Title: Joseph Prince is an unbeliever & destined for hell, according to John MacArthur’s & John Piper’s exposition of Matthew 22:37-38 & Mark 12:30 on the Greatest Commandment
Co-title: My view that Joseph Prince’s teaching that the New Covenant is not about our love for God will send him to hell is confirmed by John MacArthur & John Piper
By Rev George Ong
1. Hey Joe
“Hey Joe, I have sent you many Hey Joe messages in this article, and I look forward to your Hey Bro messages this coming Sunday.”
2. See APPENDIX 1: The Long Ranger Joseph Prince
If you are not convinced that Joseph Prince is a Lone Ranger, just ask any Singapore Pastor
whether any of them would dare to endorse Prince’s doctrine
that the New Covenant is about God’s love for us and not our love for God.
This is a simple test that speaks volumes.
3. See APPENDIX 2: GOD’S LOVE IS NOT UNCONDITIONAL
Joseph Prince talks a lot about experiencing and enjoying God’s love as if it is an automatic right; and as if there are no conditions.
Don’t let Joseph Prince deceive you that enjoying God’s love is an automatic thing. The truth is there are conditions…
4. First Excerpt from the Article: Slap from your wife
What type of relationship would that be?
It is not only a one-sided but a self-centred relationship – that it’s not my job to love you, but it’s your job to love me.
Would you tell your spouse that you are not so concerned about loving her, but it is more important that she should love you?
If you do that, you may get a tight slap from your wife, and you deserve a hundred more!
But if you do not love God, the punishment is much more severe than a tight slap that you may receive from your wife:
1 Corinthians 16:22 in the NCV says,
“If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be separated from God – lost forever!”
5. Second Excerpt from the Article: No sense of logic
In a sermon, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 10-second video:
“The law (Old Covenant) says you must love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength (Deut 6:5; Matt 22:37);
whereas grace (New Covenant) says we love because He first love us (1 Jn 4:19).”
In ‘Destined To Reign,’ Joseph Prince wrote:
“It is when we experience His love for us that we can respond with our love for Him.
The Bible says, “We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 Jn 4:19)
Joseph Prince has used this argument countless times, which he thought is a clever argument
– that you law people shouldn’t focus on getting people to obey the command to love God
– just focus on getting them to experience the love of God; and by experiencing the love of God, they would automatically love God.
Joseph Prince has again shown that he has no sense of logic.
Prince cannot now say that under grace or the New Covenant that “we love God (because He first love us) (1 Jn 4:19),”
when he had already said that loving God is under the Old Covenant and not under the New Covenant.
In ‘The Power of Right Believing’, Joseph Prince wrote:
“The emphasis of the old covenant of the law was all about your love for God,
whereas the emphasis of the new covenant of grace is all about God’s love for you.
… That is why the new covenant is all about God’s love for you and not your love for Him!”
When Joseph Prince has already written in the above that ‘your love for God’ is under the Old Covenant and not under the New,
this means ‘your love for God’ is no longer relevant or completely irrelevant to the New Covenant.
If that is so, why is Joseph Prince teaching in the above video and ‘Destined To Reign:
“It is when we experience His love for us that we can respond with our love for Him.
The Bible says, … We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 Jn 4:19)
“Hey Joe, if ‘your love for God’ is under the Old Covenant, this means it has gone obsolete under the New Covenant,
hence, you should just be teaching about God’s love for us.
But why did you also mention ‘your love for God’ in your New Covenant teaching?
Hey Joe, if you can’t handle basic logic, come on, please stay away from Bible exegesis.”
(This article was also sent to Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian, General Secretary, National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) office, and for the attention of the Executive Committee Members.)
In a sermon on 17 Sep 2023, 2 Sundays ago, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 40-second video:
“‘Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth
– for your love is better than wine.’
‘Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.’
Not let me kiss Him. Let Him kiss me.
I want to experience His love.
And I want to experience His love
in a very personal, intimate way.
Can you see her cry?
She’s not saying,
‘I want to know how much I love the Lord.’
You know, a lot of Christians are thinking,
‘I need to love the Lord more.’
Stop looking at yourself.
Look away from your inferior love
to the perfect everlasting love
that loves you without ceasing.”
In ‘The Power of Right Believing’, Joseph Prince wrote:
“The emphasis of the old covenant of the law
was all about your love for God,
whereas the emphasis of the new covenant of grace
is all about God’s love for you.
… That is why the new covenant
is all about God’s love for you
and not your love for Him!
Under grace,
God doesn’t want you to focus your thoughts on,
“Do I really love God?”
That’s not the focus of the new covenant.
Under grace, God wants you to focus on His love for you.
Therefore, the questions you should be asking yourself are:
“Do I know how much God loves me today?”
“Do I really believe that God loves me right now?”
What Joseph Prince has done
is nothing but pushing his half-truth doctrine
– that the New Covenant is all about God’s love for us.
But at the same time,
he rules out the other crucial half
– that the New Covenant should also be about our love for Him.
The truth is
– both halves of the truth are equally important.
Loving God is as important as God loving us.
But Joseph Prince only stresses God’s love for us
and implies that it is the only and ultimate issue.
He teaches that the Old Covenant is about us loving God,
but the New Covenant is about God loving us,
and that us loving God is no more the issue.
Never believe such a toxic lie
that comes from the pit of hell.
If you believe in Joseph Prince’s lie
that the New Covenant is not about us loving God,
it will lead you straight to hell,
as I will prove to you shortly.
Let me soberly remind you about the crucial truth
– that our love for God
is not only part of Christian devotion
but it is also needed for our salvation,
and, therefore, our love for God
is the real and critical issue.
1 Corinthians 16:22 in the NIV says:
“If anyone does not love the Lord,
let that person be cursed,
or as in the NCV,
“If anyone does not love the Lord,
let him be separated from God – lost forever.”
Doesn’t the scripture make it absolutely clear
that anyone who does not love God the Son
will be cursed and cast out of the eternal presence of God?
Second, 1 Corinthians 2:9 says:
1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV
9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” – the things God has prepared for those who love him.
The glory of salvation is only promised
to those who love God.
As for those who don’t love God,
the promise of salvation isn’t theirs to claim.
Third, 1 Corinthians 8:3 says:
1 Corinthians 8:3 NIV
3 “But whoever loves God is known by God.”
Conversely, if you do not love God,
God doesn’t know you.
If God doesn’t know you,
you will be barred from entering His kingdom:
Matthew 7:23 NIV
23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Matthew 25:11-12 NIV
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ 12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
Luke 13:27 NIV
27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
Fourth, James 1:12 says:
James 1:12 NIV
12 “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
What is the crown of life?
The crown of life is life eternal:
James 1:12 NCV
12 “When people are tempted and still continue strong, they should be happy. After they have proved their faith, God will reward them with life forever. God promised this to all those who love him.”
James 1:12 ICB
12 “When a person is tempted and still continues strong, he should be happy. After he has proved his faith, God will reward him with life forever. God promised this to all people who love him.”
James 1:12 WE
12 “God will bless any man who is strong to take his trouble, when he is being tested. When he has proved he is strong, he will live for ever. That is what the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
James 1:12 ERV
12 Great blessings belong to those who are tempted and remain faithful! After they have proved their faith, God will give them the reward of eternal life. God promised this to all people who love him.
And the promise of the crown of life, which is life eternal,
is only to those who love God.
Those who don’t love God
have no right to claim the promise of life eternal.
Fifth, James 2:5 says:
James 2:5 NIV
5 “Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?”
The promise of entering into God’s Kingdom
is only made to those who love God;
and those who don’t love Him,
will not inherit an inch of God’s kingdom.
All the verses that I have highlighted
clearly show that our love for God is crucial
as the presence of it will assure us of salvation,
but the absence of it
will disqualify us from our eternal inheritance.
That is why I said if you follow Joseph Prince’s teaching
that the New Covenant
is not about our love for God,
and if you do not love God,
hell is where you will end up.
Hey friends, this is serious stuff.
If you miss it, let me repeat
– I said, if you follow Joseph Prince’s teaching
that the New Covenant is not about our love for God,
and if you do not love God,
hell is where you will end up.
Now that we are through with the discussion
of our love for God
let’s go now to talk about
God’s love for us.
Like our love for God,
God’s love for us is also a crucial topic.
But one must remember
that although God loves the world,
those who refuse to believe and reject Him
will still perish in hell:
John 3:16 NIV
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
God loves the world,
but that doesn’t mean that those whom God loves
would make it to heaven.
God the Son loves unsaved people,
but these unsaved people, like the rich young ruler
are on the road to hell:
Mark 10:21-23 NIV
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
Jesus loves the rich young ruler,
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him.
but he will still not enter God’s Kingdom.
Jesus, God the Son loves the rich young ruler,
but he will still suffer eternal damnation,
not because God the Son didn’t love him
but because he didn’t love God the Son enough
to give up everything for Him.
Have you now seen that our love for God,
as in the rich young ruler’s case,
is so crucial that it could determine
whether or not we could enter God’s kingdom?
I have once again unveiled
the lethal nature of Joseph Prince’s Grace Theology
that falsely teaches that the New Covenant
is not about our love for God,
but it is only about God’s love for us.
Never believe the devilish lie of Joseph Prince
that our love for God is no longer the issue
because it is under the Old Covenant.
Friends, the truth is
– it is not just God loving us,
but it is our love for God
that is the critical issue
as it has sober and eternal implications for our salvation.
If the rich man in Mark 10:21-23 really loved Jesus,
he would have obeyed Him
by selling everything away;
and if he did, he would have eternal life.
But he was unwilling to
as he didn’t really love Jesus
with all his heart, mind, soul and strength,
and so will spend his eternity in hell.
The same thing will happen to us
if we don’t love Father God and God the Son.
Yes, it is essential to know that God loves us.
But that is only one-half of the truth.
The other half of the truth is that
it is because of God’s grace and love
that we should want to love Him back:
1 John 4:19 NIV
19 “We love because he first loved us.”
Who, in their right mind,
would want to tell Jesus when He returns
that it is more important for Him to focus on loving us
than us loving Him back in obedience?
What type of relationship would that be?
It is not only a one-sided
but a self-centred relationship
– that it’s not my job to love you,
but it’s your job to love me.
Would you tell your spouse
that you are not so concerned about loving her,
but it is more important that she should love you?
If you do that,
you may get a tight slap from your wife,
and you deserve a hundred more!
But if you do not love God,
the punishment is much more severe than a tight slap
that you may receive from your wife.
1 Corinthians 16:22 in the NCV says,
“If anyone does not love the Lord,
let him be separated from God – lost forever!”
In a sermon, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 20-second video:
“It’s not about your love for Him;
it’s about His love for you.
It’s about the love of Jesus.
If only the church would preach the love of Jesus,
people would start loving Him and loving one another.
It’s because of the lack of anointing and skill in the pulpit
in unveiling the love of Jesus,
therefore, we resort to what?
Commandments.
You must love God.”
Joseph Prince said:
“If only the church would preach the love of Jesus. People would start loving Him and loving one another.”
“Hey Joe, what nonsense are you talking about?
You mean the church hasn’t been preaching on the love of Jesus,
both to unbelievers in the world and to believers in the church?
I thought the church has been doing that for the last 2,000 over years.
And you say by preaching the love of Jesus,
the people would automatically start to love Jesus and love one another?”
“But, Joe, you need to tell me
where in the scriptures did you find Jesus or Paul
ever presenting the feel-good way in the scriptures
that you had presented?”
Did Jesus say:
“Hey chaps, don’t worry too much about my commandments.
Don’t lose sleep over my requirements for you to love God.
I guess what you need to do is just to focus on my love for you;
and automatically, you would get to love God more.”
Far from it!
Jesus unveiled the love of God in grandiose terms,
but at the same time, He gave commandments to love God.
As for our love for Jesus Himself, did Jesus say:
“You know, I know it’s tough to love me.
Even if you can’t love me more than your loved ones,
I do understand.
So, don’t be too concerned about your lack of love for me.
My expectation of your love for me isn’t that high.
So, don’t fret over it.”
No, my friends, Jesus said:
Matthew 10:37 NIV
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me
is not worthy of me;
anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me
is not worthy of me.
Please don’t miss John Piper’s explanation in his video (latter part of this article)
of what it means when Jesus said,
“…. is not worthy of me.”
Joseph Prince said:
“It’s because of the lack of anointing and skill in the pulpit in unveiling the love of Jesus,
therefore, we resort to what? Commandments. You must love God.”
“Hey Joe, you are absolutely arrogant and ‘Siah Suay’ (shameless)
that you are now claiming you have greater anointing and skill
than the Lord Jesus.
Tell me, who gave the commandment to love God?
Jesus Himself!”
What did Jesus say?
Matthew 10:37-38 NIV
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
Jesus said that this is first and greatest commandment,
and yet Joseph Prince dares to mock it.
If Joseph Prince can even mock
the first and greatest commandment that Jesus gave,
how can he claim to be preaching the Jesus of the Bible?
Joseph Prince said:
“… therefore, we resort to what? Commandments. You must love God.”
Joseph Prince wants to give you the impression
that commandments are an eyesore
and that they place dreadful burdens on us.
I say Joseph Prince is lying
because the New Testament
never presents commandments the same way as he did.
The Apostle John said:
1 John 5:3 NIV
3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”
First, Joseph Prince pitted love for God against obeying His commands
– that we don’t need commandments to love God
as all we need is just experience the love of God.
But the Apostle John never divorces the two,
nor did he present a false choice between the two
as Joseph Prince did.
In fact, John sees them integrally,
and teaches that our love for God
is proven by our obedience to His commands:
3 In fact, this is love for God:
to keep his commands.
Second, Joseph Prince portrayed God’s commandments
as something arduous and demanding.
But John never depicts commandments in that way
when he said:
“And his commands
are not burdensome.”
In a sermon, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 15-second video:
“And the greatest commandment is what?
‘Thou shall love God will all your heart, all your soul.’
Has anyone done it? No.
No one did it. No one could do it.
Even the best of them, David, a man after God’s heart failed,
committed adultery and committed murder.
So, God knew man cannot keep the law?”
Joseph Prince said:
“And the greatest commandment is what?
‘Thou shall love God will all your heart, all your soul.’
Has anyone done it? No.
No one did it. No one could do it.”
“Hey Joe, I suppose you are saying because no one could love God perfectly,
the scriptures, and particularly,
Paul has excused us from loving God the best way we know how.”
But what did Paul say?
1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV
9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” – the things God has prepared for those who love him.
Paul said that the glory of salvation is only promised
to those who love God.
As for those who don’t love God,
the promise of salvation isn’t theirs to claim.
“Hey Joe, if you are preaching that there is no need to love God,
all you are doing is setting yourself up for hell.”
Joseph Prince said:
“Even the best of them, David, a man after God’s heart failed, committed adultery and committed murder.
So, God knew man cannot keep the law?”
“Hey Joe, are you suggesting that because no man can keep the law,
we are excused from it,
and therefore, we can commit adultery and murder
and get away with it under the New Covenant?
Stop dreaming!
Don’t bluff!
It’s the same under the New Covenant!”
What did Jesus say?
Revelation 21:8 NIV
8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers (6th Commandment), the sexually immoral (7th Commandment), those who practice magic arts, the idolaters (1st & 2nd Commandments) and all liars (bear false witness 9th Commandment) – they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Jesus said:
murderers who broke 6th Commandment,
the sexually immoral who broke the 7th Commandment,
idolaters who broke the 1st & 2nd Commandments,
liars who bore false witness and broke the 9th Commandment
– they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
What did Paul say?
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NIV
9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters (1st & 2nd commandments) nor adulterers (7th commandment) nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy (or covet, 10th commandment) nor drunkards nor slanderers (bear false witness, 9th commandment) nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Paul said:
idolaters who broke the 1st & 2nd commandments,
adulterers who broke the 7th commandment,
greedy, or covetous who broke the 10th commandment,
slanderers who bore false witness, and broke the 9th commandment,
will not inherit the kingdom of God.
We don’t keep the law to get saved.
But if a believer doesn’t keep the law
like Joseph Prince because he teaches against the law
after he supposedly got saved,
this proves he isn’t saved to begin with.
And both Jesus and Paul have said categorically
such people will not enter God’s kingdom
and their destiny will be in the lake of fire.
This soberly means that Joseph Prince
who teaches there is no place for the law
under the New Covenant
and those millions who are deceived by his teachings
would end up in the lake of fire!
In a sermon, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 10-second video:
“The law (Old Covenant) says
you must love God with all your heart, all your soul,
all your mind, all your strength (Deut 6:5; Matt 22:37);
whereas grace (New Covenant) says
we love
because He first love us (1 Jn 4:19).”
In ‘Destined To Reign,’ Joseph Prince wrote:
“It is when we experience His love for us
that we can respond with our love for Him.
The Bible says,
“We love Him
because He first loved us.” (1 Jn 4:19)
Joseph Prince has used this argument countless times,
which he thought is a clever argument
– that you law people shouldn’t focus on getting people to obey the command to love God
– just focus on getting them to experience the love of God;
and by experiencing the love of God, they would automatically love God.
Joseph Prince has again shown that he has no sense of logic.
Prince cannot now say that under grace or the New Covenant
that “we love God (because He first love us) (1 Jn 4:19),”
when he had already said that loving God
is under the Old Covenant
and not under the New Covenant.
In ‘The Power of Right Believing’, Joseph Prince wrote:
“The emphasis of the old covenant of the law
was all about your love for God,
whereas the emphasis of the new covenant of grace
is all about God’s love for you.
… That is why the new covenant
is all about God’s love for you
and not your love for Him!
When Joseph Prince has already written in the above
that ‘your love for God’ is under the Old Covenant
and not under the New,
this means ‘your love for God’
is no longer relevant
or completely irrelevant to the New Covenant.
If that is so,
why is Joseph Prince teaching in the above video
and ‘Destined To Reign:
“It is when we experience His love for us
that we can respond with our love for Him.
The Bible says,
… We love Him
because He first loved us.” (1 Jn 4:19)
“Hey Joe, if ‘your love for God’ is under the Old Covenant,
this means it has gone obsolete under the New Covenant,
hence, you should just be teaching about God’s love for us.
But why did you also mention ‘your love for God’
in your New Covenant teaching?
Hey Joe, if you can’t handle basic logic,
come on, please stay away from Bible exegesis.”
Now, I will take a back seat
and let Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John MacArthur and John Piper
do all the ‘talking’
in countering Joseph Prince’s heretical position in the above
(with my comments in between).
In ‘Studies in the Sermon on the Mount,’
Martyn Lloyd-Jones said:
“That leaves us with the moral law.
The position with regard to this is different,
because here, God is laying down something
which is permanent and perpetual,
the relationship which must always subsist between Himself and man.
It is all to be found, of course,
in what our Lord calls the first and greatest commandment.
`Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.’ (Mk 12:30)
That is permanent.
That is not for the theocratic nation only;
it is for the whole of mankind.”
George Ong’s comments:
As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said
the greatest commandment in Mark 12:30 (Matthew 22:37)
about loving God will all our heart, mind, soul and strength
is permanent;
so, New Covenant believers are not excused from it,
but are commanded to obey it.
In a sermon, John MacArthur said:
Please click here to view the 2-minute video:
“Now the theme here of course is
to love the Lord your God as expressed in verse 30 (Mark 12).
It is a command.
‘You shall love the Lord your God.’
This is the foundation of spiritual life.
It is the beginning of true spiritual life,
to love the Lord your God imperfectly;
it is the culmination of spiritual life in heaven
to love the Lord your God perfectly.
We endeavour to obey that command as believers.
Although we are imperfect in our obedience,
we long for the day when we will in His presence love Him perfectly.
So, loving God is both the beginning
and the end of a relationship with God.
It is what it is to be a believer in God.
It is what it means to be a Christian,
to be a lover of God.
It is the most defining attitude
that we can express in explaining who we are.
We are those who love the true and living God…
So, if someone were to ask,
what does it mean to be a believer?
What does it mean to be a Christian?
It means to be a lover of God.
Now, this then is the definition
of what it means to be a believer
and to have a relationship with God.
But it is also a universal command.
It is a universal command
and it must be stated that
disobedience to this command
is why hell will be forever populated.
The world has been, is, and will be full of people
who refuse to love God.
This is the great consummate command,
disobedience to which brings about
divine and eternal judgement and punishment.
Nothing is more critical than this command.
… Foundational. When somebody asks you,
‘What does it mean to be a Christian?’
It means to love the Lord your God
with all your entire being.”
George Ong’s comments:
John MacArthur made the point
that just because we cannot obey it perfectly (Mk 12:30),
doesn’t excuse us from obeying it as much as we could.
The simple reason is it is a command from God.
MacArthur further stressed that obeying this command
to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, strength
is foundational
as it is the essence of being a Christian or a believer,
and disobedience to the same command
would land us in hell.
This simply means that by John MacArthur’s exposition,
Joseph Prince, who does not obey this command
as he has chucked away this command under the Old Covenant,
isn’t a believer or a Christian to begin with
and hell is the place he would end up.
In a sermon, John Piper said;
Please click here to view the 2-minute video:
“The relationship between our love for God and our love for Jesus;
those are two foundational commands, demands in the gospels.
We all know what Jesus answer to the question,
‘What’s the first and great commandment, Matthew 22:37?’
First and great commandment is
‘You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, soul and mind.’
Other gospels say ‘and strength.’
So loving God with your heart and all that you are
is the first and great demand of Jesus.
And then in Matthew 10:37,
it’s interesting how these verses are rememberable: 22:37, 10:37;
‘Whoever loves mother or father more than me
is not worthy of me,’
Jesus says.
‘Whoever loves son or daughter more than me
is not worthy of me.’
So, now you got two powerful, deep,
life-transforming commands.
Love God the Father with all your heart, soul, mind, strength,
and love Jesus
more than you love children,
more than you love parents,
surely more than you love anything.
… And Jesus said:
‘If you don’t love me more than you love your parents,
you’re not worthy of me.’
‘If you don’t love me more than you love your children,
you’re not worthy of me.’
What does it mean not to be worthy of Him?
It means you won’t have Him.
If you don’t love Jesus,
you won’t have Jesus.
Paul put it just as starkly as possible in 1 Corinthians 16:22,
‘He who does not love the Lord,
let him be accursed.’”
George Ong’s comments:
John Piper is of the view
that if we don’t love Jesus, who is God Himself,
more than we love our children and parents,
it is being not worthy of Him;
and by that, it is meant
that we won’t have Jesus
and we would be accursed (1 Cor 16:22 NIV).
The NCV of 1 Corinthians 16:22 says,
“If anyone does not love the Lord,
let him be separated from God – lost forever!”
This means that by John Piper’s exposition,
Joseph Prince, who does not obey the command
to love Jesus more than he loved his parents or children,
as he has chucked away this command to be under the Old Covenant,
won’t have Jesus
and he would be accursed
and separated from God and lost forever.
This is not what is horrendous.
What is dreadful is that the millions
that Joseph Prince has influenced
would go the same way as he would,
eternally separated from God forever and ever.
So, have you woken up to the fact
as to why I am contending against the heresies
of this evil guy, called Joseph Prince,
day and night
as multitudes of souls are at stake.
Next, do you know the driving force
behind such a doctrine of Joseph Prince
– that the New Covenant
is not about our love for God
but about God’s love for us.
It is driven by the need to make people feel good
by imposing as little a responsibility onto Christians as possible.
If Christianity is all about just enjoying God’s love
and nothing about our obligation and responsibility to love God,
don’t you think that is the ultimate feel-good theology?
‘Believers’ who operate in the flesh
(most of these people who operate in the flesh are goats anyway thinking they are sheep, or are being deceived by Joseph Prince that they are sheep)
would go for such an ultimate feel-good theology
of a just-enjoy-with-no-responsibility ‘religion’.
“Hey Joe, you ought to share
what your key secret to church growth is to the world.
If you are too shy to do it,
let me do it on your behalf.”
The key is just to focus on preaching feel-good sermons
to feed and please the flesh,
and the carnal crowds would automatically show up.
Feeding and pleasing the flesh with feel-good sermons
must surely be the open secret
to Joseph Prince’s key to exponential church growth.
Everything is about God,
and nothing is about man’s line of doctrine
that is doggedly pushed by Joseph Prince,
is not to glorify God,
but to absolve man from every responsibility of any rightful actions,
and even his own fleshly actions and sinning.
In conclusion,
let me share with you a quote by Martyn Lloyd-Jones.
In ‘Studies in the Sermon on the Mount,’
Martyn Lloyd-Jones said:
“The answer is that
the false prophet
very rarely tells you anything
about the holiness, the righteousness, the justice,
and the wrath of God.
He always preaches about the love of God…”
George Ong’s comments:
Joseph Prince, who constantly talks about God’s love
and speaks against God’s wrath and His judgement,
and never preach a single sermon on holiness or sanctification
in his entire preaching ministry,
is a perfect example
of such kind of false prophet
that Martyn Lloyd-Jones described.
Rev George Ong
APPENDIX 1
The Long Ranger Joseph Prince
If you are not convinced that Joseph Prince is a Lone Ranger,
just ask any Singapore Pastor
whether any of them would dare to endorse Prince’s doctrine
that the New Covenant is about God’s love for us
and not our love for God.
This is a simple test that speaks volumes.
APPENDIX 2
GOD’S LOVE IS NOT UNCONDITIONAL
Joseph Prince talks a lot about experiencing and enjoying God’s love
as if it is an automatic right; and as if there are no conditions.
In ‘Unmerited Favor,’ Joseph Prince wrote:
“God’s love for you is unconditional.”
In ‘The Power of Right Believing,’ Joseph Prince wrote:
“God’s love for you is unconditional.”
Don’t let Joseph Prince deceive you
that enjoying God’s love is an automatic thing.
The truth is there are conditions.
For a start, just one verse would refute this misconception.
Such a reasoning is once and for all
refuted by Christ’s own words:
John 15:10,
“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”
Besides John 15:10,
there are many passages in the Bible
that prove that God’s love for us
is not unconditional.
Let me make a qualification from the outset.
I wish to clarify that by saying that God’s love is not unconditional,
I don’t mean God is such a petty, impatient and capricious God
who will come down hard on us
the moment our love for Him has cooled.
You and I know
that God is much more gracious, patient and forgiving than that.
But there is still a threshold,
and when that threshold is reached,
(and that threshold is not for us to speculate
but only for Him to judge)
judgement would be expected.
1. God’s love for us is conditional on obedience.
What does John 14:15 say?
John 14:15 NLT
15 “If you love me, obey my commandments.”
Is there a condition to God’s love and for loving Jesus?
It appears to be so.
What is the condition of loving Jesus?
– By obeying His commandments (Jn 14:15).
If we don’t obey His commandments,
it means we don’t love Him.
Is that simple enough?
If we don’t love God,
will God continue to love us?
Read on for the answer:
John 14:21 NLT
21 “Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”
What is the condition to receive the love of God the Father
and Jesus the Son of God as described in John 14:21?
It is by obeying Christ’s commandments
as proof of our love for Him.
If we love the Lord Jesus
by obeying His commandments,
both Christ Jesus and Father God will love us,
and Jesus will reveal Himself to us
or draw closer to us in a special way.
But if we don’t meet the condition
of loving Christ by obeying His commandments,
it is obvious that
both Father God and Christ Jesus will not love us.
John 14:23 NIV
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
What is the condition
to enjoy the intimate love of Father God,
and Jesus, the Son of God,
as described in John 14:23?
It is by loving Christ and obeying His teaching.
If you claim to believe in Jesus and love Him,
then you must obey His commandments and His teaching.
Only then will the Father love you.
If you do not obey Christ’s teaching,
it means that you do not love Him,
regardless of whatever warm feelings
you may have towards Him.
Jesus then states in John 14:24, the next verse, emphatically,
that these words belong to the Father who sent Him.
Since these words spoken by Christ belong to the Father,
we must take it with the utmost gravity:
John 14:24 NIV
24 “Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”
Loving Christ and obedience to His teaching
are integrally related.
To make sure we fully understand,
Jesus states the reverse
that anyone who does not love Him
will not obey His teaching (Jn 14:24);
and similarly, one who does not obey His teaching
does not love Him.
If one doesn’t love God the Son,
God will not love him as he is cursed,
and a cursed person
is one who is doomed for destruction (1 Cor 16:22):
1 Cor 16:22-23 NIV
22 “If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed! Come, Lord! 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.”
God’s love is certainly conditional.
What is the condition for remaining in Christ’s love?
John 15:9-10 NLT
9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”
The condition for remaining in Christ’s love
is by obeying His commandments (Jn 15:9-10).
The clear implication is that
if we don’t observe the condition of obeying His commandments,
we will not remain in His love.
What happens to those who do not remain in Christ (Jn 15:6)?
John 15:6 NIV
6 “If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
If we don’t remain in His love,
we will be cut off and thrown in the fire to be burned.
To be cut off and thrown in the fire to be burned
is certainly a portrayal that is closer to hell than heaven.
What is clear to us is that we must fulfil the conditions
of loving Jesus, obeying Him and His commandments
before we can qualify for His love and the love of the Father.
2. Even Christ has to meet the condition of obeying His Father to be loved by Him.
We have learned that we have to obey Christ and His commandments
to prove that we love Him to qualify for the Father’s love.
But what about Jesus?
Did the Lord Jesus set us the example?
Yes, He did:
John 10:17 NIV
17 “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again.”
God the Father loves Jesus
because of His obedience to Him
to lay down His life on the cross (Jn 10:17).
Isn’t it crystal clear that the love of God the Father
has of His Son Jesus
is conditional too on Christ’s willingness to obey Father God
by dying for the sins of the world?
The Father’s love for Christ, not just for us,
is also conditional.
As uncomfortable as the truth may seem,
there is just no way one can get around it.
Let’s look again at John 15:10:
John 15:10 NIV
10 “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”
How did the Lord Jesus remain in His Father’s love?
– By obeying His Father’s commandments.
Just as the love Father God has for Jesus
was based on His keeping of His Father’s commandments,
Jesus’ love for His disciples
is also based on our keeping of His commandments.
Christ could remain in His Father’s love
only because He met the condition
of obeying His Father’s commandments.
Even the Lord Jesus has to meet the condition
of obeying His Father’s commandments
to remain His love.
In the same way,
if we want to remain in Christ’s love,
we must meet the same condition
of obeying Christ’s commandments.
Conversely, if we disobey Christ’s commandments,
we will not remain in the love of Jesus.
God’s love for us is not just based on grace,
but more crucially, it is conditional on our obedience.
That means Jesus’ love for us is conditional,
and there is no getting around that fact.
The teaching by Joseph Prince that God loves believers unconditionally
is erroneous.
3. God’s love for us is conditional on us loving Christ and believing in Him.
John 16:27 NIV
27 “No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”
What is the condition
to continue to experience the love of God the Father?
It is by loving God the Son
and believing that Jesus came from God (Jn 16:27).
But what if an unbeliever
refuses to believe that Jesus came from God?
And what if a believer chooses to go his own way
and turns away from believing in Christ?
The answer is obvious.
Not only will he forgo His love,
but he will also die spiritually (Jn 8:24):
John 8:24 NIV
24 “I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”
Hence, God’s love for both the unsaved and the saved
is conditional.
4. God’s love for us is conditional on not loving the world.
How do we ensure that God’s love remains in us?
1 John 2:15 NASB
15 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
By meeting the condition of not loving the world (1 Jn 2:15).
If we don’t meet the condition
and choose to love the world,
the love of the Father is not in us.
Anyone who loves the world
becomes a friend of the world,
and God will treat that person as His enemy (Jas 4:4):
James 4:4 NIV
4 “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
If we become the enemies of God,
there is no more hope for us
as we will be consumed
by the raging fires of judgement and destruction (Heb 10:27):
Hebrews 10:26-27 NIV
26 “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”
According to Hebrews 10:12-13,
if one is considered an enemy of God or Christ,
he can never be a believer in Christ.
Christ will make His enemies His footstool,
and He will never treat believers
in such a degrading manner (Heb 10:12-13):
Hebrews 10:12-13 NIV
12 “But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.”
Does it surprise you that
if anyone wishes to remain a friend of Christ,
he has to meet the condition
of being obedient to His command?
John 15:14 NIV
14 “You are my friends if you do what I command.”
If you do not obey Christ’s commands,
you are not His friend.
And if you are not His friend,
you have become His enemy,
and you would be consumed
by the same fires of judgement in Hebrews 10:27.
Hence, the clear conclusion
is that God’s love, besides being gracious,
is also conditional.
It is conditional upon our obedience
to Christ’s commandments
and for not loving the world.
5. Other passages that prove God’s love is conditional.
Is the declaration that God will love His people unconditional?
Proverbs 8:17 NIV
17 “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.”
No.
It is conditional on those who love Him, seek and find Him.
Is the God who promises to show love to a thousand generations unconditional?
Exodus 20:6 NIV
6 “but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
No.
It is conditional on those who love God and keep His commandments.
Is the love of God unconditional?
Psalm 146:8 NIV
8 “the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous.”
No.
It is conditional on those who are righteous.
Is the love of the LORD unconditional?
Proverbs 15:9 NCV
9 “The Lord hates what evil people do, but he loves those who do what is right.”
No.
It is conditional on those who do what is right.
Is the love of God unconditional?
1 John 3:17 NIV
17 “If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion – how can God’s love be in that person?”
No.
It is conditional on those who are compassionate to the needy.
6. The definition of loving God is obedience.
Why is obedience and keeping God’s commandments so important?
It is because the definition of loving God
is our obedience to Him and His commandments (1 Jn 5:3):
1 John 5:3 NCV
3 “Loving God means obeying his commands. And God’s commands are not too hard for us.”
1 John 5:3 NLT
3 “Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.”
1 John 5:3 CJB
3 “For loving God means obeying his commands. Moreover, his commands are not burdensome.”
1 John 5:3 ERV
3 “Loving God means obeying his commands. And God’s commands are not too hard for us.”
1 John 5:3 GW
3 “To love God means that we obey his commandments. Obeying his commandments isn’t difficult.”
1 John 5:3 GNT
3 “For our love for God means that we obey his commands. And his commands are not too hard for us.”
1 John 5:3 ICB
3 “Loving God means obeying his commands. And God’s commands are not too hard for us.”
1 John 5:3 TLB
3 “Loving God means doing what he tells us to do, and really, that isn’t hard at all.”
1 John 5:3 NOG
3 “To love God means that we obey his commandments. Obeying his commandments isn’t difficult.”
1 John 5:3 NLV
3 “Loving God means to obey His Word, and His Word is not hard to obey.”
1 John 5:3 TPT
3 “True love for God means obeying his commands, and his commands don’t weigh us down as heavy burdens.”
1 John 5:3 VOICE
3 “You see, to love God means that we keep His commands, and His commands don’t weigh us down.”
So, according to the scriptures,
the definition and meaning of loving God
are obeying His commandments.
Of course, one who obeys
does not necessarily mean he loves God.
But one who loves God
must prove his love by his obedience.
Our love for God
is never defined in terms of our emotional response,
but rather in our obedience to Him.
The authenticity of our love for God is measured solely
by the intensity of our obedience to Him.
Our love for God is measured and validated
by our obedience to His commandments.
Many claim to love God.
But do they also claim they are obeying His commandments?
Without the act of obeying His commandments,
any claim that one loves God
would only sound hollow.
Yet, Joseph Prince can choose to ignore and contend against
such clear and simple truths.
He teaches there is no need to focus on loving God
as it is under the Old Covenant,
and as New Covenant believers,
what we are to focus on
is just to enjoy His love for us.
Title: Joseph Prince isn’t a believer – according to Steve Lawson’s teaching on the confession of sins in I John 1:9
Co-title: If Joseph Prince can’t even pass the test of simple logic, how can we trust him on Bible exegesis?
By Rev George Ong
1. Don’t miss Points 3 & 4:
If you already have a good grasp of this no-confession teaching of Joseph Prince, and you have limited time,
I recommend that you go straight to reading Point No 3 & 4.
especially Point No 4; don’t miss it.
2. As for Point No 2:
The good news is there is an offer for you to win a free trip to anywhere in the world.
The bad news is you won’t stand a chance of winning it.
3. Interesting bits in Point No 4:
In a sermon, Joseph Prince said:
“So, there’s no teaching; Paul addressed the most carnal church, Paul never one time in his Spirit-inspired letters and Paul wrote three fourths, he never one time said, ‘Confess your sins.’”
(This topic about Paul not mentioning ‘Confess your sins’ even once is easy to handle and retort. But because this isn’t my focus, I will leave it as it is, perhaps deal with it at another time.
Joseph Prince thought he had come up with an excellent argument to support his no-confession of sin doctrine.
This is nothing but an argument from silence, which is a rather weak argument, and it could even lead to ridiculous conclusions.
Do you know that Paul never mentioned the word ‘Trinity’ in all in his epistles?
So, I supposed Joseph Prince must have been teaching that Paul is against the Theology of Trinity.
I’m sure you are aware that the Bible never mentioned the word, ‘computers’ even once.
So, I supposed Joseph Prince does not believe in the existence of computers even though they are placed right before his very eyes.
Ridiculous, right – as can be seen from Joseph Prince’s argument from silence!
Try harder the next time, Joe.)
In the same sermon, Joseph Prince said:
“And in the entire New Testament, there’s only one verse that people build their whole life on, 1 Jn 1:9.”
(Regarding what Joseph Prince said that 1 John 1:9 is the only verse in the New Testament on confession of sin;
do you know that the David & Goliath story was only mentioned once in the entire Bible?
So, I suppose Joseph Prince does not believe in this story about David killing Goliath because it is mentioned only once.
Indeed, Joe, you need to try harder the next time!)
4. An Excerpt from the Article:
Joseph Prince’s teaching that when we sin, we don’t have to confess our sins, but our righteousness is part of his feel-good, cheap grace and easy Christianity that can only appeal to carnal people.
True Christians will never be deceived by such too-good-to-be-true teachings that will only bring destruction to those who are deceived by such teachings.
5. There are 2 videos on Steve Lawson & 1 video plus 7 short video clips on Joseph Prince.
6. This is Part 2 of the article that was featured on 18 Sep 2023,
Joseph Prince’s no-confession of sin teaching is a scam, as revealed by 70 eminent Bible teachers & Christian leaders:
To view, please click on the link below:
(This article was also sent to Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian, General Secretary, National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) office, and for the attention of the Executive Committee Members.)
In a sermon, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 20-second video:
“You are redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
Again, all these religious thoughts and all that.
You know, you got to find out your sin
before you can talk to God,
before God can hear you and all that.
You know and your unconfessed sin;
that’s why I’m telling you this kind of consciousness
can rob you of a prayer life.
You got to know that you are forgiven of all your sins.
Amen. And thank God for that.”
Joseph Prince teaches
that once we are redeemed by the Blood of Jesus,
all our sins are forgiven,
and we shouldn’t be bothered by religious thoughts
such as any unconfessed sin
throughout our Christian lives.
In a teaching sermon, Steve Lawson said;
Please click here to view the 1-and-a-half-minute video:
“Now, here’s our verse for this morning.
‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9).’
What verse 9 is teaching us
is that one of the distinguishing marks of a true Christian;
and when I say a true Christian,
I mean not just one who goes to church
but is never been born again.
I mean one who actually knows the Lord.
A true Christian; one of the distinguishing marks
is he regularly confesses his sin to God.
An authentic believer
has an acute awareness of sin in his own life
because he has an acute awareness of the holiness of God.
Rather than being blind to a sin, he is convicted by a sin.
And he confesses his sin with humble contrition.
He is aware of sin in the world,
but more than that, he is aware of sin in his own life.
Pharisees are aware of everyone else’s sins
but are oblivious to their own sin.
But a true Christian
has a heightened sense of awareness of sin in his own life.”
Steve Lawson teaches the exact opposite of what Joseph Prince teaches.
While Steve Lawson said a true Christian
will have a heightened awareness of his sins,
Joseph Prince teaches that we are not to be sin-conscious.
Steve Lawson said that
according to 1 John 1:9,
one of the distinguishing marks of a true Christian
is that he regularly confesses his sins to God.
This means Joseph Prince,
who teaches against the confession of sins
to be forgiven by God
isn’t a Christian to begin with.
In fact, Prince teaches that 1 John 1:9
wasn’t written to believers
to confess their sins to be forgiven
but to unbelievers.
In the same sermon, Steve Lawson said;
Please click here to view the 1-minute video:
“Now, as we’re in first John verse 9,
He says, ‘If we confess our sins.’
Now, here’s what’s important.
I want you to understand this.
The verb confess is in the present tense,
which means there is to be the continual, ongoing
confession of sin in a true believer’s life.
It’s not just that you confess one time
when you enter into the kingdom,
and you never have to confess your sin again.
That would indicate that you’re not a true Christian
– that you’ve never have been born again.
So it’s just not a one-time confess sin
and I never have to confess sin again.
No, it is an ongoing throughout the Christian life.
And so, it is in the present tense.”
Steve Lawson said that for the true Christian,
confession of sin is not only a one-time thing
but an ongoing affair.
But Joseph Prince teaches that once your sins are forgiven
at the point of your salvation,
there is no need to ask for forgiveness
for the other sins that you will commit
in your Christian life.
Steve Lawson also said that for one
who confessed his sin once and never confessed his sins again,
isn’t a true Christian or has ever been born again.
Again, Steve Lawson has revealed
that Joseph Prince isn’t a believer in the first place
as Prince doesn’t believe that a Christian
needs to confess his sins on a regular basis
in order to be forgiven.
1. Joseph Prince’s teaching that 1 John 1:9 was not written to believers but to unbelievers is debunked.
By now, many of you would be aware
that Joseph Prince teaches the false doctrine
that there is no place
for believers to confess their sins to be forgiven
as all their sins have been forgiven at the cross.
In ‘Destined To Reign’, Joseph Prince wrote,
“People have taken this verse and built a whole doctrine around it when actually, chapter 1 of 1 John was written to the Gnostics, who were unbelievers. John was saying to these unbelievers that if they confessed their sins, God would be faithful and just to cleanse them from all unrighteousness.”
In ‘Unmerited Favor’, Joseph Prince wrote,
“With this context in mind, it becomes clear that 1 John 1:9 was not written to believers. The verse is a reference to the prayer that a sinner prays to accept Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior. You may know this as the ‘prayer of salvation’ or ‘the sinner’s prayer.’”
In ‘Unmerited Favor’, Joseph Prince wrote,
“This passage (1 Jn 1:8-10; which includes 1 Jn 1:9) was clearly written to the unbelieving Gnostics to encourage them to stop their denial of sin, acknowledge the truth that sin exists and acknowledge that they have sinned. It was written to bring them to the realization that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
“Essentially, John was preaching the gospel to the Gnostics and telling them that if they confessed their sins, God would be faithful and just to forgive them their sins and cleanse them from all unrighteousness.”
To reiterate, Joseph Prince wrote:
“This passage (1 Jn 1:8-10; which includes 1 Jn 1:9) was clearly written to the unbelieving Gnostics…”
Joseph Prince has told a lie.
If it is so clear that 1 John 1:9
was written to unbelievers,
why did the historic and contemporary church
of every denomination
and different theological persuasions
(charismatics or non-charismatics)
believes and is still believing
that the whole book of 1 John (not just 1 Jn chapters 2-5)
was written to believers?
One must remember this is a long-held belief
of both the historic and contemporary church.
This only goes to show the recklessness of Joseph Prince
who dares to teach such a view
that while 1 John chapters 2-5 were written for believers,
1 John chapter 1, of which 1 John 1:9 is located,
was written to unbelievers,
not believers,
even though it can be so easily disproven.
Let’s start by focusing on a few keywords in 1 John 1:9:
1 John 1:9 NIV
9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
The first keyword is ‘we’.
The Apostle John said,
“If we confess our sins …”
Since the author, John uses the word, ‘we’,
he is including himself as one among those
who needs to confess his sins in order to obtain forgiveness.
Is John a believer or an unbeliever?
A believer, of course!
John, as the author, is using the words
‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘us’,
as he is representing all believers
who need to confess their sins.
John was not an unbeliever
when he wrote the Epistles of 1 John, 2 John and 3 John.
He was a Born Again, Spirit-filled Christian
who had been walking with the Lord for many years.
Therefore, it is impossible that John was referring
to the unsaved people of the world
when he used the pronouns ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘us’.
How can John lump himself who is saved
together with the unsaved people
by using the words ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘us’?
When John used the terms ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘us’
he was referring to Christians, such as himself,
not unbelievers.
This is so simple that even a teenager can understand it.
If that is so, I am flabbergasted
why Joseph Prince, being the so-called world-renowned grace teacher
couldn’t grasp this simple truth
– when he stubbornly insists that 1 John 1:9
was written to unbelievers.
Along with the same strain of thought,
let’s take a look at the entire passage
from 1 John chapter 1 verse 1,
right up to the first three verses of chapter 2,
in two instalments,
and you will clearly see the logic of this argument:
1 John 1:1-7 NIV
1 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete. 5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
In this entire passage,
I’ve highlighted the words, ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘us’ in blue
to indicate that they refer to believers.
In this whole passage
from 1 John chapter 1, verse 1 to chapter 2 verse 3,
there is not a single ‘They’ or ‘Them’ or ‘Their’,
indicating that no unbelievers were being addressed to:
1 John 1:8-10 NIV
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
(Note that Chapter 1 ends at verse 10.)
1 John 2:1-3 NIV
1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.”
This is to show you that the entire letter,
especially from 1 John chapter 1 to chapter 2
was written to the same audience – believers.
Hence, there is not a single chance
for 1 John 1:9 (and 1 John chapter 1)
as Joseph Prince has claimed,
to be addressed to unbelievers.
After perusing the entire passage,
I believe you will come to a clear conclusion
that Joseph Prince’s argument
that chapter 1 was written to unbelievers
while chapter two was written to believers
is plain hogwash.
Furthermore, the Greek
is even more explicitly against Joseph Prince’s interpretation
since the word, ‘confess’ in the Greek in 1 John 1:9
speaks of continuous, present action
as opposed to a one-time act:
1 John 1:9 NIV
9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
This means that we, as believers,
are to confess our sins on a regular basis.
It does not refer to a one-time confession of sins for unbelievers
to receive Christ for salvation
as Joseph Prince has falsely made it out to be.
In other words, confessing of sins when a Christian sins
from time to time is an on-going affair.
But the confessing of sins for unbelievers
to receive Christ as Saviour and Lord
is a one-time act.
So, the confessing of sins in 1 John 1:9,
which is a continuous and present action,
is definitely referring to believers
and not to unbelievers
as claimed by Joseph Prince.
Furthermore, after writing 1 John 1:8-10,
immediately, John says in 1 John 2:1,
“My little children, these things I write to you…
1 John 2:1 NKJV
1 “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
What are ‘these things’ referring to in 1 John 2:1?
‘These things’ in 1 John 2:1
are referring to what John wrote in 1 John chapter 1,
especially the preceding three verses,
namely, 1 John 1:8-10, especially 1 John 1:9:
1 John 1:8-10 NKJV
8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
1 John 2:1 NKJV
1 “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
So, we can now clearly see that 1 John 1:9
was written to believers
because there is an obvious connection
between 1 John 2:1 and 1 John chapter 1,
especially the last three verses, 8-10, including 1 John 1:9.
‘These things’ in 1 John 2:1
clearly refer to what goes immediately preceding it,
in 1 John 1:8-10, including 1 John 1:9
and the rest of 1 John chapter 1.
Since there is an unbroken connection
from 1 John 1:1 to 1 John 2:1,
John was unmistakably speaking
to the same audience of believers
in both 1 John chapters 1 and 2.
Hence, Joseph Prince’s illogical idea
that while 1 John chapter 1 was written to unbelievers
while chapters 2-5 were written for believers
is clearly exposed to be false.
The common theme,
especially from 1 John 1:8-10 to 1 John 2:1
that John was trying to address
is the false doctrine that Christians are sinless
or that they could consciously live in sin
without affecting their fellowship with God.
Hence, 1 John 1:9 states that
there must be the confession of sins
before forgiveness can be obtained.
As you can see by now that Joseph Prince’s view
that chapter 1 of 1 John was written to unbelievers
and chapter 2 to believers does not hold any water.
Therefore, Joseph Prince’s teachings
that 1 John 1:9 was not written to believers
to confess their sins
but was written to unbelievers
who were being called to confess their sins in order to be saved
is decisively debunked.
2. Joseph Prince’s teaching that when we sin, we are to confess our righteousness and not our sins cannot be biblically supported.
Joseph Prince teaches that when we sin,
we are not to confess our sins
because every sin has been forgiven at the cross,
but we are to confess we are righteous.
In ‘Grace Revolution’, Joseph Prince wrote,
“And when you have sinned, what do you say? That’s the time to say by faith, ‘I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus’” (see 2 Cor 5:21).
There is nowhere in the Bible that tells a believer
to confess his righteousness when he is sinning
instead of his sins
except for the weird and false doctrine
that Joseph Prince teaches.
(Of course, to proclaim that we are the righteousness of God after one has confessed his sins, is perfectly legitimate. To confess that we are the righteousness of God at other times when we are not sinning is also no issue at all.
But for Joseph Prince to teach that when we sin, we are not to confess sin but we are to confess that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, is grossly erroneous.)
Joseph Prince, show me just one verse in the Bible
that explicitly says that
we are to confess our righteousness
and not our sins when we are sinning.
If there is one,
I will offer to sponsor you on a free trip anywhere in the world.
This same free-trip award is also offered to anyone
who can find me a verse
that explicitly says that we are to confess our righteousness
instead of our sins when we are sinning.
If just 10 of you could find just one verse
and all 10 opt to go to Antarctica,
the next day, the headlines in the newspapers will be titled,
“A silly preacher, George Ong, went bankrupt
for offering a foolish deal.”
But this is nothing as compared