Index To Heresy In The Church           Also       The Contemporary Church  

The Atonement of Christ

In summary (with a few variations), the “born again Jesus” gospel teaches that Jesus died two deaths, one physically upon the cross and the other spiritually in hell. He literally became sin on the cross, taking on the very nature of Satan, thereby being stripped of His Deity. He was ushered into hell where He was tortured for three days and nights by Satan and his demons, was reborn or “born again” in hell, reclaiming His Deity and finally rising bodily from the dead. Our redemption was not secured on the cross, but in hell. In fact, many Faith teachers claim that Christ's torture by all the demons of hell was a "ransom" God paid to Satan so that He could get back into a universe from which He had been banished. 

(See Quotes by leading evangelists below)

1 Peter 3:19, Acts 2:31 and Ephesians 4: 8-9 are perhaps the most used verses to support the Word-Faith’s view of the atonement... 

1 Peter 3:19...

. . . put to death in the flesh but quickened [raised] by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah . . .

The sequence of events in verses 18-19 is very important: (1) Christ was put to death, (2) He was resurrected, and (3) He went and preached to the spirits in prison. This did not take place between His death and resurrection, but after His resurrection, which rules out the view that Jesus descended to the abode of deceased human beings during the time His body lay in the tomb.

Notice also that this text actually says nothing about a descent. It says simply that Christ "went" and preached to the spirits. This same Greek word (poreutheis) translated here as ‘went’ is used in again in verse 22, where, speaking of Christ's ascension, it says — Who is ‘gone’ into heaven . . ." 

The obvious question here is... Who were the spirits Christ preached to?... "sometime disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah." From this verse it is very easy to reach the conclusion that Peter was talking about the people of Noah’s day who did not heed him, possibly laughed at his building the Ark and were finally destroyed in the flood. The text makes reference only to Noah’s generation, no one else. However in 2 Peter 2:4,5,9  these same people destroyed in the flood are spoken of as an example of those being reserved for eternal punishment:

For if God spared not the angels that sinned .... And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly .... The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.

Therefore if it was not the Noah’s contemporaries who Christ preached to, who was it? ..   There is a strong possibility that this message was delivered to fallen angels. Jews and early Christians associated Genesis 6:1-4  (the sons of God marrying daughters of men) with fallen angels who left their first estate, took human wives and had rebellious offspring. It was these fallen angels who set in motion the intense wickedness that prevailed during the days of Noah. [See Section The Days of Noah]

In 2 Peter 2:4 Peter describes fallen angels who are imprisoned by God because of their disobedience and may very well be the “spirits in prison” in 1 Peter 3:19.

Since Jesus came to redeem human beings, not angels (Hebrews 2:14-17) and Christ's "preaching" in 1 Peter 3:19 was to fallen angelic spirits, as the evidence suggests, it would not have been an offer of the Gospel, but a declaration of His victory and their sure defeat.

The word Peter uses for "preaching" here is kerusso which means ‘announce’, ‘make known’, ‘proclaim’. However the word used in the New Testament in connection with God's plan of redemption is always Euangelizomai (bring, announce good news,). Peter's use of kerusso in 3:19 is consistent with the evidence that Christ's message was a proclamation of victory over the fallen angels, which renders His suffering in hell a figment of the imagination.

Ephesians 4:9

"Now that he ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth"

The Word-Faith proponents have translated  ‘lower parts of the earth’ as ‘hell’ and then have embellished this with their version of the demons torturing Christ for three days, (which the Bible says nothing about at all). Some believe “lower parts” refers to Hades (the underworld) while others have seen it as simply signifying death and burial. however this verse is one of the more obscure verses in the New Testament but one fact stands out.. Christ’s ascension into Heaven is contrasted with His descent. That is it was from the earth He ascended and it had been to the earth that He came. This is a contrast between Heaven and Earth, not Heaven and Hell.  

The expression “lowest parts of the earth” was also used by David in Psalm 139:15 which is where he says he was made. If this phrase indeed refers to hell, as the Word-Faith proponents claim, then David was created in hell.

Acts 2:31,

"...His soul was not left in Hell, neither his flesh did see corruption"

This verse (from Psalm 16:10) reads hell in the KJV, though a more accurate translation would be ‘sheol’ in Hebrew and ‘hades’ in Greek. In both the Old and the New Testament Sheol and Hades are usually interpreted to mean the grave or ‘the place of the dead’. (Gen. 37:35; 42:38; 1Sam. 2:6; Psa. 141:7). Jesus was in the ‘grave’ and He did not suffer the usual decomposition (or corruption). There is no evidence from this verse that He went to hell and was tormented by demons.

Conclusion The Bible tells us that after Christ’s resurrection He went and announced (or proclaimed) His victory to fallen angels but says absolutely nothing about what took place between His death and resurrection (if anything). To teach that He was ‘tortured’ by Satan for three nights and days then was born again, ‘reclaimed’ His Deity, and then rose bodily from the dead has no scriptural foundation whatsoever. It is nothing but blatant heresy to claim that Jesus at any point ‘forfeited’ or ‘lost’ His deity. His death would have been a waste of time had he ‘lost His deity’ at any point as His sacrifice would not have been acceptable to the Father. The Lamb had to be without blemish. Jesus is God of this universe and could never be subject to, or tortured by Satan for even one millisecond. To maintain that He took our place in hell is to show a very limited understanding of the basic Gospel message which is simply that the ‘wages of sin is death’. Man has sinned and therefore is condemned to death. However Jesus died in our place and paid the price by His death... not by any further imaginary steps. How hard is this to understand? Additionally there are several Verses in the Bible that clearly state that our redemption was accomplished by the PHYSICAL death of Christ.

" ...we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:10;)

 "And having made peace through the blood of His cross..." Colossians 1:20

" ...yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death..." Colossians 1:22.

“… you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ….” (Romans 7:4).

“… who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree…” (1Peter 2:24)

 Perhaps it would be wise for preachers to remember the warnings of verses like Deut 4:2, and Rev 22:18 before making the stories up as they go along. It would be even wiser for their listeners to follow the acclaimed example of the Bereans who “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. (Acts 17:11) instead of gullibly swallowing everything that is churned out from the pulpit. 

Quotes By Leading Evangelicals

Joyce Meyer

There is no hope of anyone going to heaven unless they believe this truth I am presenting. You cannot go to heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in hell (p. 37).. [Joyce Meyer, The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make Booklet, Fenton, Mo.: Life In The Word, Inc./Joyce Meyer Ministries, August 1991 edition, pg. 36; (pg. 42 of the current edition).

Additionally Joyce Meyer teaches that hell, not the cross, is where salvation was purchased. (Ibid., pp. 35-38, 41, 43; (pp. 41-44, 47, 49 of the current edition).

“During that time He entered hell, where you and I deserved to go (legally) because of our sin. He paid the price there ... no plan was too extreme ... Jesus paid on the cross and in hell” (The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make (1991 booklet ) pg. 35, underlining in the original).

“God rose up from His throne and said to demon powers tormenting the sinless Son of God, ‘Let Him go.’ Then the resurrection power of Almighty God went through hell and filled Jesus ... He was resurrected from the dead — the first born-again man” (The Most Important Decision You Will Ever Make (1991 booklet ) pg.. 36, underlining in the original).

“His spirit went to hell because that is where we deserved to go. Remember in the very beginning of this, I said, ‘When you die, only your body dies. The rest of you, your soul and spirit, goes either to heaven or hell’” (ibid.).

From the Cross to the Throne (Tape)

 “And you’ve got to really glean some things out of the Word of God to really get hold of what He [Jesus] did for you during those three days.”

“Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ And He meant the Old Covenant. The job He had to do was just getting started. He really did the job the three days and nights that He was in hell. That’s where the job was done” (emphasis added).

“He was pronounced guilty on the cross but He paid the price in hell.”

“All the hosts of hell was [sic] upon Him. Upon Him. They got on Him. They got Him down in the floor and got on Him. And they were laughing and mocking.”

“Sunday morning, here comes the Son. Sunday morning, God gets Himself together. Ho, hoooo. Justice has been met, somehow the thing’s been taken care of. And ol’ God gets His voice together and He hollers out three words and they go roaring through the universe and entering the gates of hell. He said, ‘It is enough! It is enough!” (emphasis in the original).

Fred Price.

Do you think that the punishment for our sin was to die on a cross? If that were the case, the two thieves could have paid your price. No, the punishment was to go into hell itself and to serve time in hell separated from God…Satan and all the demons of hell thought that they had Him bound and they threw a net over Jesus and they dragged Him down to the very pit of hell itself to serve our sentence. Fred Price. (Ever Increasing Faith Messenger, June 1980.)

“Somewhere between the time He [Jesus] was nailed to the cross and when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane-somewhere in there-He died spiritually. Personally, I believe it was while He was in the garden.” (Identification #3 (Inglewood, CA: Ever Increasing Faith Ministries, 1980), tape #FP545, side 1.) Incidentally Mormon Apostle James E. Talmage, teaches the same thing in his book Jesus the Christ.

Kenneth Hagin

"Christ's physical death on the cross was not enough to save us." (Kenneth Hagin, How Jesus obtained His Name, Tape 44H01)

"Why did He need to be begotten or born? Because He became like we were - separated from God. Because He tasted spiritual death for every man. And His spirit and inner men went to hell in my place. Can't you see that? Physical death wouldn't remove your sins. He's tasted death for every man. He's talking about tasting spiritual death. Jesus is the first person that was ever born again. Why did His spirit need to be born again? Because it was estranged from God." (Kenneth Hagin, "How Jesus obtained His Name" (Kenneth Hagin Ministries, audio tape #44-H01)

Charles Capps

When Jesus was in the pit of hell, in that terrible torment, no doubt the Devil and his emissaries gathered around to see the annihilation of God's Son. But in the corridors of hell, there came a great voice from heaven: "Turn Him loose! He's there illegally!" And all of hell became paralyzed. (Capps, Authority in Three Worlds, p. 143, emphasis in original)

Jesus was born again before his eyes! (Ibid, p. 189,)

Kenneth Copeland

"The Spirit of God spoke to me, and He said "Son, realize this" Now follow me in this, don't let your tradition trip you up. He said "Think this way. A twice-born man whipped Satan in his own domain." And I threw my Bible..I said "What?" He said "A born-again man defeated Satan - the first-born of many brethren defeated him." He said "You are the very image, and the very copy of that one." I said "Goodness Gracious, saints alive." I began to see what had gone on in there, and I said "Well you dont? mean - You couldn't dare mean that I could have done the same thing?" He said "Oh yeah. If you'd had the knowledge of the Word of God that He did you could've done the same thing cause you're a re-born man too." (Kenneth Copeland, "Substitution and Identification", Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1989, audio tape #00-0202, side 2)

"Jesus had to go through that same spiritual death in order to pay the price. Now it wasn't the physical death on the cross that paid the price for sin, because if it had of been any prophet of God that had died for the last couple of thousand years before that could have paid that price. It wasn't physical death anybody could do that." (Kenneth Copeland, "What Satan Saw on the Day of Pentecost" (Kenneth Copeland Ministries, audio tape #020022)

Copeland believes Jesus said: "It was a sign of Satan that was hanging on the cross...I accepted, in my own spirit, spiritual death; and the light was turned off." (Kenneth Copeland, What Happened from the Cross to the Throne, side 2.)

Jesus had to "accept the sin nature of Satan." (Kenneth Copeland, What Happened from the Cross to the Throne, side 2.)

"Satan conquered Jesus on the Cross and took His spirit to the dark regions of hell" (Kenneth Copeland, Holy Bible: Kenneth Copeland Reference Edition (Kenneth Copeland, Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1991), 129.)

"He [Jesus] allowed the devil to drag Him into the depths of hell....He allowed Himself to come under Satan's control...every demon in hell came down on Him to annihilate Him....They tortured Him beyond anything anybody had ever conceived. For three days He suffered everything there is to suffer." (Kenneth Copeland, "The Price of It All," 3.)

"How did Jesus then on the cross say, ‘My God.’ Because God was not His Father any more. He took upon Himself the nature of Satan. And I’m telling you Jesus is in the middle of that pit. He’s suffering all that there is to suffer, there is no suffering left . . . apart from Him. His emaciated, little wormy spirit is down in the bottom of that thing and the devil thinks He’s got Him destroyed. But, all of a sudden God started talking." (Kenneth Copeland, Believer's Voice of Victory (television program), TBN, 21 April 1991.)

Jesus "had to give up His righteousness" (Kenneth Copeland, The Incarnation, side 2.)

"How did Jesus then on the cross say, ‘My God.’ Because God was not His Father any more. He took upon Himself the nature of Satan. And I’m telling you Jesus is in the middle of that pit. He’s suffering all that there is to suffer, there is no suffering left . . . apart from Him. His emaciated, little wormy spirit is down in the bottom of that thing and the devil thinks He’s got Him destroyed. But, all of a sudden God started talking." (Kenneth Copeland, Believer's Voice of Victory (television program), TBN, 21 April 1991.)

Jesus supposedly told Copeland, "They crucified me for claiming that I was God. But I didn't claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that he was in me" (Christianity in Crisis, p. 137-138).

Benny Hinn

"He [Jesus] who is righteous by choice said, 'The only way I can stop sin is by Me becoming it. I can't just stop it by letting it touch Me; I and it must become one.' Hear this! He who is the nature of God became the nature of Satan where He became sin!" (Benny Hinn, TBN, 12/1/90).

Jesse Duplantis

Let me tell you something about Calvary. Calvary was nothing else but unmitigated war. You understand? It was a fight between God and the devil, and the devil thought he won. They said, "We killed Him. He's dead. Bless God, bury that boy and we ain't gonna talk about Him no more." But three days later, in the midst of a party, the Lord Jesus came alive, the Spirit of God came out. Jesus said, "Will you leave my soul in hell?" And Jehovah-Jira said, "Bless God, no," and He raised Him from the dead. Every demon in hell said "What are we going to do? What are we going to do?" And it was recorded, they said, "If we would have known, we would have never crucified Him." (Jesse Duplantis Show, TBN, October 5, 1998) (Perhaps Jesse would share with us where this is recorded).

Index To Heresies In The Church

www.inplainsite.org

The Amazing Photograph of a Spider’s Web Was Taken by Ian Britton (www.freefoto.com)