Controversies Surrounding The Gospel Of Grace
Have you ever wondered why the moment you say the word “grace”, (let’s not even talk about the abundance of grace yet), people’s defenses go up?
You will hear people saying, “Oh… be careful of that grace preacher. I hear that he’s coming to town,” or “You have to be careful now, too much grace is not good for you. It must be balanced with the law.” Have you wondered where all these fears and apprehensions come from?
Think of all the Indiana Jones movies that you have watched. Before the hero Indy can lay hold of any priceless relic, he must overcome the obstacles and traps surrounding the prized artifact. Fiery darts whiz by on his left. Poison arrows fly toward him from the right. Hidden pits filled with jagged spears lie in front of him and giant boulders hurtle down from above. So many obstacles have been erected simply because there is a treasure at the end.
The moment you learn to receive grace, you will start to reign in life!
For the same reason, the devil has erected so many obstacles and fences around the gospel of grace. He is well aware that the moment you learn to receive grace, you will start to reign in life! The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. He wants to see you broke and broken. He does not want to see you reigning in life. So he has been working hard to prevent believers from receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness.
Controversies — The Devil’s Strategy
The devil’s strategy is to surround the truths of God with controversies. To prevent God’s people from benefiting from the fullness of God’s promises, he erects controversies as fences around these truths. You can always tell how powerful a truth is by the number of controversies the devil surrounds it with! The Word of God reminds us not to be ignorant of the devil’s devices. When Jesus died on the cross, the serpent’s head was crushed. God gave the devil a PHD — permanent head damage! So you will find that the devil’s strategies are always lacking in creativity — what he has done in the past, he is still doing now.
For example, when God was restoring the truth of healing to the body of Christ, the devil put up a signpost that said, “Heresy!” For many years, the church looked at this signpost and backed off, saying, “Oh, that’s heresy. That’s dangerous and controversial. Let’s forget about talking about healing in the church.”
Instead of studying the Word of God to see what God Himself says about healing, the church backed off! It didn’t matter that when Jesus walked on the earth, more than two thirds of His ministry involved healing the sick. He went about healing the sick and all who touched Him were healed. The Bible records that “the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all”.
I wish that somebody in Hollywood would produce the scene that took place in Luke 6:19. (Mel Gibson, are you reading this?) All who were sick, lame and blind came to Jesus, and bam! The healing virtue of Jesus was powerfully released as all who touched Him were healed! That’s a powerful image to have in your mind whenever you are believing God for healing!
The world doesn’t have the truth. They package fiction and present it as truth. They present creatures from outer space and make you believe that aliens are real! On the flip side, we believers have the truth, but we present and package the truth as if it was fiction. Come on! Believers, we have the truth. Let’s proclaim the truth of the gospel of Jesus with boldness! Only the truth of Jesus’ grace and power has the anointing to liberate and set people free. I believe with all my heart that God is raising up a new generation of directors, producers and scriptwriters worldwide who will present the truth of the gospel of Jesus in all its purity and power.
Now, when God was restoring the truth of prosperity to the church, signposts were again put up, calling it heresy. For many years, the church backed away from the teaching of prosperity because it was controversial. Again, it didn’t matter that the Bible declared that Jesus Christ became poor on the cross, that we through His poverty might be prosperous.3 The church backed off, saying, “Let’s forget about it. It’s too controversial.”
I don’t understand why some believers would fight for the right to be sick and poor.
Would you as a parent want your children to be diseased and living in abject poverty?
Why do you take your children to the doctor when they are unwell?
Why do you give them the best education you can afford?
Isn’t it because you want your children to be blessed, healthy and to have a prosperous future? Do you think that your heavenly Father would want anything less for you? Do you seriously think that your heavenly Father will bless you with a meager hand when the streets of heaven are made of pure gold? Listen carefully: The streets of heaven are not plated with gold. They are made of solid gold! Think about this for a moment. If you on earth know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your Father in heaven!
Recognize that the devil has been using controversy as a device down through church history to prevent believers from having access to the most powerful truths of God. He built fences of controversy around healing, prosperity and grace to keep believers from reigning over sickness, poverty and sin. The more controversies you find around a truth of God, the more powerful that truth must be.
Pay close attention to what I am saying. Not all controversies are based on the truth of God’s Word. We have to test everything against what the Bible says. Nevertheless, controversy is a tool that the devil uses to prevent God’s people from accessing His truths. He is a crafty liar and deceitful thief, so we have to base what we believe on the Word of God and test everything against the Scriptures. Don’t back down from grace just because you have
heard that it is controversial. Study the Word of God yourself and see what it has to say about grace!
Deserved Versus Undeserved Favor
“Oh, so you are one of those ‘prosperity gospel’ preachers!”
My friend, there is no such thing as a “prosperity gospel”. There is only one gospel in the Bible and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, when you believe the gospel of Jesus, which is based entirely on His grace, it will result in health and prosperity. In fact, the gospel of Jesus Christ leads to blessings, success, healing, restoration, protection, financial breakthroughs, security, peace, wholeness and MUCH MORE!
God blesses you not because you are good, but because He is good.
God blesses you not because you are good, but because He is good. Grace is based on His faithfulness and goodness toward you. It is not contingent on your performance, but is based on His undeserved favor. If it were contingent on how good you are, then it would no longer be based on grace, and would instead be based on the system of the law. It would be deserved favor. This is the difference between the old covenant of law and the new covenant of grace:
Law is deserved favor — When you obey the commandments perfectly, you will be blessed.
Grace is undeserved favor — Jesus obeyed God perfectly, and you will be blessed by believing in Him.
My friend, which covenant are you under today? The old covenant of law or the new covenant of grace? Deserved favor or undeserved favor? If being blessed by God today is dependent on your doing, your ability to keep the law and your ability to make yourself righteous, then there would be no difference between being under the old covenant of law and being under the new covenant of grace. The good news would not be that good after all, since there is no real difference between the old and the new. Come on, my friend, God found fault with the old covenant5, and for a good reason!
Fences Around The Abundance Of Grace
A good friend of mine who’s a fellow minister once suggested to the dean of a reputable Bible school that “grace” be incorporated into the school’s curriculum. The dean replied, “You have to be careful when it comes to grace.” This apprehension toward grace is prevalent in many Christian circles. The moment they hear “grace”, they go on high alert!
I told my minister friend that I actually do not agree that grace should be a topic in a Bible school’s curriculum. Grace is not a topic — grace is the gospel. It is the good news! The word “gospel” simply means “good news”. Grace is not a theology. It is not a subject matter. It is not a doctrine. It is a person, and His name is Jesus. That’s the reason the Lord wants you to receive the abundance of grace, for to have the abundance of grace is to have the abundance of Jesus!
“How can you say that grace is a person and that person is Jesus Himself?”
Excellent question! Let’s look at what the Word of God says about this:
"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:17, KJV )
Notice that the law was given, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The law was given, implying a sense of distance, but grace came! Grace came as a person and His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the personification of grace. Jesus is grace! It is important that you begin to realize that truth is on the side of grace, and not on the side of the law. The Word of God declares that if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. Well, my friend, grace is the (definite article) truth that will set you free, not the law of Moses. The law is on the side of Moses, but grace and truth are on the same side as our Savior. Yet, there are people today holding on to the law of Moses and preaching it as if it is the “truth” that liberates. My friend, the grace of God is the only truth that liberates. Truth is on the side of grace!
If the devil can keep you under the law, he can keep you defeated.
You never hear, “Oh, be careful of the Ten Commandments,” or “Be careful of that law preacher. I hear that he is coming to town.” Why is there no controversy about the Ten Commandments? This is because the devil wants you to be subject to the law. He doesn’t want you to know that Jesus has liberated you from the law. If he can keep you under the law, he can keep you defeated.
Interestingly, people are afraid that when you tell a believer that he is completely forgiven by grace, and no longer has to earn his right standing before the Lord via the law of Moses, it would cause him to go out and live a life of sin and debauchery. However, the Bible is very clear that the “strength of sin is the law”6. It is not grace that gives people the strength to sin. It is the law! The more you are under the law, the more sin is strengthened! Conversely, the more you are under grace, the more sin will be depleted of its strength.
In fact, the Bible declares that “sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace”. Now, don’t just gloss over this powerful revelation. Read the verse again. It is from Romans 6:14 — “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” This means that the more grace you receive, the more power you have to overcome sin. In other words, sin shall not have dominion over you when you receive the abundance of grace!
Unfortunately, there are well-meaning people today who are preaching a completely different message. They preach that sin shall not have dominion over you when you are under the law. So when they see sin, they preach more of the law! That, my friend, is like adding wood to fire because the strength of sin is the law. Sin is strengthened when more law is preached! But the power to have dominion over sin is imparted when more grace is preached! So who is the one who switched the roles? Will the real gospel please stand up? The devil has pulled the wool over the eyes of God’s sheep! It is time to preach the truth. It is time to remove the wool from our eyes and break down the fences surrounding the gospel of grace!
Fences Around The Gift Of Righteousness
The devil has also succeeded in erecting fences around the gift of righteousness. Today, conventional theology teaches you that not only is there such a thing as “positional righteousness”, there is also something known as “practical righteousness”. They are saying that even though you were made righteous by grace, you now have to do right and keep the law to continue being righteous. They call this having “practical righteousness”.
My friend, this is something that Apostle Paul never taught! There is only one righteousness in Christ Jesus. Let’s see what Paul says about those who are ignorant of this righteousness. He said, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness [that’s what some people term ‘positional righteousness’], and seeking to establish their own righteousness [now that would be what they call ‘practical righteousness’], have not submitted to the righteousness of God.”7 So it is clear that Paul is against any teaching that says that you have to earn and merit your own righteousness. You are either righteous or you are not. There is no such thing as first having “positional righteousness” and then having to maintain that through “practical righteousness”. You are the righteousness of God in Christ, period!
Notice that the strategy here is to deceive the believer into believing that righteousness is something that you need to achieve by keeping the law perfectly. It all sounds very good to the flesh, but if that is so, then the promise of the gift of righteousness is completely thrown out of the window. The devil is very crafty. He has no problem with righteousness, but he wants to deceive you into pursuing your own righteousness
through the law. He wants you to depend on your own self-righteousness, so he throws out the little word “gift” from the phrase “gift of righteousness”. Then, he gives you a false impression that you are responsible for earning your own righteousness through your own works and self-efforts, instead of depending on the finished work of Jesus.
You are the righteousness of God in Christ, period!
There are many believers who are very sincere about keeping the law and earning their own righteousness, but I’m sorry to say this: They are sincerely wrong. God’s way is by grace. Righteousness cannot be earned by good works. It can only come as a gift. A gift is no longer a gift if you have to work for it.
For example, if I gave you a brand new dazzling red Ferrari on the condition that you pay me US$20,000 every month for the rest of your life, is the Ferrari really a gift? Of course not! How can it be a gift if you have to pay or work for it? That is double-talk! But that is what some people are preaching today. They say that God gives you the gift of righteousness, on the condition that you keep the Ten Commandments for the rest of your life to remain righteous. Now, is this a real gift? Come on, when God gave you the gift of righteousness, it was a real gift. Stop trying to earn it with your own works. God’s gifts to us are unconditional!
Start believing that righteousness is a gift in the new covenant! Many believers are defeated today because they are trying to earn their own righteousness by their law-keeping and good works. My friend, righteousness is a gift because of what Jesus has accomplished on the cross for you. All your sins — past, present and future — have been washed clean by His precious
blood. You are completely forgiven and from the moment you received Jesus into your life, you will never be held liable for your sins ever again. You have been made as righteous as Jesus not through your behavior, but by faith in Him and His finished work on the cross8.
There is nothing that you can do that will make God love you more, and there is nothing that you can do that will make Him love you less.
Perhaps you are saying, “But… but… I didn’t do anything to become righteous!” That is exactly right. You did nothing to become righteous. And Jesus did nothing to become sin. You are clothed not with your own righteousness, but with Jesus’ perfect righteousness. It is a gift that He purchased for you with His own blood! Therefore, righteousness before the Lord cannot be earned. Your righteous standing or right standing before Him can only be received as a gift. Today, your right to be righteous is a blood-bought right! There is nothing that you can do that will make God love you more and there is nothing that you can do that will make Him love you less. He loves you perfectly and He sees you clothed with Jesus’ righteousness. So begin to see yourself clothed in Jesus’ righteousness.
License To Sin?
“But, Pastor Prince, if you preach that one is forever righteous before the Lord apart from his works and law-keeping, won’t people go out and live a licentious life? Won’t it give people a license to sin?”
Another fantastic question! Let me begin by asking you this: Have you noticed that people are already sinning without a
“license”? We all have the same goal of wanting people to live a life of victory over sin. Allow me to make this explicitly clear in black and white, so that there is no doubt:
I, Joseph Prince, am vehemently, completely, aggressively and irrevocably AGAINST SIN!
Sin is evil. I do not condone sin. A lifestyle of sin leads only to defeat and destruction. So while our goal is the same, where we differ is the “how” of getting to the victorious life. Some think that it is by preaching more law. I am convicted that it is by preaching the grace of God.
When you visit our church, you won’t find a congregation that, having received the good news of the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, wants to run off and start living in sin. Of course not! In fact, some of the top business people, management executives, entrepreneurs, lawyers, accountants and consultants in my country attend our church, and you will find a congregation that is deeply in love with the person of Jesus. You will hear wonderful and amazing testimonies of how marriages have been restored, how huge debts that had run into the millions have been supernaturally cancelled, how terminal diseases have been miraculously healed and other awesome testimonies that the good news of Jesus brings!
Sin loses its appeal when you encounter the Person of grace, Jesus Christ, and realize all that He has blessed you with and done for you on the cross. You begin to realize that you have been given this great gift of righteousness and that you did nothing to deserve it. You did nothing to earn it and you did nothing to merit it.
Now, what happens? Does this encounter with Jesus cause you to want to go out and sin? Of course not! On the contrary, it will cause you to fall in love with Jesus all over again. It will make you a better husband, a better father, a better housewife, a better student. It will make you someone who desires with all your heart to guard the glory of our Lord Jesus by living a life that is victorious over sin, by His grace and strength! The preoccupation with Christ instead of with self, will cause you to start reigning in life through the one, Jesus Christ — that is the Gospel Revolution! The Word of God says, “Awake to righteousness, and sin not.”9 The more you realize that you are righteous, the more victory you will experience over sin! Wake up every morning and give thanks that you are the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ.
The Final Restoration
Down through the centuries, God has been restoring His truths to the church, and I believe that the last and final truth is the person of Jesus Christ and all that He has accomplished on the cross. The revelation of the finished work of Jesus will get stronger and stronger in the end times, and man will begin to enjoy the full benefits of the new covenant of grace.
Jesus did not die on the cross for us because any one of us deserved it. We all deserved hell’s fire, but we have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. The word “redeem” literally means to buy with a price. The price here is Jesus Himself. He gave Himself up as a ransom for you and me. He gave Himself up, so that you and I can receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness to reign in life. It is all about Jesus!
It is time for the church to stop backing away from grace and to stop worrying that it might be too controversial. Study the Scriptures and begin to see for yourself that this is the power of God to salvation. Stop backing away from grace!
Discerning The Gospel Of Grace
Let me teach you how to discern if the grace teaching that you are hearing is doctrinally sound. When you hear the new covenant of grace preached, it is always Christ-exalting. It always reveals more and more of Jesus. It always unveils the beauty of Jesus and the perfection of His finished work on the cross. Jesus is always glorified when grace is taught. There is no grace without Jesus!
So don’t be too easily impressed just because somebody tells you that he preaches grace. The Word of God tells us to test everything. God wants us to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves10. Even as you read this book, I don’t want you to take my word for it. I want you to crack open your Bible and study the Word of God for yourself, and see the grace of our Lord Jesus in the new covenant coming alive. Grace is not a doctrine. Grace is a person and His name is Jesus. Therefore, there is no grace teaching without Jesus Christ. You cannot separate Jesus and grace! If someone keeps dropping the word “grace” in his sermons, but there is no exaltation of Jesus and His finished work, it is not the gospel of grace.
Similarly, to further discern if what you are hearing is the gospel of grace, note that grace does not point to your efforts, your performance or your doing. It makes nothing of man’s self-
efforts and points completely to Jesus’ efforts and what He has done. The law makes one self-conscious. It is always asking, “What must I do?” But grace makes one Christ-conscious. It is always asking, “What has Jesus done?”
Your part is to only believe on Jesus Christ, and when you believe, you are made righteous and blessed!
Under law, the burden is on you to perform. Under grace, the burden is on what Christ has performed on the cross. That is why Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, for My yoke is easy and light.”11 Jesus was not speaking to people who were tired and weary from their secular jobs. He was talking to people who were weary and heavy laden by the requirements of the law of Moses. The yoke of the law is hard and heavy. Jesus came to reveal grace, and the yoke of grace is easy and light because it involves none of you and all of Christ. He has borne the burden of sin on your behalf. Under grace, your part is to only believe on Jesus Christ, and when you believe, you are made righteous and blessed! Isn’t this amazing grace?
The new covenant of grace is so powerful that there have been attempts to pervert the teaching on God’s grace. There are socalled preachers who are preaching a “grace” that is not of God! They believe in “universal salvation” and claim that because of God’s grace, all will be saved, even without believing in Jesus. This is a lie from the pit of hell! No man can be saved except through our Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life12. No man comes to the Father and receives eternal life except through Jesus! There is no grace without the person of
Jesus. The teaching of “universal salvation” is a LIE that dishonors Jesus and negates His work on the cross! True grace always makes Jesus the center of everything. It is all about Jesus!
It is time for the church to tear down these fences of controversy around grace and start unveiling more and more of Jesus. This is the heartbeat of my ministry — the unveiling of Jesus and seeing more of Jesus, His loveliness, His perfection and His grace. It is all about bringing the “amazing” back to grace!
When believers don’t understand that God’s grace is His undeserved, unearned and unmerited favor, they will depend on their own efforts to keep the law of Moses to deserve, earn and merit His favor. Similarly, when believers don’t understand that righteousness is a gift, and that it is about “right standing” and not “right doing”, they will depend on their own efforts to earn this gift.
Pulling Down The Fences Of Controversy
My friend, you are destined to reign in this life. It is our Lord’s good pleasure to see your marriage blessed, family blessed, storehouses overflowing with more than enough and your body full of the resurrection life of Jesus!
Begin to see that the devil has entrenched fences and built strongholds that are so fortified that today, they are like thick walls. These thick walls surround the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. By the grace of God, we are going to pull down these thick walls, for the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. Let’s pull down these strongholds that have robbed believers of their destiny to reign in life. Start receiving the treasures that were purchased for you by the blood of Jesus, and begin reigning in every area of your life!
It is our Lord’s good pleasure to see your family blessed, storehouses overflowing and your body full of the resurrection life of Jesus!
Joseph Prince
