Here is the third part of the theological evaluation of the Faith Movement by Dr. Dennis Waltemeyer.
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Justification salvation is a very problematic area for Faith Theology. There are many people who are being fooled by Faith teachers into believing a false gospel about a false christ. The christ preached by Faith teachers is not the Christ of the Bible; the Faith christ is subservient to any human being who is thinking and/or speaking so-called words of faith. The christ of the Faith Movement has more in common with a genie in a bottle than with the Christ identified in the Word of God. They have faith in faith rather than faith in Christ. However, they teach as though they are representing the actual Christ; therefore, the unsaved who do not already know Jesus and those who know His name but have little biblical knowledge of Him cannot discern justification salvation truth from error in Faith Soteriology.
As the face of the Faith Movement, Joel Osteen’s position on Soteriology is representative, to varying degrees, of Faith Theology in general. Truth is used to mask deadly error. His Lakewood Church does have an accurate, although brief and therefore inadequate, doctrinal statement concerning justification salvation, but the problem is that it is seldom, if ever, preached in his church. In a series of interviews with Larry King (available for viewing on YouTube), Osteen made some very definitive, and alarming, statements about his doctrinal positions on justification.
Osteen refuses to teach about sin and hell; instead, his style is to tell people how to live a great life by teaching them how God is good and relevant to their best life now. He wants people to be lifted up rather than feeling beaten down by hearing they are sinners in need of a Savior. He calls personal sins “mistakes.” The problem with that doctrine is that people can only come to faith once they realize they need a Savior. If they never understand the concept of sin and their broken relationship with God, it is unlikely they will understand their need. He stated that he wants to get unchurched people to attend his church and he believes he cannot do that if he is preaching sin and hell. Getting the unchurched to attend church is good if an accurate, biblical gospel call is preached, but he does not preach it.
Osteen bragged about the large number of atheists and Muslims that attend his church because his message speaks to everyone. How can a feel-good, self-esteem oriented message ever convince lost souls they need a Savior? Isn’t the Gospel the only universal message that speaks to everyone? Osteen deliberately steers people away from that message. His message is a secular humanist message concerning the realization of one’s dreams and the development of a good self-image. Unbelief goes unchallenged in Lakewood Church.
Church is for the equipping of the saints for service; the unsaved are powerless to do anything other than respond to a biblically presented Gospel call, and if they do not hear it, they cannot respond to it. Osteen also claims he never preaches the Gospel because he preaches to saved people. His various statements are confusing and they serve to illustrate the fact that those who deceptively depart from biblical truth cannot keep their facts straight. On the one hand, he preaches a secular humanist message to unbelievers because his prosperity gospel is universal and he does not want to beat them down with the unbeliever’s need for a Savior, but on the other hand, he says he doesn’t preach the Gospel because he only preaches to saved people! He can’t have it both ways and remain truthful.
The soteriological failure of Faith Theology, in addition to preaching a false christ, is that it teaches people that belief consists of faith in one’s words which have the ability to create reality resulting in a wonderful temporal life which then becomes the all-consuming passion of those who adhere to Faith Theology. This is all doIf every person can create his or her own wonderful temporal reality, there is no need to understand one’s fallen state and the remedy for it. Faith teachers emphasize temporal life at the expense of eternal life. ne at the expense of understanding what it means to obtain eternal life. Temporal well-being and what bring it about, not Christ and eternal life, become the good news that is emphasized by Faith teachers.
In Faith Theology, Faith teaching is applicable to believers and unbelievers alike because the Faith doctrine of Positive Confession works for everyone and everyone becomes their own god possessing creative abilities. If every person can create his or her own wonderful temporal reality, there is no need to understand one’s fallen state and the remedy for it. Faith teachers emphasize temporal life at the expense of eternal life. Unlike Osteen, some Faith teachers do preach a gospel message, but an otherwise truthful message preached about a false christ masquerading as the biblical Christ cannot save anyone. That is not the Gospel. Only the Christ of the Bible has the power and the authority to save people. Only the Free Grace Gospel of faith alone in Christ alone as He is revealed and identified in the Bible alone affords people the opportunity to be saved.
No matter how wonderful Faith adherents may think temporal life is, it is nothing in comparison to those who are in Christ, and who will experience the wonders of eternal life lived in His presence. Live for Him now in light of eternity.
This article is written by:
Dennis Waltemeyer, Phd
Fredericksburg Bible Church
Fredericksburg, TX.
