to the Cross, And the hostile princes and rulers He stripped off from Himself/having drawn the sting of all the powers ranged against us/He rid Himself of the Powers of evil” or as another translation says, “He disarmed the Principalities and the Powers that fought against Him”. Christ conquered those spiritual enemies whose possession of the “note” or “bond” had us in their power.  These Principalities and Powers thought they had Him in their grip when He was fastened to the cross.  They flung themselves at Him while He hung upon the cross.  Jesus prayed for His executioners, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”.  Jesus, even in judgement, maintained His heart to contact God in prayer.

1. In the spirit realm, not of this material world, He fought with them.  He was Master over them.  He took their armour and power off them.  He held them aloft in His Mighty Hands, He who was suffering the torment of our judgement in Hell, on the Cross.  He disabled those Principalities and Powers.

The Cross had become a triumph.  He “made a public example of them”, as it were.Colossians 2:15b “and put them to open shame, celebrating a triumph over them thereby/ or put them to open shame, leading them captive in the triumph of Christ/ or made a public display of them, triumphing over them by the cross/ or he exposed them, shattered, empty and defeated, in his final glorious triumphant act!”  Notice that this victory over Satan took place on the Cross and not ‘down’ in Hell itself. This is the language for the Romans after a victorious battle.  The conquering Roman General and His army, would, on their return to Rome, march in a victory parade.  Their conquered enemies would be stripped and tied in chains, then to be dragged along in the triumphant procession. Paul uses this symbolic language to show the victory of Jesus Christ on the Cross over these Principalities and Powers.  He conquered them in our place and for us.  We now share in that victory.

Jesus Christ was “in Hell”, suffering for us in judgement, while on the Cross.  He could never have been condemned to a literal Hell, the abode of Satan, because even on the Cross He showed His sinlessness.  Our sin did not become a part of Him.  Neither did He receive the nature of Satan.  In the face of the judgement of God upon Him, He kept silent. He had deliberately become a curse for us.  He took it upon Himself.  He took our sin, its guilt and its penalty upon Himself.  This is the judgement of God.  He remained silent and held His peace, “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.  By a perversion of justice He was taken away”, Isaiah 53:7,8.  In 1 Peter 2:23, Peter shows that “When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly”.  This shows clearly that on the Cross, where He had already taken our sin, He had not become a sinner or received the Satanic nature.A “born again” person has his sins blotted out, not Jesus! It was a “perversion of justice”.  In other words, He was known to be innocent by the legal authorities and He was recognised as innocent by God.  Again, this clearly shows that on the Cross He had no sin. Countries, cities and communities are held in Satanic bondage by these demon powers.

Jesus conquered them on the Cross. It is noteworthy in this connection that the victory and atonement being effected on the Cross and not in the grave or supposedly in Hell, fulfilled a wonderful prophecy.  It is found in Ezekiel 37:12, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come out of your graves'” and came about as Matthew says, “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom”, when “The earth shook and the rocks split.  The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.  They came out of the tombs”, Matthew 27:30-33. We share in the victory of the Cross.  Therefore, in the power of the Holy Ghost, as we preach the gospel and particularly if God confirms His Word with signs following and Gifts of the Holy Ghost, we can go in to those places.  We take out of Satan’s hands many precious souls who are at present in bondage to him.  He is already conquered and we can continue to spoil his house, in the authority of Jesus Christ, Mark 3:26-28, Matthew 28:18,19.

5. He took our place.  He suffered for the guilt of our sin, in receiving the judgment of God instead of us, so that we who believe experience justification (as if we had never sinned), deliverance from judgment, peace with God, freedom from the power of sin.

He suffered the pains of Hell, the judgement for our sins.  “The chastisement of our peace was upon Him”, or “upon Him was the punishment that made us whole”, Isaiah 53:5.  This is why for us who believe there is no judgment, “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit”, Romans 8:1.  “Amen, Amen I say unto you, he who puts his trust in Him who sent me, has eternal life and does not come under judgement but has already passed out of death unto life”, John 5:24.We have passed out of death and judgment, because Jesus suffered judgment and the death of separation from God for us on the Cross.

He was resurrected unto life and we also share in that resurrection and are in a condition of Life.

8. Revelation 1:5.  It speaks of Jesus Christ as being the “first begotten of the dead”.  Most translators give the sense as Knox, for example, “first-born of the risen dead” or “the first to come back from the dead”.  This CANNOT mean that Jesus died spiritually and was born again as the first of many others, believers who would be born again.

It concerns His bodily resurrection from the dead.  This expression comes from the Old Testament, Psalm 89:27,  “I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.”  This refers to Psalm 2:7,8  “You are my son,… ‘Ask of me and I will make the nations (heathen) your heritage.'”  These Psalms are Messianic. /

As firstborn of the dead, Jesus becomes “the highest (or ruler) of the kings of the earth”.  This is why He is the firstborn, to become the highest.  The reason that Jesus has been made or is the “firstborn” is found also in Colossians 1:18.  It is “so that he might come to have first place in everything.” He is declared to be the firstborn of the dead because of His sovereignty over the church. As we continue reading in Revelation 1:5-7 we have to admit that the sense of the passage centres around His being the “first begotten of the dead”.  As such He washed us from our sins in his own blood and has made us kings and priests.  This is why John had to include, “to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.  Amen.”  He had to finalise those words of praise with an “Amen”, “SO LET IT BE!”  Tay says, “Give to Him everlasting glory!  He rules forever!  Amen.”  He is the Sovereign Lord. Then we are told “See!  He is coming on the clouds and every eye will see Him, even the men who pierced Him and all the nations will weep in sorrow and in terror when He comes.”  Because He is the first begotten of the dead, He has been given power and authority.  He is supreme.  Then He will reveal Himself to all the world as the Sovereign Lord.

In Revelation 1:17,18 He declares that He is the “First and the Last, the Living One”.  He is the first and last, in life, in death, in creation and in redemption.  He is the fountain of all life, natural, spiritual and eternal. It can be seen that all the above verses can be said to have no connection whatsoever with Jesus supposedly being born again.  Rather, they prove He could never have died spiritually and been born again as we have been.  There are many proofs in Scripture that support what we are saying.  We will endeavour to list some more of them.

Jesus Christ was the sacrifice for our sins, Hebrews 10:12 “He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time.”  If Jesus had died spiritually, as well as physically, He would have ceased for that period of three days to be both Priest and Sacrifice.  Because He made the offering, Jesus was the Priest.  Had He died spiritually, there would have been no Priest officiating before God.  Even under the Law, there was always a succession of priests.

One died, another immediately functioned.  There had to be a Priest. Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God, the sacrifice for our sins.  Hebrews 6:16 states that He had “the power of an endless life”.  The power of the endless life was the power of Him who is “the Life”. Although He died in His human nature, He was still alive in His indissoluble Person.  For those three days He was still both Priest and Sacrifice.  His spirit was inseparable to His Person, the eternal Son of God.  Therefore, for this reason alone, He did not die “spiritually”.  Jesus did not cease for one minute, in being the Holy, Spotless lamb of God, the sacrifice for our sin. Jesus Christ is our Perfect Saviour.  He saved the dying thief even as He hung upon the cross.  Therefore, He could not have died spiritually, as He had no reason to be reconciled to God, to have a propitiation made for sin, to be redeemed, justified or born again.

The life given by Him who has endless life, gave the man eternal life. The Cross and atoning death of Jesus Christ meant more than Jesus taking our sin. He was Priest, offering Himself as a Sacrifice, to appease the wrath of God against sin, to make propitiation and reconciliation to God, to take away sin and to provide His blood as a cleansing for sin.  He was never a sinner.  He was separate from sinners, Hebrews 7:26, “who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners”.  The atonement was made on the Cross.  His atoning death was on the Cross. The second part is translated in various ways, such as, ASV “separated from sinners”; Rhm.  “set apart from sinners”; TCNT “withdrawn from sinners”; Weymouth “far removed from sinful men”; Moffat “far from all contact with the sinful”;  Bas. “having no part with sinners”; Phillips  “beyond the very reach of sin”; Ber.  “in a different class from sinners”; Barclay  “quite different from sinners”. Clearly, our sin did not touch Him.  Therefore He could not have died spiritually or needed to be “born again”.  As Man, Christ knew no sin.  Psalm 110:3 reads in one translation, “At birth you were endowed with princely gifts and resplendent in holiness”.  Luke 1:36 states “the child to be born will be holy”.  He was born holy with no sinful tendencies or capacity for sinning.  This qualified Him to make atonement as Man for men.  He was God’s righteous servant.  Isaiah 53:11 says “he shall bear (not become) their iniquities”. 1 Corinthians 5:9 and Leviticus 1:3; 6:25-29 show that as the Sacrificial Lamb, Christ was holy, without spot or blemish and without any trace of sin or “Satanic nature”.

“For Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed”; it is to be “holy” and “without blemish”.  That which is slain at the altar is always regarded as a gift acceptable to God.  This was in accordance with Isaiah 53:12 and Numbers 14:33.  Nothing tainted by sin can be acceptable to God.  Jesus was never tainted by sin at any point.  His sacrifice was well-pleasing to God and of a sweet smelling savour. It was impossible for Him who is so holy, to take upon or into Himself the nature of Satan.  Satan is full of sin and darkness.  Jesus Christ is at all stages of His life and even death, full of sinlessness, holiness and light. 2 Corinthians 5:21.  Jesus was made sin  They take it to mean that He actually became sin.  However, He was not identified with US in His death.  We are sinners.  He was not a sinner.  He was holy, the One who knew no sin.  “Identify” means sharing the characteristics of, treat as identical with.  He did not share the characteristics of our sin.  He was the sacrifice for our sin.  He took the guilt and penalty of our sin.  He was our substitution.  He took our sin and guilt and died in our place, so that we could receive of His righteousness.  Those who say He became sin in actuality are false prophets preaching heresy. In 1 Peter 2:24, “and He himself bore our sins in His body on the cross”, is a certainty that first of all it was in His body on the cross that the atonement was made – not in the grave.  Secondly`, The symbolic meaning of the Old Testament sacrifices show the above teaching that He actually became sin is wrong.

There was a laying on of hands in the ritual of the sacrifices.  It could never have meant that it denoted an actual transfer of sin and guilt, or in other words an imputation of sin.  Leviticus 17:11 supports this where it shows that the sins of their souls were to be covered by the blood of that sacrifice.  This sacrifice was considered a holy sacrifice, without taint of sin.  It was also done on the annual Day of Atonement, when one goat was sent out into the wilderness, a type of Jesus.  The sin of the people was laid upon it.  This could not mean that everyone’s sins were in actuality put upon this goat.  It meant the goat was taking their place in sin with its guilt. The laying on of hands was an act of dedication or consecration of the animal to death as an offering for that person’s sin.  This act did not impose his sins on the animal.  No sins were ever imputed to a sin offering.  No uncleanness or defiling influence was ever inherent in the sin offering as it was a “most holy” thing. 2 Corinthians 5:21 reads, “Him who knew no sin, He made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  We obtain redemption through the death of the Sinless One in place of us who are sinners. Jesus, in 2 Corinthians 5:21, also took our place of sin with all its guilt.  Sin was not imparted into Jesus or imputed unto Him.  When He took our place, as we ourselves are not sin, or the totality of sin, He Himself in that act could never become sin.  We must understand Scripture correctly.  In relation to imparting “Laughter” or “Healing” let us understand that we do not “impart” any spiritual blessing “held” by ourselves into others! God did not make Him a sinner.  He “made Him to be sin”.  If this means as the “Faith Movement” teachers say, that He actually became sin in the sense of being impregnated with sin, thus being a sinner, then He could not be God at that point or at any time.  To say He was on earth as a man, having “laid aside His Divinity (His attributes)” also has to be included in this premise.

Then there would have ceased to have been three Persons in the Godhead.  The Trinity would have ceased to exist.  God changes not, Malachi 3:6, so how could this be? Jesus was never personally defiled by sin or with Satanic nature.  Even as a mere man, which He never was, to have a Satanic nature (which He never did have) would have deprived Him forever of Divinity.  Had such Satanic nature been possible, He would have rebelled against God at that very moment.  He did not.  In His sinlessness, He maintained the stance of “Father, not My will but Yours be done”. In Numbers 14:34, “for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquities” shows that the meaning is to bear the consequences, take to themselves the punishment.

Also, in Leviticus 5:17, “yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity”, shows he would bear the consequences.  In Exodus 28:43, the sons of Aaron had to observe the laws “that they bear not iniquity and die”.  All these expressions point to and show clearly the meaning of “Who His own self bore our sins”.  Hebrews 9:28, “Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many”. He was officially guilty with our guilt.  The Jesus who was sinless, was made sin by being condemned to a criminal’s death and the death before God of a sinner in our place.  Sin was only imputed unto Him, just as righteousness is imputed (reckoned) unto us, see Romans 4:22-24, “It will be reckoned to us who believe in Him”. Again, “He was handed over to death for our trespass” and was “raised for our justification”, (not His own), Romans 4:25.  We have to consider both words, “trespass” and “justification” in the same manner.  It was not His justification and it was not His trespass. While taking our sin, He was different from us.  He was the only begotten Son, the righteous Servant while He was the sin-bearing Substitute.  He had at all times, on the cross and in death, original, inherent and complete holiness.  He as the spotless Lamb of God.  His blood was without spot and blemish, He “bore our sins in his body (not soul or spirit) on the cross”, 1 Peter 2:24.  As shown in 1 Peter 3:18 Christ suffered as the righteous for the unrighteous.  As “righteous”, He could not become the actuality of sin or take on the nature of Satan.  He was a righteous and holy Priest offering up Himself as a holy offering. Our sin was charged to Christ’s account.  He became so closely identified with it and its guilt, that Paul said, “God made Him to be sin”.  He became the object of the wrath of God and was judged instead of us.  Christ did not die with all (as sinners) He died for all (who are sinners).  It was unto not in sin. Now we become the righteousness of God in Him.  This is by union with Christ.

It is not a case of His taking our sin so that we have His righteousness and thus become as righteous as He is.  We in Adam die; Jesus was not “in Adam”! We receive His righteousness, as we are in Him.  It is not that in Him we are made righteous, incapable of being touched by sin.  We are made the righteousness of God in Him.  His righteousness is imputed to us, in justification.  We are partakers of His righteousness, in sanctification.  It is by His Righteousness even in death, we receive, Romans 5:18. In John 3:5 Jesus answered them with “No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”  Jesus Himself is King in this kingdom.  He reigns over the kingdom and did not cease to be King even in His death.  Pilate recognised that Jesus is King.  He ordered an inscription to be placed over the cross, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”. A king like Jesus would not be “born again” into His own Kingdom.

Neither would He be required for any reason, to be “born of the Spirit”. He already had the Spirit without measure.  When God received His spirit at His giving up Himself in death, He was still full of the Spirit of God. Moreover, Jesus preached about His Kingdom.  In John 19:35-37, He made a good confession to Pilate, as witnessed by 1 Timothy 6:13, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.”  He stated, “I AM, AS YOU SAY, A KING.”  The I Am was King, is King and always will be King.  Even in the grave, He is the I Am a King.  He could not have died spiritually and could not have been born again into the Kingdom over which He is the King. To die spiritually and be born again, Jesus would have had His Person divided. He is God and He is Man, two natures in One Person.  As God He could not die spiritually.  That nature is incapable of death.  However, His Person was never divided.  As Man He died on the Cross and as God He died on the Cross – two Natures but One Person.

Only man knows death.  As Man, the body of Jesus knew death.  However, in His Being, He did not know death.  He was not divided.  Around 400 A.D. this very error was taught, that Jesus was two distinct persons.  He atoned for sin on the Cross. He is the Life.  He is the spotless Lamb of God, who offered Himself without spot, to God, as the sacrifice for our sin.  He was not born again.  Romans 1:4 clearly shows this.  NRSV reads, “declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Regarding the part, “according to the spirit of holiness”, other translations read –  “by the Spirit of Holiness”; “on the level of the Spirit – the Holy Spirit”;  “in His holiness of spirit”;  “in respect of the sanctified spirit that was his”;  “as to the spirit of holiness within him”. In Isaiah 53:10 the prophet says Christ will “see His seed (offspring)”.  These are spiritual offspring.  Had Jesus died spiritually He would never have had the power to produce seed of “life”, eternal life.  Because He did not die, the Eternal Spirit in Him bears seed to life. Obviously, even in death, the Lord Jesus Christ still had the Spirit of Holiness, so could be raised on the level of the Spirit.

He had holiness of spirit, His was sanctified spirit, i.e. the sanctified spirit was his.  He had within Him the spirit of holiness.  “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself”, 2 Corinthians 5:19.  He died as God and man in One. In view of this, He was unable to die spiritually and thus be born again.

That teaching is error and heresy.  We have to agree with the Scriptures above, that Jesus did not die spiritually and was not born again to become as is wrongly suggested in that sense the “first-begotten from the dead”. The Perversity in the heart of man, caused the Jewish nation at the time of their Messiah, to live outside of the Scriptures.  They altered the meaning of the Scriptures to suit themselves.  They accepted only those truths that they wished to receive. We know this from 1 Peter 2:7 that speaks of the stone “rejected” by the builders.  “Rejected” in Greek means that they “examined, found it fulfilled the test but turned away from it”.  and from 2 Peter 3:5 where men refuse truth because they “fully shut their eyes to the fact”.  Perversity in the hearts of false prophets and false teachers today, results in their refusal to consider possible truth.

As in 2 Timothy 2:18 they left the path of truth. They must WILL to do God’s will in relation to knowing the Truth.  Jesus said, John 7:17, “If any be willing to do God’s will he shall know concerning the teaching”.  We must will not to follow men’s tradition or philosophies.  We should be willing to let go tradition, philosophies, vain deceits and man-made fictions and teachings that are really doctrines of demons for God’s Word. The hearts can be wrong, even in believers and teachers.  See Luke 24:25, where Jesus said, “O dull-witted men and with minds so slow”!  Also, in Mark 16:14, where Jesus appeared to the eleven after the resurrection and “reproved them for their lack of faith, unbelief, stubbornness and dullness”. They can be forever learning and yet never attain to recognition of the truth, 2 Timothy 3:5;4:3 finding teachers to satisfy their fancies or fictions.

CHAPTER 4

Spiritual Warfare True “Spiritual Warfare” means the Church fights these erroneous doctrines, fancies and fictions.  The current way of teaching so-called Spiritual Warfare is unscriptural.  It is a medieval belief of the Eastern Orthodox churches and others that do not teach the born-again experience.  In Orthodox mystic-ascetic spirituality, the Christian is supposedly fighting against demons continually. This is not what the Bible teaches.  The Scriptures show that the Spirit lusts against the flesh in us, not demons.  That is where the fight lies and it is one of faith.  Any warfare in the Church and it is demonic, is one where she engages herself against heresy and persecution, in particular. The Bible teaches that there are evil powers and dominions under Satan.  They were defeated by Christ at the Cross.

The final overthrow of their hostile power will take place at the Second Coming.  They cannot harm the believer who remains in Christ, His Spirit and His Word. Their workings are many but come against the church collectively rather than to believers personally, although how the church is becomes reflected in each individual believer.  Satan works through heresies, persecution and the world with its national leaderships, philosophies, cultures, economical systems, education, media, religions etc.

They attack the church, as recorded in Ephesians 6:10-18, Revelation 2,3; chapter 13 etc. Believers do not “feel” the demons.  He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.  Rather, they blindly succumb to heresies, worldliness, the world’s systems and/or fall prey to their national and cultural heritage.  This happens through lack of the armour of Ephesians 6. This armour as enumerated, is that of Truth, Righteousness, the Gospel of Peace, Faith, Salvation and the Word of God.  Equipped with all of these accoutrements, the church would be kept in the way of truth and godliness.  Alas, this she has failed to do even unto this present day, despite the showers of blessing sent by the Lord upon her. It is not necessary and it is unscriptural, to pull down the strongholds of a demonic power or dominion, a Prince Demon, over cities.  The early church did not do that.  They did what is mentioned in Ephesians 6:15, 17.  Their feet were “shod with the gospel of peace”.  In other words, as they preached the gospel in heathen cities and to unbelievers, Jew and Gentile, they themselves became a flavour of death to the unbelievers and of life to those who believed./

They had salvation and used the Word of God, which is the Sword of the Spirit. In Revelation 19:12-15, there is a sword that comes out of the mouth the rider of the white horse.  His nature is purity and He bears the robe on which is the blood of His sacrifice.  He strikes down nations with His sword.  This sword is the word of His eternal gospel.  That is what affects nations and enables many of the citizens to be saved. There is no scriptural basis for casting down Prince Demons of cities.  What happened in the book of Daniel had no connection with the Gospel Age or activity of the saints who are to obey the commands of Jesus, “Go you into all the world and preach the gospel”.  There is no thought of a warfare against Prince Demons before there are believers who obey the gospel. During this period of Gospel activity, Satan is bound, as we read in Luke 11:21,22 and in Revelation 20:2.  Jesus Christ has bound him and his power in this gospel age.  Therefore the Word of God in the gospel has power to set the captives free, as it is the power of God unto salvation, Romans 1:16.

There is no scriptural basis for the “binding” of Satan and of demons that prevails widely in Charismatic circles.  Jesus told us that in His Name, we would cast out demons.  It is the power of His name as we cast them out in the Spirit of God that delivers the demon-possessed and afflicted, as we have often seen. God confirmed their words with signs following and gifts of the Holy Ghost.  Many turned to Christ, because it is the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation.  The preaching of the gospel in faith and in the power of the Spirit, is mighty and that pulls down powers of evil in people’s lives.  As Jesus is preached, He, lifted up on the Cross, draws men and women to Himself in faith.  Millions have become believers without anyone bringing down the Prince Demons over cities! We look now at some serious errors and heresies.  A Tele Evangelist, Copeland, whose audiences number millions,  places much emphasis, in nearly every Telecast, on “Jesus, the Anointed”.  His use of the term that is a translation of Christos meaning “The Anointed” is done in a very unscriptural fashion.  It leaves his followers thinking of Jesus, on earth and now, as merely “The Anointed”.  This pleases many as they then go from there in their thinking wrongly, to “I myself am also anointed as was Jesus”. /

It also leaves the strong impression, in accordance with the views of Copeland, that Jesus on earth and on the Cross and in Hell was a mere man, albeit one who was “anointed”. He is no longer the “anointed”.  The Lord Jesus Christ is the “Anointer”.  We learn this from Acts 2:29-36.  Peter in his sermon is quoting from Psalm 110:1.  He tells how David, a prophet, foretold of the resurrection of the Christ (meaning “the Anointed”).  Now this Jesus is exalted as Lord and Christ at the right hand of God.  As Lord, he is not anointed.  He is Lord because being Divine, He is the Anointer because of His suffering and death on the cross in atonement for our sins. Jesus Christ made atonement for our sins on the cross, Romans 3:25, “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement”, and Hebrews 2:17,  “that he might make atonement for the sins of the people” – both from N.I.V.  Also, in KJV, Romans 5:11 “By whom we have received the atonement”.  Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was an atoning sacrifice. “Atonement” is mainly an Old Testament word, found on numerous occasions, where it foreshadowed the Cross of Christ.  When we examine the places of its usage there, we more clearly understand its meaning.  It means “to cover by an expiatory sacrifice”  The dictionary meaning is “expiation” (‘paying the penalty of’), “reparation for wrong”, “reconciliation of God and man”.  The word “atonement” is used often in the Old Testament in connection with sacrifices that all were a type of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

It is used extensively in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. The Feast of Passover centered around the slain lamb.  Exodus 12 shows the Passover being instituted, the lamb to be shed and the blood sprinkled.  “Christ our Passover, is sacrificed for us”, 1 Corinthians 5:7.  In Revelation 7:14; 12:11, the blood of the Lamb is spoken of.  The Lamb is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”, John 1:36.  This blood shed and sprinkled on our hearts, is the blood of the atonement offered to God even as the blood of the animal on the Day of Atonement was offered and sprinkled on the Mercy Seat, or the Propitiation Seat, Leviticus 16.  Passover meant that God passed over their sins, showing the shed lamb forespoke of atonement, expiation and reconciliation.  Jesus at the last supper, said in Matthew 26:28, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”.

Sins are forgiven because atonement for sin was made by Christ on the cross with the shedding of His blood. Reconciliation” is found in 2 Corinthians 5:18,19 and Hebrews 2:17, Matthew 5:24; Romans 5:10; 1 Corinthians 7:11; Colossians 1:21. KJV   “Christ died for our sins”, 1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:15.  That was expiation.  That was atonement.  Such was reconciliation.  Ephesians 2:16, “That he might reconcile both unto God through the cross” (not through the grave).  .  Also, 1 Peter 2:21, “Christ suffered for you”. He and his followers completely overlook all this in teaching, In relation to “The Anointed” so often mentioned by them, we see that in Acts 4:27,28 and Acts 7:52.  There Peter speaks about God’s “holy servant Jesus”, whom He “anointed”.  This refers to the lowly Servant, promised in the books of the Prophets.  Also in Isaiah 52:13-15 and chapter 53 He is said to become the Suffering One on the Cross as the sacrifice for sins.  There was also Stephen who said, “They killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the ‘Righteous One’”.  This is not the understanding Copeland gives when he speaks of Jesus being “The Anointed”.  Without this understanding, he presents a false Person and picture. The true and scriptural understanding of Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah as being “The Anointed” in a fashion foreign to what Copeland presents, is as follows: – The anointing on Jesus as prophesied in Isaiah 61:1-3 and as read by Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth, Luke 4:18-21, concerned the redemption of God that came in the Person of Jesus Christ.

It was not signifying that Jesus, the Man, was anointed to do the works of God as a mere man.  It was as the Son of God, that God’s Suffering Servant came to be the Presence of God in redemption. Jesus Himself rarely called Himself, the Messiah, or the Christ.  Generally He revealed Himself as the Son of God, as One with His Father and as the Son of Man.  It was not until after His resurrection that He said, “the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory”, Luke 24:26.  He revealed He was the Christ in Luke 4:18 above and in Mark 8:27, 28 when He asked Peter who He was. Matthew disclosed Jesus in relation to His being King, Son of David, Matthew 1:1,6,17,20; 9:27; 15:22; 20:30; 21:9,15.  Mark reveals Him as the Son of Man, Mark 1:13; 3:22,26; 4:5; 8:33.  John points out that He is the Son of God, particularly chapters 1-6.  He is referred to as the “I AM”.  The Jews had thought of the Messiah or Christ who was to come, as being an extraordinary human being who acted on God’s orders.  This is what the present teaching on “Jesus, the Anointed” would emphasise. However, Jesus appeared to His disciples as the direct manifestation of God’s redemptive will, as “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God”.  Jesus’ Messianic work was done as the Son of God.

The portrait of Jesus in the Gospels is far greater than what the Jews had expected and even far greater than calling Him now, “the Anointed”. In Hebrews 1:9 and Psalm 45:7 He is “anointed with the oil of gladness above” His fellows.  This shows the anointing on Him was far greater than on anybody else.  Also, He was anointed Prophet, Priest and King.  No one else has ever been or ever will be thus anointed. The work of this Messiah or Christ, agreed with all the promises of God to His people found in the Old Testament.  The early Church believed that Jesus was Messiah or Christ because His ministry and its outcome, the Cross and Resurrection, were the fulfilment of Scripture.  See 1 Corinthians 15:1-3. The power of the Christ or the Messiah, the Anointed One, was found in His atoning sacrifice on the Cross.  See Luke 24:20; John 1:29; Romans 3:25; Ephesians 5:2; Colossians 1:20; Hebrews 2:15; 1 Peter 1:18; Revelation 5:6.  The Jews looked for a Messiah who would be apocalyptic, or in other words, who would bring to a close human events by His earthly Kingship and authority over all their national enemies.  They had a Jewish Messianic ideology – just as many Christians have today.  Of course, Copeland does not believe in that sacrifice. However, the Old Testament promises found fulfilment in a spiritualisation of their types.  Jesus came to bring redemption for all the world on the Cross including His resurrection and glorification to the right hand of God.  God’s past works were for a spiritual fulfilment.  Thus the early Church, particularly Paul and his Gentile converts, were happy to consider Jesus by the Jewish title, “Messiah” because they understood the redemptive purposes of God through that Messiah.  They saw that the Jewish ideas and beliefs had been wrong and had been forced to give way to the spiritual purposes of God.

These were made effective by the blood and the Spirit – not through circumcision, the Law or national Jewishness.  See John 1:14,15; 12:38; 1 Corinthians 2:9; Galatians 3:8. Jesus and later the Apostles, taught that Judaism had become the slave of the letter of the Old Testament Law, see John 5:46; Romans 7:6; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Matthew 11:10; Mark 14:27.  Because of this, the Jewish nation was cast aside in their failure to realise that Jesus was the Mighty Agent and Final Revelation of God’s redemptive purpose.  He was the Lord of Scripture.  All subsequent revelation bore witness to this and can never bear witness to anything else. All wrong teachings are doctrines of demons,

2. “The Spirit says clearly, that in later days, certain people will rebel against the faith (and turn away from the true Christ), paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons and this through the hypocrisy of men who teach falsely”.

Probably the worst of these present-day teachings is that  “Jesus went to Hell, died spiritually and had to be born again”!Teachers of the strange doctrines about the Person of Jesus and the Atonement on the Cross, as well as including great Prosperity of Material Possessions in the Gospel and Positive Confession, are many.  The most famous ones spill out their poison on Television Channels and in books, all over the world, reaching up to hundreds of millions of people. The predominance on all these teachings makes for another gospel, Galatians 1:6-8, “you are moving away, unto a different gospel, which is really no gospel; whoever preaches a gospel that contradicts the gospel I (Paul) preached to you, God’s curse be on him”.  Even such great apostles as Peter and Barnabas were “carried away” and were confronted by Paul who told them so to their face.  However, they repented.  (See Galatians 2:11-14). We must follow Paul’s gospel.  He said in 1 Corinthians 15:1-3 that the gospel he had preached to them was by which they were saved, “if you hold firmly to the word I preached.  Otherwise you have believed in vain.”  This gospel was that Christ died for our sins, was buried and raised again according to the Scriptures. This Christ is a different One from the one preached by many today, giving us “another Jesus than the one we (Paul) proclaimed”, 2 Corinthians 11:4 and is a “different gospel from the one you accepted”. Let all be like the Bereans, in Acts 17:11 who “searched the Scriptures daily to see if what was said was true”.

Paul has warned us in 1 Timothy 4:1 “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron” and 2 Timothy 4:3,4 “For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths”. Finally, to say Jesus took on the nature of Satan, as they say and had to be born again out of Hell, is to deny the power of the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross.

It was the blood of God, Acts 20:28.  It was the blood of the pure and holy sacrifice that was without spot or blemish.

It continually speaks in heaven for us and is available daily as an onward cleansing for our sins and shortcomings, 1 John 1:7 (the blood of Jesus his Son ‘keeps on cleansing’ (present continuous tense). The Old Testament prefigures the need for the shed blood of the sacrifice.  John called Jesus “The Lamb of God”.

The New Testament, particularly the book of Hebrews, shows over and over again the power in the blood of Jesus.  No one can enter heaven without being washed in that blood. The following poem says it all –

 El Shaddai – The All-Sufficient One O what is the Lord El Shaddai to me? My Lord, God and Saviour, Immanuel, He; My Prophet, Priest, Sacrifice Altar and Lamb, Judge, Advocate, Surety and Witness, “I Am”; My Peace and My Light, my Life, Truth and Way My Healer, my Teacher, my Hope and my Stay’ Redeemer and Ransom, Atonement and Friend, He’s Alpha, Omega, Beginning and End Yes,` more is the Lord El Shaddai beside – Avenger and Shepherd, my Keeper and Guide; My Horn of Salvation, my Captain in war, My Dayspring, my Sun and my Bright Morning Star; My wonderful Counsellor, Wisdom and Night, My Shade thro’ the day and my Beacon by night; Pearl, Ornament, Diadem, Treasure untold, My Strength and my Shield, in Him I behold; All this is the Lord El Shadai and more – My Bread and my Water, my Dwelling, my Door; My Branch and my Vine, my Lily and Rose, Rock, Hiding Place, Refuge, Shield, Covert, Repose: My sure Resurrection, Intercessor above, The Man in the Glory, My Bridegroom, my Love, My All and in all in Christ Jesus I see,

For God has made Him to be all things to me.  Such a Glorious one as described in the above poem, could never have taken on the nature of Satan and been born again.  To those who follow the heresies outlined and disproved in this book, I say, “Repent”.