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Wells Without Water by Tricia Tillin - The Word of Faith Teachings

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The Doc t r i ne

of Word of Faith

"Wells Without Water" (1)

The Errors of th e Word-of -Fa i th Move ment (Par t One of Four)

This four-part study is designed to demonstrate, using verbatim transcripts of the tapes of Kenneth Copeland, some of the errors in

the "Positive Confession" movement.

You may find it hard to believe some of the things Copeland is reported as saying! But trust me, there has been NO tampering

with the tapes. Not only did Copeland say these things in the 1980's when this study was first created (as a tape set called

"Wells Without Water" on the Banner Ministries tape list) but he continues to reiterate them up to this very moment. So do many,

many others in the Word of Faith leadership.

These teachers are totally unrepentant of their heresies, despite having been approached by countless brethren who tried to

point out their unscriptural teachings. They continue to teach doctrines that are dishonest in their scriptural content, deceptive in

their outcome, and destructive to the genuine faith of a Christian.

Part One: FORCES OR FRUIT?

Below are a number of statements by Kenneth Copeland taken from recordings of his messages. Kenneth Copeland has

been chosen because he is the most well-known Positive Confession minister in this country, [England] but the teachings are

common to them all.

Ministers like Kenneth Hagin, Ray MacCauley, Oral Roberts, Jerry Savelle, and many others, all teach word-for-word the

same doctrines you are going to read in this article so the same reasoning applies to them all. All the Word of Faith teachers

have these doctrines with very little variation.

Now to begin with, some of you may be questioning why anyone sees the need to expose false doctrines in ministries which

seem to be so good, so fruitful. After all, the work done around the world by these Word of Faith ministries is enormous. Hundreds

of thousands (so they say) are being reached with the gospel, and not only that, but many claim to have been healed and

delivered and had their lives totally changed as a result of the Copelands' ministries.

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It is not my intention to condemn every one of these works as false. If someone has been truly saved or healed, then I thank

God for it.

As well as that, I myself have benefited from some of the teaching of the Word of Faith movement. We do need to be positive in

our attitude to Scripture. We do need to resist the Devil. We do need to praise God and boldly pray and have faith in God. All that

is good. But whatever is good must also be holy and doctrinally correct if it is a Christian ministry.

It's not good enough just to be productive or positive or fruitful. We have to be scripturally orthodox. We have to avoid heresyor sooner or later we'll be going down the path of the devil and leading many others by the nose along with us.

I can't rejoice that someone is saved simply to be dragged into heresy. God forbid. So I believe where error exists we ought

to expose it. If, after reading this article, you are not convinced, I beg you to keep an open mind and to go to God in earnest

prayer about it. Ask Him to show you the truth.

So, first of all, we're going to review a few quotes from a tape called "The Forces of the Recreated Human Spirit" by Ken

Copeland. This is a message that has appeared numerous times in his teachings and in his magazine.

Copeland: ".and the power of God toward you provided certain things.Now, we're going to be talking about the major forces that

are alive inside the re-born human spirit. We're going to find out what these forces are, and then find out how to release each one

of them. Each one of these forces is alive on the inside of the human heart that has been reborn of God."

Now, notice the subtle change here. Copeland rightly says that the power of God brings us alive in our spirit, but then he says

the result is that some forces are imparted there which we need to learn to release.

Right away we've stopped depending on the Holy Spirit for power, and we've started looking for a technique to use what WE

now possess. But, as a Christian, we have nothing that we have not been given by God.

Our spirits DO have powers of course, but Adam proved that those powers, if he used them himself, only led him AWAY from God

and into sin. Some witches and satanists have learned how to release supernatural forces in their spirit, but it's done nothing

but damage to themselves and to others.

Copeland: "These forces that are residing in there are there for a purpose. We find the force of the Faith, we'll find the force

of Righteousness, we'll find the force of Wisdom, and we'll find the force of the Love of God. Now, there is something that I want to

say right here.Eternal life is imparted to a human spirit when a man makes Jesus Christ the Lord of his life. "Eternal Life" - that's

what the Bible calls this power force, that causes a miracle. Actually, it works a good deal.the.the way it's formed up in my mind,

the illustration, the picture, the Lord's pictures that are in my mind about it, would be just like injecting a life force of some kind into



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a man's heart."

This again is a subtle change. It takes us away from God and toward our own "godhood".

Life is certainly given to man when he's born again. When you receive Jesus, you receive LIFE; that's why. Because HE

HIMSELF is Life.

The Bible says, in 1 John 5:11, "The life is in the Son; he who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son has not life".

And, in John 17:3, we read "and this is eternal life: that they know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent".

What IS eternal life then? IS it a power force that's "injected into us" when we accept God, like electricity? No. Eternal life, ALL

true life is God. God is life. There IS no true life apart from God.

We come alive only because God Himself takes up residence in our spirit. As He promises in John 16:23, "If a man l ove me,

my Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him".

And listen to THIS word of God: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abide in the

vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. Apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:4,5.)

We HAVE nothing, we ARE nothing, and we can DO nothing. We are DEAD unless God comes by His Holy Spirit to take

up residence within. And THEN do we have something? No! All we have, actually, is a privileged relationship to the One who

has everything. We can boast of NOTHING.

We have no power, except the power of the Holy Spirit - and that doesn't belong to us at all.

Copeland: "And, what I'd like to really get into is some of these areas about how this force of eternal life (that includes these forces

that I've named off here to you - the major forces) how this can be used in our daily lives."

As an example of the importance of these forces that exist in the human spirit, and their practical use in daily l ife, Copeland

says that he was asked to pray for a brain-damaged little girl:

Copeland: "And they asked us to pray and so we did. And I laid hands on her and the Lord spoke to me, just as I laid my hands on

her, and I never would have thought of this, I wouldn't have thought of it in a hundred years. It's just something, you know, some

of those things of God, they just never enter our thinking unless He puts them there, because we think so low. We think so

carnally.think on such a low level, you see, compared to the way God thinks, and actually the way He intended MAN to think.



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And just as I laid hands on her, I started to pray and pray this: I started to say 'God - I want You to use Your healing power and I

want You to heal my little sister's mind, and heal her brain'. See, actually, (and now think with me just a little bit).you are a spirit,

you have a soul, and you live in a body. Now your mind, you see, the mind is in that spirit-man, and the brain is the housing. The

brain is the physical housing of the mind. Can you see that? The brain is the physical housing, that's where the mind lives. That's

the physical organ that the mind operates in, that's where the mind and the body come together. All right?

I was going to pray.see she had brain damage - wasn't anything wrong with her MIND. But she was having a hard time making

it function, her brain wasn't working right.it had been damaged you see. And, so I said. I started to pray that. I said, 'Lord', you know,

'I want You to heal the physical organ of her brain - use Your power', and then He said this to me.why, I nearly came plumb off the

floor when I realised the possibilities that have been opened to us in the spirit world by Jesus Christ and by sending His Holy Spirit

- you see - to bring us over into getting to operate like He operates. [my emphasis]

He said this to me, He said 'There's no use to you even praying that!'.

I said 'Well, huh! Why?'.

He said 'Coz you don't NEED that kind of a miracle.'

I said 'Well WHY don't I need that kind of a miracle?!'.

He said 'Isn't she born again?'.

I said 'Yes sir, she i s.' (Little old girl filled with the Holy Spirit.lovely little girl.)

He said 'Don't your own statistics prove that the finest minds in the World today are only operating on about 10 to 12 percent of

their mental capacity?'

I said 'Yes sir', you know, that's what the book says. [Implication: that the Bible says this, which of course it DOES NOT! -

my note]

He said 'She's GOT 90% of it there that she's not even USING!' And I saw it! I saw it! He said 'You pray, and you believe God', and

He said 'I will rise up on the inside of her'. He said 'Tell her parents to feed her with the Word, and to teach her the Word, and feed

her the Word and indoctrinate her on the Word of God - the living Word of Faith - and cause her to live and operate the Faith and

let that eternal life that is residing in her open up the 90% of her brain, her mind.' and so forth, '.and mental capacities that are not

even being used yet', He said, 'and she'll be smarter than anybody 'coz they're still only operating on about 10 percent'."

Now, there are several points here. He says some alarming things. For instance, that if we learn to use these spirit forces, we

can operate in the spirit world just as God does. Presumably, we could create new worlds! And if THAT isn't becoming gods, I

don't know what is.

And then he says "the mind is the spirit and it lives in the physical housing of the brain". Now that's seriously wrong, and

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We have physical brains, and the mind is the result of its thinking processes, and so are emotions, intellect, reasoning, will-

power, perception and so on. Animals also have minds and they also think and feel things - but they DON'T have spirits (or else

Jesus would have to die for the animal world as well as for men and women, and to kill ANY creature at all would be a sin worthy

of death.)

No, the mind IS NOT the human spirit, as Copeland claims. Put a mind to sleep, and rational thought stops - but the spirit of man

is still alive and active!

There's something FAR deeper than a mind in a man. Somebody can lay in a coma - brain dead to all outward appearances,

but something in them is alive, and it's sometimes revived. That deeper being is the spirit of man, and it's MUCH deeper than

your mind. Haven't you ever sensed that? Your mind told you one thing, but something deeper told you otherwise.

The mind, actually, is part of the soul of man. The Greek word for the soul is the "psyche". That's where we get "psychic

powers" from - from the mind, from the soul. The soul is a mysterious thing but i t could be defined as that self-conscious living part

of the human being that provides the "humanity" of our race. It is the sum total of our personality, perceptions, education,

thoughts, feelings, experiences, desires, loves and hatreds. Adam was made "a living soul" but not a born-again spirit. It was

Jesus who opened the Way to spiritual unity with God:

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not

first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the

second man is the Lord from heaven. 1 Cor 15:45-47

The soul and mind are NATURAL. They are allied to the EARTH, and not to heavenly things. They are not the spirit. (There's

certainly powerful forces in our minds, but they're nothing to do with God's Spirit.)

[NOTE: The soul is ever-living, and this is why unrepentant sinners, without the Spirit of God in their spirits, must continue to exist

after physical death. For scriptures about the mind, soul and spirit, please see the notes at the end of this file.]

God wants us to be SPIRITUAL, not psychic. What's the difference? Well, if all you've got to rely on is your mind then you're

in trouble. But God commands us to be ruled by the Holy Spirit. To walk with Him. To be alive in the Spirit to His guidance.

Let's look at just one Scripture that shows this difference. 1 Corinthians 14:14&15. Paul says "If I pray in a tongue my spirit

prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the mind ALSO".

There's a difference there, isn't there - between the spirit and the mind? Our minds are to do with the earthly life, but ourfile:///G|/WEBSITES/birthpangs/articles/wof/wells1.html (5 of 15) [06/10/2010 13:47:36]


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SPIRITS are to do with heavenly things. The powers of the mind are soulish, psychic. But SPIRITUAL power comes from God the

Holy Spirit. That's the only way we can have power - in union with the Holy Spirit.moving in HIS will, under HIS direction. Not just

as WE think or imagine.

Also, I want you to consider what Copeland said about the capacity of our brains. Isn't it curious that what the LORD told him is

in fact nothing less than New Age propaganda? As far as I've been able to discover, there's been NO real, reliable scientific

experiment to discover how much of our brain we use. How could you ever measure it? As far as doctors know, we use MANY

different parts of our brain all at the same time.

God gave us our brains, and we use them. Is God so inefficient that, after thousands upon thousands of years of human history,

we are still only utilising a very small portion of our brains? If you have ever watched medical documentaries on TV, showing

brain scans, you will have noticed how many different areas of the brain are active.

I'm sure we COULD stretch our intellects more than we do, but as for having 90 percent of our brain capacity still vacant.

that's unscientific. And it's one of those so-called "facts" put about by New-Agers to induce us to develop mind powers. They want us

to get into all sorts of mental exercises, like meditation, to try and "tap" the hidden resources of our minds. They're asking us to

unleash psychic forces - the hidden powers of the mind.

But is Kenneth Copeland teaching the same thing, when he locates the mind in the reborn spirit? Is he actually asking us to

learn how to use the forces of the MIND, and not walk in the Spirit - as the Scripture commands.

And secondly, isn't it wicked, really, that here is this little girl (three or four or five - that's all) and she's denied the healing of

God because God (supposedly) is asking her, at that age, to confess the Word and li ve in the Spirit sufficiently to develop the

hidden resources of her brain.

If her brain is damaged in one area, there's NO WAY that she'll restore that area by confessing scriptures - even if she could

be trained somehow to do that.. She needs a miracle of healing. But, according to Copeland, she DOESN'T need one, and

she's denied it - on the basis of what HE hears from God.

Copeland: "Then, in Galatians 5:16 'This I say then: walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh'. Now we're

talking about the spirit and the flesh; we're NOT talking about the Holy Spirit.He doesn't HAVE any flesh. You see that? We're

talking about the recreated HUMAN spirit.

Now, actually you see, in the Greek text there are not any capital letters - and that's where the problem comes in. The translator's

put capitals in the English text at their own discretion. It's not in the Greek text. You can't read the Greek Bible and tell the

difference between your spirit and the Holy Spirit unless you know what you're reading. Because there are not any capitals there to



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do that. Now that was capitalized at the privilege of the translators. Now notice what He says.for in the 17th verse: "For the flesh

lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. These are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things

that you would." Well the Holy Ghost's not lusting against your flesh! Is he? He's not. The Bible didn't say 'When the Spirit of

Lust comes".

Now we see result of the previous teaching, because now he's re-translated Galatians 5:16 to mean that we walk by the desires,

or forces, of our own spirit, instead of God's spirit. "Walk by the Spirit" now means, according to Copeland - walk BY YOUR

OWN HUMAN SPIRIT!

And he misunderstands the word translated "lust". It simply means "desires". God's Spirit certainly has lusts in THAT sense. He

has MANY desires: for you to walk righteously, and so on. But our flesh RESISTS those intentions. That's what Galatians 5:17

means.we resist God.

And verse 22: "But the fruit of the Spirit" - contrasts with the flesh. Is this the fruit produced by YOUR human spirit, or is it the fruit

of the Spirit of God?

And see verse 25: "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit" - it's the same as verse 16, which Kenneth Copeland

said was your human spirit. But did we really come alive by our human spirit? Or was it by the Spirit of God?

You see, he's WRONG when he says it's OUR spirit; he's trying to prove that these forces belong to US, not to God.

God doesn't seem to figure much in Copeland's philosophy. God is simply the Agency who makes it POSSIBLE for us to

have power.THEN we go out and use it. But, really, Christian living is ALL ABOUT God, because without God's leading we don't

know what to do, what to say, where to go - without the direction of God's Holy Spirit we are totally sunk because we will only fulfil

(as the scripture says) the desires of our FLESH, which as opposed to God's Holy Spirit.

Copeland: "Now let's go down to the 22nd verse and talk about the "Fruit of the Spirit". Now, you remember last night we talked

about the Vine and the Branches? Well, you see, the fruit is borne by the BRANCH, isn't it? The fruit doesn't grow out of that vine,

the branch grows out of the vine and then the fruit grows off of the branch. So you can see we're not talking primarily about the

HOLY Spirit; this is not the fruit of the Holy Spirit. (You have to understand, folks, we're not dogmatic about this sort of thing - I

mean the Holy Spirit IS all these things; we are borne of Him that's the reason these things are IN there.)

But what He is pointing out is, that, in the reborn human spirit, these forces are ALIVE. As we begin to learn these things, we begin

to find out that these forces are in there. If we learn what produces them, what feeds them, and what releases them, then you don't have any excuse for not USING them. And they are more powerful than ANY force that can bind any part of your spirit, any

part of your mind, any part of your body, any part of your social life, any part of your eternity. Hallelujah! There's no demon in file:///G|/WEBSITES/birthpangs/articles/wof/wells1.html (7 of 15) [06/10/2010 13:47:36]


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Hell, there's no law that ANY devil can pull on you and operate on you that's bigger than these forces. Against these there IS no

law. Praise God! Amen? Oh listen, that thrilled me, when I began to see what was behind this.that if I would see these forces that

are inside my spirit-man, if I would begin to operate, you know, with these, that there was no devil in Hell big enough to stop me. All

I had to do was make the decision to do it, and then follow the Word of God and do what it said do, and I would INEVITABLY come

out victoriously." [My emphasis throughout]

Copeland is speaking here of forces that WE have and that WE learn to use. Who's in control here? Is it God? Or i s it man?

Who's ruling the body.is it God, or is it man? Who is making the decisions? Is it God, or man?

And can we REALLY assume that God wants us to utterly victorious in EVERY circumstance according to OUR way of thinking?

Was Paul victorious, according to human reasoning, when he was being beaten and imprisoned? It didn't seem so. He should

have used these forces to escape persecution. And was Jesus always victorious according to man's way of thinking? It didn't seem

so. But He was following a higher way than man's way.

God's direction doesn't always get us out of trouble or suffering. Sometimes we're called to endure suffering, in order to grow

as Christians.

Copeland: "For the law of the Spirit of Life, in Christ Jesus, has made me FREE from the law of sin and death." Now that is the

major heading title of these forces: The Law of the Spirit of Life. That's the head law. Down under that we have these sub-titles:

The Force of Faith, the Force of Righteousness, the Force of Wisdom, and the Force of Love. Now these things that we have

read here in the fifth chapter of Galatians, all of these forces come under one or the other of those major four. [.] It's impossible

to please God without faith. And so what we need to do, see, is learn how to operate the Faith one, then we can put that one

into operation, by faith we will learn how to activate the other three! [my emphasis] Now, faith is born in a human heart at the time

of conversion.ALL these forces are. Let's turn over to the Book of Ephesians. Now, from the Book of Ephesians, in the 2nd chapter

and the 8th verse, look at this: 'For, by grace are ye saved.', in other words, the force of faith did it. '.that not of yourselves." - now

that force wasn't IN there when you got saved. The grace of God had to PUT it in there - as a gift. I'll read the rest of the verse: '.

and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God'. Hallelujah! What? Just the grace? No! That faith! The force of faith that God had done."

In Romans 4:2, we read "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him as righteousness". And verse 5 says "To him

that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness". So it's clear then, that

saving faith is BELIEVING GOD.

Abraham was given certain promises by God, and he believed them. It wasn't a force, or an injection of power. He exercised faith

in believing what God had said. When we hear the gospel, and believe the Word of God, we're doing the same thing. We're



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exercising faith.

Abraham was not a New Testament believer, yet the Bible says he had faith in God. Other passages also prove this. The

centurion who begged Jesus to heal his servant was not born again as we understand it, yet Jesus testified that he had

"great faith"(Matt 8:8-10)

How did these people, not converted in the classic New Testament way (for Jesus had not yet died) come to have faith?

Copeland says this "force" is not given until a man is converted! He says: "now that force wasn't IN there when you got saved.The grace of God had to PUT it in there - as a gift."

How then does a man get saved? Copeland says the force of faith does it. But is that correct? Is what he says even

LOGICAL? Think about it - he says above that "it's impossible to please God without faith" but then that God does not give us

"the force of faith" until we are converted! Logically, if that "force" doesn't enter into us until we're converted, how in the world is

anyone to be saved?! It's as if I said to you "You can have my house as soon as you live in it, but you can't come in until you own

my house". it's that ridiculous.

Romans 10 shows us how we're saved: Verse 9 says "we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe i n our heart God

has raised Him from the dead". Verse 10 says "with the heart man believeth". With the MIND? No! With the HEART.

We believe in God's salvation, and so we're saved. This is not an impersonal power or force at work but an activity of the

human heart - a decision, a commitment, a turning around and a change of heart. Faith means trusting wholly and unreservedly,

and we are saved when we put our faith in Jesus Christ alone for redemption, believing on Him. (I don't mean to deny God's activity

in our redemption, but my real intention is to refute Copeland's error here.)

Some will argue that there is saving faith that is given to us to bring us to God - we are drawn by the Holy Spirit for no one

can come to Jesus for salvation unless the Father draws him.( John 6:44) They will say that Copeland is referring to the gift of faith

for salvation in Eph 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God"

Yet even this is WRONG! The Greek construction of the scripture does not allow for it. The GIFT is not FAITH - but SALVATION.

I quote from Adam Clarke's commentary:

"By grace are ye saved, through faith in Christ. This is a true doctrine, and continues to be essential to the salvation of man to the

end of the world. But whether are we to understand, faith or salvation as being the gift of God? This question is answered by the

Greek text: tee gar chariti este sesoosmenoi dia tees pisteoos; kai touto ouk ex humoon; Theou to dooron, ouk ex ergoon; hina mee

tis kaucheeseetai. By this grace ye are saved through faith; and THIS (touto (grk 5124), this salvation) not of you; it is the gift of



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God, not of works: so that no one can boast."

"The relative touto (grk 5124), this, which is in the neuter gender, cannot stand for pistis (grk 4102), faith, which is the feminine; but

it has the whole sentence that goes before for its antecedent."

But it may be asked: Is not faith the gift of God? Yes, as to the grace by which it is produced; but the grace or power to believe, and

the act of believing, are two different things.

Without the grace or power to believe no man ever did or can believe; but with that power the act of faith is a man's own. God

never believes for any man, no more than he repents for him; the penitent, through this grace enabling him, believes for himself---;

the power to believe may be present long before it is exercised, else, why the solemn warnings with which we meet everywhere in

the word of God, and threatenings against those who do not believe? Is not this a proof that such persons have the power but do

not use it? They believe not, and therefore are not established. This, therefore, is the true state of the case: God gives the power,

man uses the power thus given, and brings glory to God: without the power no one can believe; with it, any one may."

If only Kenneth Copeland were as wise as he pretends. God supposedly gives Copeland great revelations which are a

contradiction of His own written Word! Copeland says the force of faith is not present in a man's heart before he is saved, and that

God injects it as a free gift at that moment. On the contrary, the BIBLE says that:

" faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Rom 10:17

The Bible does speak of a spiritual GIFT of faith, but that is something else again. In 1 Corinthians 12:9 for example it's speaking

of a specific work of God in a believer, a manifestation of the Holy Spirit in a mature Christian leading to works of God. The gift of

faith in that sense is a gift or administration of the Holy Spirit.

But saving faith is our response to the promises of God in Christ. It isn't a power or a force.

Copeland: "Now watch this; 'And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe?', 'what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe?' - now here's what power He's talking about - 'according to the working

of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in

heavenly places far above every all principality, power, and right dominion, ., not only in this world, but also in that which is to

come, and has put all things under His feet'.

Now, He has said here, you see, 'What is that power to us', what is it? The power of the cross to us-ward who believe - that's what

he wrote over in 1 Corinthians you see. And he said 'that power that He worked when he raised Jesus from the dead' (you see,

that started in Hell didn't it? Jesus was in Hell when God raised Him up, He wasn't in that tomb, He was i n Hell. That started

there.) The power which He wrought in Christ.He was made to be sin for us. Something had to be done about that. That great and mighty power that God worked; He wrought it, He worked it, in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and made Him alive,

and raised Him up into a heavenly place. (Now that's from the bottom to the top. The very bottom to the very top.) And made Him sit file:///G|/WEBSITES/birthpangs/articles/wof/wells1.html (10 of 15) [06/10/2010 13:47:36]

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in heavenly places, far above ALL dominion, far above ALL principality, over ALL power, and made what?

Then He says 'What is that power which He worked in Christ, when He did that, what does it do toward us who believe?' It's the

SAME power which he wrought in Him, see? He worked THAT power in Him. 'What is that power.', he says, '.that was worked in

us'? What he says: it did us the same way."

Copeland asks "What IS this power, this force? And how did it get i nto us? And what does it do?"

That leads us almost into our next subject, which is the spiritual death of Jesus, and the result of that death. The Copelands and

the other Word of Faith ministers believe that Jesus took the very sin-nature of the Devil, and died spiritually, so that the Father had

to bring Him alive in Hell.

We'll go into that teaching next. But you can see that he's saying here that these forces which God gave to us are the same ones

He gave to Jesus. Just as God raised Jesus, and He became the first born-again man Copeland says, just in the same way,

God raises US and gives us the same power to l ive. So Jesus is a sort of prototype, (they call this The Pattern Son - an old Latter

Rain term) and now we can all be the same as Him, because, when WE believe the Word of God, we get the same injection of

power as Jesus.

But what the Bible actually teaches, is that Jesus, because of His perfection and sinlessness, defeated Death on our behalf,

and consequently He rose again to be our Lord and Saviour. Nobody else has done that. Nobody else will EVER do that

again. Salvation is in JESUS; Jesus only.

You're not saved in your own right, just because you believed the gospel. You're saved because you've RECEIVED JESUS, and

Jesus IS salvation.

You've got what He has, only because you're united with Him. One Spirit with Him. Salvation doesn't really belong to you. God isin charge of the powers of life and death, not you. You can't go out and start using power indiscriminately. that's why Paul told us:

if we've become alive by the Spirit, then we must WALK in Him. Let your daily walk be controlled by God, not by your own desires.

Copeland: "Well if it's the same power, and did the same job on you, when you were dead in your sin trespasses, why would it

have gotten weaker in you? It's still there! The force, then, of Faith is the major life-force residing on the inside of the reborn,

recreated, human spirit. God put it there, by His grace. And it is still there.

The Bible says that Jesus is "the Author" of our faith. He offered it; you have enough. There's enough faith on the inside of you

right now to do anything you'll ever need on this earth.

Now, I want to go ahead and share this with you; i t won't take but about a minute. I got this coming to the class today. I was


W ll With t W t b T i i Tilli Th W d f F ith T hi


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driving along there, thinking about this, you know, the force of faith.the power of God. Did you know Heaven operates on that

force? That IS the predominant force that Heaven operates on. OUR predominant force is the force of electricity. The centre of all

of our atoms and so forth are electronically controlled. You know, if you studied physics at school you know that. The neutrons, and

the proteins [sic] and all that, you know, and there's electrical field, and that even your physical body, you see, functions and

operates on electricity. And you can tell it too; you can build a lot of it up and then get it static charged across the floor and then 'Zap!'

- there's some electricity in there. That's the predominant force in the natural world, and faith is akin to it in the spirit world. That's

the predominant force there. And it originally came out of the heart of God. And it's predominant there.

And the Bible says that the light of His glory will light the whole Heavenly City. Can you imagine a city lit by the force of faith?! I can -

if you get out of this scene that we're in, and get out of the carnal and get into the spirit and begin to realise it. It's generated

spiritually, praise God! And lights the whole place. And actually you and I were supposed to function that way. We weren't supposed

to have old, smoky, automobiles and stuff like that; why the thing ought to run on faith. There's enough cars that. think about this a

little bit.Jesus said that there's just a bit of it the size of a mustard seed. That's bigger than a mustard seed; I don't even have

anything that little. A mustard seed.let's see. You've gotta.I tell you what I've got; look here. The END of that little fingernail knife -

just that little end of it is about the size of a mustard seed. Now you can't even see that from where you're sitting, it's just too tiny.

Jesus said just that much of it would blow a mountain into the ocean. Wooooh.what do you suppose a quart jar full of it would do?! Glory be to God! What do you suspect about a 428gallon tank of it would do? It'd light the Holy City - that's what it'd do. How'd

you like to have a gas tank full of that? Ain't no pollution come from it. Every physical energy that we use is gone. You can't get it

back and use it again - there is an element of it gone, because it's consumed. But what is the force that we were using, came from

the inner heart, and was produced by God's Words? There's no end to that, we can re-use it, re-feed on it, re-operate on it,

eternally. And that's just exactly what you're gonna have to learn to do." [My emphasis throughout]

I find this part just amazing. Not only do we have some kind of power source inside us which seems to have very little to do

with God, and which WE must learn to feed and release. Not only that, but now we learn that this energy source is a kind of

"superior electricity" that's used in Heaven. And it's going to power the Holy City during the Millennium.

Copeland makes it quite plain that it's an energy source, not Jesus living is us, that gives us life and power. He says this force

of faith can run cars and power cities. And where does it come from? Out of the heart of God.

Now, God's power and love DO flow from His heart, but they're not impersonal energy sources. God IS love, God IS life. His love

is an expression of Himself, just as Jesus is the Word of God - God's Word visibly expressed. Well, even MORE so, we can't say

that faith originally came out of the heart of God, because faith requires an object of belief. you have to believe IN something. What

did God believe in?! Himself? Creation? Mankind?

No. Faith was born when it became necessary for us to believe in God, for support and love, and protection and guidance and


Wells Without Water by Tricia Tillin The Word of Faith Teachings


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so on. Faith is man's response to God's promises, not an impersonal energy source.

What is it that will l ight the City of God? It's God's glory. It will be lit by the glory of God, simply because Jesus is there. God's

power belongs to God.

There may, perhaps, be spiritual powers that operate in a way similar to electricity, but mankind has no business using them.

Satan would LOVE for us to discover spiritual power, and he'd turn it against God just as he did long ago.

It is satan that is teaching man to develop power outside of God. He wants mankind to be able to overthrow God's throne, and

set HIM up - satan - as the King. Copeland is treading a very dangerous path here.

Well, in part two, we'll look at this teaching of "Jesus died spiritually", and we'll see just how central this teaching is to the Word of

Faith doctrine. We've seen how man supposedly has spirit forces inside him, but next we're going to find out just how they got

there, and why Copeland believes that you can do anything you want with the power of faith.

Cont inue to Pa r t Tw o(a ) (o r browse t he no te s be low)

NOTES:

Scr ip tu res tha t d i s t i ngu i sh mind , sou l and sp i r i t :

Job 12:7-10 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the

earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the

LORD hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath (= wind, spirit) of all mankind. (Beasts

have souls, but human beings have spirits as well.)

Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy

strength: this is the first commandment.

1Thes 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be

preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunderof soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.




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1 Cor 14:14-15 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray

with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

Man has h i s own sp i r i t , no t j u s t t he Ho ly Sp i ri t o f God :

Rom 8:16 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

2 Cor 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,

perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

1 Cor 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth

no man, but the Spirit of God.

The e t e rna l na tu re o f t he m an ' s sou l :

Job 33:27-30 He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He

will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light. Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man,

To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.

Job 33:21-22 His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out. Yea, his soul

draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.

Ps 16:10-11 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Matt 10:28 28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy

(not eliminate, but ruin) both soul and body in hell (Compare Luke 4:34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou

Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God - demons cannot be eliminated,

but punished and bound.)

The sepa ra t e na tu re o f t he sp i r i t , a s opposed to t he sou l o r t he f l e sh ( con ta in ing the m ind) :

:1 Cor 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

J ames 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (A body without a mind is not

necessarily dead, but deranged or comatose.)

Col 2:5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of




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your faith in Christ.

1 Cor 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Cont inue to Pa r t Tw o(a )

Copyright 2008 Tricia Booth




16/96


Birthpangs | A NEW WORLD ORDER IN THE MAKING

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The Doc t r i ne of Word of Faith

"Wells Without Water" (2a)The Errors of the Word-of -Fa i th Movem ent

This four-part study is designed to demonstrate, using verbatim transcripts of the tapes of Kenneth Copeland, some of the errors in

the "Positive Confession" movement.

You may find it hard to believe some of the things Copeland is reported as saying! But trust me, there has been NO tampering

with the tapes. Not only did Copeland say these things in the 1980's when this study was first created (as a tape set called

"Wells Without Water" on the Banner Ministries tape list) but he continues to reiterate them up to this very moment. So do many,

many others in the Word of Faith leadership.

These teachers are totally unrepentant of their heresies, despite having been approached by countless brethren who tried to

point out their unscriptural teachings. They continue to teach doctrines that are dishonest in their scriptural content, deceptive in

their outcome, and destructive to the genuine faith of a Christian.

Part T w o(a): RE-BORN OR RAISED?

In part two, we are going to look at the Word of Faith doctrine called, 'JDS' or 'Jesus Died Spiritually'.

Most of the Positive Confession ministers teach this and it has implications for us that go way beyond any of their otherteachings. You may not have come across this doctrine yet, but I believe that it is important to grasp what is being said and to see

what it means for believers, because it is a most subtle and serious heresy and we need to be prepared to refute it.

To understand how JDS doctrine has come about and why it would affect our entire Christian walk, we have to start at

the beginning and see how faith ministers interpret the creation and fall of man. (Have your Bible handy for this message because

you will want to look up some of the readings yourself, just to see what the Bible actually says.)

First of all then, we have to see the absolute priority of right thinking and right speaking in faith ministries. What Copeland calls

"the principle of the inner image" is the first stage. This is forming an image (visualising) the desired result or condition

beforehand. Then the image is created in reality by speaking forth words that accord to the inner image.

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y g

While Copeland does urge believers to make the Word of God (not new-age positive self-image) the basis for forming the right

inner image, his methodology still follows the same trend as new-age philosophies.

He says, in the article "The Image of God in You" (Voice of Victory March 1987) that "the Word has supernatural power. If you

fill that Word with faith and speak it out, it will work for you and change your li fe...words are powerful... They are containers that

carry faith...words are so important that they can determine our eternal destiny...words can destroy or they can create. They take

an inner image and project it onto the outside world..."

It is the word that has the power, Copeland says, rather than God. You need to grasp this aspect of the Word-of-Faith movement

or you will miss the importance of the JDS doctrine.

Copeland states "God's word (the Bible) is a living thing. It has the inherent power to cause itself to come to pass... God's word

has within itself the power to bring itself to pass..." (VOV March 1987)

This is apparently because God, in speaking his word, utilised just the same spiritual laws, or forces, of faith that WE are

now obliged to use in our quest for health, wealth and success. "God energized his word --- God's words are packed with

faith..." (ibid) thus God's words are containers packed with spiritual energy just waiting to be released when you speak them out

loud! The emphasis is shifted away from God, and Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and placed on written and spoken words to achieve

the end-result.

In their trust of the word, rather than God, the Word of Faith movement is falling into the same heresy as metaphysical cults

who believe in an impersonal force in the universe, a force that is activated by the spoken word.

The impersonal god-force of the cults is governed by spiritual laws, just as we humans are governed and limited by the law

of gravity for example. The god of these cults is not All-powerful, but a Force that must obey certain rules. Indeed, MANY of the

Word of Faith doctrines can be found sourced in esoteric philosophies such as "New Thought" which arose in the 19th century

and Christian Science, which was a version of this teaching.

In the Oxford Encyclopaedia of Religion, the entry on 'New Thought' reads almost like a Word-of-faith tract! Under the

heading PRINCIPLES, it lists "The reign of universal law", in that the spiritual and mortal world are governed by immutable laws;

also the teaching that "thoughts are forces" that have cause and effect. New Thought said that "mind is the dominant force in

man" therefore transforming the mind by a proper understanding of the laws of the universe (and learning how to interact with

those laws) was the most important principle in achieving progress and success, health and prosperity. It also taught that "man is

a microcosm of God" (i.e., ye are gods).




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In a new-age Internet document "Spiritual Healing of all Things, from the Inside Out", Michael Connolly states:

"not only do we create our own reality but we create each other's reality also -- and therein lies the blessing and the curse. ...

our thoughts affect reality and indeed magnetize and give life to those thoughts, feelings, and experiences we hold in

consciousness. ...From a healing perspective, the restoration of health, balance, and life is a function of using the creative potential

we all have to project an image of restoration into the out-of-balance condition. While simple in concept, it takes practice to

discipline the mind to look past appearances and hold a vision of wholeness. This is where Faith comes in. As long as you doubt

the effectiveness of your visualization in bringing the healing you desire, you will have thoughts that are at cross-purpose with your healing purpose and you will have mixed results.... Faith in healing is the certainty that the image you project is a reality over

any other appearance that may be present. It is more than belief. Belief doesn't mean knowing. Faith comes from knowing

with certainty. The more certain you are of your healing, the faster the results will manifest in the reality around you.... I

believe miracles will be possible for many of us... But we have to get into right mindedness in order to call forth those miracles."

There are many concepts here that word-of-Faith followers will be familiar with, including the need for a right i nner image,

the creative power of words and thoughts, the need to discipline the mind to see a new reality based on the truth about ourselves

in God, and the visualising of the right outcome as important to bringing it forth into reality.

Both the new-age document above, and much of the Copeland ministry is based upon the same spiritual principles - the

inner image and the creative word. This requires the believer to follow spiritual discipline in transforming the mind, and in learning to

co-operate with immutable spiritual laws in order to make God's word effective in reality.

You see, when it is our thoughts and words that do the work, not the power of God, then it comes down to learning a formula

for faith. All we have to do i s learn the words and say them in the right way! Even using the name of Jesus becomes a formula to

get power out of the word of God.

Biblical doctrine says that the word of God is powerful only because it is God's word. It is God who has the power, not

spoken words. But Copeland makes the words themselves the active agency.

Copeland: "It is the word of God, in Isaiah 55 and Mark 4, Hebrews 1, Jeremiah 1:12, God said, "I watch over my word to perform it.".

It is the word of God that i s the bridge between God and man and it's the word of God that's the bridge between man and God. God,

in His covenant with Jesus, swore to Him, covering every spectrum of man's existence. Everything that could possibly occur in

the earth was covered in the Old Testament." (My emphasis)

People, today, seem obsessed with finding a bridge between God and man, that is, a way back to spiritual living. New Agers

say, the rainbow is the bridge. Others say, it is the Virgin Mary, or the Church, or even Lucifer is the bridge to God.




19/96

Faith ministers say, the word, the Bible, is the bridge. That is how we get access to God.

But the Bible says, in 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 5, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man

Christ Jesus". Jesus is the bridge, not the Bible. You see, God is already being restricted or governed by the spoken or written word.

Copeland says elsewhere, "God has no will outside of His word." Of course, God's word is comprehensive and true and God will

not contradict it. But how do we know God's ways sufficiently to say He has no will apart from His word?

There is to be another creation following this one, a new heaven and earth. Where is the Bible for that age? Can it be God will

have to dictate a whole new set of Scriptures, before He is able to interact with man in the ages to come?

Also, Copeland says this limitation applies to Jesus. He says, "God made a covenant, even with Jesus, to enable Him to do a

work on the earth". But Jesus is God. He is God Almighty. Jesus did not need a contract to visit Abraham, or Jacob, or Daniel in

the Old Testament and He still does not need a contract to exercise His power today. It is we who need the covenant because we

have fallen into sin.

Copeland: "Adam had been given authority over all the handiworks of God, the word says, and he gave that authority to Satan. Gave

it to him. Gave him authority over the earth and everything in it. And, then, he set up the world system. He had authority here - do

as he pleased - he was the god of the world. And in his authority he ruled man, and in order for man to get up from under his rule

he's gonna have to be reborn. Well, is God gonna make a new body out of the dust of the earth? How can He? The dust of the

earth doesn't belong to Him any more."

The cornerstone of Dominion Theology of any kind, is that Adam's authority, or dominion over the earth, has been lost and that

he has given it to Satan. But is that true?

Psalm 24 says "The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." [Note: this was

spoken after the Fall and before redemption!]

God is, and always has been, the King-God of the earth. Adam was only His agent, or viceroy, His executive if you l ike. Adam

was created as a subordinate to God, and given the job of tending and guarding creation, and of filling the earth with inhabitants.

The authority Adam had was DELEGATED AUTHORITY only. You delegate authority when you entrust your children to a

baby-sitter. The children are yours. They belong to you, not the baby-sitter. However, you make the baby-sitter temporarily in charge

of your children, trusting him/her with that task.

So it was with God and Adam. Just as you would demand that a baby-sitter abide by your rules and wishes in the care offile:///G|/WEBSITES/birthpangs/articles/wof/wells2a.html (4 of 20) [06/10/2010 13:48:00]



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your children, so God required obedience in the stewardship of his earth. That is what went wrong when Adam defected to

satanic lordship.

In what did man's dominion consist? The following shows that man was steward of all created things, the animals, birds, fish

and land.

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over

the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." (Gen 1:26)

"What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than

the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou

hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea,

and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas." (Ps 8:4-8)

Did Adam lose this dominion? Well, is lamb still on the menu? I think it is!

The Word of Faith view of dominion, however, goes beyond stewardship of the earth. It proposes that Adam was a god-ruler of

his planet. I would ask a simple question about this viewpoint. If Adam and Eve were gods, what would be the attraction of

the serpent's temptation "ye shall be as gods?"

A definition of godhood is SELF-DETERMINATION. That is, the freedom to decide your own way, your own will, your own

fate. Naturally our Lord is God because he is self-determining. But was Adam? Was he created to do as he pleased and go where

he pleased? Not at all. He was given limited scope to act as he was told under the eye of his Heavenly Father, but not to go

beyond those bounds.

Thus, when Lucifer came along with the suggestion that Adam and Eve might become as gods, it was an invitation to

REBELLION against the over-lordship of God!

The suggestion of the serpent was that, in knowing all things, they would be thereby wise enough to make their own decisions,

and no longer need to be beholden to the commands of God.

Thus, what happened in the Fall was Adam's defection from service to God, and his (unknowing) acceptance of the lordship

of Satan. Because, of course, whosoever commits sin becomes its slave. What, therefore, did Adam and Eve actually give to

Satan? Why, their service, their obedience, their willingness to be led and taught by him.

So, when Adam chose to resign his God-given employment and to sign up with Satan as boss, did he hand over the earth to




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Satan? No, of course he didn't. How could he? It did not belong to him. It belonged to God.

Did God lose the dust of the earth, then, as Copeland asserts? Not according to Scripture, that says long after the Fall: "the

earth belongs to God".

All God lost was the obedient service of His viceroy. So, God could have made another Adam, but He did not. The only reason

He did not strike Adam dead, on the spot, was because He loved mankind and wanted to save them from eternal damnation. THAT

is why Adam and the earth were not immediately destroyed, NOT because God was somehow deprived of His authority over them.

If you think about it, what Copeland is saying is that God is subject to Satan under this scheme!!

In other places, Copeland paints a picture of a despairing God gazing helplessly from the outside of his creation, trying to

formulate a plan for recovering his losses.

God has lost His earth to a fallen angel! He has to accept Satan's rulership. Nonsense! Let me put it this way: if I am Queen

of England and I send you as my agent to, say the Falklands, does that make you the owner of the Falkland Islands?

And if you decided to betray me to Argentina and become the Argentinean agent, instead, does that make Argentina the owner

of the Falklands?

Of course it doesn't. It might cause a lot of problems for the Queen of England because it opens a door to our enemies. It may

give them access to the manpower. They may even enslave all Falkland residents. But it most certainly does not transfer

the ownership to Argentina.

All you would be there is a traitor to your country, not worth saving probably. Just watch the Queen and the UK government

having "mercy" on such a traitor if ever they laid hands on you! Yet God reacted differently with Adam, with us. He forgave us

our betrayal. He sent His own Son to bring us out. Praise God!

How can we possibly belittle such a God or say that He is forced to do certain things?

Copeland: "He [God] treated Satan like he was the ruler of the earth. He treated him like he planned on treating Adam and that's

the reason Satan could walk before Him, in the days of Job, to and fro on the earth. And God said, "Where you been?" He said,

"I've been walking to and fro on the earth." He had a right to. God treated him the way He planned on treating Adam. He had to -

He had given Adam His word. If He had made another one out of the dust there, it would've looked just like that one did after it

sinned. So I mean, what good's - I mean, He's just reproducing the same thing. Besides that, the dirt's not His, any longer. So

God, really, is on the outside looking in." [My emphasis throughout]




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Well, this really is saying that Satan has become all that Adam was meant to be. And God is forced, by His own word, to treat

Satan as the proper authority, or god, of this earth. This makes God beholden to a fallen angel. It almost makes God the subject

of Satan. (This is an important step in understanding the subject of "Jesus Died Spiritually" so hang in there!)

Well, what is Satan's authority, in fact? Over what does he rule? What does he mean, when he boasts to Jesus, that the

authority on earth is given to him? And what does it mean that he is "the god of this world"?

Let us remember that God still remains the legal and actual Owner of planet earth. God cursed the ground so that it lost

its fruitfulness and the animal creation was made subject to corruption, as well. Note that this cursing was carried out --- by whom?

By God, not by Satan or Adam, according to the word in Romans 8:20. If God had actually lost control at that point, how come -

after the Fall - He is exercising His authority over Creation to "subject it to futility" as the Bible says? Let's be logical in our thinking!

Secondly, Satan is not the god of the physical creation; he is only the false lord of the present world system. In other words, all

he has is the obedience of mankind. Whatever authority he exercises, it is only effective over the affairs of mankind.

Satan deceives mankind, and tempts us to sin; that is his authority. He has been given a certain limited scope to play havocwith our lives and to cause certain tragedies, but nothing he does is outside the plan or rule of God.

God certainly is not on the outside looking in, impotently, as Copeland says. Copeland quotes the Book of Job, Chapter One;

he says, "Satan was walking up and down on the earth.". So he was. But, you will notice there, he had to apply to God for

permission before he touched Job and even then his actions were limited. And God overruled on Job's behalf, in the end. You

see, God is the Lord. He is in control.

Also, God was not caught out by Adam's sin, so that He had to patch together some kind of contingency plan, to get Himself out

of a hole. The Lord knew Adam would sin. He always knew He would have to send Jesus to save us.

Ephesians chapter 1, verse 4-5 says this, "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we

should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to

himself, according to the good pleasure of his will" Yes, God had a plan even before Adam fell.

So, what about Satan then? Well, he is just a created being, a fallen angel who fell through pride. He wanted to be as God but

God cast him out before the beginning of time as we know it, and bound him to the dark regions below the earth.

Spiritually speaking, though, he is able to influence mankind through his host of demons and they operate in the atmosphere.

So, he is also called, "the prince of the power of the air", in Ephesians chapter 2:2.




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His method is deception. He tempts man to do his own will and to fulfil his own plans. What Adam did, then, was to listen to a

false teacher and to put his trust in a false lord. Adam decided to do the devil's will instead of God's on earth; that is all there is to

it. Adam had a free will and he chose to follow the devil.

What God lost was fellowship with man and what man lost was his relationship with God. And, of course, that led to sin,

sickness, poverty and eventually physical death.

I have laboured this point, rather, because I wanted you to see that Satan does not have all that much authority. To say that God

is forced to treat Satan like the god of creation and He is bound by His own word to fall in with Satan's plan; it is just plain wrong.

Copeland: "See what happens. Here's God, in this position that Satan [has] - and Adam - have brought Him to. This thing has to

be rectified. God is looking. He's - He's - God is a God of faith, He's a God of His word. He uses spiritual force to create matter.

He doesn't - He doesn't fix anything with material things. He uses spiritual things to handle material things. So what plan does He

settle on? This has done more to rejuvenate, change, influence, overhaul - however you want to say it - my life, than any other

one thing I've ever learned, since I've made Jesus Christ the Lord of my life. God could have used creation, He could have used

brute force, the fire of God, nuclear - whatever. And He's got it all. All alternatives were open to Him to regain the most prized possession that He had, everything He had. What did He do to get it? He gave. The law of giving is the most powerful thing

in heaven and earth. It is the force of this universe. Everything God has ever done, He's done through the giving

motive." [My emphasis]

Now, we see that God, because He has been bound by His own word and has lost His authority on earth, is forced by Adam

and Satan, to conceive of a plan to find a way back into His own creation.

God is pictured as almost scratching His head in frustration as He watches His own planet snatched out of His grasp.

The circumstances are ruling Him now and the plan, according to Copeland, is to use another spiritual law; the law of giving. By

this law, whatsoever is given freely is returned a hundredfold.

So God is now bound by the word, by Adam's sin, by Satan AND by the laws of the universe; the universe He created!

Copeland calls this law, 'the force of the universe,' and God is going to put this law to work to get a foothold back on the earth.

First, He has to "convince Abraham to agree to a covenant with Himself". In another place, Copeland has said "After Adam's

fall, God found Himself in a peculiar position --- God needed an avenue back i nto the earth --- God laid out His proposition and

Abram accepted it. It gave God access to the earth and gave man access to God --- technically, if God ever broke the Covenant,

He would have to destroy Himself."




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As I see it, the covenant was actually God's act of mercy and love, in providing a means of atonement for man, to save him from

the consequences of sin. God could have left man long enough for him to destroy himself and blow up the entire world, because

that was what would have happened. And He could have sat back and watched as Satan took every man to hell for ever. Then,

He would have brought into action what it says in 2 Peter and the Book of Revelation, "The earth and the works that are in it will

be burned up", and Satan will be, "cast into the lake of fire".

But, instead of leaving man to his fate, God made a way for restoration of fellowship. He took the initiative. He provided

the covenant.

Indeed (and this is an important fact) long before Abraham was born, God provided a blood sacrifice atonement for the sin of

Adam and Eve. As soon as that sin was admitted, God killed an animal and covered the couple with its skin. (Gen 3:21) Don't

please have a picture of God the Father as a Fashion Designer crafting leather or fur tunics for the first man and woman. No, the

slain animal's blood was still upon the hide as it wrapped Adam and Eve, providing a blood covering for their sin. Instead of slaying

the first two humans on earth, God slew an animal as a substitute, thus giving us our first practical demonstration of how

redemption was to be attained (eventually through the divine Substitute of Jesus, of course.)

So, already, God is making a way for man to return to God. You see, He is not impotent at all. But Copeland interprets

the Abrahamic covenant in a different way. He says that God needed it to open a door for His word.

Copeland: "Now God has an open door in the earth for His word. He begins to give forth promises. Every promise God makes

will work, if somebody will walk. God began to make promises. The Bible says, He was making promises to Jesus - Jesus wasn't

there. Changed that old boy's name to Abraham and said, "You're My man". He kept making promises to Abraham, He kept

making promises to Abraham. What's He doing? With His mind of the word, He's creating. Very little at a time, He'd find people

that would listen to Him and do what He said, and He would get another portion of the word into the earth."

Remember what Copeland has taught so far - that God is outside his Creation looking in, seeking for a way to recover what

was lost. All that God can do is find a man who will accept His words, obey them and record them.

Elsewhere Copeland has said: "Now you see, God is injecting his Word into the earth to produce this Jesus - these faith-filled

words that framed the image that's in Him... He (God) can't just walk onto the earth and say "let it be" because he doesn't have

the right. He had to sneak it in here around the god of this world that was blockin' every way that he possibly could."

Copeland teaches that words are the creative agency by which God achieves His goals. In order to bring forth Jesus onto theearth God has to announce it in words, and so God needs to find a channel for those words. In Abraham God finds that channel,

and uses him, (and later all the other Old Testament saints), to form a sort of re ositor of ower in the form of words.file:///G|/WEBSITES/birthpangs/articles/wof/wells2a.html (9 of 20) [06/10/2010 13:48:00]



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Copeland says, God was creating something. Every time God spoke, creative power was released that existed in that word. So,

by the time Jesus came, there were enough promises to cover all His needs. Then Jesus came.

And the important thing to remember is that Jesus is said to come as Adam, exactly the same as Adam, as a fallen creature,

except that He never sinned. The basis of the JDS doctrine is that Jesus came as the last Adam, to recapture for us all that the

first Adam lost - that is, dominion-godhood over this earth!

Copeland: "He called Himself the Ben-Adam - that was Adam's name. Son of Adam - the Bible called Him the Last Adam - it's

exactly like the first, exactly like him, exactly like him. He was l ike him, after he sinned, lost the glory of God, but without sin in His

life. He had to walk by faith. He couldn't walk by His inherited glory, because He's God Almighty,"

This brings us to the question of the divinity and humanity of Jesus. Now, people have been discussing this since Pentecost.

But what the Church teaches, and I believe this is the scriptural truth, is that Jesus was both God and man at one time, in One Person.

Some teach that Jesus was a man filled with God, others that He was God only and that His body was just a convenient

container. But this statement from one theologian sums up the orthodox position: "In the One Person of Jesus Christ, there are

two natures; a human and a divine nature, each in its completeness and integrity. And these two natures are organically

and indissolubly united, yet so that there is no third nature formed thereby."

In other words, when Jesus made Himself of no reputation and took the form of a servant, as it says in Philippians 2, He did not

lose His divinity and He was not j ust a fallen man like Adam.

Jesus was born into the flesh of man, (incarnated) yet that flesh was untainted by sin. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, not

of man. So, Adam's taint of sin was not in the human nature of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, this HAD to be the case, for only a

totally pure, unblemished and perfect Sacrifice could take away the sins of the World.

Copeland seems to believe that the physical body of Jesus (being human) was fallen because it was part of creation. He says

that Jesus was EXACTLY like Adam "after he sinned". The Bible does not say that. It says that Jesus was conceived of the Holy

Spirit, utterly without sin, and without the stain of original sin that taints every human being born in the normal way. The body that

was created by God in the womb of a Virgin was a perfect creation, befitting the divine son of God.

Although Jesus chose willingly to "take the form of a man" and i n order to do so became willingly obedient to the commands of

the Father (as a servant) he did not at any time "lose his glory" of godliness as Copeland seems to suggest. Jesus was fully Godand fully man at all times. But listen to this:




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Copeland in his ministry magazine "Believer's Voice of Victory" volume 15 issue 2 [February 1987] in a piece titled "Take Time

to Pray," reprints a supposed prophecy given through him at the Dallas Victory Campaign where Jesus Christ says: "They crucified

Me for claiming that I was God. But I didn't claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that He was in Me."

At the very least, there is a confused and muddled doctrine here - at the worst this is heretical. It seems that Copeland

believes Jesus laid aside his DIVINITY when he was born on earth and thus became merely a man who walked in God by the Spirit.

The very mechanics of the Redemption should be enough to tell us otherwise. The redemption of man was madenecessary because all of Adam's race were born with a sin nature. [What we call "original sin"]

Thus, there had to come One who lived outside of that sin nature in order to rescue us. God had condemned every man to

death because of sin; "The wages of sin is death". So then, if Jesus was just like Adam, He too would legally be condemned to

death, no matter how good and law-abiding He was.

It is not what we do but what we are that condemns us to hell; we are Adam's children. Jesus came in the "likeness" of sinful

man, yet without sin; it had to be that way. Jesus, then, was fully God and fully man, right from His birth. As Paul says in

Colossians 2:9, "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily". You would be hard-pressed to put it any better than

that, wouldn't you?

** For those who would like to know more about the incarnation, and this subject of the humanity and divinity of Jesus,

there is some helpful material, and scriptures, at the end of this article. Go to the "Notes" section below.

Copeland: "But the word of God, now, was brought alive in her womb and when Jesus was born of Mary - Spirit of God in Him,

the flesh of Adam - He's born of God. He's got God's blood flowing in His veins, just exactly the way Adam did, before he

sinned. Except, this one is just li ke he was right after he sinned, with all of the weaknesses that Adam had after he sinned. And the

first thing that Satan said to Him was, "Make these stones bread". Same thing that Adam fell for. Jesus said, "Man lives not by

bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Instead of doing what Adam did, He threw the word at

him, which is what Adam should have done. He should have said, "I have been told that I have authority over this garden - you get

out of it." But he didn't. So, three different times Jesus said, "It is written, it is written, it is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord

thy God."

Copeland says that both Adam and Jesus had "God's blood flowing in his veins". This is a theological and medical question that

we could debate, but let's stay on course and ignore it.

Let's pass on to where Copeland talks about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by the devil. Notice that he says it's




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THE WORD that defeated the Devil, NOT Jesus Christ the divine Son of God. This is important.

You remember that, earlier, we found the spoken word was the power of the universe. Well, in the W-of-F teachings, because

Jesus was another Adam, albeit a sinless one, He also had to rely on the power of the word.

I agree that it was not simply the presence of the Son of God that defeated Satan. But the victory was the obedience of Jesus,

not the fact that He used certain words found in His Hebrew Bible.

We can now see why, earlier in the tape, Copeland said that God stored up a sort of repository of words to cover every

eventuality, because now Jesus apparently needs them. It makes me wonder just what would have happened to Jesus, in

this temptation, confronted with the devil, if He had had no Scripture to quote.

Now we can go on to see why God had to get His word into the earth, as Copeland says. All of it was actually spoken to Jesus.

Copeland: "--- through Christ Jesus. And if you'll read right on down in that - that third chapter, bless you, you'll find out along

about sixteen, seventeen and eighteen verses in there that the word that God spoke to Abraham, in the way of covenant promise,

was actually being spoken to Jesus."

Galatians 3:16, which talks about the Abrahamic covenant, says this;

"Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to

your Seed," who is Christ.". Verse 17; "And this I say that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul

the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of

the law, then it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise".

What was that promise, by the way? In Genesis chapter 17, verses 2-8 God says to Abram,

"I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly --- behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou

shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father

of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out

of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting

covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein

thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

So, the blessing of Abraham that Paul refers to in Galatians chapter three is this covenant promising blessing, prosperity,

increase and a land. He also promised to be Abraham's God - his Saviour, Protector, Keeper and everything else that




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implies. Furthermore these covenant blessings were to be passed through Abraham to "his seed", which Paul interprets as THE

Seed, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Now, Paul is saying that Jesus Christ came as the perfect recipient of that promise; "All the promises of God are Yea and Amen

in Him".

So that, even though Abraham's natural descendants were and are blessed, the complete blessing of salvation and the favour

of God are obtainable only in the Seed, Jesus. Where? - in Jesus. That is the plain meaning of Galatians 3.

Look at verse 29 of Galatians 3, it says, "If you are in Christ, then you are Abraham's seed". In other words, how do you inherit

this blessing? By being a joint heir with Christ, because He is the promised Seed. If you are IN Christ you receive the

covenant blessings; if you are OUTSIDE Christ you don't - simple as that.

Copeland, however, puts a spin on this and says "the covenant was actually spoken to Jesus". This allows him to develop the

idea that God was planting a cache of words upon the earth, and making a covenant in advance with Jesus his god-man so that

- come the time of redemption - Jesus would be able to achieve the works of God by drawing upon that covenant and those

words. Hence in the wilderness temptation, Jesus speaks out the written word of God and so defeats the devil.

This mistake is only amplified by then having Jesus utilise the words of the covenant to oblige God to do His will.

Copeland: "God's covenant partner in the earth, Abraham, had given birth, by flesh, to God's Spirit through the word. Through

what word? - the covenant word, the covenant word. God had a race of people walking close enough to Him that He could

keep feeding the word into. Now, here's Jesus saying, "Rise, take up thy bed and walk." So what happened? God said, "You better

get up. My Boy said, 'Rise.' - that means, get up." Jesus said, "Peace", to the wind, "Be still", to the sea. God said, "You better be

still." And He's walking as a man, baptised in the Holy Ghost, out from under the dominion of Satan, and when He says, "Rise."

wells-without-water word of faith expose tricia tillin

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