Joseph Prince’s Antinomian gospel of only believing isn’t the Reformation or Martin Luther’s gospel – By Rev George Ong (Dated 31 Oct 2022)
Note that besides the main video on Joseph Prince that you will come across in a short while, there are 4 other short videos on Prince which are featured throughout the article. Don’t miss them.
There are also 3 videos on RC Sproul, who is a well-regarded theologian. Don’t miss them too.
From Joseph Prince’s sermon on 16 Oct 2022, I’ve written 3 articles based on it. This article is the fourth. Two more, based on the same sermon, may be featured (depending on my availability) in the coming days.
A related article to the current one is titled,
Joseph Prince who denies he is an Antinomian is a Persistent Liar & Shameless Hypocrite
If you haven’t read it, you may wish to 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 weekly Sunday sermon aired on YouTube on 16 Oct 2022, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the one-minute video:
“‘Therefore, my beloved brethren, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure.’ (Phil 2:12-13)
Alright, I don’t know how many times this has been brought to me, even in a conference situation, and another speaker even have brought this up to me and said, ‘What about Philippians that says work out your salvation.’ They all know this part you know, work out your salvation. They all know this part.
So I said, ‘What do you mean by that? Are you telling me that we are supposed to work for our salvation today?’
So the idea that people have is that, we still are working out our salvation. No, friend, once you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you better know you are saved. There’s no more working out. In fact, there’s no such thing as working out for your salvation.
You cannot work for your salvation. It’s not by works. It’s by grace through faith. You receive. Abraham was justified without works. Abraham believed God. It was imputed to him for righteousness. So this is taken out of context.”
The focus of the speaker that Joseph Prince alluded to is his concern about “working out your salvation”,
“… another speaker even have brought this up to me and said, ‘What about Philippians that says work out your salvation.’”
Joseph Prince then deceptively gave the impression that what the speaker was talking about is “working for your salvation”,
“Are you telling me that we are supposed to work for our salvation today?”
Joseph Prince is so slimy that he is now equating “working out your salvation (sanctification)” with “working for your salvation (legalism)”, when they are discernibly different.
Working for your salvation is heresy (legalism) – meaning you work for your own salvation by flatly rejecting the offer of the righteousness of God in Christ, which is a free gift that cannot be earned or worked for.
But working out your salvation, which refers to sanctification, is entirely biblical as it can be proven not only in Philippians 2:12-13 but also throughout the scriptures.
Many evangelical commentators have also written that this working out your salvation is part and parcel of sanctification.
Paul didn’t talk about “working for your salvation” (he will be mad if he did) but he did speak about “working out your salvation.”
So, can you see how crafty Joseph Prince is, trying to smuggle in his pet doctrine of justification (which is a glorious doctrine, without which, we will be damned) into a passage that talks about sanctification (which is another magnificent doctrine, which Joseph Prince covertly teaches against)?
Prince’s aim was to ignore or glossed over the issue of sanctification (because he is surreptitiously against it), that Paul was talking about in the passage, by bringing up the issue of justification again when he later said;
“You cannot work for your salvation. It’s not by works. It’s by grace through faith. You receive. Abraham was justified without works. Abraham believed God. It was imputed to him for righteousness. So this is taken out of context.”
Now, who is the real culprit for taking the passage out of context?
It was Joseph Prince, when he forcibly imposed his ‘justification by faith and not by works’ agenda onto the text in Philippians 2:12-13 that focuses on sanctification.
But just because we cannot work for our salvation – justification by faith, doesn’t mean we cannot work out our salvation – sanctification.
Again, let me stress that Philippians 2:12-13 is not talking about justification, but sanctification.
Joseph Prince said,
“So the idea that people have is that, we still are working out our salvation. No, friend, once you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you better know you are saved. There’s no more working out. In fact, there’s no such thing as working out for your salvation.”
Now, you need to pay special attention to what I’m writing right now.
I’m now going to reveal that the Antinomian doctrine of salvation or saving faith of Joseph Prince, especially on what is contained in his 16 Oct 2022 sermon, is a heresy,
as it is not in line with the Reformation or Martin Luther’s theology of the gospel.
Joseph Prince by saying that,
“No, friend, once you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you better know you are saved”,
Prince is categorically stating that saving faith only requires believing in Christ.
Then, Prince went on to say,
“There’s no more working out. In fact, there’s no such thing as working out for your salvation”,
meaning – saving faith does not involve sanctification or works.
To Prince, all that is required for saving faith is just believing in the Lord Jesus Christ without works as evidence of true faith.
In ‘Paths to Power’, AW Tozer defined Antinomianism this way:
“Fundamental Christianity in our times is deeply influenced by that ancient enemy of righteousness, Antinomianism. The creed of the Antinomian is easily stated: We are saved by faith alone; works have no place in salvation; conduct is works, and is therefore of no importance. What we do cannot matter as long as we believe rightly. The divorce between creed and conduct is absolute and final. The question of sin is settled by the Cross; conduct is outside the circle of faith and cannot come between the believer and God. Such in brief, is the teaching of the Antinomian. And so fully has it permeated the Fundamental element in modern Christianity that it is accepted by the religious masses as the very truth of God. Antinomianism is the doctrine of grace carried by uncorrected logic to the point of absurdity. It takes the teaching of justification by faith and twists it into deformity.”
Antinomianism is such a subtle doctrine that it has deceived many people into thinking that it is orthodox doctrine.
What makes the Antinomians, such as Joseph Prince so dangerous are the subtleties of their doctrinal errors.
One has to carefully unpack and examine the subtle shift that takes place from Reformation orthodoxy to Antinomianism.
This is why, it is quite common to find believers and even Pastors expressing the view that they see there is nothing really wrong with Joseph Prince’s teachings, (which is Antinomianism), and even remarking that it is rather close to evangelical Christianity.
This is made worse by the fact that through the years, the gospel has been corrupted not only by Joseph Prince but many evangelical pastors and preachers themselves, who have been influenced by Antinomianism without them even knowing it.
AW Tozer wrote:
“The creed of the Antinomian is easily stated: We are saved by faith alone; works have no place in salvation; conduct is works, and is therefore of no importance. What we do cannot matter as long as we believe rightly… It takes the teaching of justification by faith and twists it into deformity.”
Tozer correctly defines that the salvation doctrine of Antinomianism (which Joseph Prince embraced) comprises only faith or what one believes. Works or conduct have no place in salvation.
As long as you believe rightly, say the sinner’s prayer, you are once saved, always saved, and conduct, no matter how good or bad can never shake your faith.
Such is the key teaching of Joseph Prince.
In other words, salvation is by faith alone, and works are completely divorced from it.
(Note this subtle difference:
Joseph Prince’s teaching that once a person has believed by saying the sinner’s prayer, he is already saved, and that works will come after salvation,
is different from what the Protestant Reformation doctrine is saying – that works play a crucial part as the evidence of true conversion in saving faith; in that a believer isn’t saved even though he believes by saying the sinners’ prayer unless he has works to prove his conversion.)
The Antinomian gospel of Joseph Prince is not the Reformation or Martin Luther’s understanding of saving faith.
RC Sproul, a well-respected and competent theologian presented the subtle but crucial difference between saving faith as conceived and embraced by
Roman Catholicism,
the Antinomian salvation doctrine of Joseph Prince
and Protestant Reformation.
Sproul said; please click here to view the 45-second video:
“So, if I can go back to my equation,
for the Roman Catholic Church,
it was faith plus works equals justification.
The Antinomian (which, Joseph Prince, is one),
it is faith alone that gives you justification minus works.
The Protestant Reformation,
it is faith equals justification plus works.
That is the works are the necessary fruit of true faith, but the works don’t count towards God’s declaration by which we are said to be just in His sight.”
Putting together what RC Sproul and Joseph Prince said;
while the Reformation gospel of a faith that is equal to justification plus works (as fruit of the faith) is the true gospel,
Joseph Prince’s gospel of a faith alone that equals to justification, but minus works (as fruit of the faith), is the false gospel.
Important Note: You are strongly advised to view the slightly longer video on RC Sproul in the Appendix at the end of this article for a better understanding of the issue
Like most evangelical preachers, although Joseph Prince preaches against the Roman Catholic Church’s understanding of saving faith that – faith plus works equals justification, he isn’t preaching the orthodox salvation theology or the Protestant Reformation’s conception of saving faith.
This is because he preaches against the Protestant Reformation salvation doctrine, that faith equals justification plus works (as fruit or evidence of the faith).
The Reformation or Luther’s theology of salvation answers this important question; how do we know whether someone’s salvation is true, even though that person claims to be saved by faith?
By his works (Jas 2:14-26).
So, the Reformation theology harmonises between what Paul teaches about justification by faith in Romans and what James teaches that without works, our faith is dead, useless, incomplete and cannot save (Jas 2:14, 17, 20, 22).
One concrete proof of Joseph Prince’s understanding and doctrine of saving faith that comprises only belief but without works or sanctification as evidence of true faith, is found in what he said in this 30-second video.
Joseph Prince said in the video;
Please click here to view the 30-second video;
“‘Okay, Pastor Prince, I know a friend, used to be a Christian, used to be this, bla bla bla.’ Number 1, we do not know if he is a professor or possessor.
But let’s say he is a possessor, he is saved. He left the Lord and all that. You would be surprised, even though he lived a lifestyle of sin, salvation is more solid than his lifestyle.
And maybe he dies young. But in heaven, you’re going to see him. You’re going to see him because salvation is not because of what he did. He will never perish.”
The fact that Joseph Prince is treating the person as a possessor and not a professor of the Christian Faith, in no way mitigates his false doctrine of salvation.
This is because Prince defines a possessor of the Christian Faith as someone who leaves the Lord, is living a lifestyle of sin that is, without sanctification or works and is still saved.
Joseph Prince further said,
“maybe he dies young” (without coming back to the Lord and repent from his lifestyle of sin),
but he will still go to heaven and he will never perish.
What Joseph Prince is implying is that believing in Christ is all it takes to save a person, and the presence of works or sanctification or their absence (through unholy living and unrepentant sinning as in the case of the young man) does not constitute the evidence of saving faith.
This is because though there isn’t any sanctification or works to prove genuine salvation in the case of the young man;
“… even though he lived a lifestyle of sin…”
and what is worse is, his life is marked by sinful conduct, Joseph Prince states that the person is still saved and will be in heaven.
But in Protestant Reformation salvation theology, that young man quoted by Prince, would not be considered saved, as his lack of sanctification in his sinful ways, works against any semblance of true conversion.
So, Joseph Prince’s Antinomian gospel
– that it is faith alone that gives you justification minus works,
contradicts
the Protestant Reformation doctrine
– that saving faith equals justification plus works.
In other words, without works or sanctification as the evidence of true faith, the Reformation Fathers wouldn’t consider a person as having saving faith.
But in Joseph Prince’s doctrine, all that is required for a person to be saved is his belief in Christ, regardless of whether that person has works or sanctification to show (as illustrated in the young man, that though he lived a life of sin, Prince said he will still be in heaven.)
Joseph Prince, by preaching a gospel minus sanctification or works doctrine, is blatantly contradicting all the Church Fathers, who hold to this doctrine that both justification and sanctification, or faith that is evidenced by works, are necessary for salvation.
Martin Luther and John Calvin, 2 of the most important figures in the Protestant Reformation wrote:
Martin Luther wrote;
“We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.”
John Calvin wrote;
“It is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone.”
Many are only aware of the first half of the doctrinal statements made by Martin Luther and John Calvin, namely,
“We are saved by faith alone,” and
“It is therefore faith alone which justifies.”
But they have glossed over the crucial second half,
“but the faith that saves is never alone,” and
“yet the faith which justifies is not alone.”
What this means is that in Reformation Theology, both justification or faith in the first half of the statements and sanctification or works in the second half of the statements, are required for salvation.
One cannot do without the other.
The other church fathers also shared the same view:
JC Ryle wrote;
“Tell me not of your justification, unless you have also some marks of sanctification. Boast not of Christ’s work for you, unless you can show us the Spirit’s work in you.”
JC Ryle also wrote;
“In justification our own works have no place at all and simple faith in Christ is the one thing needful. In sanctification our own works are of vast importance, and God bids us fight and watch and pray and strive and take pains and labour.”
A A Hodge wrote;
“You cannot take Christ for justification unless you take Him for sanctification.”
FF Bruce wrote;
“Those who have been justified are now being sanctified; those who have no experience of present sanctification have no reason to suppose they have been justified.”
Martyn Lloyd-Jones said;
“How utterly wrong and unscriptural it is, therefore, to separate justification and sanctification, and to say that a man can be justified apart from sanctification, or to say that a man can receive his justification and perhaps years later go on and receive his sanctification.”
John MacArthur wrote;
“Antinomianism is the notion of justification apart from sanctification. Luther himself coined the term for already in his lifetime, some were beginning to corrupt the doctrine he had rediscovered, claiming that justification by faith rendered unnecessary the preaching of the law, obedience to the law, or sanctification as evidence of justification.”
Martin Luther wrote,
“We say that justification is effective without works, not that faith is without works.”
“It is one thing that faith justifies without works; it is another thing that faith exists without works.”
“Faith is a living, restless thing. It cannot be inoperative. We are not saved by works; but if there be no works, there must be something amiss with faith.”
“Oh, it is a living, busy, active mighty thing, this faith; and so it is impossible for it not to do good works incessantly…He who does not these works is a faithless man…and thus it is impossible to separate works from faith, quite as impossible to separate heat and light (from) fires.”
John Calvin wrote;
“Christ justifies no one whom He does not also sanctify.”
“By faith we apprehend the righteousness of Christ, which alone reconciles us to God. This faith, however, you cannot apprehend without at the same time apprehending sanctification; for Christ ‘is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption’ (1 Cor 1:30). Christ, therefore, justifies no man without also sanctifying him.”
Charles Spurgeon said;
“Although we are sure that men are not saved for the sake of their works, yet we are equally sure that no man will be saved without them.”
“It is a faith which produces works which save us; the works do not save us, but a faith which does not produce works is a faith that will only deceive, and cannot lead us into heaven.”
Joseph Prince’s false doctrine of a faith-only or belief-only salvation doctrine not only goes against the scriptures, but it also contradicts the Reformation Fathers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin, and other men of God such as J C Ryle, AA Hodge, AW Tozer, FF Bruce, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John Macarthur and a whole host of others – whose teachings are well respected by the Church.
Charles Spurgeon said,
“Justification without sanctification would not be salvation at all.”
What Charles Spurgeon said, which is totally scriptural, is a very solemn truth in the light of the teachings of Joseph Prince.
This simply means that Joseph Prince’s ‘Faith only’ or ‘justification only’ salvation doctrine does not equal to saving faith, and does not save, as the other vital half, which is sanctification or works, is not taken into account.
Going by what the scriptures and all these men of God, and particularly what Charles Spurgeon said,
“Justification without sanctification would not be salvation at all,”
– this simply means that Joseph Prince’s Antinomian gospel preaching of a ‘Faith only’ or justification-only salvation without sanctification doctrine does not save
– and many have been deceived by Joseph Prince that they are on their way to heaven when the reality is – they may be headed for hell.
I hope you have begun to understand
why I am working my guts out week after week,
tolerating the rubbish of Joseph Prince’s sermons that I have to listen to every Sunday,
having little sleep on days (don’t worry, I rest hard too, or else I won’t last that long),
viewing and transcribing Joseph Prince’s videos,
keeping a meticulous record of what Prince said and when he said on a given certain issue and many other issues,
reading, researching, studying, writing and pouring over the resources,
and spending my precious time and money at my own expense,
to show you the utter danger of Joseph Prince’s false teachings – that it is one that can even lead people to hell.
(A friend of mine thought I was like a Senior Pastor who has a full team of lieutenants like what Joseph Prince has in his army of staff to support him, until I told him to his great shock (not exaggerating) that it is only my wife and I, who do the bulk of the work, persevering on this calling to contend against Joseph Prince for the last 6 years.)
And what’s alarming is that many believers, including Pastors, have been fooled by Joseph Prince that the grace salvation doctrine he has been preaching is in accordance with the scriptures and in line with Reformation and Luther’s theology of salvation.
And if Joseph Prince can go wrong on a fundamental doctrine of salvation that concerns a crucial issue of our eternal destiny, how can he not be a wolf in sheepskin, and why is a Singapore Methodist Bishop and a Singapore Presbyterian Pastor defending Joseph Prince that he isn’t a heretic?
(Talking about Charles Spurgeon, you remember I mentioned in my last article what the right-hand man of Joseph Prince said – that Charles Spurgeon is the Church Father who supports Joseph Prince’s grace theology. This is a joke. If Spurgeon can even contradict Prince’s doctrine of salvation (see above), how can Spurgeon be a supporter of Prince’s grace doctrine.)
For a clearer understanding of the interplay between justification and sanctification in the doctrine of salvation, let me illustrate with three Bible passages.
Acts 3:23 says that we must obey everything that the Prophet, Christ, tells us.
We may have said the sinner’s prayer and accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour – justification.
But if we refuse to obey Christ – sanctification, we will be destroyed (Acts 3:23).
So, it is not just about faith – justification; it is also about obedience – sanctification, that would finally decide our eternal destiny.
To put it in another way, our faith must be proven by our obedience.
Or, without sanctification, there is no true justification to speak about.
The second example is shown in Romans 10:9-10 and Matthew 7:21.
Paul says in Romans 10:9:
“If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord…” you will be saved.
So, a man who refuses to say “Lord, Lord” will never enter the kingdom of heaven because all true Christians say, “Lord, Lord.”
But, Matthew 7:21 also says,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Saying “Lord, Lord” is a necessary but not sufficient condition for saving faith.
And, what Matthew 7:21 clearly underscores is that justification-only doctrine of calling Christ “Lord, Lord” will never save, unless it is undergirded by sanctification of doing the Father’s will.
(I’m aware that my understanding of the interplay between justification and sanctification may not be entirely accepted by some sections of the Christian Church; but even though there may be disagreements, I don’t believe they are major.)
But this is not what Joseph Prince teaches.
Joseph Prince embraces only the first half of the salvation doctrine – that of justification by faith alone, but he denigrates the second half – that of sanctification through works.
While the Bible (as taught by Paul) always abominates works, such as circumcision, to earn salvation, the entire Bible never despises the works of love, obedience and holiness as Joseph Prince does.
On the contrary, (especially in James 2:14-26,) the same scripture teaches that these works are part of sanctification that must be demonstrated to authenticate justification and validate true faith.
James further states that faith without works, or, to put it in another way, justification by faith without sanctification through works, is useless, dead and cannot save.
In other words, justification without sanctification cannot save.
What James lays out, is indisputable proof that Joseph Prince’s teachings that we can be saved by a faith-alone justification without sanctification or works, is heretical.
Joseph Prince teaches a salvation doctrine that includes justification but excludes sanctification.
He teaches that sanctification is only to be accepted as part of Christian living but never as part of salvation.
Even then, he also hardly teaches on the issue of sanctification even as part of Christian living.
All he does is to keep pounding and pounding on the ‘justification by faith’ or the righteousness of God in Christ salvation doctrine week in and week out because he is against sanctification or works as evidence of faith for salvation.
To defend himself, Joseph Prince would immediately retort as he has done time and again
– “Who says I’m against sanctification.”
Well, if Prince isn’t against sanctification, why does he hardly preach on it?
Let me show you proof that Joseph Prince is against sanctification, even though he deceptively denies it.
Lindsay Lim, a former member of New Creation Church for 18 years wrote;
“My next doctrinal point is on sanctification or holiness. Joseph Prince can claim all he wants that he believes in sanctification or holiness.”
“Joseph Prince keeps defending himself that he is not against holiness, but the truth is, he does not emphasise on sanctification or holiness at all in his teachings.
In all my 18 years when I was in NCC from 1993 to 2011, I have never heard him preach a whole sermon on sanctification or holiness, and consequences of sin on a believer’s life.
What Joseph Prince keeps harping on in his teachings is that we are justified by the righteousness of God, which is true but only half of the truth.”
Yvonne Tan, a former member of New Creation Church for 20 years, 1999-2021, wrote;
(Just in case you think Lindsay Lim’s testimony is dated (no fault of hers), Yvonne Tan who was with New Creation Church until only fairly recently from 1999 t0 2021, wrote:
“In New Creation Church, there were never any teachings by Joseph Prince on Sanctification and how it refers to a believer’s growth in holiness.
We are all works in progress until the day we reach heaven, so this growth will continue with the help of the Holy Spirit that changes our character from the inside out. But sadly, all these teachings were never mentioned by him.
Joseph Prince will always protect himself by saying, “Who says I’m against Sanctification?”
But if he isn’t against Sanctification, why is he not preaching this doctrine to us?
In my 20 years in NCC, I’ve never heard even one sermon on Sanctification.”
Andrew Tan, a former member of New Creation Church for 20 years, 2000-2020 wrote;
“In my 20 years in NCC, I have also never heard Joseph Prince preach a single sermon on suffering, persecution, sanctification or holiness.
As such, many people attending NCC are not really bothered about how they live their lives, as long as they are justified and receive the righteousness of God, their place in heaven is permanently assured – which is falsely taught by Joseph Prince.”
I’m going to show you more proofs that Prince is against the scriptural understanding of sanctification by his redefinition of it and twisting it according to his own whims and fancies, so that it flows with his faith-alone justification grace doctrine:
In an excerpt from a sermon on 8 Dec 2021, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 15-second video:
“When you live by grace, you become holy by accident, Amen.”
By putting it in such a flippant way that one can become ‘holy by accident’, Joseph Prince has done great injustice and has heaped insult on the real meaning of sanctification in the Bible.
By stating that just because one has become a Christian by the grace of God or are justified, holiness or sanctification will automatically result without one even lifting a finger, Prince is giving a false picture of holiness or sanctification in the scriptures.
There is still more proofs that Joseph Prince is against sanctification (or works).
In an excerpt from this sermon, titled, “The blessings of Abraham are yours today” which was shown on YouTube, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view a 20-second video:
“The eternal blood of Jesus provides eternal forgiveness so that we can rest. And the more you rest, the more Christ will manifest. And the result is holiness by accident. Have you seen holiness by effort?”
Joseph Prince by saying,
“And the result is holiness by accident. Have you seen holiness by effort?”
is blatantly contradicting what the scriptures clearly states in Hebrews 12:14;
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
Prince is literally making a mockery of Hebrew 12:14 – when that verse clearly states that it requires much effort to be holy, Prince strongly implies that no effort is required.
If Joseph Prince blatantly and frivolously contradicts scriptures, how can he be a true teacher of God’s word?
Furthermore, Joseph Prince’s
“You become holy by accident” or “his holiness by accident” teaching,
is contradicted by Martyn Lloyd-Jones and RC Sproul.
In ‘Life in Christ, Volume 3, Children of God, Studies in John, Martyn Lloyd-Jones said;
“Or, lastly, let me put it like this: The holiness of which the New Testament speaks and the holy life, the life of sanctification which (Apostle) John talks of, is not so much something which we receive as a gift – it is rather something which we work out.
Now here again I think this correction is needed. How often is the holiness doctrine presented in that form. We are told that as you have received your justification by faith as a gift, so you must now receive this gift of sanctification and holiness as a gift.”
“It is not a gift received but something which I must work out and put into practise.
Consider how the Apostle Paul puts the same thing in Philippians 2:12-13:
‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling: for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do…’
And because of that you work it out. It is not some mystical experience that suddenly comes to us, but the outworking of the doctrine and the truth which we claim to believe.
Secondly, how do I do this?”
“Well, according to (Apostle) John, it is an active process, not a passive one; ‘Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself.’ He does not submit to purification; he purifies himself. The whole emphasis is upon the activity.
In other words, the New Testament teaching about holiness is not one which tells me that all I have to do is to let myself go and to surrender myself, to give up effort and striving.”
“No! It is active, and I am told to purify myself ‘even as he is pure.’
Now that is a doctrine which is not confined to (Apostle) John; you will find it everywhere in the New Testament.
Take, for instance, the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 7:1: ‘Having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’ That is an identical statement with the verse that we are considering here. Let us ‘cleanse ourselves,’ not submit passively to some process which will cleanse us.
Take also Hebrews 6:11-12 where we are exhorted to show some diligence in this matter of ‘the full assurance of hope unto the end’; we are not to be slothful, but, like those who have gone before us, we must be diligent and press on and strive to perfect ourselves because of the hope that is set before us.”
In ‘Life in Christ, Volume 2, Walking with God, Studies in 1 John, Martyn Lloyd-Jones said;
“Does the Christian have to live an active life in this question of sanctification, or is it just a matter of ‘letting go and letting God’?
(George Ong’s Interjection: Joseph Prince teaches this ‘letting go and letting God’ philosophy rather frequently in his grace teachings.)
Do we believe in passivity, in a doctrine just of relaxation and of doing nothing, believing that the Holy Spirit is going to do everything? Or do we believe in a kind of activism?”
“No, what he says is this: ‘I am appealing to you not to sin’; it is a command, an exhortation and, of course, we find that it is perfectly in accord with what we find throughout the Scriptures— ‘put off…the old man…put on the new man’ (Eph 4:22, 24); it is something I have to do.
‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling’ (Phil 2:12); I have to do that. God works in me, but having worked in me, now He asks me to ‘work out.’”
From excerpts in a YouTube video, RC Sproul said;
Please click here to view the 5-minute video:
“Sanctification is a life-long process that involves an enormous amount of labour and it is labour intensive. If we go to the New Testament again, where for example, in Philippians Paul says in chapter 2 verse 12:
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure.”
it’s good news and bad news again. Paul tells us to work out our salvation, which is really a call to diligence in the pursuit of righteousness and in the pursuit of our sanctification. It’s work. It’s work. That means that a Christian in seeking sanctification and spiritual maturity must be active. And how active? Work out your salvation, how? In fear and trembling.
Now, those terms there that describe the atmosphere in which we are to work out our salvation, are not terms that would ordinarily describe a cavalier attitude. One cannot just be at ease in Zion in the pursuit of sanctification, where we can just relax, take it easy, and go along for the ride that the Holy Spirit carries us on.
We are to work and we are to work with fear and trembling. This indicates real diligence with real concern. Not with the kind of fear that has a person paralysed with anxiety, and not the kind of trembling that one has who is in a panic attack. But the point is that fear and trembling means that we take this as serious business. And that we’re trying now to please the living God before whom we stand in reverence and awe, and despite our reconciliation is still one before whom the godly people tremble. And this is work.
Now the good news is work it out with fear and trembling for God is at work within you both to will and to do.
Here we see something where we have a genuine synergism or a cooperation, that sanctification is a cooperative process where God is working and I am working. I am called to work, work, work – fear and trembling – why? Because I’m not working alone. Because God is working at the same time. God is working in me.
So it is a cooperative venture between us and God – between ourselves and the Holy Spirit.”
“And there is the error of quietism that was introduced by French mystics in the 17th century, who said that the work of sanctification is exclusively the work of the Holy Spirit. You don’t need to be exercised about it, you don’t need to be trying to be sanctified, all you need to do is be quiet. Get out of the way. It’s God’s work to do to make you sanctified. It’s kind of a monergism carried over from regeneration throughout the whole Christian life. And their motto (you may be surprised to hear this) was “Let go and let God.” Now how many times have you heard that in your Christian experience?”
(George Ong’s Interjection: What RC Sproul described about the error of Quetism is what Joseph Prince teaches. “Let go and let God,” is often found on Prince’s lips during his sermons.)
The other twin heresies that follow the doctrine of sanctification are the doctrines of antinomianism or legalism.”
“The other extreme is antinomianism that says that as a Christian, the law of God has no bearing on my life. I’m free from the law altogether. I’m not under the law, I’m under grace and so I have every right to ignore the law of God in scripture. Well, that is rampant in our day. In fact, we are living in a pervasive period of antinomianism in the church, where the godly person, though he understands he is no longer under bondage to the law, he is not under the weight of the law, he is not under the penalty of the law, he still loves the law of God and meditates in it day and night because in the law, he discovers what is pleasing to God and what is that which reflects His character.
And so rather than fleeing from the law, a person who is diligent in the pursuit of righteousness and sanctification becomes a serious student of the law of God.”
In a weekly Sunday sermon aired on YouTube on 30 Oct 2022, yesterday, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 30-second video:
“I’m seated with Christ, a posture of rest. What did He tell Jesus, ‘Sit on my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ You don’t have to make your enemies your footstool.
What do you have to do? You sit. This is the same posture; the same attitude Jesus is taking right now. Holiness is thinking the same thing that Jesus thinks. Having the same posture Jesus is. So, sit down, child of God.”
After reading through what these 2 great men of God; Martyn Lloyd-Jones and RC Sproul have taught about sanctification or holiness, that it requires much work and activism, you will know what Joseph Prince said about holiness – that it is just sitting down and doing nothing, is plain rubbish.
But what is worse is, Prince’s own warped idea about holiness, is anti-scripture and anti-God:
Hebrews 12:14;
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
Joseph Prince is literally making a mockery of God’s word in Hebrew 12:14 – when that verse clearly states that it requires much effort to be holy, Prince said that no effort or no work is even required, as all that we are required to do is just to sit down and relax.
No wonder Joseph Prince’s feel-good grace theology of a no-law to bother me with, no-sin to confess my guilt, and no-work to do as it is all done by Jesus, is drawing the multitudes of ‘goats’ into his so-called church.
But the worst thing that Joseph Prince has done is that he has patently mocked God’s word by going against the clear teaching of scriptures in Hebrews 12:14.
Mocking the word of God is the same as mocking the God of the word Himself.
If Prince has the dare (as this isn’t the first time) to consistently mock God, how can he be a true shepherd of God’s flock.
Finally, let me leave with you a quote each from Martyn Lloyd-Jones and RC Sproul.
In ‘Studies in the Sermon on the Mount’, Martyn Lloyd-Jones said;
“Holiness is not an experience that we have; it means keeping and fulfilling the law of God. Experiences may help us to do that, but we cannot receive holiness and sanctification as experiences. Holiness is something we practise in our daily life. It is the honouring and the keeping of the law, as the Son of God Himself kept it while He was here on earth. It is being like Him. That is holiness. So you see it is intimately related to the law, and must always be thought of in terms of keeping the law.”
Going by what Lloyd-Jones said that holiness is about keeping the law, Joseph Prince, the Antinomian, who fights against the relevance of the law for New Covenant believers, as he said it has gone obsolete, is not even considered to be holy.
And if Prince is not holy, how can he even be a Christian, much less a true preacher of God’s word?
RC Sproul said;
“The other twin heresies that follow the doctrine of sanctification are the doctrines of antinomianism or legalism.”
RC Sproul clearly states that Antinomianism is a heresy.
This means Joseph Prince who teaches Antinomianism is a heretic.
If Joseph Prince is a heretic, why is a Singapore Methodist Bishop and a Singapore Presbyterian Pastor defending Joseph Prince that he isn’t a heretic?
Rev George Ong
Appendix
From excerpts in a YouTube video, RC Sproul said;
Please click here to view the 3-minute video:
“This whole idea of justification by faith alone suggests to many people a thinly veiled kind of antinomianism that says, “I can believe – as long as I believe the right things. I can live any kind of ungodly manner that I prefer and still be saved. And so just as long I believe the right things or affirm the right things.
And we remember James’ admonition that faith without works is dead. And we remember in James’ epistle, he says in the second chapter,
“If a man says that he has faith but has no works, will that faith save him?”
And that is, will a work, a faith that is a dead faith – a faith that is a barren faith, a faith that never yields any fruit – is that sufficient to be saved?
And James answers the question very clearly that that kind of faith doesn’t save anybody.
And in fact, Luther said that the faith that justifies is what he called a living faith, a vital faith. A faith that inevitably, necessarily, and immediately begins to yield the fruit of righteousness.
In fact, if that faith is without any yield of righteousness, it’s not true faith according to Luther.
In fact, Luther said that justification is by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone.
So if I can go back to my equation, for
the Roman Catholic Church,
it was faith plus works equals justification.
The antinomian,
it is faith alone that gives you justification minus works.
The Protestant Reformation,
it is faith equals justification plus works.
That is the works are the necessary fruit of true faith, but the works don’t count towards God’s declaration by which we are said to be just in His sight.”