Title: Joseph Prince’s no-repentance & no-discipleship gospel is disproven by 17 renowned Bible teachers & Church leaders:
Charles Spurgeon, John Calvin, John Wesley, JI Packer, Billy Graham, DL Moody, Reinhard Bonnke, John Stott, John MacArthur, John Piper, Arthur Pink, Ben Witherington III, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, DA Carson, Zac Poonen, David Pawson & Michael Brown.
Co-title: Joseph Prince’s own doing – why it is impossible for his critics to unite with him.
– By Rev George Ong (Dated 15 Sep 2023)
Joseph Prince’s reply to me:
Joseph Prince responded again to my articles
in his sermon, 5 days ago, on 10 Sep 2023.
I guess what I have written
must have inflicted a fair amount of damage to his ministry;
and that’s why he has chosen to take me on in the open.
If what I have done
is of no consequence to him and his ministry,
why would he bother to bring up
what I had written in the first place?
Anyway, I must thank him
for the free publicity that he has given me.
Don’t miss 7 videos on Joseph Prince.
Don’t miss another 8 videos on
David Pawson, Michael Brown, Zac Poonen,
John MacArthur & Reinhard Bonnke.
Towards the last part of this article, don’t miss
a prophetic word
I gave to Joseph Prince,
and the last video on John MacArthur, titled,
“Confronting Error with Condemnation,
Not Conversation”.
7 Points of this Article:
1. Joseph Prince’s call for unity with his critics – Have some screws in his mind gotten loose?
2. What? Contending against Joseph Prince’s heresies is quarrelling?
3. So, tell me, who is the real quarrelsome guy?
Joseph Prince or his critics?
4. Joseph Prince’s Jesus is a different Jesus of the Bible – How to unite with him?
5. Joseph Prince’s blatant disrespect for Christian Doctrine – How to unite with him?
6. Joseph Prince’s No-Repentance False Gospel – How to unite with him?
7. Joseph Prince’s No-Discipleship False Gospel – How to unite with him?
(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 10 Sep 2023, 5 days ago, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 40-second video:
“And Joseph told his brothers, after they realised it’s him and all that;
he reconciled them, he forgave them.
The one who has the most power, besides Pharoah and that time,
use his power to forgive them of their betrayal, of them selling him off. He forgave them.
And what he told them, 2 things.
Instructions for the church today.
He says, when you go back to get my father,
that’s a picture of Israel, present day Israel.
When you go to tell my father, tell my father;
by the way, he says,
‘As you go, do not quarrel along the way.’
Church people love to quarrel.
They find things to quarrel.
There’s a lost world out there,
who don’t care a rip about what you believe,
let alone fight each other.
Jesus didn’t say by this correcting one another’s doctrines,
all the world will know you love me.
By this, all men will know you are my disciples.
Those who love discipleship, listen,
He says by this, what?
Love one another as I have love you.
By this, all man shall know you are my disciples.
Wo, all men means all men. Amen.
Let’s unite around Jesus.
We can disagree on,
‘Well, I don’t believe in speaking in tongues.’
Fine, you are still my brother in Christ.
‘Ah, I don’t believe in the rapture.’
Fine, I’ll say, I told you on the way up. Amen.
We unite around Jesus and his wonderful person
and let’s agree to preach the gospel.
By all means, preach the gospel
So, Joseph says, as you go brothers,
see that you don’t quarrel.
Very interesting, it’s a message for the church.”
1. Joseph Prince’s call for unity with his critics – Have some screws in his mind gotten loose?
Joseph Prince is indeed a crafty strategist,
trying to shift the burden of wrongdoing and guilt to his critics
by posturing himself an ‘angel’ standing on moral high ground,
calling for unity,
and portraying his critics as the ‘devil’,
who are uncooperative and quarrelsome people.
But Prince isn’t as clever as people thought.
This is because, as we all know,
his critics have never treated him as a brother-in-Christ,
or as part of the body of Christ,
but a wolf in sheepskin.
If you are a frequent visitor to this website,
you should be aware that those 10 volumes of notes,
comprising 4,800 pages, were written
to prove that Prince is a false teacher and a wolf.
Besides the author of this website,
many have also written to declare
that Joseph Prince is a heretic and a wolf
that the church should expose,
and that the sheep should be warned to beware of him.
Their articles are also featured on this website.
So, when Joseph Prince said:
“Let’s unite around Jesus.
… We unite around Jesus and his wonderful person,”
some screws in his mind must have gotten loose.
This is because he himself is well aware
that his critics have never treated him
as a fellow believer in Christ,
but a heretic.
So, how can we, as believers,
unite with heretics like him?
You mean Joseph Prince doesn’t know
about the tons and tons of evidence
that was marshalled on this website,
comprising the 10 volumes of books and 4,800 pages of notes,
plus, the many articles that are added weekly
– proving that he is a wolf in sheepskin
– and that his critics have all along been treating him as a heretic,
and not as part of the church?
Prince is indeed a master at ‘acting blur’.
Although he is well aware that his critics
do not treat him as a brother-in-Christ, or part of the church,
but a wolf in sheepskin, who ought to be contended,
he playacts as if he isn’t aware of that,
and then pretends to call for the unity of the church.
Can you see how crafty and toxic Joseph Prince is?
2. What? Contending against Joseph Prince’s heresies is quarrelling?
Joseph Prince said:
“‘As you go, do not quarrel along the way.’
Church people love to quarrel.
They find things to quarrel.”
In a previous sermon to defend himself against his critics, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 5-second video:
“The Bible never talks about unity of doctrine,
it says the unity of the Spirit.”
What his critics are doing,
which is entirely scriptural and perfectly legitimate,
is to contend against Joseph Prince, the wolf in sheepskin,
who have come to harm the body of Christ
and destroy the sheep by his heretical teachings.
Yet, Joseph Prince can bring himself so low
as to equate that to quarrelling.
Going by what Joseph Prince said,
Jesus must have been very quarrelsome,
when He warned the church
to beware of false prophets (Matt 7:15,19).
Paul must have been very quarrelsome,
when he warned the church of Ephesus,
that savage wolves would appear
and would not spare the flock (Acts 20:29).
Jude must have been very quarrelsome,
when he challenged the people of God
to contend for the faith and against heretics (Jude 3).
Based on what Joseph Prince said in the above (2 sermons),
he should walk up to the Apostle Paul and say;
“Paul, would you cool it.
Why are you quarrelling with Peter just over doctrine?
Don’t you know,
‘The Bible never talks about unity of doctrine,
it says the unity of the Spirit.’
Where is your love for Peter?
Why did you use social media to attack Peter, publicly?
Paul, please stop quarrelling with Peter.
The world is not interested in debates over doctrine
but they want to see your love for Peter.
So, Paul would you stop quarrelling,
and by that, the world will see that you really love Peter.”
You all know the story.
Paul himself had to rebuke Peter by name, publicly,
when he began acting like a hypocrite
– as by Peter’s hypocritical action,
the gospel was in danger of being compromised (Gal 2:11-14).
Paul’s action in Galatians 2:11-14
demonstrated that the truth of the gospel
is even more important than the reputation of an apostle.
If Paul had the guts to rebuke Apostle Peter
(who is senior to him and a fellow apostle)
by name publicly
because the gospel was being threatened,
how much more should we
be uncompromising and courageous
to do the same with false teachers such as Joseph Prince,
who is not only corrupting the gospel,
but also leading the multitudes to hell?
Joseph Prince has to be contended against openly,
not just among the Christian public,
but also in the world of unbelievers,
so that non-Christians
could be warned that Prince’s gospel is a false gospel
that would only lead them to hell.
So, instead of accepting Joseph Prince’s gospel,
they would reject it.
3. So, tell me, who is the real quarrelsome guy?
Joseph Prince or his critics?
In a Sunday sermon, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to listen to the 25-second audio:
“I saw a lady shaking her head.
Alright, don’t take offense, okay.
But if you take offense,
I have five words for you.
Five words of grace:
‘I don’t give a rip.’
Okay anyway, moving right along.
(Joseph Prince is laughing).
You have to, you know, to have a big church like this.
If you give a rip for what everybody thinks
and all that,
you will never be able to survive. Amen.
I am under grace.
New management system.”
For the life of me,
how can a super-grace teacher like Joseph Prince
behave in such an ungracious manner
to someone who was attending his church that Sunday
just because she disagreed with his teaching?
Unimaginable!
Joseph Prince said,
“I saw a lady shaking her head. Alright, don’t take offense, okay.
But if you take offense,
I have five words for you. Five words of grace:
‘I don’t give a rip.’”
How can these five words,
‘I don’t give a rip’
be words of grace,
as Joseph Prince has made them out to be?
This is adding insult to injury!
These words are more akin to words of ‘law’.
So, is Joseph Prince a grace teacher or a law preacher?
We are now getting all confused!
These five words,
‘I don’t give a rip’
are obviously words of sarcasm and blunt retort against the lady;
and it reflects someone who is out to pick a quarrel.
One who isn’t quarrelsome will never do that!
So, tell me, who is the real quarrelsome guy?
Joseph Prince or his critics?
By the way, I have made a discovery that this part of the audio
isn’t found in the audio that New Creation Church
has put for sale (the video form is not available for sale).
The one that I am in possession of
is the original audio when it was first produced.
Obviously, Joseph Prince and New Creation Church
had censored it.
Why did they censor it?
Simple!
To hide and remove the evidence of Joseph Prince’s real character
– that he is pretty quarrelsome
and intolerant of criticisms and critics,
and wouldn’t hesitate to tick off
and embarrass anyone who disagrees with him
in front of the whole congregation
– which I am now exposing for the world to see.
This is one piece of evidence
that New Creation Church and Joseph Prince
have covered up Prince’s real character
by censoring evidence.
Even ‘law preachers’
(not that we are, but that’s what Joseph Prince characterised us)
such as us,
won’t even dare to do what Prince did on the pulpit
– castigating and embarrassing a member of the congregation
for disagreeing with him, publicly.
But what is ironic and unbelievable is that
it was the super-grace teacher,
Joseph Prince, who did it.
If a grace teacher like Joseph Prince
doesn’t even practice what he preaches,
letting the grace of God
to be displayed in and through his life,
the game is as good as over.
“The real character of a man is not to be judged by what he said on a few occasions over several months, even though they may be the most current, but by what he said on many occasions over a longer period of years.” (George Ong)
In a Sunday sermon, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 30-second video:
“People who are religious will hate you.
The only one He didn’t have favour with
are the holier than thou, self-righteous people.
Okay, so you’re not above your master.
These people will still write about you.
Blog about you.
YouTube you. YouTube you.
Yes, you know.
Oh, they will do things like that. Amen.”
How can Joseph Prince be sincere
about wanting to unite with his critics
when he presents himself in such a quarrelsome manner
by scorning them publicly,
as religious and self-righteous individuals
just because they criticised his false grace teachings?
Can a person who teaches true grace
and has become world-famous
because of his grace doctrine
be behaving in that ungracious and vindictive manner?
If Joseph Prince can’t even practice what he teaches
– showing true love and true grace to his critics,
he has no business teaching grace to the world.
Friends, this is the real Joseph Prince that I’m unveiling for you.
So, tell me, who is the real quarrelsome guy?
Joseph Prince or his critics?
4. Joseph Prince’s Jesus is a different Jesus of the Bible – How to unite with him?
Joseph Prince said:
“Let’s unite around Jesus…
We unite around Jesus and his wonderful person…”
So, which Jesus is Joseph Prince talking about?
Is it the Bible Jesus
or the Joseph Prince’s Jesus that he has concocted.
If you would view the article,
Joseph Prince Who Preaches a Different Jesus is a Heretic – By Rev George Ong (Dated 12 Oct 2021)
by clicking on the link below,
you would discover that the Jesus that Joseph Prince preaches
is a different Jesus from that of the Bible.
The most sobering fact is that people are saved,
not because they believe in Joseph Prince’s Jesus,
but when they believe in Bible Jesus.
Yet, today, there are so many who claim to be Christians
just because they believe in Joseph Prince’s Jesus.
Be warned that those who believe in Joseph Prince’s Jesus,
don’t believe in Jesus at all
as I have already proven in the above article
that Joseph Prince’s Jesus
is vastly different from Bible Jesus.
Joseph Prince’s Jesus is not the real Jesus
but the counterfeit Jesus.
And no one can be saved
if he places his trust in the counterfeit Jesus
that Joseph Prince has concocted in his own imagination.
Yes, Christians should all unite around Bible Jesus.
But they should never unite around the Jesus
that Joseph Prince is preaching
because it is a different Jesus from that of the Bible.
Let me give you a concrete example
that Joseph Prince isn’t preaching the Jesus of the Bible
but his own warped version of Jesus.
In a sermon, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 15-second video:
“Which means whatever He (Jesus) taught (in the gospels) alright,
is not the, shall we say, the meat;
they were drinking milk.
That’s how you need to see the words of Jesus
in the gospels.”
By saying that the words of Jesus in the gospels are milk, not meat,
Joseph Prince is also saying that what Jesus said;
John 11:25 NIV
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
John 14:6 NIV
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,
words that were mentioned by Jesus in the gospels
before the cross,
are also milk, not meat.
This is outrageous!
You mean the fact that Jesus announced that
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,
in which He declares Himself as the cornerstone of the gospel,
is milk not meat?
Only a heretic who dares to mock God,
would venture to say that.
Joseph Prince is clearly implying
that all that Jesus taught in the gospels
is milk, not meat,
because they are under the Old Covenant.
Has it become obvious to you now
that Joseph Prince is preaching a different Jesus.
If Joseph Prince’s Jesus is a different Jesus of the Bible,
only a fool would respond to his call to unite with him.
5. Joseph Prince’s blatant disrespect for Christian Doctrine – How to unite with him?
Joseph Prince said:
“There’s a lost world out there,
who don’t care a rip about what you believe,
let alone fight each other.
Jesus didn’t say by this correcting one another’s doctrines,
all the world will know you love me.
By this (love for one another),
all men will know you are my disciples.”
In another sermon, Joseph Prince said:
“The Bible never talks about unity of doctrine,
it says the unity of the Spirit.”
Joseph Prince is blatantly lying against the scriptures.
I say again, Prince is lying!
Joseph Prince is effectively
sacrificing truth on the altar of unity and love.
It was Charles Spurgeon who said,
“To pursue union at the expense of truth
is treason to the Lord Jesus.”
Yes indeed; those who have compromised truth
for the sake of a false unity
with false teachers like Joseph Prince,
have indeed committed treason against the Lord.
In ‘The Message of the Sermon on the Mount by John Stott,’
John Stott wrote:
“Other examples of peace-making
are the work of reunion and the work of evangelism,
that is, seeking on the one hand to unite churches
and on the other to bring sinners to Christ.
In both these,
true reconciliation can be degraded into cheap peace.
The visible unity of the church
is a proper Christian quest,
but only if unity is not sought
at the expense of doctrine
Jesus prayed for the oneness of his people.
He also prayed that they might be kept
from evil and in truth.
We have no mandate from Christ
to seek unity without purity,
purity of both doctrine and conduct.
If there is such a thing as ‘cheap reunion’,
there is ‘cheap evangelism’ also,
namely the proclamation of the gospel
without the cost of discipleship,
the demand for faith
without repentance.
These are forbidden short cuts.
They turn the evangelist into a fraud.
They cheapen the gospel
and damage the cause of Christ.”
John Stott has clearly stated that
those who promote unity
at the expense of doctrine;
those who proclaim the gospel
without repentance and the cost of discipleship,
is a fraud.
All of you should know by now that
Joseph Prince preaches a no-repentance gospel
and he teaches against the cost of discipleship,
both of these are the core teachings of Jesus;
and now he is trying to advance his cause of unity
at the expense of truth.
So, according to John Stott,
Joseph Prince is indeed a fraud!
So, how can Joseph Prince, who is a fraud
claim that he is preaching the Jesus of the Bible?
Let me reiterate what John Stott wrote:
“The visible unity of the church
is a proper Christian quest,
but only if unity is not sought
at the expense of doctrine.”
“We have no mandate from Christ
to seek unity without purity,
purity of both doctrine and conduct.”
George would say to Joseph Prince (a bit of Singlish):
“Hey Joe, you preached cheap reunion or cheap unity
and you also preached cheap evangelism or cheap grace
by leaving out the cost of discipleship and repentance
– and according to John Stott you are a fraud.
So, can I unite with a fraud?
Not possible, right? – Think lah, Joe!
What kind of gospel and Jesus are you preaching?
What? Cheap gospel, cheap grace and now cheap unity.
How come you preach everything cheap.
But what you wear on your body in your sermons every Sunday
– Designer clothes, I supposed,
and what you put on your fingers
– I don’t know what they are
are so expensive one?
John MacArthur said:
“I think that it is so important to know this.
In a time like this of tolerance, listen,
false teaching will always cry intolerance.
It will always say you are being divisive,
you are being unloving, you are being ungracious,
because it can only survive
when it doesn’t get scrutinized.
So, it cries against any intolerance.
It cries against any examination, any scrutiny
– just let’s embrace each other;
let’s love each other;
let’s put all that behind us.
False doctrine cries the loudest about unity.
Listen carefully when you hear the cry for unity,
because it may be the cover of false doctrine encroaching.
If ever we should follow 1 Thessalonians 5,
and examine everything carefully,
it’s when somebody is crying
unity, love, and acceptance.”
George Ong’s comments:
Did you get the point of John MacArthur
in the light of what Joseph Prince said
in his sermon 5 days ago, on 10 Sep 2023
regarding his call for unity?
Joseph Prince is calling for unity as a cover-up
to prevent as his grace heresies from being exposed.
In an article, titled,
‘Watch Out for Those Who Lead You Away from the Truth’
by John Piper,
he wrote (only excerpts are featured here);
Romans 16:17-20
I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. Such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (Rom 16:17-20)
… In fact, it would be an even more biblical impulse
if you found yourself thinking,
“I don’t even think you can love people
if you don’t love truth.
How can you do what is ultimately good for people
if you don’t have any strong convictions
about what is ultimately good?”
… I think the period of history we live in
is not an easy time
to be a lover of truth.
The most common criticism,
if you stand for an important truth
and imply by that stand that others should believe it,
is that you are arrogant,
which is the opposite of being loving (1 Corinthians 13:4),
and therefore, you are undermining relationships.
… I want you to see from the Bible
– and feel in your bones
– the importance of being a purity boy
for the sake of being a unity boy.
I want you to see and feel
how out of step this text (Rom 16:17-20) is
with today’s Western culture.
It pictures a way of thinking and living
that most of our fellow Americans
would consider offensive, unloving, fundamentalistic,
and out of date.
It’s mainly a purity text
– a text calling for vigilance
in matters of truth and doctrine.
But it’s not only that.
In a striking way, it is a unity text.
The goal of the vigilance for right teaching
is to avoid Christ-belittling, self-exalting dissension.
So, my hope in preaching from verses 17 and 18
is that you will be freed from any blindness or bondage
to this truth-diminishing period of time in which we live.”
… Let’s read again Romans 16:17-18,
I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.”
… So it is clear from this command
that Paul is concerned about unity.
He wants to promote unity.
Watch out for those who cause divisions.
These are enemies of unity.
Watch out for them.
I don’t want them to have that effect on you.
The second command in verse 17
is to avoid these people.
The last phrase in the verse:
“Avoid them.” Stay away from them.”
“Here Paul says:
Avoid them. Divide from them.
Why?
Because they are promoting doctrine
contrary to what they had been taught.
Now Paul’s response to this could have been:
Well, nobody has all the truth,
and everybody has a piece of it,
and unity is more important than truth,
and so don’t divide.
And we would say:
That impulse would not be all bad, would it?
Unity is a good thing.
Paul cares about it.
His first command is:
“Watch out for those who cause divisions.”
But that is not the way he responded to this situation.
Instead, for the sake of unity
– that is, truth-based unity
– Paul calls for truth-based division.
Avoid them.
I don’t know how Paul could make any clearer
how he relates doctrine and unity.
For Paul, doctrine
is the basis of unity.
Without the common doctrine they had been taught,
the unity would not have been Christian unity.
So, he is willing to call for truth-based disunity
(“Avoid them.” “Divide from them.”)
for the sake of truth-based unity.
In other words,
when a person departs from the doctrine
that the apostles had taught,
Paul sees this as a greater threat to unity
than the disunity caused by avoiding such people.
If we say: How can that be?
How can dividing from a false teacher
who rises up in the church
promote unity in the church?
The answer is that the only unity that counts
for unity in the church
is rooted in a common apostolic teaching.
Isolating false teachers
– avoiding them
– is Paul’s strategy for preserving unity
that is based on true teaching…”
George Ong’s comments:
John Piper’s call is to isolate and avoid false teachers.
I hope the churches, especially in Singapore,
would take heed
to isolate and avoid Joseph Prince
the wolf in sheepskin at all costs.
John Piper is not the only preacher
who calls the church to isolate and avoid false teachers,
Arthur Pink thinks the same way too.
In ‘Sermon on the Mount by Arthur W. Pink,’
Arthur Pink wrote:
“Certain it is, my reader,
that any preacher who rejects God’s Law,
who denies repentance
to be a condition of salvation…
is a false prophet,
and should be shunned as a deadly plague.”
George Ong would say to Joseph Prince:
Arthur Pink advised me to shun you
as a deadly plague
because you reject God’s Law
and preach against repentance
as a condition for salvation
So how, Joseph Prince?
Do I listen to Arthur Pink or you?
Of course, I would listen to Arthur Pink;
so how to unite with you?”
In a sermon, John MacArthur said;
Please click to view the 1-minute video:
“There is a zero-tolerance policy with Jesus
for false teachers.
If someone denies the true meaning of Scripture,
denies the true identity of Christ
and denies the true gospel, (2 Corinthians 6:14)
that is not a tolerable person.
We do not get together with those kind of people
to find out what we hold in common.
We do not elevate them
because even though they disagree with us,
they are religious, and they are spiritual,
and they are good people,
and they are conscious of God
and they believe in one God.
Quite the opposite.
Our Lord indicates here that rather than welcome these people,
we are to flee from them
because as Jude put it that if you get too close too them
your garments will be singed.
You need to be rescued from them.
Jude says like a branch snatched out from the burning.
6. Joseph Prince’s No-Repentance False Gospel – How to unite with him?
Joseph Prince said 5 days ago in the sermon:
“and let’s agree to preach the gospel.
By all means, preach the gospel.”
Joseph Prince is so cleverly deceptive
– he appeals that all of us must preach the gospel.
Do you sense anything amiss with that?
Yes, that’s because he isn’t the true gospel.
He is preaching the no-repentance gospel, the false gospel,
which will be dealt with under this Point No 6.
And he is also preaching the no-discipleship gospel, the false gospel,
which will be dealt with under the next Point No 7.
By now, you ought to be aware
that Joseph Prince preaches a no-repentance gospel,
which is a false gospel.
He teaches that all a person has to do to receive salvation
is just to believe.
In a sermon, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the 45-second video:
“Number one, he (Paul) says,
‘through this man (Jesus Christ) is preached to you
the forgiveness of sins.’ (Acts 13:38)
It’s unqualified, unconditional.
It’s a proclamation of the offer of God
– forgiveness of sins.
And it’s not a matter of like,
whether it’s contingent
on their repentance.
Now, some of us today will go to Paul, back then, and say,
‘Hey Paul, you cannot just say this.
You gotta tell them they gotta to repent,
they got to be really sorrowful in their heart;
and they really must turn around their ways,
they must turn a new leaf,
they must turn around to God.
You cannot just tell them
to you is preached the forgiveness of sins.
How can you just offer them the forgiveness of sins?’”
Joseph Prince said that the forgiveness of sins is unqualified
and not conditional upon our repentance.
But Reinhard Bonnke, David Pawson, Michael Brown
and Zac Poonen totally disagree.
In a sermon, Reinhard Bonnke said;
Please click to view the 15-second video:
“The gospel is not an alternative among others.
It is an ultimatum; it is an ultimatum:
Repent and believe the gospel.”
In a sermon, David Pawson said;
Please click here to view the 50-second video:
“These are deeds of repentance, deeds of faith,
which don’t earn salvation,
but they are necessary part of receiving salvation.
Do you follow me?
Now the preachers of free grace are saying
the only thing you need do is believe.
And that’s something you do inside you.
It’s nothing to do with any action.
And there’s no need for repentance to be saved.
And this teaching is now spreading round the world
from Singapore and from here in America.
No repentance.
You can be saved without repentance.
You can even be saved even without any deeds of faith.
You only need to believe inside and that’s it.”
George Ong’s comments:
David Pawson said that the teaching
that there is no need for repentance to be saved
is spreading from Singapore and America to the world.
Every Pastor (including myself) in Singapore had better repent
for not doing enough to stop the spread of Joseph Prince’s heresies to the world;
some are not even doing anything.
What is worse is some are even criticising those
who contend against Joseph Prince.
In a sermon, Michael Brown said;
Please click to view the 2-minute video:
“Matthew 1:21, He saves us from sin.
So, salvation is salvation from sin.
And that’s why, the first word of the gospel is ‘repent’.
So, what you do is just get a concordance
and you’ll see if you go to Matthew 3, Matthew 4.
You go to Mark 1. You go to Luke 5, go to Luke 13, go to Luke 24.
Go to Acts 2, Acts 3, Acts 5, Acts 11, Acts 17, Acts 20, Acts 26.
These verses off the top of my head;
all of which put repentance first.
And say, ‘Hey do you believe Paul?’
Oh ya, what did Paul say in Acts 16?
‘Believe in the Lord Jesus and you’ll be saved.’
What does he say in Acts 17?
‘God commands everywhere to repent.’
What does Paul say he preach in Acts 20, 21?
He says that he preach that people should repent towards God
and put their faith in Jesus.
What did he preach in Acts 26:20?
What does he tell Agrippa?
He said that I preach that people should repent and turn to God
and prove their repentance by their deeds.
What does Peter say in Acts 2:38?
Repent and be baptised.
Doesn’t even mention ‘believe’.
What does he say in Acts 3:19?
Repent and turn to God and your sins may be blotted out.
What does he say in Acts 5:31?
That God gave repentance
and forgiveness of sins to Israel through Jesus.
So, you have to say it’s two sides of the same coin.
You can’t truly believe without repenting.
You can’t truly repent without believing.
So, just do a little search, you know, whatever software you have.
Put the word ‘repent’ with an asterisk afterwards,
that will get all the ‘repent’, ‘repentance’.
And you’ll see it’s the constant first theme,
it’s what Jesus preaches when He starts His ministry.
Takes the word of John,
‘Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.’
The lack of a repentance message
is one of the great great plagues
in the modern western church,
truth be told.”
In a sermon, Zac Poonen said;
Please here click to view the 1-and-a-half-minute video:
“But today the devil deceives us;
it says here in verse 4, 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 4,
he’s going to deceive you by presenting another Jesus,
and encouraging you to receive another spirit
and to listen to a different gospel.
And that is happening today.
What is the other gospel that is being preached today?
The true gospel you can receive
only by repentance and faith; remember these two things.
Acts chapter 20 and verse 21,
he (Paul) says to the whole world,
whether it is to the Jews or the non-Jews,
the rest of the world, he has only one message:
repentance and faith.
Repentance means 180 degree turn around.
So what is the other gospel
that is being preached now:
Faith, faith, faith, faith, faith, faith;
repentance is missing.
That’s not a small error.
That is the other gospel.
I want to ask all of you when you heard the gospel,
did you hear that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
receive Him and you will go to heaven?
That’s half the gospel.
Another gospel which is being preached plenty today
is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; sounds very nice,
but it’s not the full gospel; it’s half the gospel.
And many are deceived by it.
In CFC we preach the full gospel, repent and believe.”
In an evangelistic sermon, Billy Graham said:
“And this is certainly true
in some parts of our country,
where people go to church in great numbers,
but during the week,
they’re not living a daily life with Christ.
But, you know, Jesus never compromised.
He doesn’t offer a cheap grace or a cheap salvation.
When you come to Christ,
you must be willing to repent of sin
and receive Him in your heart.”
George Ong’s comments:
Billy Graham is strongly implying
that one who offers a no-repentance gospel
is the same person
who offers a cheap grace or a cheap salvation.
Friends, this is what Joseph Prince is offering
– cheap grace because there is no need for anyone
who come to Christ to repent.
JI Packer said;
“There are ministers
who never speak of repentance or self-denial.
Naturally they are popular,
but they are false prophets.”
George Ong’s comments:
If JI Packer said that such a preacher is a false prophet,
then Joseph Prince
who is guilty of not preaching repentance and self-denial,
has got to be one.
In ‘The Collected Works of D. L. Moody,’
DL Moody wrote:
“If you do not repent of your sins
and ask Him for mercy,
there is no hope for you.
Let me ask you to take this question home to yourself.
If a summons would come at midnight
for you to be “weighed in the balances,”
what would become of your soul?
… If we had to live forever with our sins
in the handwriting of God on the wall,
it would be hell on earth.
But thank God for the Gospel we preach!
If we repent,
our sins will all be blotted out.”
In ‘The Collected Works of D. L. Moody,’
DL Moody wrote:
“A man is not prepared
to believe or to receive the Gospel,
unless he is ready to repent of his sins
and turn from them.”
In ‘The Collected Works of D. L. Moody,’
DL Moody wrote:
“No unrepentant sinner will ever get into Heaven,
unless they forsake their sin they cannot enter there.
The law of God is very plain on this point:
“Except a man repent.”
In ‘Daily Fire Devotional,’
Reinhard Bonkke wrote:
“Instead, you must repent and believe!
Being saved is not a casual experience,
something that you would hardly notice.
When you repent and believe,
and come to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
He receives you
and you are cleansed in His precious blood!”
In ‘Daily Fire Devotional,’
Reinhard Bonkke wrote:
“When Peter preached in that first Pentecostal meeting,
he saw something that had never been seen on earth before.
Something happened on that day that neither Elijah,
nor Isaiah, nor Jeremiah ever saw
—three thousand people
repenting, and being saved…
Peter saw what nobody on earth had ever seen before:
three thousand people in one day
turning in repentance
and being born again by the Holy Spirit…
The key is that after repentance and faith,
you believe the Word of God,
otherwise, you can never even start
being sure of your salvation.
… If you are ready to come to the cross for the help that you need,
there are two steps that you need to take now.
These steps are called “repent” and “believe.”
As Jesus said:
“Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15)…
Repentance means that you turn away from your sin,
and toward God.”
In ‘The John Calvin Collection, 12 Classic Works,’
John Calvin wrote:
“Before forgiveness
comes repentance…
We believe and are assured that God does not desire the death of sinners,
because he calls all equally to repentance and promises
that if they only repent
he will be ready to receive them.”
In ‘JI Packer Library,
JI Packer wrote:
“… I preached that they should repent
and turn to God
and prove their repentance by their deeds” – Acts 26:20
… The call to repent
was the first and fundamental summons
in the preaching of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:2),
Jesus (Matthew 4:17),
the Twelve (Mark 6:12),
Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2:38),
Paul to the Gentiles (Acts 17:30; 26:20),
and the glorified Christ
to five of the seven churches in Asia
(Revelation 2:5, 16, 22; 3:3, 19).
It was part of Jesus’ summary of the gospel
that was to be taken to the world (Luke 24:47).
It corresponds to the constant summons
of the Old Testament prophets to Israel
to return to the God
from whom they had strayed
(e.g., Jeremiah 23:22; 25:4-5; Zechariah 1:3-6).
Repentance is always set forth
as the path to remission of sins
and restoration to God’s favor,
impenitence as the road to ruin (e.g., Luke 13:1- 8).
Repentance is a fruit of faith,
which is itself a fruit of regeneration.
But in actual life,
repentance is inseparable from faith,
being the negative aspect
(faith is the positive aspect)
of turning to Christ as Lord and Savior.
The idea that there can be saving faith
without repentance…
is a destructive delusion.
… To refuse this
is to seek justification
through an impenitent faith,
which is no faith.”
In ‘JI Packer Library,
JI Packer wrote:
“But nonexistence of remorse
makes repentance impossible,
and nonexistence of repentance
makes forgiveness impossible.”
In ‘JI Packer Library,
JI Packer wrote:
“The people of God with the authority of Christ
may and must tell the world
that everyone who repents and trusts the Saviour
will have his sins forgiven,
and that until they do,
there is no forgiveness for them.
As counsellors and helpers,
It’s the privilege of all Christians
to say to people
who are genuinely repentant and genuinely
believe in Jesus:
“I tell you that for Christ’s sake your sins are forgiven.”
On the other hand, we may have to tell others
that since they have not yet repented,
their sins are retained.
It is the Spirit who gives us the discernment to do this,
as he did to Peter (see Acts 8:18-24),
along with giving us the authority for doing it.” [56]
… When Peter, preaching at Pentecost,
told the Jews that the man they murdered was risen and reigning,
many were flabbergasted and asked what they ought to do.
“Repent,” said Peter,
“and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38).
In ‘JI Packer Library,
JI Packer wrote:
“Conversion, we see, means commitment to God
in response to mercy from God,
and consists of repentance and faith.
In Scripture, these two overlap.
Repentance is not just regretful remorse,
but a total about-turn
in one’s thoughts, aims, and acts,
so that one leaves the paths of self-willed disobedience
to serve God in faith and faithfulness.
… What is crucial, however,
is that the marks of conversion
– faith and repentance
as principles of daily living
– should be found in us;
otherwise, we cannot be judged Christians at all,
whatever experiences we may claim.
Thus, the converted life-style
is more significant than any conversion experience.”
In ‘Knowing God by JI Packer,’
JI Packer wrote:
“So we need the forgiveness of our sins,
and assurance of a restored relationship with God,
more than we need anything else in the world;
and this the gospel offers us before it offers us anything else.
“The first gospel sermons to be preached,
those recorded in Acts,
lead up to the promise of forgiveness of sins
to all who repent and receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord
(see Acts 2:38; 3:19; 10:43; 13:38-39; compare 5:31; 17:30-31; 20:21; 22:16; 26:18; Lk 24:47).
… That the apostolic writers present the death of Christ
as the ground and warrant of God’s offer of forgiveness,
and that we enter into forgiveness
through repentance and faith in Christ,
will not be disputed.”
In ‘JI Packer Library,
JI Packer wrote:
“Repentance is thus a character quality
of the regenerate…”
The gospel of Christ, as the Puritans understood it,
specifies that faith must express itself
in a life of continual contrition, confession, and conversion.
Without these habits of the heart
there is no genuine repentance,
and where there is no genuine repentance
there is no genuine faith either.
… That conviction, contrition, and confession,
are not necessary to repentance,
as the antinomians teach.…”
In ‘JI Packer Library,
JI Packer wrote:
“So much for faith; what, now, of repentance?
The New Testament links repentance with faith
as a second aspect of the response
for which the gospel calls,
and the Puritans did the same.
In the Westminster Confession, Chapter XIV, ‘Of Saving Faith’,
is followed by Chapter XV, ‘Of Repentance unto Life’.
… Repentance, the Confession continues,
‘is of such necessity to all sinners,
that none may expect pardon without it’,
and ‘it is every man’s duty to endeavour
to repent of his particular sins, particularly.’
In ‘Sermon on the Mount by Arthur W. Pink,’
Arthur Pink wrote:
“Many who sit under antinomian preaching
are led to believe that God is willing to save sinners
without them forsaking their idols,
throwing down the weapons of their warfare against Him;
without repentance.”
In ‘What Jesus Demands from the World,’
John Piper wrote:
“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” – Matt. 4:17
I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. – Luke 5:32
The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. – Matt. 12:41
Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. – Luke 13:3, 5
The first demand of Jesus’ public ministry
was, “Repent.”
… All need repentance.
And the need is urgent.
Jesus said,
“Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
What did he mean by perish?
He meant that the final judgment of God
will fall on those who don’t repent.
“The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here” (Matt. 12:41).
Jesus, the Son of God, is warning people of the judgment to come
and is offering escape if we will repent.
If we will not repent, Jesus has one message for us:
“Woe to you” (Matt. 11:21).
This is why his demand for repentance
is part of his central message
concerning the kingdom of God.
He preached that the long-awaited kingdom of God
is present in his ministry.
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
The gospel – the good news – is that the rule of God has arrived in Jesus to save sinners
before the kingdom arrives at his second coming in judgment.
So, the demand to repent
is based on the gracious offer
that is present to forgive
and on the gracious warning
that someday those who refuse the offer
will perish in God’s judgment.
To All Nations Beginning from Jerusalem
After he had risen from the dead,
Jesus made sure that his apostles
would continue the call for repentance throughout the world.
He said,
“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46-47).
So, the demand of Jesus to repent
goes to all the nations.
It comes to us, whoever we are and wherever we are,
and lays claim on us.
This is the demand of Jesus to every soul:
Repent.
Be changed deep within.
Replace all God-dishonoring, Christ-belittling perceptions
and dispositions and purposes
with God-treasuring, Christ-exalting ones.”
In ‘An Exposition of Hebrews, Faithful Classic, by A. W. Pink,’
Arthur Pink wrote:
“Repentance precedes faith (Mark 1:15; Acts 20:21):
and repentance is a sorrowing over sin,
a hatred of sin, and a turning from sin;
and where there is no genuine repentance,
there can be no “remission of sins”: Mark 1:4…
The Lord Jesus declared,
“Except ye repent,
ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3);
therefore, if a sinner, does not “repent,”
he will not be saved.”
In ‘The Acts of the Apostles, A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary,’
Ben Witherington III wrote:
“Peter’s speech is not just an attempt
to defend the experience of his fellow disciples,
but a call to Jewish repentance,
especially of course to those Jews most directly responsible for Jesus’ death.
As C. A. Evans says,
this call to Jews for repentance for the forgiveness of sins
is an important repeated theme in Acts (cf. 3:19; 10:43; 11:18; 17:30; 26:18, 20).”
In ‘The Complete Works of John Wesley, Volume 1, Journals 1735-1745, by John Wesley,’
John Wesley wrote:
“In the evening I was interrupted at Nicholas-Street,
almost as soon as I had begun to speak,
by the cries of one who was “pricked at the heart,”
and strongly groaned for pardon and peace.
Yet I went on to declare what God had already done,
in proof of that important truth,
that he is “not willing any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance.”
“Sun. 12. – I was desired to preach in an open place,
commonly called the Great Gardens,
lying between Whitechapel and Coverlet-Fields,
where I found a vast multitude gathered together.
Taking knowledge that a great part of them
were little acquainted with the things of God,
I called upon them in the words of our Lord,
“Repent ye; and believe the Gospel.”
“Fri. 9. – I rode in quest of St. Hilary-Downs,
ten or twelve miles southeast of St. Ives.
And the Downs I found, but no congregation,
– neither man, woman, nor child.
But by that I had put on my gown and cassock,
about an hundred gathered themselves together,
whom I earnestly called
“to repent and believe the Gospel.”
And if but one heard, it was worth all the labor.”
In ‘The Complete Works of John Wesley, Volume 12, Letters by John Wesley,’
John Wesley wrote:
“Agreeably to those ancient records, by “Christian” or “justifying faith”
I always meant,
faith preceded by repentance,
and accompanied or followed by obedience.
So I always preached; so I spoke and wrote.”
In ‘The Works of John Wesley, Volume 6, First Series of Sermons (40-53), Second Series Begun (54-86), by John Wesley,’
John Wesley said:
“But does not God command us to repent also?
Yea, and to ‘bring forth fruits meet for repentance?’
— to cease, for instance, from doing evil; and learn to do well?
And is not both the one and the other of the utmost necessity,
insomuch that if we willingly neglect either,
we cannot reasonably expect to be justified at all?
… God does undoubtedly command us both
to repent, and to bring forth fruits meet for repentance;
which if we willingly neglect,
we cannot reasonably expect to he justified at all:
Therefore, both repentance, and fruits meet for repentance,
are, in some sense, necessary to justification
In ‘Faith And Repentance Inseparable, sermon delivered on July 13, 1862 by Charles Spurgeon,’
Charles Spurgeon wrote:
“Repent ye” is as much a command of God
as “Thou shalt not steal.”
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ”
has as fully a divine authority
as “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
with all thy soul, with all thy strength.”
Think not, O men, that the gospel is a thing
left to your option to choose it or not!
… God commands you to repent.
The same God before whom Sinai was moved
and was altogether on a smoke…
that same God who proclaimed the law
with sound of trumpet, with lightnings and with thunders,
speaketh to us more gently,
but still as divinely, through his only begotten Son,
when he saith to us,
“Repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
… While the gospel is a command,
it is a two-fold command explaining itself.
“Repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
In ‘Faith And Repentance Inseparable, sermon delivered on July 13, 1862 by Charles Spurgeon,’
Charles Spurgeon said:
“I know some very excellent brethren…
would God there were more like them in zeal and love…
who, in their zeal to preach up simple faith in Christ
have felt a little difficulty
about the matter of repentance;
and I have known some of them
who have tried to get over the difficulty
by softening down the apparent hardness
of the word repentance,
by expounding it according
to its more usual Greek equivalent,
a word which occurs in the original of my text,
and signifies “to change one’s mind.”
Apparently, they interpret repentance
to be a somewhat slighter thing
than we usually conceive it to be,
a mere change of mind, in fact.
Now, allow me to suggest to those dear brethren,
that the Holy Ghost never preaches repentance as a trifle;
and the change of mind
or understanding of which the gospel speaks
is a very deep and solemn work,
and must not on any account be depreciated.
Moreover, there is another word
which is also used in the original Greek for repentance,
not so often I admit,
but still it is used,
which signifies “an after-care,”
a word which has in it something more of sorrow and anxiety,
than that which signifies changing one’s mind.
There must be sorrow for sin and hatred of it
in true repentance,
or else I have read my Bible to little purpose.
In very truth, I think there is no necessity
for any other definition
than that of the children’s hymn:
“Repentance is to leave
The sins we loved before,
And show that we in earnest grieve,
By doing so no more.”
To repent does mean a change of mind;
but then it is a thorough change of the understanding
and all that is in the mind,
so that it includes an illumination,
an illumination of the Holy Spirit;
and I think it includes
a discovery of iniquity and a hatred of it,
without which there can hardly
be a genuine repentance.
We must not, I think, undervalue repentance.
It is a blessed grace of God the Holy Spirit,
and it is absolutely necessary unto salvation.
George Ong’s comments:
Charles Spurgeon said:
“We must not, I think, undervalue repentance.
It is a blessed grace of God the Holy Spirit,
and it is absolutely necessary unto salvation.”
If Charles Spurgeon said that repentance
is absolutely necessary for salvation.
This means Joseph Prince’s doctrine of a no-repentance gospel
does not bring about salvation.
In ‘Understanding the Bible by John R. W. Stott,’
John Stott wrote:
“First, he preached.
Mark says that the topic of his preaching was
“the gospel of God,” summarized in these words:
The time has come… The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news! (Mark 1:14–15)
This divine kingdom was the personal reign of God in the lives of men,
and he (Jesus) had come to inaugurate it.
Its arrival was in fulfillment of Old Testament expectation,
and in order to “receive,” “enter” or “inherit”
the kingdom men must repent and believe,
humbly accepting its privileges
and submitting to its demands like little children.”
In ‘Understanding the Bible by John R. W. Stott,’
John Stott wrote:
“Therefore, let them repent of their sins,
believe in the name of Jesus Christ and be baptized,
for then they will receive the blessing promised to Abraham’s seed,
namely the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Spirit.”
In ‘Christ in Conflict: Lessons from Jesus and His Controversies,’
John Stott wrote:
“In a word, both men were sinners, deserving judgment.
But only one admitted it and called on God to have mercy on him.
This is why Jesus had to say to the Pharisees,
“Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes
are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you” (Matthew 21:31).
Not because they were tax collectors and prostitutes
(sin in itself gives no one the right to enter God’s kingdom),
but because they humbled themselves
by recognizing their sin