Are Jesus & Paul Positive-Confession Preachers like Joseph Prince? – By Rev George Ong (Dated 13 May 2022)
In my article, the following will be covered:
1. Right & Wrong Interpretation of Proverbs 18:21: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…”
2. A Form of Superstition Promoted by Joseph Prince
3. Is Paul a Positive-Confession Preacher like Joseph Prince?
4. Is Jesus a Positive-Confession Preacher like Joseph Prince?
5. Jesus ended Revelation & the Bible with a ‘Negative’ Warning to Believers (Rev 22:18-19)
But before I deal with the topic proper, just a side issue…
Interestingly of late, Joseph Prince seemed to be spending quite a fair bit of time in the worship services, and particularly the most recent one last Sunday on 8 May 2022, responding to his critics and coaching his congregation the cool way of dealing with them.
It’s obvious that Prince is trying real hard to present a cool front and composure in the way he handles his critics and that he is not uptight with them.
But by talking rather often about his critics and their criticisms in a worship service, Prince is actually giving himself away. His much talk about those who criticise him only proves that he is affected by their criticisms even though he tries very hard to hide and deny them. His cool exterior, which he works very hard to present, belies the fact that he is actually upset on the inside.
Actually, the more Prince talks about his critics (“out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh”) the more it indicates that he is indeed affected by their criticisms.
Perhaps, the best way for Joseph Prince to convince people that he isn’t upset with his critics is really to stop talking about them altogether. That to me is the coolest way of responding to critics. Let’s see if my suggestion works on him this coming Sunday.
Joseph Prince has his critics but do I also have my critics? You bet! In fact, they are more aggressive and even ‘violent’ than the critics of Joseph Prince. You won’t believe what these people write against me.
You would be astounded to know that these same critics who wrote fiercely against me by the use of uncouth language and biting sarcasm, are influenced by the so-called grace teachings of Joseph Prince. So much for the fruits of Prince’s grace teachings.
Instead of being graceful (which they ought to have learnt from the grace teachings of the super-grace teacher, Joseph Prince), they are rather graceless and even ‘merciless’ in their attacks against me.
Where do you think they learn it from? – Joseph Prince, their ‘Sifu’ (Chinese word for Master-Teacher). Joseph Prince had himself hit his critics who preached against his Prosperity Gospel in a veiled sarcastic way and made fun and fools of them in front of his congregation on the Holy Pulpit. Please view this previous article if you have missed it by clicking below:
https://www.revgeorgeong.com/rev-george-ong-joseph-prince-is-unrepentantly-preaching-his-prosperity-gospel-doctrine-again/
This is not the first time that Joseph Prince has done it; he has done it many times in his previous sermons. No wonder many of Prince’s adorers and supporters have followed Prince’s sarcastic example when they encounter critics of their own.
But is there a place for fierce criticism in the Bible?
Of course – against heretics!
If you do a study of how Father God in the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul in the New dealt harshly with the heretical false teachers of their day – you would certainly be convinced that what those critics write against Joseph Prince, the modern-day heretic, is just a pale of the shadows.
Now, the article proper…
(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 weekly Sunday sermon aired on YouTube on 8 May 2022, last Sunday, 5 days ago, Joseph Prince said the following;
Please click here to view excerpts in the 20-second video,
“Watch what you say. The devil is after your words. He wants you to use your words against yourself. Oh, die lah, die lah, die lah. No one say, live lah, live lah, live lah. Die lah, die lah. I’m dying for this. I’m dying for that. He has programmed death into your language. Old, lao liao, lao liao. Old, old, I’m getting old. He has programmed that. He knows that he has no power. The power of life and death is in your tongue.”
The theology behind what Joseph Prince said is based on Proverbs 18:21 which he often alludes to in his other sermons and writings:
Proverbs 18:21 NKJV
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
This form of theology called Positive-Confession, which is popular among Prosperity Gospel preachers, is one of Prince’s common teachings in many of his sermons.
1. Right & Wrong Interpretation of Proverbs 18:21: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…”
Joseph Prince frequently teaches that we shouldn’t use words such as ‘death’ or ‘sickness’ or ‘aging’ (lao liao) because we have the power to speak them into existence. We have the power to shape our reality through the use of our tongues or words.
For example, if you have a headache and you keep saying it, you are giving the headache the power to exist and cause you pain. But if you turn around and say that your headache is gone because you are healed (even though you aren’t and still have the headache) then the headache must leave your body (but the headache is still there) because your words have the power to change reality.
Similarly, if a believer keeps mentioning the word ‘death’ in his conversations, he may soon encounter it one day because, according to Joseph Prince, there is power over life and death in our tongue or words. The main idea is that our spoken words can affect reality and change our situation for better or worse.
If you speak positive words and confess positively that you are young, then there will be positive results – that you can really become young or look young at least. That’s why this is called the ‘Positive-Confession’ doctrine.
Conversely, if you speak negative words such as ‘death’ or ‘aging’ (lao liao), then you will encounter negative results – you will actually become old, and perhaps, looking half-dead.
As I have said, the text behind Prince’s Positive-Confession Theology is based on Proverbs 18:21. But the meaning of Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” has little to do with the said doctrine.
What Proverbs 18:21 really teaches is that what you say with your tongue or mouth, can be used for good or evil, and that the lives of people can be significantly and vastly affected by your words.
For example, if you slander a man with untruths and lie about him in court, and if the court accepts your testimony, he could be sentenced to death.
But if you act with integrity and use your tongue in a positive way to tell the truth about his uprightness, blamelessness and innocence, he may be acquitted from a murder charge and live.
That’s what “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” (Prov 18:21a) means.
“And those who love it will eat his fruit,” (Prov 18:21b) – “Those” are referring to slanderers, who love to talk and speak with dishonesty. They will eat the fruit of their words in that many will soon come to know that they are liars and maligners. As a result, not a single soul will trust them anymore because their lying tongue only shows them to be evil and malicious.
In fact, not only would they have to ‘eat his fruit’ and pay for their lies on this side of heaven, they would also have to “eat his fruit” (Prov 18:21b) and even pay for their slanderous and lying words in eternity.
This is because Jesus Himself had affirmed that “on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:36-37).
By what teachers say to their students, whether they be words that build up or tear down, will either bring ‘life’ – when students are encouraged to study harder or ‘death’ – when they are condemned to a life of failure.
By what parents say to their children, whether they be words of condemnation or encouragement will either bring ‘life’ to their healthy growth and development or ‘death’ because they are paralysed into dejection by their parents’ harsh words and criticisms.
In other words, a child could be destined for life by a fitting word of encouragement from a teacher or be scarred for life by the harsh words of a parent.
This shows that the tongue has the power to be used for the good of injecting life and vitality into others or the evil of destroying them psychologically and spiritually.
So Proverbs 18:21 has nothing to do with the spoken word or the power of the tongue to control and change your own reality. Joseph Prince and the Prosperity Gospel preachers have presumptuously and sinfully read meanings into Proverbs 18:21 where none of such meanings exists.
This verse does not mean that our words have the power to change reality – that when you start to declare positively that you are young, you will become young. Or, when you begin to speak negatively that you are old, you will become old.
But the meaning of Proverbs 18:21 is that your words can affect people positively or negatively.
Hence, we must pay heed to what James teaches (Jas 3:1-13) – that our tongues can bring about the destruction of others’ lives. Therefore, we must use it wisely to build others up (life) and not wickedly to tear them down (death).
2. A Form of Superstition Promoted by Joseph Prince
Any sensible believer would understand that we should not be overly focussed on the negative, such as sickness or death, especially when we use it to deprecate ourselves or spite others.
But for Joseph Prince to teach that we cannot mention all negative happenings or use negative words such as ‘death’ or ‘sickness’ or ‘aging’ (lao liao) as we may bring them upon ourselves because there is power in our words or tongue is going too far.
I remember when I was Primary 3 back in 1967, my mother used to tell me that some people are ‘Pantang’. This is a hokkien word for superstition – meaning things not to do or say. She related to me that some people are so ‘Pantang’ or superstitious to the extent that they would avoid mentioning negative words for fear that what they say may happen to them.
Horribly, this is what Joseph Prince is teaching. He is actually promoting some sort of superstitious behaviour and ‘law’ about what a believer can and cannot say. By the way, Joseph Prince may wish to enlighten us – is that law teaching or grace teaching?
Isaiah 2:6 NIV:
You, Lord, have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and embrace pagan customs.
While a believer shouldn’t be excessively negative and pessimistic because he lacks trust and faith in God, promoting a form of superstition and prescribing what one can and cannot say by Joseph Prince is a different matter.
While a cautious and realistic outlook could be wrongly perceived as negativism and a lack of positive faith in God, a super optimistic faith such as that of Joseph Prince, could be nothing more than mere presumption and over triumphalism.
All of us are well aware that Job was an excellent example of how a believer ought to handle suffering and even death. Even though Job was going through terrifying adversities, Job himself had gloriously trusted God:
“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him” (Job 13:15 NKJV).
“God may kill me, but still I will trust him and offer my defense” (Job 13:15 CEV).
Job had trusted God even though all ten of his children were killed. But he was prepared to trust God totally even if he himself was killed by God (Job 13:15).
Joseph Prince, being a firm believer of the Positive-Confession in the Prosperity Gospel, would violently disagree with Job. He would lambast Job for being utterly negative in his thinking as Job’s utterance of death in Job 13:15, (according to Prince’s Positive-Confession Theology) may well translate into reality.
Joseph Prince, being a Positive-Confession advocate, believes that any Christian who makes a negative utterance of some sort could well bring that about. But this is nothing but superstition and has nothing to do with the teachings of scriptures.
To Joseph Prince, there is power in our words. That is why Joseph Prince disallows anything negative. Confession from our mouths must always be positive. This would cause God to bless us with all the positive blessings such as health, wealth, success, etc.
On the other hand, Joseph Prince would rebuke anyone who says anything negative such as, “My stomach ache is killing me,” or “I’m getting old” (lao liao). To him, because there is power in our tongues or words, such negative talk of sickness, death and aging can be actualised in one’s life – that one can really get sick, die and become old.
But is that what the Bible teaches?
The Bible has nothing to do with such superstitious teachings as propounded by Joseph Prince and never teaches that human words can have the magical powers to bring things into reality. Only the divine and miraculous words of Father God and the Lord Jesus could. Even if man could, it is the Holy Spirit in him (not man) through his prayer (that is prayed according to God’s will and not man’s carnal desires) who causes it.
3. Is Paul a Positive-Confession Preacher like Joseph Prince?
Going by Joseph Prince’s ‘only-positive-and-no-negative-words-from-our-mouth’ teaching, many ‘negative’ verses in the scriptures, spoken and written by the Apostle Paul, such as the following would have to be thrown out the window (and these are only samples):
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21 NIV).
“I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Phil 3:10 NIV).
As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered” (Rom 8:36 NIV).
“I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race” (Rom 9:2-3 NIV).
“… We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death…” (2 Cor 1:8b-9a NIV).
“For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us…” (2 Cor 4:11-12a NIV).
“I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again…” (2 Cor 11:23b NIV).
“To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless” (1 Cor 4:11 NIV).
Let’s examine 3 more ‘negative’ passages by the Apostle Paul.
Joseph Prince should reprimand Paul for his negative talk (2 Cor 4:16):
2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
“Come on, Paul, you ought to be more positive than that. According to my Prosperity Gospel doctrine and Positive-Confession Faith, we ought to have very healthy and youthful bodies. So, what happens to your body, Paul? Why are you making negative statements, such as we are wasting away outwardly? Don’t you know that according to my Positive-Confession doctrine, by speaking the negative, would invoke such negative reality in your life?”
To be consistent with his Positive-Confession teaching, Joseph Prince ought to rebuke Paul (Phil 2:25-27a):
Philippians 2:25-27a NIV
“But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died…”
“Paul, you should never mention that a fellow worker of yours was so ill that he nearly died. That is speaking negatively. Don’t you know you can speak something negative – and even death into fruition, regarding Epaphroditus?”
Again, Joseph Prince should give Paul a dressing down for speaking negatively (2 Tim 4:20):
2 Timothy 4:20 NIV
“Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus.”
“Paul, this is really unbecoming of you to leave your ministry associate sick when you left him. Don’t you believe in praying for the sick? Haven’t you forgotten that just as Christ had perfect health, so do we? My grace theology says that because of the finished work of Christ, our prayers will always result in getting the sick healed. I didn’t know that you could be so negative and pessimistic in your faith to believe that Trophimus could be healed and that’s why you left him sick in Miletus. Paul, what has gone wrong with the Positive-Confession doctrine that you taught me – that we must always be positive and speak positively and never negative in our thoughts and words.”
Let me throw one more in by the Lord Jesus.
To be true to his Positive-Confession Theology, Prince would have to say to Jesus (Matt 26:38):
Matthew 26:38 NIV
38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
“Jesus, you shouldn’t have mentioned the word, ‘death’. If you didn’t, you could have escaped death by going to the cross.”
With the above passages, can you now see that by the Positive-Confession doctrinal beliefs of Joseph Prince, Jesus and Paul, who made ‘negative confessions’ in the above passages, would become false teachers.
Such false Positive-Confession teachings of Joseph Prince have not only deceived believers, but they have also served to shame and dishonour the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul.
Going by what Joseph Prince teaches that we must always be positive and never negative in our daily speaking, Bible teaching and gospel preaching, a big chunk of the Bible would have to be ‘deleted’.
Just do a study of how many ‘negative’ statements (besides the many positive ones, such as Philippians 4:8) are mentioned in the Bible – and you would be convinced that Prince’s Positive-Confession Theology is sheer rubbish!
4. Is Jesus a Positive-Confession Preacher like Joseph Prince?
We love the word, ‘blessed’, especially for Joseph Prince, because it is positive. How we love every statement that begins with the word, ‘blessed’. We love to hear those sweet and empowering words: ‘bless, blessings, blessed’.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with that as Jesus Himself believes in blessing people. In Luke 6:20-22, Jesus repeated the word, ‘blessed’ four times.
But is Jesus a Positive-Confession preacher like Joseph Prince?
Not at all.
This is because Christ is prepared to be ‘negative’ if that’s what the people need.
For the same number of times, Jesus says ‘blessed’ (Lk 6:20-22); He also says ‘woe’ (Lk 6:24-26). And ‘woe’ is the opposite of ‘blessed’.
We have heard many sermons about “Blessed are you…” But when was the last time we heard a sermon on “Woe to you…”
Preachers would have no problem preaching the ‘blessed’ sermons. But most would never preach the ‘woe’ sermons because they are afraid of offending men. They would rather offend God by disobeying Him to preach such sermons, rather than offend men. They would rather please men rather than God.
Is Jesus a Positive-Confession speaker when He warned twice within three short verses in a ‘negative’ and severe way, “Unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Lk 13:3,5)?
Is Jesus a Positive-Confession pastor when He rebuked and commanded five of the seven churches in Revelation to repent or face His severe judgement (Rev 2-3)?
Jesus not only positively commended most of these 5 churches, but He also negatively reprimanded them, and severely, in some cases. In fact, Jesus unambiguously warns five of these seven churches to repent of their sins, failing which, there would be repercussions.
This goes to show Jesus was not only dealing with them, positively by His compliments. If Jesus has to be ‘negative’ in rebuking and disciplining them, He was prepared to and He did.
Is Jesus a Positive-Confession preacher when He talked more about hell than heaven in the gospels?
Have you realised Joseph Prince never/hardly talks about hell in his gospel preaching? This is strange – if he claims to be Christ-centred, why isn’t he emulating Jesus in preaching more about hell than heaven?
Joseph Prince would put it as
– you need to experience the power of positive thinking
– the power of positive-faith-confession
– the power of confessing positive things from your mouth because what you positively confess is what you would get.
Prince would go on to say – don’t say anything negative from your mouth because you could also bring about the negative confessions in your life.
But that’s not how Jesus taught.
Jesus teaches that we must not only teach what is positively true, but we must also tell people the ‘negative’ lessons they need to hear. We must not only positively affirm people when they do right, but we must also have the courage to ‘negatively’ rebuke them when they do wrong.
Joseph Prince’s Jesus says that we must not be negative in our speaking and preaching. But the Bible Jesus says that He has been more than negative in His preaching; He has even pronounced the destiny of hell on the unrepentant Pharisees (Matt 23:13,15,33).
Who were the Pharisees? They were the false teachers, the heretics of their day as they teach their own doctrine and traditions rather than God’s law and His word.
Going by Joseph Prince’s teaching that we shouldn’t speak negatively, especially about sin, Jesus must have been the most negative man to emphasise heavily on sin, when he warns five of the seven churches to repent, and threatens divine judgement if they don’t. (Rev 2-3)
By teaching believers to only confess the positive – our righteousness, instead of also confessing the ‘negative’ – our sins, Joseph Prince has revealed his true colours as a Positive-Confession preacher rather than a Biblically-Grounded teacher.
How does Joseph Prince’s teaching – that we must always speak ‘the positive, never the negative’, square with the fact that Christ ended His last words in the entire Bible with a ‘negative’ warning?
5. Jesus ended Revelation & the Bible with a ‘Negative’ Warning to Believers (Rev 22:18-19)
Joseph Prince has always been teaching that God the Father and Christ Jesus always speak positively about their people; He always affirms and speaks well of them. Yet again, Joseph Prince is using a half-truth to deceive the people.
Yes, we, as the people of God, are certainly aware that we are precious in God’s sight. He has done so much for us and will do abundantly more for our sake because we are His children. But that doesn’t mean that Father God and Christ Jesus will not reprimand or warn us if there are reasons for them to do so.
Revelation 22:18-19 gives the other half of the truth that Christ has not only come to reprimand His people gently, but He came to solemnly and ‘negatively’ warn them that He, under certain circumstances, can remove their eternal inheritance:
Revelation 22:18-19 NIV
18 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.”
Many believers wish that the Bible could end only on a positive note. How nice would it be if the Bible story ends with just, “And they shall live happily ever after.”
Do you know how the last few verses of the last chapter in the last Book of Revelation and the whole Bible ended?
To the rude shock of many, the last Book of Revelation and the entire Bible did not just end on a positive note but also with a sombre and ‘negative’ warning by the Son of God Himself about the conditional security and the possible removal of our eternal inheritance (Rev 22:18-19).
It ended so to speak ‘negatively’ with a very serious and sober warning that if we don’t take it to heart, we will be disqualified from the eternal presence of God. The warning is that if we play around with the word of God, our eternal inheritance is at stake (Rev 22:18-19).
It didn’t end with the positive message of unconditional security – that our salvation is eternally safe and secured no matter what.
If what Joseph Prince teaches about the unconditional eternal security theology is such a core doctrine of our faith – that we are once saved always saved, Jesus would have taken the opportunity to climax it at the end of the last book and the whole Bible with it.
But He didn’t. He did the opposite.
He ended with the ‘negative’ message of conditional security – that if you are not careful and if you commit certain things that you ought not to, you can lose your eternal security and your eternal salvation – that
“God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City” (Rev 22:19).
And who was it that gave the final parting shot of the ‘negative’ message of conditional security – JESUS!
Why?
Because He wanted to teach us something crucial and core to our faith – that while our salvation is secured, we can lose it if we trifle with it.
And the crucial message of the conditional security of our salvation was taught by Jesus to the churches at the beginning of Revelation in Revelation 2:5,7,10-11,16-17; 3:3,5,16,21, and at the end in Revelation 22:18-19, He climaxed with it.
This is because the aim of the whole Book of Revelation was to help Christians to endure and remain faithful to Jesus in the midst of tribulations, and if necessary, to be ready for the glorious acts of martyrdom (Rev 13:10; 14:12). And if Christians don’t remain faithful and disown Christ, they will stand to lose their glorious and eternal inheritance in Christ (Rev 14:9-12).
We further learned from Revelation 2:7 that Jesus promises those already saved, if they overcome, they will have the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God:
Revelation 2:7 NASB
7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.”
But if this same person (the overcomer) commits certain sins, he can later have this negated, according to Revelation 22:18-19:
Revelation 22:19 NIV
19 “And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.”
So Jesus Himself never taught the false doctrine that we are unconditionally eternally secured and that our salvation can never be removed from us.
Yet, what is unacceptable and horrendous is that Joseph Prince is teaching the exact opposite of what Jesus taught and warned us about – that our salvation is safe and secured, no matter what, because we can never lose it.
Jesus was consistent in his teachings and dealings with the church. At the beginning of Revelation, Jesus ‘negatively’ warned the church to repent. If you don’t, He will do this and He will do that. And at the end of Revelation in Revelation 22:18-19, He issued the same ‘negative’ warning. If you do certain things, you can lose your eternal inheritance.
Joseph Prince to George:
“George, it’s you and your doctrine about losing salvation again. You are trying to scare the people, put fear in them so you can control them.
Mind you; Joseph Prince actually said those similar words to those who teach against him that believers can lose their salvation.
George to Joseph Prince:
Joseph Prince, if you don’t agree with my message of conditional security, please don’t quarrel with me. You have to take this up with Jesus because He was the one who taught it. And by the way, I worry for you as you even have the guts to say the same about Jesus – that He is putting fear into people to control them by His teaching of Unconditional Security.”
As their defence, the unconditional eternal security camp tried to posture the view that Revelation 22:18-19 was not written to believers but as a warning to unbelievers not to alter the Book of Revelation. They had to assert the above view as a defence that believers can never lose their salvation.
If they accept that Revelation 22:18-19 refers to believers, this means they can lose their share in the tree of life and in the Holy City which clearly refers to eternal inheritance – and their doctrine would be debunked.
However, this warning in Revelation 22:18-19 can only apply to the saved, for only a saved person can have taken away from him his share in the tree of life and the holy city, New Jerusalem.
This warning is not for the unsaved:
Revelation 22:18-19 NIV
18 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.”
How can something which the unsaved haven’t even possessed (the share in the tree of life and the holy city) be taken away from them in the first place?
Before God can take away his share in the tree of life, he must first have a share in it in the first place. But non-believers don’t have any share in the tree of life in the first place. So how could something be taken away from them if they don’t own it in the first place?
This is logic 101.
Yet, some people such as Joseph Prince would choose to be illogical in order to protect his false grace theology.
Will the unsaved take the trouble to read the Book of Revelation?
Why should they?
Even if they do, they won’t understand much of what they read. Even some Christians don’t take the trouble to read Revelation. If Christians don’t read, you expect non-believers to read it? Even many Christians don’t understand much of Revelation, and you expect non-Christians to understand it, and especially the warnings in Revelation 22:18-19?
Will the unsaved be interested in having a share in the tree of life or living in the holy city?
They, in their sins, and carnal self would rather enjoy the high life and sinful lifestyle, and things like ‘living in a holy city’ would immediately put them off.
Another core reason why it could not have been written to unbelievers is that Revelation was directly written by the Apostle John to believers (and not unbelievers) in the seven churches in Asia (Rev 1:11) (and us of course):
Revelation 1:11 NIV
11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
The last piece of evidence why Revelation 22:18-19 was written to believers is that at the end of the Book of Revelation in Revelation 22:18, Jesus exhorts the listeners who are believers to hear….
“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this Book….”
This was what Jesus did at the beginning of the Book (Rev 2:7,11,17,29; Rev 3:6,13,22) when He exhorted seven times:
“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches….”
In other words, the Spirit is speaking through the Book of Revelation to unbelievers?
No! – “to the churches….” – to believers!
Hence, the whole Book of Revelation, including Revelation 22:18-19, in particular, was written to and for believers and not unbelievers.
Some persistent unconditional eternal security defenders would say that it is not to believers but to rebels that God addresses the terrible warning of Revelation 22:18-19.
Even though Revelation was written for rebels, the fact that Christians can be rebels simply means they have apostatised from true faith, which contradicts their doctrine that Christians will never apostasise because they are once saved always saved.
If once saved always saved doctrine was true, such a warning to real Christians in Revelation 22:18-19 could never be issued, since it would be an impossibility for them to lose their share in the holy city.
How does Joseph Prince’s teaching – that we must always speak ‘the positive, never the negative’, square with the fact that Christ ended his last words in the entire Bible with a ‘negative’ and sombre warning? – That if we play around with the word of God, our eternal inheritance is at stake?” (Rev 22:18-19)
Finally, let me leave you with 2 of my original quotes:
“The Positive-Confession theological anthem of Joseph Prince seems to be – anything negative, even though it is biblical, is wrong – and anything positive, even though it is unbiblical, is right.” (George Ong)
“The ‘always-positive-and-no-negative’ Positive-Confession Theology preached by Joseph Prince is psychologically uplifting but spiritually destructive.” (George Ong)
Besides my article, you are advised to read “The Believer And Positive Confession” by clicking below:
https://ag.org/Beliefs/Position-Papers/The-Believer-and-Positive-Confession
Rev George Ong