By Elizabeth Prata
The Passion 2019 conference concluded last weekend. The event has expanded to four simultaneous venues spread among three cities, and all four were sold out. A total of just over 43,000 youths between the ages of 18-25 were in attendance.
One of the speakers this year was Christine Caine. Christine hails from Australia and is known for having founded the Propel Women organization and A21. Propel aims at “Activating every woman’s passion, purpose, & potential.” A21 “is abolishing slavery everywhere, forever.”
Caine is popular, but sadly she is a false teacher. Michelle Lesley wrote about Caine here. I wrote about her here.
The three-day Passion conference event is specifically a youth-oriented event. There is a restricted age-range that is allowed to attend. No one under 18 (unless you’re a senior in High School) and no one over the age of 26. Only the Pastor or Leader of the group attending may enter. No parents, no elder siblings, no elders of your church. Access denied.
Here are videos of the event.
I received a query aobut Caine’s sermon, so listened to Caine’s it, which was almost an hour. Well, I muted the sound and pushed forward the slider in ten second increments while reading the closed captions. I read what she taught and it was straight Word of Faith, twisted verses and all. Here are specifics on how to detect Word of Faith teaching.
The Word of Faith movement is decidedly unbiblical.
At the heart of the Word of Faith movement is the belief in the “force of faith.” It is believed words can be used to manipulate the faith-force, and thus actually create what they believe Scripture promises (health and wealth). GotQuestions
Here are a few screen shots from the video with the captions of statements that stood out to me. Her base text is from Matthew 8:10,
When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.”
In Word of Faith you’ll often hear the word ‘allow.’ The WoF believes (GotQuestions again) that ,
“Laws supposedly governing the faith-force are said to operate independently of God’s sovereign will and that God Himself is subject to these laws.”
In WoF world therefore, when we do something according to these laws, God can then be ‘allowed’ to operate within them. The section of Caine’s lecture as seen on the screen shot shows she is teaching classic WoF.
In WoF land, you will hear the word “activate” a lot. In WoF teachings, the object of our faith is our faith (really, us). We possess faith. Something we DO activates it, then God works within it. That’s why within WoF if something doesn’t happen the way we decreed it, (healing, prosperity) it means WE didn’t have enough faith. Things depend on us and our faith, not on God. You see the switch: in WoF teachings it’s switched from God being sovereign to us being sovereign. Word of Faith teachers need to read and re-read Job 38-41 to learn man’s place befroe a sovereign God.
As for activating things, God is not a dried up sea monkey waiting for a drop of water to activate Him. If we are regenerated, then the Holy Spirit is in us and He is always working. His will is independent of ours and He does as He wants. He needs no “activation.” Even the rinted word of God is living and “active.” Nothing WE do activates it.
In WoF you will hear the word “miracle” a lot. Miracles are important to these people because they are the proof of ‘our’ faith. The emphasis, again, is on our faith, and the results from our faith, such as miracles (or health or prosperity). Biblically, miracles were a sign authenticating the unique personage of Jesus, who was sent from God. (John 20:30,31; John 2:23). The WoF teachers do not focus on Jesus as He is for Who He is.
So why did Jesus marvel at the centurion’s faith? Doesn’t Jesus already know everything? We remember that Jesus is God, but in His incarnation He was also man, and when He marveled it is this side of his dual-single nature that comes into play.
For example, Jesus “grew in wisdom”, (Luke 2:52). The God side of Jesus aleready knows eveything, but the man side of Jesus grew because that is what men do, grow. We can’t really grasp how He can know everything but also grow wiser- but that is the mysterious nature of the hypostatic union. [FMI see this Theological Primer from Keven DeYoung on the Hypostatic Union].
Alternately, can Jesus be surprised enough to marvel at a person’s faith? It is the man-God nature again. Jesus dispenses all faith, so the Centurion received it from Jesus as God. Remember the verse in Mt 16:17 when Jesus told Peter,
“And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”
Jesus as man can be astounded at a man who was a Gentile, had never learned the scriptures, but who had faith enough to trust that Jesus’s power permeated all the universe and that His physical presence or absence to do a miracle was of no matter.
MacArthur:
“When Jesus heard this remarkable expression of the centurion’s humble faith, He marveled at him. Here is a glimpse of Jesus’ true humanity, since as God He is omniscient and cannot be surprised by anything. But just as in His humanity He became tired (John 4:6), hungry, (Matt. 4:2), and thirsty (John 19:28; cf. 4:7), so also could He be astonished at the faith displayed by this Roman soldier.”
Matthew Henry:
He turned him about, as one amazed, and said to the people that followed him, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel. Note, Christ will have those that follow him to observe and take notice of the great examples of faith that are sometimes set before them—especially when any such are found among those that do not follow Christ so closely as they do in profession—that we may be shamed by the strength of their faith out of the weakness and waverings of ours.
RC Sproul explains why WoF folks like Caine believed as she does, here is a snippet from his devotional,
“Some professing Christians have concluded from texts like this that human faith gives power to God.”
In addition to Caine’s Word of Faith doctrines showing her as a false teacher, she was inappropriate elsewhere in her speech. She spoke twice of how husbands can be “getting some action” out of their wives. She spoke of a skiing accident where she was loaded onto a stretcher and bemoaned the fact that she wasn’t wearing any underwear. Yes, these items were included in her speech to thousands of teenage and young male adults listening. Should a teacher or pastor say this ever? Of course not.
Jude 1:4 warns that false teachers will ervert the grace of our God into sensuality-
For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
If Christine Caine’s “sermon” raised red flags to you, good for you. If anything in this essay raised red flags for you, good. He needs no activation, no Word of Faith Law to operate within, and He does not depend on us.
Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. (Psalm 115:3).
the-end-time.org 
Excellent post. Thanks for the information on Word of Faith teaching…yes…it is false doctrine and the opposite of what the biblical narrative stories of faith are telling us…that God writes journey of faith life-scripts for believers that have supernatural goals, missions, and outcomes that are beyond our reach to actualize on our own…starting with Abraham and Sarah unable to produce Isaac the son of promise on their own apart from God…or Joseph a Hebrew to become governor of Egypt, or Moses to deliver the Israelite slaves…all the way to Paul becoming the premier missionary evangelist to the first-century Greco-Roman world.
The faith we learn to exercise…true biblical faith (Heb. 11:1) occurs within the context of events and circumstances within a God-composed journey of faith life-script…not by our will and way (Isa. 53:6; Jn. 12:24).
Thanks again…good work.
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Thank you for the comment and for reading!
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Reblogged this on BibleProphecyWatch.
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Reblogged this on Truth2Freedom's Blog.
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This post was a blessing to me. But not in how you meant it. I might think how normal people think. I didn’t get saved till semi recently and I don’t have a lot of Bible understanding but I understand that if someone is out bashing other believers there’s probably something insecure in their own heart. Because that’s how I used to be. I lived for years that way. So I love critical posts like this or all the condemning videos on YouTube because it points the world to the real thing. It’s not hard when comparing the two sides to see which is more like Jesus.
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Hi Marvin,
Thank you for your comment. It’s brave to be this bold in calling me out as a teacher, when, by your own statement, you don’t have a lot of Bible understanding. Will you allow me to help you along a bit, OK? (Romans 14:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:14).
Discernment is not “bashing other Christians.” The Bible defines discernment here-
1 John 2:27 says there are counterfeits.
1 John 4:1 says that we are to test every spirit (behind every teaching) “because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
1 Thessalonians 5:21 again admonishes us to test all things and hold on to what is good (tacitly saying, dispense with what is bad).
And many, MANY other verses.
Christine Caine is not teaching according to the Word of God, and is actually leading many astray. That was the point of the essay I wrote. Since you don’t know much about the Bible, again, not impugning you but re-stating your own admission, you should know that every book of the New Testament except Philemon refers in some way to false teaching or false teachers. They were and are a problem. We are to guard against them and alert those in weaker understanding. 2 John 1:11 says “Whoever greets such a person [false teacher] shares in his evil deeds” and you certainly would not want to be judged by Jesus for THAT! So it’s important to know who is false, and that is where others in the Body come in.
I hope this clears things up for you. In the future, it’s common and polite to respond with verses in order to have a theological conversation, and not simply make ad hominem attacks on someone, as you did, though so brilliantly and cleverly.
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To a young believer it’s super confusing when one Christian says another Christian is ungodly yet they preach the same message
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I agree it’s super confusing. The genius of false teaching is that the false teachers teach ALMOST the truth. “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.” —C.H. Spurgeon.
In the article, I went line by line and compared what she was saying to truth. I also linked to other credible ministries for your perusal. The important take-aways are–
1. False teachers exist and are a huge problem. 2 Peter 2:1 says “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” See, from AMONG YOU, and SECRETLY.
That’s why Hebrews 5:14 says we must ‘train ourselves’ in discernment. It’s not easy and it takes skill and practice and time to mature the skill.
2. Discernment is not “bashing”, it’s detecting whether what is being taught aligns with Jesus or not. If it doesn’t, we are told in the Bible to reprove, warn, stay away, and so on. We are given commands as to certain behaviors and responses.
The best thing is to pray to the Spirit for discernment and to read the Word. FBI agents don’t learn the counterfeit money, they spend a LOT of time examining and learning the real US bills so they can easily spot the fakes. Read the Bible and pray, thatt will enhance your discernment. 🙂
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So the Spirit tells you to tell the world that she’s wrong but the Spirit also tells her to teach what she is teaching. I’m getting more and more confused.
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The Spirit is NOT telling her what to preach. That is where discernment comes in. For example, elsewhere Caine has said women can be leaders in church. The Spirit did not tell her to say or believe that, because the Bible HE inspired does not say that. Just because someone says they are a Christian, or says the Spirit taught them, or claims that Jesus told them, or promotes their insightful dream, it does NOT mean that it is true.
I suggest that if you specifically want to learn more about Caine’s false teaching, and my essay has not helped you, to examine (“test”) her teaching by going to one of the other links in the essay and read them, or the ones provided for you below. As I shared the verse from the Bible before, it takes practice, maturity, and training to discern. More than a back-and-forth during the work day over the course of a few minutes. You need time to research and consult the Bible. I’d suggest if you have time and more interest in the issue, before commenting here again, or confusing yourself further, to work through these links. ALso read the Bible, and pray. Best to you.
Six Reasons not to Follow Christine Caine
https://the-end-time.org/2016/01/03/six-reasons-not-to-follow-christine-caine/
Profile 19: Christine Caine
https://faithcontenderblog.wordpress.com/2018/07/13/profile-19-christine-caine/
Have No Regard for the Offerings of Caine
https://michellelesley.com/2016/03/04/chhave-no-regard-for-the-offerings-of-caine/
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PS: I’d also caution you strongly, Marvin, that starting a blog and musing on theological things when you’ve admitted you lack discernment, are easily confused, and don’t know much about the Bible, is zeal without knowledge. The Lord cautions us all to take His word seriously and “not many of you” should become teachers. Handling His word well should be tantamount. I’d like you to reconsider your blog. You really have no business writing for thepublic if you’re still on milk.
you’re not ready:
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 5:12-14
James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
James 1:19- My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
Of leaders and potential leaders:
1 Tim 3:6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
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Thank you. I appreciate your concern. I am definitely reconsidering. What I mean is I am considering writing more. And studying deeper to share more thoughts.
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