The Problem with Prince

Oops. Wrong picture. Never mind. It gives the right idea.... somehow.

Today I listened to one of Joseph Prince's sermons.

The one I downloaded and listened to was Part 1 of "In Christ, All Of God’s Promises Are ‘Yes’ And ‘Amen’!" which you can find in the Resources section on the New Creation church website.

The direct link is here

His text was 2 Cor 1:20. He tied that in with Deuteronomy 28:1-14, which lists all the promises of God to the obedient. He made the point that in himself, he would not be entitled to all those delicious promises of God's blessings, no matter how much he longed for them, because he was not obedient to the command of God. But Christ led a life of perfect righteousness and since He is the (sic) "federal head of all mankind", all those blessings would be his to claim. Christ died for us! For us! If we are in Him, we can enjoy all these abundant blessings from God, just by claiming them in the name of Jesus.

A sample transcript (from around the 43 minute mark):

"Jesus did it. But Jesus did it - FOR YOU! Jesus fulfilled it all - FOR YOU! The promises are YOURS AND MINE! Jesus kept all of God's Law. He kept all the statutes. Now, the promises are MINE! He did it for ME! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! So now you can go to Deuteronomy 28, and you can read: "I'M blessed coming in! I'M blessed going out! I'M blessed in the fruit of my body." God commands His blessing in all that I set my hand unto. Now I can reach out in faith and say "Yes!" to this promise. And when Pastor Prince or anyone is preaching, you say "Amen!" when he confesses that promise over you! Amen! Amen!"

You get the idea, but you really have to listen to it to get a feel of how it sounds like. Not pretty.

My comments

Well, the first thing is that Christ is the head of His church (Eph 5:23), not of all mankind. So only those who are in Christ are entitled to the spiritual blessings and promises of God.

Who are those "in Christ" then? Those who were CHOSEN to be in Him, before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4).

What are the promises of God? What is His most important promise? "I will be your God, and you will be my people."

What are the blessings to be found in Christ? SPIRITUAL blessings in the heavenly places (Eph 1:3) - not temporal ones, although we are to thank God heartily for these as well (though not to claim them as though we were completely entitled to them - they are undeserved blessings from God, who causes His rain to fall on the just and the unjust).

Why did Christ die for us? So that we would be able to enjoy all the blessings that God promises to the obedient? No. So that we would be holy and blameless before Him (Eph 1:4).

What is the greatest blessing of being in Christ?

"Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit."
(Psa 32:1-2)

And finally, yes - Jesus died for our sins. He did it for us. But His ultimate purpose was not so that we could be rich and healthy. No, He did it ultimately for the glory of God - His own glory.

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
(Joh 17:4-5)