Joseph Prince’s Only-Believe & No-Repentance Half-Gospel Will Send You to Hell! – By Rev George Ong (Dated 26 Oct 2021)
(This article was also sent to Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian, General Secretary, NCCS office, and for the attention of the Executive Committee Members.)
In a weekly sermon on 24 October 2021, last Sunday, 2 days ago, Joseph Prince said the following: please click to view the one-minute video.
“And Peter will tell you words by which you and your household will be saved. So sure enough, Peter came and Peter preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. And Peter came to the point where he says, “To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:43 ESV) While he spoke these words; you see the Holy Spirit loves it when we preach that through Jesus you receive forgiveness of sins. Today, we have added all kinds of qualifications to sinners. We have made difficult for them to be saved. And then for anyone who preach the same thing, just a matter of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ like Peter did, we will come to them and say “You know what, you are making the Bible so simple, or you are making the gospel, we believe that this is a greasy grace and sloppy agape.” No, friend, don’t malign the beauty and the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Joseph Prince claims that the gospel is one of just-believe without the requirement to repent. This teaching can also be found in many of Joseph Prince’s videos.
Joseph Prince said the same thing in a weekly Sunday sermon on 6 June 2021 that Paul only mentioned about believing and he didn’t mention about repenting before one could be forgiven of his sins. But Paul did mention about repenting. Joseph Prince is lying through his teeth against Paul. I’ve already covered this in a previous article, “Joseph Prince’s No-Repentance Gospel Will Make You Perish!” Please click to view.
In this latest video on 24 October 2021, last Sunday, 2 days ago, Joseph Prince talked about the same issue again. Prince claimed that in Acts 10:43, Peter mentioned that the requirement for sins to be forgiven is only believing, meaning repenting isn’t required at all. The truth is Peter did not just mention about believing to be saved but he also taught in other passages in Acts that there is a need to repent before one can be forgiven of his sins.
Yes, Peter did mention that one must believe in Christ before one can be forgiven of his sins as Joseph Prince had quoted in Acts 10:43:
Acts 10:43 ESV
43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
But Peter also mentioned that one must repent before he can be forgiven of his sins in Acts 2:38 and Acts 3:19:
Acts 2:38 NIV
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 3:19 NIV
19 (Peter said) Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
Do you know what’s happening? It is the half-truth deceptive ploy of Joseph Prince at play again! Joseph Prince is showing you one half of the truth in Acts 10:43, while hiding from you the other half of it in Acts 2:38 and Acts 3:19.
“A half-truth is more dangerous than a whole lie because it gives the impression to people that they are seeing the whole truth, when they are only seeing half of it.” (George Ong)
“The best way to tell a lie that goes unnoticed is not to tell what is false but to hide what is true – that is the craftiest strategy of Joseph Prince that has deceived the millions.” (George Ong)
Joseph Prince is again cherry-picking verse/s such as Acts 10:43 to support his Grace Doctrine but he deliberately hides from you other verses such as Acts 2:38 and Acts 3:19 that contradict his teaching to keep you deceived.
In fact, Joseph Prince is lying against Peter when he stated that Peter only mentioned about believing for the forgiveness of sins. The fact is Peter didn’t preach the gospel of just believe and without repenting. On the contrary, Peter preached the gospel that requires one to believe in Acts 10:43 and repent in Acts 2:38 and Acts 3:19 before one’s sins can be forgiven.
Every Bible teacher worth his salt ought to be aware that to arrive at a sound theology of salvation, all 3 verses: Acts 10:43, Acts 2:28 and Acts 3:19 must be taken into account. This is hermeneutics 101.
If Joseph Prince can take Acts 10:43 alone to teach an only-believe without-repenting gospel, can I also just take Acts 2:28 and Acts 3:19 and preach a just-repenting without the need to believe gospel? This would lead us straight into heresy. A gospel of only-believing or only-repenting is a false gospel that can never save. Can you see the doctrinal mess we can get into if we adopt Joseph Prince’s deceptive approach to Bible interpretation?
Joseph Prince is preaching a half-truth, a half-gospel of only believing without repenting. A half gospel is a false gospel. A false gospel can never bring about the forgiveness of sins and save you from hell.
What about Jesus? Yes, Jesus stated many times in the gospels that one needs to believe and have faith in Him to obtain salvation. Yet, Jesus also stated that without repentance, there is no forgiveness of sins.
Jesus commanded that repentance be preached throughout the world as part of the Great Commission,
“… and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all Nations…” (Lk 24:47 NIV)
Jesus also commanded sinners to
“… Repent, and believe in the gospel.” (Mk 1:15 NKJV)
So Jesus preaches the gospel that involves both repentance and believing or faith. And there is never any doubt that Peter and Jesus preach the full gospel that includes both believing and repenting.
Here comes Joseph Prince, who not only dares to preach against the Apostle Peter with his only-believe gospel, but also against Jesus, who is God Himself!
Joseph Prince’s only-believe and no-repentance gospel not only contradicts Peter and Jesus but also that of the Reformation and Puritan Fathers.
John Calvin has something to say about the crucial role of repentance in gospel preaching,
“With good reason, the sum of the gospel is held to consist in repentance and the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47; Acts 5:31). Any discussion of faith, therefore, that omitted these two topics would be barren and mutilated and well – nigh useless…Surely no one can embrace the grace of the gospel without betaking himself from the errors of his past life into the right way, and applying his whole effort to the practice of repentance. Can true repentance stand apart from faith? Not at all. But even though they cannot be separated, they ought to be distinguished” (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion. Found in The Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), Volume XIX, Book III, Chapters 1, 5, pp. 592-593, 597).
The Westminster Confession emphasized the importance of preaching repentance as well as faith,
“Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace, the doctrine whereof is to be preached by every minister of the gospel, as well as that of faith in Christ.” (The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XV, Sections I and II. Cited in A.A. Hodge, The Confession of Faith (Edinburgh: Banner, 1958), p. 210).
The seventeenth century puritan, Thomas Watson, said,
“Repentance is of such importance that there is no being saved without it…It is a great duty incumbent upon Christians solemnly to repent and turn unto God…That religion which is not built upon this foundation must needs fall to the ground. Repentance is a grace required under the gospel. Some think it legal; but the first sermon that Christ preached, indeed, the first word of his sermon, was ‘Repent’ (Matt. 4.17). And his farewell that he left when he was going to ascend was that ‘repentance should be preached in his name’ (Luke 2.47)…Repentance is not arbitrary. It is not left to our choice whether or not we will repent, but it is an indispensable command. God has enacted a law in the High Court of heaven that no sinner shall be saved except the repenting sinner, and he will not break his own law.” (Thomas Watson, The Doctrine of Repentance (Edinburgh: Banner, 1987), pp. 12–13, 59, 77).
Charles Hodge, a well-known Presbyterian theologian and principal of Princeton Theological Seminary between 1851 and 1878, wrote,
Hence it is that repentance is the burden of evangelical preaching…Repentance…is the great, immediate, and pressing duty of all who hear the gospel. They are called upon to forsake their sins, and return unto God through Jesus Christ. The neglect of this duty is the rejection of salvation. For, as we have seen, unless we repent we must perish…Though repentance is a duty, it is no less the gift of God (Charles Hodge, The Way of Life (Edinburgh: Banner, 1959), pp. 153, 166-169.)
John Stott, a renowned Bible Teacher and Commentator, who is well-respected across denominations, categorically stated the indispensable role of repentance in receiving eternal salvation,
First, there must be a renunciation of sin. This, in a word, is repentance. It is the first part of Christian conversion. It can in no circumstances be bypassed. Repentance and faith belong together. We cannot follow Christ without forsaking sin. Repentance is a definite turn from every thought, word, deed and habit which is known to be wrong. (John R. W. Stott, Basic Christianity, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1999), 109-110).
Hence, both the Reformation Fathers and the Puritan Fathers, and well-respected Bible theologians such as Charles Hodge and John Stott, have all held the same high view of repentance in the preaching of the gospel.
A gospel that does not include the preaching of repentance does not save. Though repentance, in and of itself, does not save, a seeker of the gospel cannot be saved without it. Before one can turn to Christ in faith, he must turn from sin in repentance.
To just uphold the role of believing or faith, but to deny the necessity of repentance, is to repudiate the gospel. This is what Joseph Prince does as Prince preaches an only-believe without repentance gospel. Such a gospel, according to the Apostolic Church, the Reformation, the Puritan and the Contemporary Church Fathers is one that cannot save.
Furthermore, Jesus Himself taught that repentance is absolutely necessary for salvation:
Luke 13:3,5 NIV
3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Jesus categorically said it twice because it is that important: “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Based on what Jesus said, Joseph Prince’s only-believe and no-repentance gospel will make people perish.
Has it soberly dawned on you how many of the 34,000 people in New Creation Church (Joseph Prince’s church) and millions around the world who have bought into Joseph Prince’s half-gospel, of an only-believe without repentance gospel, will perish on the day of judgement?
Given this fact alone – that Joseph Prince’s heresy of an only-believe and a no-repentance gospel will lead the multitudes to hell, the Executive Committee Members of the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) have no more excuse not to move against Joseph Prince!
Not only is Joseph Prince teaching against our Church Fathers, and the Apostle Peter on the crucial issue of repentance for salvation, but more crucially, he is also teaching against the scriptures and the Lord Jesus Himself.
How can one who teaches against the Lord Jesus, who is God, Himself, on a crucial issue of salvation not be a heretic?
How can one who preaches an only-believe and no-repentance false gospel that leads people to perish in hell not be a heretic?
Christians, especially in Singapore, must press for an explanation from the Executive Committee Members of the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) – how can a heretic, such as Joseph Prince, who preaches the false gospel that dooms people to perish in hell, still be part of NCCS?