Does Paul Not Teach on Confessing Sins as Joseph Prince Claims? – By Rev George Ong (Dated 16 Nov 2021)
(Though this important article is pretty lengthy, I can assure you it’s worth your read. Don’t miss the end part of this article.)
(This article was also sent to Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian, General Secretary, NCCS office, and for the attention of the Executive Committee Members.)
(Prelude: Joseph Prince claims Paul didn’t instruct the Corinthians to confess their sins to get right with God after he discovered they were visiting prostitutes but instead, he assured them that their identity in Christ and the security of their salvation can never be shaken. Can you believe this?)
As most of you are aware, Joseph Prince teaches the false doctrine that 1 John 1:9 was written by Apostle John not to believers but unbelievers. Hence, there is no place for believers to confess their sins when they sin, since, according to Prince, all their past, present and future sins have been forgiven at the cross. Besides Apostle John, Joseph Prince also ropes in Apostle Paul to support his stand.
In a weekly sermon aired on 10 November 2021 on YouTube last Wednesday (this particular sermon was first preached on 14 June 2015. Note that besides Joseph Prince’s Sunday sermons, he also uploads his previous sermons during mid-week on every Wednesday), Joseph Prince said the following; please click to view excerpts in the 40-second video:
“Paul wrote three-fourths of the New Testament, and never once, even to those who are living carnal in Corinthian, never once in his spirit-inspired letters did he ever say, “Confess your sins.” So obviously, we are reading something in the Old Testament and bring it here. So why did John say it? Why did John say it? “If we confess our sins… (1 Jn 1:19)”
“Pray, tell me how come Paul did not write, in all his, Paul wrote three-fourths of the New Testament. And never once, never once, never once did Paul ever tell someone, even in sin, to confess. And he had many opportunities with the church in Corinth.”
In ‘Unmerited Favor’, Pages 186-188, Joseph Prince wrote,
“Before I go into the context of 1 John 1:9, let me establish first that you cannot build a doctrine based on one verse in the Bible. The teaching needs to be confirmed and established by various verses in the Bible before it can be sound. Now, have you ever wondered why Paul, the apostle of God’s unmerited favor, the man who wrote over two-thirds of the new covenant epistles, did not make the slightest mention of “confession of sins” to all the churches he wrote to? Don’t take my word for it. Review all the letters that Paul wrote: Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, Philemon and Hebrews (the author of the Book of Hebrews is not clear, but many prominent Bible scholars believe that Paul was the author, as do I). Paul wrote extensively to all these churches, and yet there was not one mention of the confession of sins in all his Spirit-inspired letters. Why was this so? Paul had the perfect opportunity to teach the Corinthians to confess their sins of fornication when he wrote to them as they had clearly sinned. But what did Paul do instead? He said, “…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you…?” (1 Cor 6:19) He did not say, “Do you not know that your body was the temple of the Holy Spirit? Now, go confess your sins and restore your fellowship with God and perhaps He will put His Spirit back in you.” There was not even one mention that they had to confess their sins. Instead, Paul reminded them of their identity in Christ, and even in their failures he maintained that their body is (present tense) still the temple of the Holy Spirit. Paul apparently believed that to remind believers to be conscious of who they are and what they have in Christ continually is the key to victory over their sins. If confession of sins is so vital for the Church, how could Paul have left it out in every one of his letters to the churches? If our forgiveness of sins is indeed contingent on our confession of sins, hasn’t he done us a great injustice by not including this teaching in any of his letters?”
Joseph Prince, in his video aired on 10 November 2021 on YouTube last Wednesday and book, ‘Unmerited Favor’, Pages 186-188, stated that Paul never taught anywhere in his epistles that we are to confess our sins.
Joseph Prince has struck with his argument from silence again. If one isn’t alert, one could easily be deceived as this argument from silence could be craftily used to prove anything or disprove anything. It is a deceptive argument that could con the naive, convince the uninitiated and even confuse the experienced. That is why Joseph Prince loves to use this argument from silence because of its deceptive nature.
Joseph Prince thought that his argument from silence is so watertight that it will drive his theological opponents to despair. Prince shouldn’t celebrate too early and as I’m going to show how foolish his argument is.
What about me saying to Prince that Paul never mentioned the word, ‘hell’ a single time in all of his writings? Am I making a true statement? Certainly! But does that mean that to Paul, hell isn’t real and doesn’t exist at all? Surely not, because Jesus in the gospels frequently mentioned hell and He described it in gory details.
Are you aware that Paul never mentioned the word, ‘disciple’ even once in all his epistles? Does that mean that discipleship has died out in the epistles which Joseph Prince was hoping for? Of course not! Does it mean that Paul didn’t believe in discipleship because he didn’t mention even once in his letters? No way! If there was anyone who was a disciple par excellence, who went through untold sufferings and severe persecutions for the sake of his master, the Lord Jesus, it was Paul. Though the word ‘disciple’ or ‘discipleship’ is not even mentioned once in the Pauline epistles, the dynamics and the reality of it pulsates not only throughout Paul’s epistles but also in the entire New Testament scriptures. In the same way, just because confessing sins isn’t overtly stated in the epistles of Paul, it doesn’t mean it isn’t practised in the Apostolic Church.
Perhaps, we should ask Joseph Prince, can he name us somewhere in the Bible where Paul mentioned that God could make the donkey talk? Since Prince isn’t going to find it anywhere that Paul ever mentions that God could make the donkey talk, does that mean that there was never a time in which the donkey talked in the scriptures? Certainly not, because even though Paul didn’t mention it, the donkey-talking incident was recorded in other parts of scriptures in Numbers 22:28-30 and 2 Peter 2:15-16.
This argument from silence, if consistently applied, leads to an incredibly absurd conclusion. This is so in the example of the Book of Esther. Because God is not mentioned a single time in Esther, does anyone have the audacity to say that God is not there?
The word ‘Trinity’ does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Yet, the doctrine of Trinity is one of the most foundational doctrines in Christianity. Just because you cannot find the word ‘Trinity’ in the Bible does not mean that the truth and reality of the Trinity is not present throughout the Book.
So just because Paul never taught we must confess our sins in his epistles (let’s just assume this to be the case), doesn’t mean that it isn’t taught anywhere else in the Bible. Are we to believe what Paul said or what the Bible said? Though Paul didn’t explicitly say it, the other parts of the Bible did. Paul wrote a part of the Bible, though a major part. But we should never believe and build a doctrine on just a part, even though it is a major part of the Bible. You must look at the Bible in its entirety. So we believe in the confession of sin because the Bible said so. Where in the Bible? 1 John 1:9!
Although Paul didn’t explicitly say it, John did. Yet, Joseph Prince would try and destroy this piece of evidence, and thankfully he didn’t succeed. In fact, I have already shown how silly most of Prince’s arguments are at destroying 1 John 1:9 on my website.
Joseph Prince said,
“Before I go into the context of 1 John 1:9, let me establish first that you cannot build a doctrine based on one verse in the Bible. The teaching needs to be confirmed and established by various verses in the Bible before it can be sound.”
Joseph Prince said the Bible mentioned that we should confess our sins only once and that we should not allow a single verse in 1 John 1:9 to determine our doctrine. I don’t care how many times a particular doctrine is mentioned. If God mentions it just one time, and if it is crystal clear to me, I would have to take it as true. If the Bible says it one time about the confession of sin in 1 John 1:9, you and I had better believe it. What about the incident of David killing Goliath? Was it mentioned only once? Yes, it is in 1 Samuel 17. But does that mean you have to disbelieve it and throw it away?
By the way, I need to tell you that Joseph Prince was lying when he said confession of sins is only mentioned once in 1 John 1:9. Joseph Prince conveniently wants us to forget that the Old Testament is also part of God’s word as much as the New. I want to bring to his and your attention that there are two more verses in the Old Testament that talk about the confession of sins:
Proverbs 28:13 NIV
13 “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
Psalm 32:5 NIV
5 “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
Joseph Prince has kept the other half of the truth from us that besides 1 John 1:9, there are two other Old Testament verses that address the same issue. Don’t you believe Joseph Prince who postures that Old Testament scriptures are not binding on us. This is because Paul himself said:
2 Timothy 3:16 NASB
16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
Romans 15:4 GNT
4 “Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement which the Scriptures give us.”
When Paul wrote, “All Scripture” in 2 Timothy 3:16 and “Everything written in the Scriptures” in Romans 15:4, he is referring to the Old Testament scriptures. When Paul wrote 2 Timothy 3:16 and Romans 15:4, he could not have been referring to the New Testament as it was not even written and compiled yet at the point of Paul’s writing. All the New Testament scriptures were written and compiled many years after the ascension of Christ; with the last Book of Revelation written in about AD 90.
So what Paul was referring to when he said, “All Scripture?” in 2 Timothy 3:16 is inspired by God for teaching, etc – he was referring to the Old Testament scriptures. This will shut the mouths of Joseph Prince and his Pseudo-grace boys from ever uttering their ignorant and deceptive line again, “Oh, that is Old Testament stuff, but we are New Covenant people.”
In fact, everything in the Old Testament that is not abrogated or superceded by the New, is authoritative as a rule of faith and applies as much as the New Testament to New Covenant believers.
So, besides 1 John 1:9, there are at least two other relevant verses in the Old Testament that have not been superceded by the New that address the confession of sins issue: Proverbs 28:13 and Psalm 32:5. This proves that Joseph Prince had told a lie when he said that there is only one text in 1 John 1:9 that teaches on the issue of confession of sins.
Does this not prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that confession of sins is a doctrine that is clearly taught and supported by clear passages in the scriptures? Even if Joseph Prince succeeds in knocking down 1 John 1:9, he still has two more verses to contend with: Proverbs 28:13 and Psalm 32:5. So are you now convinced that Joseph Prince is a false teacher, who blatantly goes against the doctrine of the confession of sins that the word of God clearly teaches?
In ‘Unmerited Favor’, Page 187, Joseph Prince wrote,
“Paul wrote extensively to all these churches, and yet there was not one mention of the confession of sins in all his Spirit-inspired letters.”
From hereon, let me now explain that from biblical evidence, it is more logical and biblical to argue that Paul did teach on the confession of sins even though it wasn’t mentioned in the Pauline epistles, rather than the view of Joseph Prince that Paul didn’t teach it just because it wasn’t mentioned.
But before I do that, let me unveil Joseph Prince’s half-truth deception that he liberally employs by way of an illustration that I had thought out.
Let’s assume Tom is a friend of Joseph Prince and Prince knows him very well. Tom was looking for a job and Prince recommended him to Pete, who was looking for an employee. Joseph Prince knew that though Tom had never assaulted anyone physically, he had killed a few people in cold-blooded murder with his gun due to his uncontrolled temper.
Because Joseph Prince wanted to help Tom get the job, Prince recommended him to Pete. In his recommendation, Prince told Pete that Tom had never physically assaulted anyone. Is it true? Yes! But at the same time, Joseph Prince had hidden from Pete the more crucial half of the truth that Tom was a dangerous fellow because he had killed a few people with his gun. And based on the good recommendation of Prince, Pete employed Tom. But by not telling Pete the other more crucial half of the truth about Tom, Joseph Prince is putting the life of Pete in danger.
Similarly, Joseph Prince is endangering the Church by deceptively telling her just one half of the truth as he did to Pete in the illustration, when he said that the Apostle Paul never taught or said we must confess our sins. But what Prince never tells the Church is the other more crucial half of the truth as he did to Pete in the illustration – that the Apostle Paul treated sins very seriously and he even taught that if believers don’t deal with certain sins, such as sexual and adulterous sins in their lives, they will never inherit the Kingdom of God in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21 and Ephesians 5:5-6:
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 nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Galatians 5:19-21 NIV
19 “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Ephesians 5:5-6 NIV
5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person – such a person is an idolater – has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.”
By telling the Church just one half of the truth, and not telling her the other more crucial half, Joseph Prince has deceived the Church as to the real attitude of Paul towards sin, especially sexual sins, as he had deceived Pete about the real Tom in the illustration.
And Prince is putting the spiritual lives of believers in terrible danger by not telling them the whole truth, like what he did to Pete’s physical life when he didn’t tell Pete the whole truth about the murderous Tom in the illustration.
Since Joseph Prince only tells the Church that Paul never taught we are to confess our sins, but he never tells them that Paul also taught that certain sins, such as sexual sins, would disqualify believers from entering the Kingdom of God, he has given them a false view of Paul and the scriptures towards sin.
Prince has given them the false view that both Paul and the scriptures take sin lightly, that sin does not need to be confessed at all, and any sin – including the sin of patronising prostitutes – can just be ‘settled’ by assuring them about their position of righteousness in Christ. Hence, believers are likely to be careless and flippant about how they treat sins in their lives – and that may eventually lead them to hell. That’s the deadly deception of Joseph Prince that many have fallen into.
Is Paul teaching those sins which could disqualify believers from entering heaven in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Ephesians 5:5-6 and Galatians 5:19-21, without giving them a chance to confess and repent? Of course not! Every sin, even the most heinous can be repented of and be forgiven by God. That is the true grace of God.
Paul is effectively warning them in the 3 passages to turn back to God by confessing and repenting of their sins to obtain God’s forgiveness in order not to be disqualified from heaven. In other words, confession of sins was presupposed to be necessary to Paul, even though it was not explicitly mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Ephesians 5:5-6 and Galatians 5:19-21. We can also presuppose that Paul taught on the confession of sins, even though it wasn’t recorded in his letters.
Is this a reasonable assumption? Why not?
You remember – although the word ‘disciple’ is not mentioned in any of the Pauline epistles, discipleship was pulsating in the New Testament churches. So in the same way, although Paul’s presumed teachings on the confession of sins were not recorded in his epistles, it is reasonable to assume that he taught them because in many of the Pauline passages, he views sin seriously, (particularly in 1 Cor 6:9-10, Eph 5:5-6 & Gal 5:19-21) and he certainly doesn’t want believers to be unable to inherit God’s kingdom because of unconfessed and unrepentant sins.
Furthermore, although Paul didn’t explicitly mention about the confession of sins, he did talk and taught explicitly about repentance in his epistles in Romans 2:4, 2 Corinthians 7:8-10 and 2 Timothy 2:25-26 (and also passages in Acts that are not listed in this article):
Romans 2:4 NIV
4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
2 Corinthians 7:8-10 NIV
8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it – I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while – 9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
2 Timothy 2:25-26 NIV
25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
Whenever there is repentance, there must also be the confession of sins, and the two are closely related. How can one truly repent without confessing his sins to God? Hence, just as repentance was taught by Paul in his epistles, one could reasonably and safely assume that confession of sins must also have been taught by him.
But even if Paul did not teach on the confession of sins at all, nothing is lost, as 1 John 1:9, Proverbs 28:13 and Psalm 32:5, are three explicit verses that clearly teach that we need to confess our sins in order to be forgiven by God.
In ‘Unmerited Favor’, Page 187, Joseph Prince wrote,
“Paul had the perfect opportunity to teach the Corinthians to confess their sins of fornication when he wrote to them as they had clearly sinned. But what did Paul do instead? He said, “…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you…?” (1 Cor 6:19) He did not say, “Do you not know that your body was the temple of the Holy Spirit? Now, go confess your sins and restore your fellowship with God and perhaps He will put His Spirit back in you.” There was not even one mention that they had to confess their sins.”
Is Joseph Prince’s portrayal of Paul, who would not even raise a whimper even though the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 were sinning by fornicating with prostitutes, true? The truth is, Paul, had reprimanded them for not dealing with sexual sin, just a chapter earlier in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 (1 Cor 5:1-5):
1 Corinthians 5:1-5 NIV
1 “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? 3 For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. 4 So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5 hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.”
Paul lambasted the Corinthians that they should be mourning over the sexual sin of this particular Corinthian (1 Cor 5:2; Matt 5:4). The fact that Paul told them to mourn over this particular sexual sin showed that Paul took a serious view of such sins in the community. Paul even demanded that this guilty man should have been put out of their fellowship as he could not tolerate such sexual sins.
This is entirely at odds with what Joseph Prince had tried to paint Paul – that he didn’t even bother to raise the issue of sexual sin with the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 6. The injustice that Joseph Prince has done to Paul is that he is painting Paul to be schizophrenic. One moment Paul was fuming angry over the sexual sin (incest) of the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, and the next, just only one chapter later, he was angelically lenient in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 over another type of their sexual sins (visiting prostitutes).
Next, Paul had also said to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 12:21 that he may have to mourn if the Corinthians didn’t repent of their sexual sins:
2 Corinthians 12:21 ESV
21 I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.
If Paul would go to the extent of mourning over their sins of impurity, sexual immorality and sensuality which they have practised and may not have repented from in 2 Corinthians 12:21, do you think he would not have raised the issue and confronted the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 when he found out they were patronising prostitutes?
How could Paul be so inconsistent in his response towards sexual sins – that he may mourn over such sins in 2 Corinthians 12:21, and yet, did not even bother to confront them over the same sexual sins in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, but instead, assured them of their salvation – as claimed by Joseph Prince?
Furthermore, Paul’s concern over sexual sins was not just directed to the Corinthians alone but the Church in Thessalonica as well:
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 NIV
3 “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.”
Paul warned the Thessalonians that it is God Himself who viewed sexual sins with such seriousness that He will “punish all those who commit such sins…” (1 Thess 4:6) What sins? Sexual immorality (1 Thess 4:3-5). What is the punishment? If one compares 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 with 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Ephesians 5:5-6 and Galatians 5:19-21 (all four passages were written by the same author, Paul) – the punishment for such sexual sins is not inheriting the Kingdom of God – meaning hell. Paul must have warned them that in order to avoid being punished by God with eternal destruction, they would have to confess and repent of their sexual sins.
Paul, in his attitude and tone toward sexual sins, was as severe to the Colossians as he was to the Thessalonians:
Colossians 3:5-6 NIV
5 “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
If Paul had taught that sins that include sexual immorality, impurity and lust could invoke God’s wrath, how could Paul had been that lenient to the Corinthians in their sexual sins of patronising prostitutes that Joseph Prince had falsely painted? How could Paul not have warned them to confess and repent of such sins so as to escape God’s wrath?
In ‘Unmerited Favor’, Page 187, Joseph Prince wrote (regarding 1 Corinthians chapter 6),
“Paul had the perfect opportunity to teach the Corinthians to confess their sins of fornication when he wrote to them as they had clearly sinned. But what did Paul do instead? He said, “…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you…?” (1 Cor 6:19) He did not say, “Do you not know that your body was the temple of the Holy Spirit? Now, go confess your sins and restore your fellowship with God and perhaps He will put His Spirit back in you.” There was not even one mention that they had to confess their sins. Instead, Paul reminded them of their identity in Christ, and even in their failures, he maintained that their body is (present tense) still the temple of the Holy Spirit. Paul apparently believed that to remind believers to be conscious of who they are and what they have in Christ continually is the key to victory over their sins.”
Joseph Prince is blatantly twisting the text, as he is quoting 1 Corinthians 6:19a, “…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you…?” out of context and hiding the other half of the truth in 1 Corinthians 6:18 from you.
He has also deliberately left out 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and only quoted 1 Corinthians 6:19a. We have already gone through 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 – that Paul has clearly said there that believers who are sexually immoral and adulterers will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
If Paul had already taught that sexual sins were so serious that they could even bar believers from entering God’s kingdom in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, how could Paul have been so lenient with the same Corinthians in the same chapter 6, in 1 Corinthians 6:19a, when they have committed the sexual sin of visiting prostitutes as Joseph Prince had painted?
Joseph Prince has also deliberately left out 1 Corinthians 6:18 and just quoted 1 Corinthians 6:19a – and quoting it out of context:
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 NKJV
18 “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
Paul had clearly commanded the Corinthians to flee sexual immorality in 1 Corinthians 6:18, not only because sex with prostitutes is a sin against their own body (V18), but also because their body is the temple of the Holy Spirit in (V19a). Paul had also earlier said in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 15-16 that sexual immorality, such as patronising prostitutes, is a sin, and those unrepentant will be barred from entering the Kingdom of God.
So in the light of
V 9-10 (sexually immoral and adulterers will not enter the Kingdom of God),
V 15-16 and V18 (flee sexual immorality as it is a sin against your own body),
“…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you…?” in V19a (quoted by Joseph Prince in his book, Unmerited Favor, Page 187),
is placed there by Paul, as an indictment against the Corinthians, and not as an assurance of salvation to comfort them as falsely postured by Joseph Prince.
The indictment is that one who commits sexual immorality with prostitutes sins against his own body (V18), and God treats this seriously as their body is the very temple of the Holy Spirit (V19a). Because their body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, they must honour and glorify God with their bodies as they have been bought with the price of the blood of Christ (V19b-20).
And what is unmistakably implied by Paul is that if they commit sexual immorality with prostitutes with their body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, they are dishonouring God by sinning against their own body and demeaning the temple of the Holy Spirit. No wonder Paul had earlier said that those who are sexually immoral and adulterers will not enter the Kingdom of God in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.
Joseph Prince has committed a heinous act by completely and deliberately misrepresenting what Paul said and meant.
When Paul had used V19a
“…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you…?”
as an indictment against the sexually immoral,
Joseph Prince switched it completely around and postured it as comfort of assurance to those who have sinned by visiting prostitutes.
How can such blatant distortion of scriptures be stomached? How can such gross and deliberate misrepresentation of scriptures be allowed to be committed without the Church ever speaking out? I ‘Buay Tah Han’ (in Hokkien) already (meaning, cannot take it anymore), I don’t know about you?
Joseph Prince, by his statement in V19a,
“…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you…?”
has been clearly quoted out of context, which I have already unveiled and proven.
And now he is making a false conclusion when he said,
“Paul apparently believed that to remind believers to be conscious of who they are and what they have in Christ continually is the key to victory over their sins,”
based on that out-of-context statement that he made in V19a.
Let me repeat in case you missed this.
Joseph Prince made the statement in V19a,
“…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you…?”
which he quoted out of context.
And now he is making a false conclusion,
“Paul apparently believed that to remind believers to be conscious of who they are and what they have in Christ continually is the key to victory over their sins,”
based on that out-of-context statement that he made in V19a.
This is nothing but deceptive and devilish Bible exegesis to hoodwink the people of God! Prince has brazenly misrepresented Paul and implied that that’s what he would do with sexual sin, not only in the case of the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 but in every case of Paul’s dealing with believers.
How can Joseph Prince, who have committed one deception after another, not invoke the righteous anger of every Bible-believing minister of God? How can pastors who truly honour God’s word remain nonchalantly quiet for the many evils that Joseph Prince has committed against the Holy word of God?
Joseph Prince has falsely portrayed Paul as a nice grace teacher to the Corinthians that even the sin of patronising prostitutes was too little a matter to be raked up.
Joseph Prince in Grace Revolution, Page 80, wrote,
“Apostle Paul, who wrote two-thirds of the epistles to the churches, never once-taught on confession of sins. In fact, in his letter to the Corinthians Christians, many of whom were committing sins like visiting temple prostitutes, he didn’t tell them to go and confess their sins to get right with God. Rather he reminded them of who they were in Christ – “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of god dwelleth in you?” (1 Cor 3:16 KJV)”
Prince gave the false impression that Paul who was very lax about their sexual sin, did not treat such sins seriously, and never asked them to confess and repent of their sins. And worse, Paul even affirmed and assured them that they are in Christ, despite the evil that they had done and had not repented of. This is a false portrayal of what Paul did in the Corinthian Church and all the epistles.
Tell me, if you are a pastor of a church, and one day when you found out that many of your church members are patronising prostitutes, how would you respond? Calm and collected as if nothing had happened? Assuring them of their salvation and their position in Christ with no action taken to ask them to confess or repent of such sins? If that’s what you do, you ought to be sacked and go do something else!
I will tell you how Joseph Prince would respond when he comes to know of people in his New Creation Church who are visiting prostitutes. He would respond in a nice and cool way, as he has described in his book. He would assure those who had sex with prostitutes that their righteousness in Christ cannot be removed from them because of the finished work of Christ. And no matter what they do, even if they were visiting prostitutes, they never have to worry about their salvation. And Prince would not even raise the issue about their sins of visiting the prostitutes and the need to confess and repent of such sins to get right with God.
Joseph Prince is clearly saying that if a believer visits prostitutes, he doesn’t have to confess and repent. All he needs to do is to remind himself about who he is in Christ and about the fact that he is the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
This is unbelievable – You don’t have to be a theologian or pastor to know that what Joseph Prince is advocating is horrendously repulsive and sickening. And now do you know why New Creation Church has become so huge? Besides genuine believers, there must be the many goats who love to attend such a church. They could have the best of both worlds. They could visit prostitutes once in a while, when the flesh gets the better of them, and at the same time enjoy a salvation that is permanently assured by Joseph Prince. Even the sheep in Joseph Prince’s church would soon be tempted to go that wayward way and be corrupted to become goats.
These people have been deceived, as there is no such thing as a saved sexually immoral person in contrast to an unsaved sexually immoral person. Sexual immorality, whether committed by a Christian or non-Christian, is still sin, and their destiny is the lake of fire:
Revelation 21:8 NIV
8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
If God allows the sexually immoral who are unbelievers to go to hell and if He allows the sexually immoral people who are believers but unrepentant to go heaven, God will have a lot of explanation to do with the unbelievers.
“What kind of a God are you? Both are sexually immoral, but one (unbeliever) goes to hell and the other (believer) to heaven!” Sin committed by believers is just as serious as sin committed by unbelievers. In fact, it is more serious for a Christian to commit sin as compared to an unbeliever since he belongs to the Light, and hence, there is less excuse for a Christian to sin and more gravity when a believer does.
Finally, let me end with a quote by Joseph Prince. In ‘Grace Revolution’, Pages 290-291, 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).
What Joseph Prince teaches is that when you sin, any sin, big or small, whether it is the sin of pornography or sex with prostitutes, etc, you don’t have to confess your sins but you need to confess you are righteous while you are engaging in the act of sinning, by declaring, ‘I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.’
Just imagine this tragic scene of a married Christian who has embraced Joseph Prince’s teachings, and who is committing the sin of having sex with a prostitute. And knowing that his adulterous sin with prostitutes has been forgiven at the cross (because he had learned that from Joseph Prince that all his future sins, including sex with prostitutes, have been forgiven), and still in bed with the prostitute, committing the adulterous act, he follows the advice of Joseph Prince, and keeps repeating, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.” After repeating that ‘magic’ phrase several times, he continues to have sex with the prostitute. After the entire adulterous act is over, he caps it off by shouting one last time on a victorious and triumphant note, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.”
Just think – how would the unbelieving prostitute respond when she hears a so-called Christian shouting “I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus,” while he is having sex with her? She would think that he has gone mentally deranged. Or, if she thinks he is sane, she will never ever become a Christian, as she is witnessing for herself that a Christian can shout out the name of Jesus Christ shamelessly and pronounce that he is righteous in Christ while enjoying the forbidden sex with her, a prostitute.
If one combines what Joseph Prince had written in ‘Grace Revolution’, Pages 290-291 and ‘Unmerited Favor’, Pages 186-188 (see above) and how he has always advised believers that when they sin, not to confess their sins but to confess they are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus while in the act of sinning, he is strongly implying that that’s what Paul would have advised a believer to do when he is in the act of having sex with a prostitute. This is appalling! Joseph Prince is not only slandering Paul but he is also grossly misrepresenting him to be a scandalous leader.
If such repulsive teachings of Joseph Prince don’t evoke an outrage in the Church leadership to do something about it, then I would seriously doubt whether they are really spiritual leaders in the first place. Merely occupying positions of leadership does not make one a leader. And if such disgusting teachings don’t cause believers to leave New Creation Church or stop listening to his sermons, it all means that they have deliberately and wilfully chosen to be deceived by him. If that is the unrepentant state that they chose to be in, then no one, not even God can help them.
Rev George Ong