But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. (2 Peter 2:1-3)

Making Up Stories About Faith-Filled Words

In my piece Joel Osteen Is Aligned With The Theology Of The Word Faith Movement I show you that he has followed the footsteps of his late father John into the so-called “Positive Confession” of this heretical Word Faith (WF) movement that Dr. Walter Martin (1928-1989) labeled “The Cult of Health And Wealth.”

The idea behind this supposed positive confession in WF is what is known as the “law of faith.” In his book A Different Gospel D.R. McConnell informs us that this law of faith “is to the spiritual realm what the law of gravity is to the physical realm” (133). Then he goes on to explain:

The formulaic nature of [WF] theology is based upon its world view. The world was created by God speaking the Word and calling into being everything that is. The Faith theology claims that “God is a faith God” because he had faith that his words would bring forth creation ex nihilo (“out of nothing”).

As a result, the Word is woven into the very fabric of creation. Indeed, the Word is what holds the creation together and maintains its operation. [E.W.] Kenyon teaches that “faith-filled words brought the universe into being, and faith-filled words are ruling that universe today.” Following Kenyon’s lead, [Kenneth] Hagin claims that through the discovery of the “spiritual laws” established by God to run the universe, the believer can put these laws to “work” for his own use. (ibid.)

Undoubtedly one of the biggest cult leaders in the whole of WF is Kenneth Copeland. Copeland was trained by Kenneth Hagin and he currently teaches the exact same fairytale as Kenyon and Hagin. Below Copeland is explaining this faulty idea of faith-filled words, which is actually rooted in the mind-over-matter of the neo-Gnostic metaphysical Mind Science cults.

Under the subheading “Are You Saying What God Says” Copeland tells us in his article Living In The Glory:

According to the Bible, faith-filled words will work for anybody who will put them to work… If you have faith in God and believe what you say will come to pass, your words can move mountains. Why is that? It’s because faith-filled words release the creative power and glory of God… God has been using words to release His power from the beginning. He created everything on earth by speaking words.
(Online source)

And as Copeland wraps up note carefully whose book of positive confession he happens to mention:

As I sought the Lord about it, He led me to get Dodie Osteen’s little book, Healed of Cancer. There is a list of healing scriptures printed in it and I began confessing those scriptures every day…every day…every day. For a while, I just had to make myself say them. But the more I confessed them, the easier it became. Revelation just kept rising in my spirit until one day those words began to fly out of my mouth with power and faith behind them.

The more I did that, the more God’s power worked in my body. When I started, I couldn’t walk five minutes without excruciating pain. Now I can walk on the treadmill for an hour. I’m a healed man. I’m a free man spiritually and physically because those faith-filled words released the glory of God into my bones and nerves and muscles.

And Like Father, Like Momma, Like Son

Now listen to Dodie’s dutiful son Joel Osteen with his own WF teaching that it is critical to practice positive confession of these supposed faith-filled words to take advantage of their imagined creative power. The following comes from an audio clip played on Bible Answer-Man radio program April 26, 2004:

You’ve got to speak it out. Your words have creative power. One of the primary ways we release our faith is through our words. There is a divine connection between you declaring God’s favor and seeing God’s favor manifested in your life.

For those who wish to bend over backward to protect Joel Osteen—and I hear from plenty of them—here is Osteen again from his latest book Become A Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day:

Never threaten your spouse with divorce. I’ve heard people say, “Well, if you ever do that again, I’m out of here.” “If you don’t do this, I’m leaving.”

No, don’t even let those words out into the atmosphere. Your words have creative power, and when you speak like that, you’re just giving the enemy a right to bring it to pass. (163)

As I have pointed out before here at Apprising Ministries Joel Osteen is every bit as much a teacher of Word Faith heresies as Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn. Both of these heretics have been warned many times and by many fine Christian teachers to stop their gross misrepresentations of the Christian faith. Since they have refused to repent they should nonw be ignored by the Body of Christ until they do so.

And yet on Trinity Blasphemy Broadcasting Network Joel Osteen continues to praise these hucksters as “brothers.” So while Osteen is a kindler, gentler kind of teacher of heresy, a teacher of heresy right along with these other Word Faith dreamers he most certainly is. If all of this comes as a bit of a shock to you the question you need to ask is — Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? (Amos 3:3, NKJV)