The first time I saw this preacher was when I was out of the country several years ago inside a hotel room. The manner of his clothing caught my attention because it was non-traditional as if he is preparing for a catwalk. I have nothing against his manner of clothing for that’s his style. During his talk, he was mentioning something about grace during that time, which I did not pay attention to. Later did I found out that his teaching about grace was starting to divide the body of Christ. I had conversations with several believers who had their personal experiences with Prince’s teaching. There was this young believer who transferred to our local church because I later found out that his pastor was espousing Prince’s “radical grace” theology even to the point of tolerating sins. According to him, their local church drummer got drunk the night before a Sunday church service. Their pastor was not even bothered by the action, but commented, “It’s okay, God has already forgiven him, past, present, and future.” In fairness, Prince is against sin. However, his teaching will surely lead to tolerance since he does not teach the proper biblical definition of confession. Allow me to refute some of the major teachings of Joseph Prince below by checking if he is truly faithful to the teachings of the Scripture.

1. Joseph Prince claims to have received a “corner of the truth” while flying above the Swiss Alps. Is this possible?

In the foreword of his book titled Destined to Reign, he narrated how he heard the voice of God telling him, “Son, you are not preaching grace.” He found himself conversing with God saying, “What do you mean, Lord? That’s a low blow. That’s a real low blow!” He also added, “I’m a preacher of grace. I have been a grace preacher for years, and like most preachers, I preach that we are saved by grace!” Surprisingly, God retorted, “No. Everytime you preach grace, you preach it with a mixture of law. You attempt to balance grace with the law like many other preachers, and the moment you balance grace, you neutralize it. You cannot put new wine into old wineskins. You cannot put grace and law together.” The divine voice continued, “Son, a lot of preachers are not preaching grace the way Apostle Paul preached grace.” Which is more authoritative, his subjective “revelation” or the Word of God?

I believed this is the straw that broke the camel’s back. He thinks he is on the cutting edge when he receives such a revelation. Although I am not labeling Prince as a false teacher for that would be too much, nor am I placing his group under the category of a cult. However, his so-called “revelation” is somewhat cultic since cult founders also receive their so-called divine message in this way. According to the book Angels of Deceit, cult founders will claim they have a “special message” from God while making a sweeping judgment on several preachers. I understand that some Christian preachers lean theologically towards Lordship Salvation doctrine. But we could not say they are not preaching grace. The moment Prince started judging several preachers, it just wages an all-out attack against many evangelical preachers as if to show that Prince alone is preaching the biblical grace while others are not. The fact is Joseph Prince was the one who misunderstood what grace is all about. A more balanced view on the topic of grace can be read in Rev. Charles Swindoll’s excellent book “Grace Awakening” and Dr. Charles Bing’s book “Simply By Grace.”        

2. Joseph Prince’s claims believers will never be punished because they have already received Jesus. Is this true?

When Joseph Prince used the word “punish” he was not referring to spiritual punishment. If he did then I would surely agree with him that believers will not suffer eternal punishment or eternal torment because of their relationship with Christ. However, his understanding of punishment refers to the manner of disciplining that God does to His children during their spiritual walk on earth. He states in chapter four of his book Destined To Reign, “But for you and me, believers in the new covenant, we are not part of the Old Testament and we will never be punished because we have already received Jesus. As believers, God is no longer angry with us because all His anger for our sins fell upon Jesus at the cross.” To a believer who is not familiar with the Scripture Prince’s teachings may seem to have a point. But a closer look at his interpretation will reveal that he is dividing the God of the Bible into an angry Old Testament God and a gracious New Testament God. 

When a believer inquired from Prince about God’s fiery judgment sent on several captains and their fifty men, he reasoned in the same book Destined To Reign, “There’s one crucial fact that you need to recognize about the incidents of God’s fiery judgment — they both took place in the Old Testament and before Jesus’ crucifixion.” This is also his perception when David was struck with disease because of his sins before God. He said, “Don’t forget that David, like Elijah, lived before the cross of Jesus.” Notice how Prince so easily tucked everything under the Old Testament to show the difference between the character of the Old Testament God and the New Testament God. 

Now, this can be easily refuted by quoting several passages showing how gracious God is in the Old Testament. One can read how Joseph receives grace or favor from the Lord while in prison (see Gen. 39:21). Moses also received grace or favor from the Lord to go with him as a distinction between the Israelites and the pagans (see Exo. 33:17). While Gideon was talking to the Lord, he asks for grace or favor in His very eyes (See Judg. 6:17). On the other hand, we can also read how the Lord Jesus Christ made a whip out of cords and overturned the tables of the money changers and the merchants (see Matt. 21:12; Mk. 11:15; Jn. 2:14, 15). Surely, he can’t be smiling while doing this but had to show a strong emotion of indignation. The teaching of Prince that puts a distinction between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament has taught by Marcion declared by the early church fathers as heretical during the second century. Though Prince’s teaching is not an exact prototype of Marcionism it is still in the form of Marcionism because of his emphasis on the distinction. 

Prince’s understanding of God’s discipline is coming from a wrong perspective. He sees sickness, disease, accidents, and death that could not happen in the lives of a habitual sinning Christian. He tries to escape the real meaning of the Greek word paideuō which, according to him is just a “child-training” that has no connection with punishment. A careful study of Hebrews 12:6 will reveal that the author did not only use the Greek word  paideuō which could be translated as “training, educate, chasten, or discipline with punishment” but even mastigoō which means “to flog” or “scourge.” A more literal rendering of the passage goes this way, 

“For whom the Lord loves, He disciplines, and whips [scourges] every son whom He receives.” Heb. 12:6, Literal Version

The apostle Paul also explained that some believers in Corinth, died because they have not taken the time to examine themselves before partaking of the Lord’s communion. Another instance can also be found in Jame’s writings when he advises the believers to confess their sins to one another so they can experience healing (see 1 Cor. 11:28-30; Jam. 5:16). There are times when physical sickness is a direct result of harbored sins in our lives like bitterness and anger. According to Daily Mail writer Ian Fletcher, a faculty namely Dr. Carsten Wrosch of Concordia University studied, 

“Anger and recrimination are its typical attendants. Unlike regret, which is about self-blame and a case of ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda,’ acrimony points the finger elsewhere – laying the blame for failure on external causes. ‘When harbored for a long time,’ says Professor Wrosch, ‘bitterness may forecast patterns of biological dysregulation (a physiological impairment that can affect metabolism, immune response or organ function) and physical disease.’” Ian Fletcher, “HarbouringFeelings of Bitterness ‘Increases the Likelihood of Physical Disease’”

When David sinned against God, he harbored everything in his heart that resulted to his physical ailments. But when he confesses his sins, he experiences freedom and healing. Truly a believer must be sensitive to God’s Holy Spirit so sin does not harbor in his heart. Once the Holy Spirit reminds a believer about the liberating truth of God’s Word, they must be honest to God by humbly acknowledging their sins through confession. 

² Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. ³ When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. ⁴ For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD “- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah Psa. 32:2-5, NIV 1984

Probably, Prince will comment that what happened to David was in the Old Testament. Again, we need to understand that God’s attribute never changes from Old Testament to New Testament. His dealing with love towards the believer is still the same throughout the Scripture. The Lord’s dealing with both the unbelieving adulterous woman who was about to be stoned and the Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar were all extensions of His love and grace. Yes. He did not lay His hands on these people to get sick, nor teach them a lesson because they were still unbelievers. Will you discipline a person who is not your child? Remember, when Jesus made an unbelieving paralyzed man well after that person believed in Him he immediately warned him not to sin or something worse may happen to him. (See John 5:14) The word “worse” in Greek is cheirona which could mean “more evil or aggravated either physically, mentally, or morally. (See Strong’s and Mounce Greek Lexicon) The same Greek word was again used many times in many New Testament passages depicting the worst possible means that can happen to a believer if he continues in sin. One example could be read in this version below saying, 

People can know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and escape the world’s filth. But if they get involved in this filth again and give in to it, they are worse off than they were before. 2 Pet. 2:20, God’s Word Translation 

God doesn’t want these things to happen to us. He knew for a fact that if we continue on sinning we are giving the enemy a foothold or a place in our life. The Lord may or may not allow some unfortunate things to happen on any righteous or erring believer for a reason (see Job 1:8-12). Who will ever know if that unfortunate event is testing or a discipline? Only the person involved will know that! The important thing is we are not holding on so much to dear life, family, position, money, and material things in this world because all of these things are temporal. Let’s bring back everything for His glory and honor. 

and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” Job 1:21, NIV, 1984

3. Joseph Prince teaches that 1 John 1:9 is meant for Gnostic unbelievers, not for Christian believers. Is this accurate?

This teaching of Joseph Prince is one of the most controversial ones because no Christian scholar and theologian who have faithfully studied the Scripture for many years will agree with his opinion over this particular passage. This is how he said it in Chapter Nine of the same book Destined To Reign saying, “People have taken this verse [1 Jn 1:9] and built a whole doctrine around it when actually, chapter 1 of 1 John was written to the Gnostics who were unbelievers.” He believes that a Christian believer need not confess his sins to God since he has already been forgiven past, present, and future. According to him, a believer should not live from “confession to confession, but from faith to faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work.” Prince could not see the importance of a believer confessing his sins before God. He also had a wrong connection between confession and God’s forgiveness of a believer from past, present, and future. In his mind, a believer thinks divine punishment awaits him once he does not confess his sins to Him. If this is the case, then the believer should not confess in the sense of asking His forgiveness, but rather “being open with God.” It is like “being honest about your failure and your humanity.” But this is not what confession means in the Scripture’s context.

I fully agree that a believer has been forgiven by God through Jesus Christ’s blood past, present, and future. However, this truth does not mean we are no longer to confess our sins before Him. Once we confess our sins to God, we are made fully aware of 1 John 1:9’s liberating power because His forgiveness is always non-stop and overflowing. The Greek word katharizo for “will forgive” is in the dynamic sense which is “continuous cleansing.” The word “confession” came from a compound Greek word, that is, homologeo which means “same word.” When a believer sins, he is never convicted by the Holy Spirit but rather reminded of the Word of God and guided into all truth. He was only convicted once by the Holy Spirit when he was still an unbeliever. When he became a child of God the role of the Holy Spirit immediately change (see Jn. 16:8; 14:26; 16:13). The one who convicts to condemn, accuse, and make us feel guilty is the enemy of our souls (see Zech. 3:1; Rom. 8:1; Rev. 12:10; Heb. 10:22). For us to outwit Satan and his demons, we have to approach God’s throne of grace boldly telling Him exactly (“same word”) how we sinned without rationalizing nor defending ourselves (see 2 Cor. 2:10,11; Heb. 4:16) This practice of confessing our sins does not only make a believer humble but also protects him from callous hearts, condemnation, accusation, feeling of guilt, and even possible body ailments leading to physical death. This kind of physical death happened to some Corinthian believers when they did not examine themselves during the partaking of the Lord’s Supper (see Psa. 73:7; 1 Cor. 11:28-30). Millions of people today pay hundreds of thousands of dollars just to visit a psychologist to listen to their internal problems. Fortunately, the Lord is always prepared to listen to our problems and mistakes if we will openly acknowledge our sins before Him (see Isa. 1:18). The author of Hebrews says a believer should not give the devil a foothold (a place, a spot, or an occupancy). Once he does, then the Lord will surely step-in to discipline those He loves (see Eph. 4:26-27; Heb. 12:6). Every believer must ask God to test and examine him daily, so he can confess his sins (see Psa. 139:23, 24). Unfortunately, Joseph Prince built a doctrine around his very own interpretation of 1 John 1:9 as if he has discovered a “corner of the truth.” 

Conclusion

Having studied carefully some of the theological problems of Joseph Prince’s so-called “radical grace” teachings it is my firm conviction (or belief) that I could not endorse his ministry as a haven for every Christian believer. Some sincere believers see the teachings of Joseph Prince as applicable only in his cultural context since Singaporeans are loaded with legalism and work. I beg to disagree. His error lies more in theological malpractice. A believer who continuously listens to his teachings will eventually pass on his false interpretation to many young believers. Again, I am not here to judge his heart and motive, but rather his theological doctrines. Is it possible to judge righteously? Yes! Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” (Jn. 7:24) We need to study the Word of God dividing (interpreting) it correctly so we can pass on and deposit the truth into the hearts of every person through discipleship. Let’s avoid raising more “Joseph Prince” who had unfortunate experiences in the past because of leaders who do not know how to handle the Scripture correctly. This is no longer about Joseph Prince but about God’s Word, that must be handled accurately. There is nothing “radical” about God’s grace because God’s grace in the first place has been already amazing and wonderful because of Jesus Christ who is full of grace and truth (see Jn. 1:14).

Do your best to present yourself to God as a tried-and-true worker who isn’t ashamed to teach the word of truth correctly. 2 Tim. 2:15, God’s Word Translation

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

John Newton (1725-1807)