SUMMARY:
NOTE: All false doctrines start from a TRUTH(s) faintly grasped. The result can be seen in JM's erroneous message nowadays
1... It should be mentioned therefore that Rev 1:18 tells of Jesus having the KEYS of Heaven & Hell.
2... Certainly Jesus in His voluntary death, died for all of us for our sins
3... Jesus Himself talks of descending into Sheol/Hades/ Abraham's bosom Matt 12:40 while Ephesians 4:9 tells of His descent into the lower parts of earth.
4... 1 Peter 3:18+ Jesus preached in His spirit to those in prison (i.e. the unrighteous ones in Hell) This broadcast or procamation of course is not the same as descending in person into Hell to hand deliver the message. By descending though to hades/Sheol/ -- he could see & talk to those in nearby Hell.
5... When Jesus ascended he took the souls of the Faithful resting in Sheol (who had died before his [human] birth) with Him Eph 4:8-10
Refer page 761 >>The Footsteps of the Messiah<< Dr AG Fruchtenbaum -Ed
Joyce Meyer
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 NIV
Joyce Meyer’s Word-Faith Jesus by PAULA LINDSAY-DUTCH
JOYCE MEYER of Life in The Word Ministries *1 is a popular Word-Faith preacher. Her website claims:
Joyce Meyer began teaching the Word of God in 1976 and entered full-time ministry in 1980. She started by developing, coordinating and teaching a weekly meeting as an associate pastor in a church in St Louis, Missouri. After
In 2003 the ministry’s name was changed to Joyce Meyer Ministries and the television, radio and magazine titles were changed to Enjoying Everyday Life. *2
According to her website3, Joyce has authored over 70 books and conducts close to 15 conferences per year. In 2005 nearly 3.5 million copies of her books were sold, and well over 1 million of her books were donated around the world. Her television program is broadcast to two-thirds of the globe and her radio program is broadcast widely. *4
Joyce also states she holds an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity5 from Oral Robert’s University in Tulsa, Oklahoma and a PhD in Theology *6 from Life Christian University in Tampa, Florida. In February 2005 she was selected by Time Magazine as one of the top 25 evangelical leaders in America. *7
As we can see Joyce Meyer has many devoted followers and performs many good works, however Joyce teaches another gospel. Like all Word-Faith exponents, Joyce Meyer preaches another Jesus, a false Word-Faith Jesus. A Jesus who was born again in hell and Meyer’s followers put up with it easily enough — cf 2 Corinthians 11:4 (NIV):
For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
a counterfeit christ
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! Galatians 1:6-9 (NIV)
In the 1991 geared to an unsaved audience) Joyce states the following blasphemies about Jesus:
During that time He (Jesus) entered hell, where you and I deserved to go (legally) because of our sin. He paid the price there ... no plan was too extreme ... Jesus paid on the cross and in hell. *8
There is no hope of anyone going to heaven unless they believe this truth I am presenting. You cannot go to heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in hell. *9
God rose up from His throne and said to de-mon powers tormenting the sinless Son of God, “Let Him go.” Then the resurrection power of Almighty God went through hell and
Another quote from the publication,
His spirit went to hell because that is where we deserved to go. Remember in the very be-ginning of this, I said, “When you die, only your body dies. The rest of you, your soul and spirit, goes either to heaven or hell. (1991
In Meyer’s 1996 edition of The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make the wording differs but the same false teaching is still held to and remains on her tape, From the Cross to the Throne, despite her claims that she has never taught the born-again Jesus heresy. I have also personally witnessed her Jesus-born-again-in-hell teaching on an early morning Life in The Word TV program.
It is interesting to note that much of Meyer’s teachings on the “born again in hell Jesus” is identical to the teachings of the heretic Kenneth Copeland, who produced a similar tape called, What Happened from the Cross to the Throne, in 1984. Meyer copied Copeland, Copeland copied Kenneth Hagin11 (his “spiritual father”, as he called him), and Hagin copied E.W. Kenyon—who produced a heretical book of the same name as Copeland’s tape.
Meyer preaches another Jesus and therefore another Gospel. Meyer’s Jesus went to hell for three days to pay for our sins taking our place in hell. Meyer’s Jesus became a sinner needing to be redeemed from hell (as only unrepentant sinners go to hell). Meyer’s Jesus was tormented there for three days by Satan and his demons and then was spiritually reborn, resurrected from hell by the power of God.
This teaching cannot be found anywhere in he Bible. Joyce Meyer and her fellow heretics tacitly explain this away by saying this teaching has to be revealed by the Holy Spirit (revelation knowledge) and that is why it cannot be found in the Bible.
For in him the whole fullness of God lives in bodily form. And you have been brought to full-ness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority (Colossians 2:9–10 NIV).
Jesus is both fully God and fully man. Being God, He is without sin and has complete control over every power and authority.
He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth (1 Peter 2:22).
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in everyway, just as we are—yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
As our sacri
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glori
For Jesus to have been tormented in hell for three days, taking our place and then having to be reborn by the power of God makes Jesus a mere man and a sinner. We can see from the above scriptures that Jesus was not a mere man, nor a sinner, nor did he take on a sinful nature in hell.That is exactly what Jesus would have had to have done had He been tormented in hell to purchase our redemption there as Joyce Meyer falsely claims.
Jesus did not have to be reborn as He is God and without sin. Only man needs to be reborn by the Spirit of God.
In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. …. Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3-5).
The Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus in John Chapter 3 explains this. For Meyer’s Jesus to be born again in hell, he would have had to have given up his deity, only to have to take it up again when God resurrected him from hell. What blasphemy. Jesus is both fully man and fully God. Jesus declared Himself to be God:
I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “Before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds (John 8:58-59).
The Jews tried to stone Jesus because He was declaring His deity. “I am” is how God introduced Himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14-15. The Jews of Jesus’ day fully understood the implications of Jesus’ comments. They rightly considered such statements as blasphemous if they came from someone who was a mere man—the category under which many of the Jews placed Jesus. John Chapter 1 declares Jesus’ humanity:
The Word became
Jesus could not have given up His deity in hell. If He did he wouldn’t be God and if He wasn’t God then He would have been a sinner. That is not the Jesus of the Bible; however, it is Joyce Meyer’s Jesus, the false Jesus of “word-faith”, a satanic counterfeit who will not, and cannot, save anyone.
To teach that Jesus became not just sin, but a sinner, was tormented in hell, and had to be born again is the same as saying “Jesus be cursed.”
Those that teach such have a different spirit, a spirit other than the Holy Spirit.
Therefore I tell you that no-one who is speaking by the Spirit of God can say “Jesus be Cursed” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3).
The word-faith teachers misapply and take out of context 2 Corinthians 5:21:
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteous-ness of God.
In the correct biblical context this means to be “a sin offering”. The Old Testament sacri
We all like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).
The Lord laid our sins on Him. Jesus bore the penalty for our sin on the cross. Jesus did not become sin as the word-faith ministers teach. Their Jesus had to give up his deity and subject himself to torment by Satan and his demons. Jesus Christ, as revealed in Scripture, did not. Word-faith’s Jesus had to pay the penalty of our sins in hell, Scripture’s Jesus paid the penalty of our sins on the Cross.
Atonement for sin was made on the cross, not in hell afterwards.
Jesus said, “It is finished”. With that, he bowed his head and gave up His spirit (John 19:30b).
“It is finished”. *13 *14 Jesus did not say, “It is not yet finished because I have got to go and be tormented in hell for three days then be reborn there taking back my deity and making the atonement for sin in hell”.
“It is finished” means the atonement for sin was made on the cross not in hell. *15
The real Jesus did not go to hell to redeem man. He did that on the cross. The cross is where he suffered, not in hell afterwards. [Editorial comment: Ephesians 4:8–10 and 1 Peter 3:18–22 presents Christ as going to “hell” (Greek “hades”, Hebrew “sheol”; the place of the departed) not as a victim or sufferer, but as a victor to proclaim His triumph.]
counterfeit resurrected from hell
Joyce Meyer’s word-faith Jesus was resurrected from hell by the power of God. The Bible says a lot about the resurrection but one cannot find anywhere in scripture where Jesus was resurrected from hell. Word-Faith teachers misinterpret and take out of context other scriptures such as 1 Peter 3:18-19:
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison……….
The false teachers of the Word-Faith movement interpret this to mean that Jesus was put to death but His spirit went to hell where He suffered and was tormented by Satan and his demons and then reborn from the pit of hell as the first born man by the power of God. They misapply and take out of context Paul’s statement in Romans 8:29:
For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Remember the scriptures say Satan wants to be God.
You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the most High” (Isaiah 14:13-14).
Is it surprising then that Satan’s servants also want to be God. They are just like their master.
For such men are false apostles, deceitful work-men, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising then, if his ser-vants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). vThis is exactly what the word-faith false gospel teaches, man can become a god. The heretic Kenneth Copeland teaches this:
You’re all God. You don’t have a God living in you; you are one! ... When I read in the Bible where God tells Moses, ‘I AM,’ I say, ‘Yah, I am too!’ *16
Like all word-faith teachers, Joyce Meyer’s teaching on Jesus is a rehash of much of Copeland’s, and his mentor Hagin’s, blasphemy. Word-faith heretics have to demote the real Jesus to the level of a sinful man who suffered in hell and had to be born again by the power of God. Jesus has to be brought down to their level so He can become like them and they like Him, God. This is why the word-faith ministers (heretics) twist the Scriptures, taking Romans 8:29 totally out of context.
For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:29 NIV).
“God … predestined [them] to be conformed to the likeness of His Son” is twisted to mean that they are predestined to become gods, and “that He might be the first born among many brothers” is twisted to mean Jesus had to be born again from hell, becoming the first man to be reborn. Word-faith doctrine has to bring Jesus down to the level of a sinful man so the word-faith heretics can be just like their Jesus and call themselves gods. Their Jesus becomes like they are. Sinful in need of spiritual rebirth. It is interesting to note that the word-faith heretics who call themselves gods are committing the original sin all over again.
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.” “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:2-5).
The true Jesus made atonement for sin physically on the cross (not in hell) and was resurrected bodily from the tomb. He died once, on the cross:
For Christ died for sins once for all (Romans 6:10).
He died on the cross and was resurrected by the Holy Spirit from the grave:
He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit (1 Peter 3:18).
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10).
Jesus mentions His bodily crucifixion and resurrec-tion in
John 2:18-22 Then the Jews demanded of him, “What mi-raculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of, was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words Jesus had spoken. That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scrip-tures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
According to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the angel who appeared to the women who arrived at the tomb after the Sabbath said to them “He has risen!” (The angel did not say “He has risen from hell!)
Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resur-rection of Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact (Acts 2:31-32).
Jesus was resurrected bodily from the grave not from hell.
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:15 NIV).
the destruction of the counterfeit Christ
Like all word-faith false teachers, Joyce Meyer believes in another Jesus. Her Jesus does not measure up against scripture. He is a counterfeit christ, a christ who will lead the lost into hell. He too will perish there in the very hell he proclaims he suffered in, to redeem mankind. He is spoken of in scripture.
And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, where the beast and false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever (Revelation 20:10).
Unfortunately this counterfeit christ17 will take many with him who have foolishly put their faith in him for a false salvation. Unless they repent and turn to the true Lord Jesus Christ these foolish ones will hear on that day the chilling words of our Glorious Lord Jesus Christ:
I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers (Matthew 7:23).
Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers (Mat-thew 7:21-23).
Behold I am coming soon
My reward is with me, and I will give to every-one according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.Revelation 22:12-14 (NIV)
REFERENCES: Scripture from The New International Version, 1985. Bible.org Word-Faith quotes from:
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/copeland/general.htm
http://www.pfo.org/preacher.htm
[Editorial comment: Ephesians 4:8–10 and 1 Peter 3:18–22 presents Christ as going to “hell” (Greek “hades”, Hebrew “sheol”; the place of the departed) not as a victim or sufferer, but as a victor to proclaim His triumph.]
Footnotes:
*1 According to <http://www.joycemeyer.org/projects/ 2005_annualreport/statenote3.html> the business name originally established was “Life In The Word, Inc”.
*2 http://www.joycemeyer.org/faq.html?page=faq&page_ref=Nav§ion_id=NA
*3 ibid
*4 C/f http://www.joycemeyer.org/bio.html?page=about&subpage=bio&page_ref=TopNav§ion_id=NA
*5 <http://alumniweb.oru.edu/excell/fall98/happening.html>. See also <http://alumniweb.oru.edu/excell/spring01/spring2001.pdf> (page 7) which makes reference to Joyce Meyer’s association ORU TV network.
*6 <http://www.lcus.edu/main2.htm>, cited 23 Aug 2006. This main page of the universities website includes the advertising slogan, “Join These Distinguished LCU Degree Holders”. Persons listed, apart from Joyce Meyer, include Benny Hinn (Ph.D. in Theology), Rodney Howard-Browne (Ph.D. in Theology), Kenneth Copeland (Ph.D. in Theology), Gloria Copeland (Ph.D. in Theology), Billy Brim (Ph.D. in Theology), et al.
* 7 Other “leaders” selected by Time Magazine included Bill Hybels (teacher of church-growth methodologies, psychological counselling, and self-esteem gospels), TD Jakes (who does not believe in the Trinity), Brian McLaren (the Emergent Church) and Rick Warren (The Purpose Driven Church/Life). <http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050207/>, cited 23 Aug 2006.
*8 Joyce Meyer, The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make, Fenton, Mo. Life In The Word, Inc./Joyce Meyer Ministries, August 1991 edition, 35.
*9 Ibid, 36. (Page 42 of the current edition
*10 Ibid, 36
*11 Consider, “The Resurrection! What it Gives Us”, The Word of Faith, April 1977, p.5. <http://www.pietisten.com/hagin_or_kenyon.htm>
*12 Editorial Note: While it may be argued that Paul had this as ONE idea in mind when he wrote it needs to be said that the Greek of this verse does not lend itself for “sin” to be directly translated as “sin offering”. The context must be associative. Christ became sin, in the likeness of sinful man, but yet was righteous, so that sinful man may be made in the likeness of the Righteous God, through Him. CWM plans a full article on this later.
* 13 “Finished”. Greek tetelestai: verb indicative perfect passive third person singular of teleõ. “(1) as completing something bring to an end, conclude, complete (Mt 7.28); (2) as obeying a rule or ritual carry out, fulfill, perform (Lu 2.39); (3) of obligatory taxes, tolls, dues pay (Mt 17.24); (4) passive, of duration of time be over, end, be finished (Rv 20.3)” [Friberg, Friberg, Miller, Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2000), 377, 378]. Further, the “perfect” tense, in the Greek, means, “a past completed action that has a present effect. … The essence of the Perfect is the idea of completion. This is an aspect – it conveys the nature of the action … the action is now completed. … the fact that the action is completed says something about the past (it was done in the past) but also something about the present (it is completed).” [Jeremy Duff, The Elements of New Testament Greek (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 3rd Edition, 2005),178, 179].
*14 Note also that tetelestai is used two verses earlier in John 19:28, which says, “Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’” Notice that Scripture says that Jesus knew “that all was now completed”! Verse 30’s, “It is finished,” is the pronouncement, by Jesus, that all that God required had been accomplished. Further, the webpage < http:/www.acts17-11.com/lood.html>notes, “Bible Knowledge Commentary: Telestai is the word in Greek translated here ‘it is finished’. Papyri receipts for taxes have been recovered with the Greek word tetelestai written across them, meaning ‘paid in full’.
*15 “‘It is finished.’ The implication of the Greek word is ‘This is complete.’ This is redemption complete. You can’t add to it. You can’t subtract from it. It doesn’t need something the priest says added to it. Jesus made a perfect redemption for men. His blood was shed. It’s more than all the blood of beasts. Because again, it says in Hebrews 10:9, ‘If the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the fiesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works.’ He not only paid the total sum of human sin, He nailed it to the tree. That’s what He did.” Leonard Ravenhill, “It Is Finished”, 1994, < http:/www.ravenhill.org/nished.htm>, cited 23 August 2006.
*16 The Force of Love - Tape BBC-56. V 14 Note also that tetelestai is used two verses earlier in John 19:28, which says, “Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be ful
*17 This Counterfeit Christ is in essence a Substitute Christ. It is worth noting that the Greek preposition “anti” does not necessarily have to mean “opposed to”, or “against”, but “substitution, instead of”, or “in place of”. Consider this now, in regard to Word-Faith’s “Christ”, and the coming Anti-Christ.
About the Author...
PAULA LINDSAY-DUTCH lives in Palmerston North New Zealand and fellowships at a Baptist church established by mission-aries. She was saved out of the occult and a life of sin, six years ago. Her daughter Sophia was saved shortly after. They both live by faith and rely on the Lord to keep them safe from deception. Paula writes, “Where the Lord leads we follow.”
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Monday, October 09, 2006
