By Mark W. Christy, PhD
In this article, the salvation plan of various individuals who frequently are associated with the Prosperity Gospel Movement are laid out and examined to determine the degree of similarity and whether or not potential errors may be involved. Overall, they typically present a soteriology that could easily be construed to be correct given the simplicity and lack of detail in their statements. While their approach does not typically cross the line into confirmed heresy, the brevity assigned to this central teaching of Christianity can easily mislead a prospective convert to believe that he/she plays the deciding role in salvation via a free will response. In other words, the statements from the teachers in the following discussion will leave unanswered the question on the degree to which God plays a sovereign in the choosing of the Elect.
Before examining these teachers in detail, it may help to first consider the approach of John MacArthur. On his church’s website, a soteriological position is offered that is far more in depth than that of most churches. In regard to salvation, they firmly announce that “election is the act of God by which, before the foundation of the world, He chose in Christ those whom He graciously regenerates, saves, and sanctifies.”[i] With this statement on election and the many other carefully chosen words concerning salvation, a potential convert will certainly have more clarity in understanding his/her role in salvation. To put this another way, the will of God will be presented as the primary deciding factor instead of the free will choice of the person. This will, in turn, help professing believers understand that their hope and assurance of salvation are in God and not in themselves (and their decisions). This being said, it is now time to consider the soteriology offered by some who have been called false teachers.
To begin, Joyce Meyer has the gospel articulated as follows on her website:
“We can have a personal relationship with God through salvation, God’s free gift to man. It is not a result of what we do, but it is only available through God’s unearned favor. By admitting we have sinned and believing in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, and accepting Him as Lord, we can spend eternity with God.”[ii]
While much of this wording appears to be in order, she suggests God’s gift of grace through faith is to all people, and people simply need to “admit” or choose to acknowledge being a sinner while also affirming the basic tenets of the gospel. Her proclamation, therefore, fails to address God’s own sovereign election of those being saved and the need of all people to humble themselves before Him knowing their salvation ultimately lies with Him. Commenting on a foundational passage, Ephesians 1:4, which addresses God’s choice of the Elect before creation, Meyer completely evades the issue of whether or not God chooses all people in such a way that all have a choice or simply predestines those whom He has chosen.[iii] Instead, she prefers to offer the following message of hope:
“You and I are no surprise to God. He knew exactly what He was getting when He chose us. God did not choose us and then become disappointed because of our inabilities. God has hope for us, and He believes in us and is working in us to help us be all that He has in His plan for us.”[iv]
For Meyer, it would seem God is reliant on those saved so as to accomplish His plan. Whereas the Bible repeatedly declares that God in Christ is the only true hope for humanity, she apparently makes humanity the source of hope for God. Such a twist is possible when one lies solely on a personal decision for the attainment of true salvation as opposed to a divine decision in regard to election.[v]
Joel Osteen also seems to hold to the basic tenets outlined by Meyer and calls on his audience to simply pray, “Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. I ask You to come into my heart. I make You my Lord and Savior.”[vi] With no apparent concern for the potential for self-deception, Osteen adds, “If you prayed that simple prayer, I believe you have been ‘born again’” (cf. James 1).[vii]
Craig Groeschel points his readers to the prayer found in Psalm 139:23-4: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.” If prayed with passion, he asserts this to be “soul-cleansing, heart-mending, eternity-altering prayer.”[viii] From this, it would appear that he affirms a strong role of the human will in salvation not unlike Osteen in the above paragraph. Groeschel does at least affirm the doctrine of original sin and even points to Jeremiah 17:9 to provide solid biblical evidence that the “heart deceives us and is desperately wicked”.[ix]
Despite his apparent understanding of the fallen human nature, it remains to be seen whether he attaches his affirmation to soteriology in such a way that sinners are made aware that their salvation lies wholly in the divine will even while they offer a salvation response. His church’s website offers a fairly typical stereological statement that is in line with those listed in this article.[x] It acknowledges salvation is a work of God’s grace apart from works and calls upon people to respond in repentance and faith. While this is all quite solid theologically, it suggests that all people can indeed respond correctly and fails to clarify that repentance and faith are themselves gifts of grace from God. Salvation simply by human decision, like the examples above, offers pastors like Stephen Furtick the opportunity to boast about their church’s success in evangelism: “Once, we baptized more than two thousand people in the span of two weeks. There have been more than three thousand recorded salvation decisions in the last six months alone.”[xi] Like Meyer and Osteen, Furtick offers a similar soteriological statement on his church website and upholds the idea that all that is required for salvation (with total assurance) is a decision to repent and believe in Jesus: “So if we’re headed in [the wrong] direction, the first thing we need to do is make a turnaround and get on the right road. We’ve got to repent and receive God’s forgiveness.”[xii] Furthermore, he also maintains that all Christians need to do to receive salvation is “repent, confess, and ask to have our sins washed away. [Christ] does the work of purifying us.”
[i]Gracechurch.org, Welcome to Grace: What We Teach, Available at: https://www.gracechurch.org/about/doctrinal-statement.
[ii]Joyce Meyer Ministries, About Us: What We Believe, Available at: https://joycemeyer.org/about/what-we-believe.
[iii]Joyce Meyer, The Everyday Life Bible, Ebook format (New York: Faith Words, 2006), 2070.
[iv]Ibid.
[v]Ibid, 1515.
[vi]Joel Osteen, Blessed in the Darkness: How All Things are Working for Your Good, Ebook format (New York: Faith Words, 2017), 131.
[vii]Ibid.
[viii]Craig Groeschel, Dangerous Prayers: Because Following Jesus was Never Meant to be Safe, Ebook format (Zondervan), 27.
[ix]Ibid., 15-16.
[x]Who We Are, Life.Church, Available at: https://www.life.church/beliefs. “Salvation is God’s free gift to us, but we must accept it. We can never make up for our sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer of forgiveness can anyone be saved from sin’s penalty. When we turn from our self-ruled life and turn to Jesus in faith we are saved. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into his life by faith.”
[xi]Steven Furtick, Greater, Ebook format (Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2012), 19.
[xii]Elevation Church, Our Beliefs, Available at: https://elevationchurch.org/beliefs; Steven Furtick, Seven-Mile Miracle: Journey into the Presence of God through the Last Words of Jesus, Ebook format (Multnomah, 2017), 13. The belief statement on salvation located on Elevation Church’s website states, “The blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross, provides the only way of salvation through the forgiveness of sin. Salvation occurs when people place their faith in the death and resurrection of Christ as sufficient payment for their sin. Salvation is a gift from God, and it cannot be earned through our own efforts.”