First of all, double jeopardy is a legal concept developed by man, not God. It does indeed say that a man cannot be retried for the same crime once an acquittal has been granted. Realize of course that God is not bound by laws man makes, as much as we may want Him to be. He has His own law and it is always just. That said, Prince always confuses the eternal with the temporal. Yes Jesus died for all of our sins, past, present and future but this is dealing with eternal judgment, not temporal consequences. When we stand before God, Jesus will have paid for our sins, hallelujah. That does not mean however we do not pay a price in the here and now. Here is a concrete example. If I am truly saved and somehow in a moment of temptation and weakness I commit adultery, God will forgive me that sin if I confess and repent (two things Prince teaches do not need to be done). That does not mean however that my wife will not ask for a divorce. It does not mean that I will not lose my home and family. That I will not lose my respect in the community or at church. And remember beloved, all things that happen such as this are part of the permissive will of God. He allows it. He may not be exacting the punishment Himself but He is certainly allowing it.
The other elephant in the room no one wants to talk about is the falsely converted. We have already shown how dangerous Prince theology is for the unsaved and now he adds to the danger by assuring them that there are no consequences for sinful behavior. This is morally and spiritually criminal. Perhaps even more egregious however is his teaching that the law was for infants and grace is for the mature. His claim is that God put Israel under the law when they were infants but sent Jesus to save the world and provide sonship. To illustrate Prince said that when his son has friends over he may have to tell them, don't play with the kitchen knives but when he has his own friends over he does not need to tell them such because they are adults. His conclusion is overwhelmingly ignorant and treacherous. Prince summarizes by saying that "rules and regulations are for babies." Did you catch that? The rules and regulations of God are for babies. The do's and don'ts of the Word are for babies. We are adults now! We know not to play with knives. Except the sad truth is that we do not know any better do we? If we did then we would not see the world and the church in such moral decay. What Prince does next though is beyond shameful:
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. - Hebrews 5: 11-14 (ESV)
Prince goes on to reference this portion of Scripture and his exact words in explaining what God is saying is as follows:
"That means the one who is a baby Christian doesn't understand righteousness. He is unskillful in that terminology; in that word righteousness. Right now if I ask you what is righteousness and you answer
(using a deep mocking tone) well righteousness is you do things right. Everything is lined up according to God. You have your act altogether.
Bzzt. That shows you are a baby Christian. A mature Christian is someone who understands that righteousness in the Gospel is a gift. A gift that is paid for by Jesus. So if you do not understand the word righteousness you are unskillful in the Word. It is like when the devil told Adam and Eve you must be like God when they were already like God!
There is so much wrong here it is difficult to know where to start. First of all the verses from Hebrews says "the Word of Righteousness" not "the word righteousness." The author is referring to the Word of God. The Bible. Prince turns the entire passage on its head by pretending that this means that you do not understand the word righteousness instead of the Word of Righteousness. It is devious in its subtlety. Another translation says an infant doesn't know how to do what is right. Yet another translation says he does not know right from wrong. Are we getting the point here? This passage is saying that the Bible is what provides us with teachings on righteousness. That the Bible teaches us what is right versus what is wrong. So when he mockingly joked that the baby Christian is the one who thinks righteousness means making sure things are lined up with God he could not have been more wrong. That is exactly what it means. The baby Christian is unskilled in the Word of God - not just one word (righteousness). Does the Gospel teach that righteousness is a gift? Sure but that does not change the definition of it! All Prince did was strip mine the Bible to find a verse that said it is a gift. He must have overlooked the key verse for today:
If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. - 1John 2: 29 (ESV)
Bzzt. Thanks for playing Pastor Prince but you are exposed. Using your own definitions, you must be a baby Christian. How can someone practice what is supposed to simply be a gift? The truth is we are supposed to practice righteousness. We ought to want to. Once again, Prince conflates our eternal position of being found in the righteousness of Christ on judgment day with our temporal condition of being a sinner who strives to practice righteousness. Who tries to know right from wrong and do what is right. Who tries to make sure that things line up with God. Lastly on his point, the devil did not tell Adam and Eve they must be like God. He told them the fruit would make them like God - knowing good and evil. He appealed to their pride. God had given them a Word, much like He has given us the Bible, and told them to follow it. They disobeyed and thus they fell. They did not make sure their actions lined up with God.
Beloved, this is why I always say that there no preacher alive today more dangerous than Joseph Prince. So much of what he says sounds so right. It tickles our ears and scratches us right where we itch. Who doesn't want to believe that repent just means to take a ride on the shoulders of Jesus? Who doesn't want to believe that all those pesky rules and prohibitions God decreed were just meant for babies. We all want a religion that says it is OK to play with the kitchen knives, run with scissors or any other silly metaphor a false teacher can come up with. Stay far away from someone this devious beloved. Stay far far away.
Reverend Anthony Wade - January 4, 2015
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