When I was going to my old WOF (Word of Faith) church, I was in charge of doing recordings on the computer so I can now go back and study some of the aberrant teachings. Lets take a look at the heresy that Jesus died spiritually in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Matthew 26:37-39 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
Here is the false doctrine being taught that is straight from the teachings of the Word-of-Faith proponants such as Copeland, Hinn and others:
“When Christ was in the garden (of Gethsemane), when He died His spiritual death, he died physically on the cross… people say he never died (inaudible), sorry He did, He died for three days, He died physically on the cross. But before that, He died spiritually in the garden. He said, ‘Father not my will…but thy will be done’. He didn’t want to go. He knew he had to but that man on the outside didn’t want to go. He said, ‘Father if there be any other way…’. Let this cup pass from me. He said, ‘but nevertheless, not my will but thy will be done’.1
The Bible does not say that Jesus died spiritually in the garden (or any other time), nor does it suggest He did. If Jesus died in the garden, then why did he say:
Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.‘” Having said this, He breathed His last.
Why, if Jesus died spiritually in the garden, would he give up His spirit again? Also, wouldn’t Jesus cease to be God if he died spiritually? Scripture tells us differently:
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
The same. Jesus was not fully God and fully man one day, then only man the next.
John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Jesus is God. God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If the ‘spirit’ of Jesus died, would this not mean that the Holy Spirit died?
John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Isaiah 42:1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
Christ suffered once for all…
1 Peter 8:28 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, (emphasis mine)
Romans 6:10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
Additional Resources:
- Was Jesus Separated from the Father? Did Jesus Die Spiritually? – Apologetics for Christians
- The Jesus Died Spiritually Heresy – An excellent article on this topic… Very detailed.
- Dare to Test the Spirits – Covers this and other aberrant teachings of the WOF movement
References
- Pastor Rick McDanial, Living Waters Ministries. July 30, 2006
Syndication URL
4 Comments
A very good explanation.
I believe you should point out also that the Jesus that died spiritually,is a different Jesus.
and that the teaching is a different gospel.
I like 2thess. 2:11 as to what has happened to these people.
they want to believe a lie./
I was once a dyed-in-the-wool WoF-er such as yourself. but unlike you, I have not rejected everything that they taught because if it lines up with the Word we are obligated to accept it.
You quote the following: “Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.‘” Having said this, He breathed His last.”
You use this as proof that Jesus did not die spiritually. But this is a weak supporting element.
First, to commit something to someone, it means to entrust your safety and care to someone else. If I were a deep sea diver and put on the heavy wet suit and weights, and was preparing to go down to the depths, I would *commit* my safe keeping to the men on the surface who would supply my oxygen, look out for surface hazards, and maintain the lifeline attached to me and my rig. In no way would *commit* in this context mean “Look out guys, here I come”.
It’s the same with this verse. We look at this verse through religious glasses and just repeat what others say and then parrot it without examining the meaning and context.
Heb 13:8. Oft-quoted, it’s pressed into duty anytime someone wants to make a point. But again, how is the verse used? What is meant by it? How is Jesus the same yesterday, today and forever?
Lastly, whether one believes Jesus died spiritually or not, our salvation was not completed when Jesus said “It is fihnished.” That may preach well but it is biblically false.
Why? Because it was not until Jesus entered into the heavenly holy of holies and presented His blood on the mercy seat that salvation was secured. Read the book of Hebrews in the original Greek. It’s all there.
Why do you think Paul stated that if Christ be not raised from the dead ye are still yet in your sins? If our salvation was granted when He said “It is finished,” why was the resurrection necessary? To prove He was God? he did that before He even died.
No, we have focused so much on one aspect of His atonement that we have overlooked other aspects. Remember, it was His death, burial and resurrection that was necessary to secure salvation.
Some food for thought for you…
Also, in reference to the first post, it is all too easy to simply say that since somebody does not agree with me then they are of a different spirit and serve different Jesus.
How immature. The only requirement for salvation is to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead and confess Jesus as Lord (Rom 10.9)
We are saved by the WHO of salvation not the HOW.
When you were first saved could you articulate a comprehensive theology of soteriological import thus resulting in an epiphany of salvific proportions?
I thought not. You were saved like everybody else: through simple faith in Christ.
God’s tent is big enough that even if the JDS adherents are wrong, they are still saved by grace through faith just like you.
One more thing: 1 Peter 8:28.
A.T Robertson a greek expert/theologian as well as Jamieson Fausett and Brown in their commentary and Kenneth Wuests’s translation say that Jesus was put to death in the flesh but quickened in spirit. Not *BY* the spirit because this construction is absent in the Greek and also would break the parallel that this verse is seeking to show.
Again, it looks as if there is some more study to be done here.