I was asked today whether I believed in the "power of the tongue". The Christian who asked me this is from a charismatic background. What she wanted to know is if I believe that we can speak negative things into existence in our lives. Is it possible for me to create my own bad circumstances, i.e. cancer, sickness, tragedy, etc. by speaking them into existence? She referenced the fact that God created the universe by simply speaking. The implication is that words have power and, since we are created in God's image, our words have power also. Since God's words can create, then we, His image-bearers, should also be able to create with our words. We can literally speak things into existence, negative or positive. This idea is called "positive/negative confession". This is a heretical idea with no Scriptural support. The Got Questions? website (http://www.gotquestions.org/positive-confession.html) has a good refutation of the positive confession heresy.
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Some of the dangers of the positive/negative confession heresy are:
- It hinges on the unscriptural idea that God's will for us is always health, wealth, and prosperity. Not only is this idea unsupported by the Bible, it is actually contrary to what the Bible teaches. The Bible provides many examples of godly men and women who suffered, who were persecuted, who were impoverished, who were sick, and who experienced all sorts of negative circumstances in their lives. Lest we think that the negative circumstances of these men and women were not a part of God's will, remember Job. What Job went through was a divinely ordained set of negative circumstances that God allowed in order to receive glory to Himself. Job's trials were part of God's will for Job. Job is counted as a hero because of his faith in God expressed in his words "though He slay me, I will hope in Him." (Job 13:15) God used Job to bring glory to Himself and to hone Job's faith in Him. Job was made a better person having endured his trials rather than escape them. To believe that God's will for us is only positive is to ignore the greatest example in Scripture... that of Jesus Himself. Our Lord prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will". (Matt. 26:39 NASB). Jesus determined to submit to the Father's will, even though it meant that He would suffer terribly and then be murdered. God's will is not always health, wealth, and prosperity.
- It is equivalent to magic. By saying the right words, I can get what I want. By saying the wrong words, I bring a curse upon myself. The positive confession teaching is that spoken words have power. The same could be said of the spells in a book of magic. Just chant the right words in the right order and magic happens. But words themselves don't have power, they are just vibrations of the air as we speak. Yes, God created by speaking. But the reason the words "Let there be light" actually created light is because it was God that spoke them. If I can create with my words then I must be a god too. One informative article quotes positive confession proponent Paul Crouch as saying, "I am a little god! Critics be gone!" [1] (read article here).
- It teaches that a Christian can experience freedom by learning to speak the positive over the negative. It promises freedom from debt, disease, and disaster. But in reality, instead of freedom, it brings bondage. It places the responsibility for life's circumstances upon the poor Christian who has bought into the heresy. It is all his fault if he is sick. If he only had enough faith, or said the right words, or avoided saying the wrong words, he would be free from sickness. After all, God's desire for His children is health, therefore, if the Christian experiences sickness, it is not God's fault, but his own. The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that sometimes sickness is for no other reason than for God to glorify Himself (John 9:1-3).
I was recently referred to an article called "Time to Grow Up", posted by prayingmedic.com on July 31, 2014. The article can be accessed here. I was grieved by reading this article because of the erroneous positive confession teaching that is found in it. At one point the author says:
I am reminded of a godly Christian family that I know. They had a precious daughter who was a classmate of one of my girls. Their 8 year old daughter tragically died of cancer, This godly couple is a testimony of the grace of God that enables one to endure such tragedy. They are an inspiration to countless others, not because they were able to speak away their daughter's disease, but because they took shelter under the shadow of the Almighty during the storm of their girl's suffering.
Finally, I will close with a quote from the previously mentioned article from GotQuestions.org.
NOTES:
[1] Author unknown, "THE little GOD/MEN", http://www.letusreason.org/pent11.htm, accessed August 1, 2014.
[2] prayingmedic, "Time to Grow Up", July 31, 2014, http://prayingmedic.com/2014/07/31/time-to-grow-up-2/, accessed August 1, 2014.
[3] Author unknown, "Is there power in positive confession?", http://www.gotquestions.org/positive-confession.html, accessed August 1, 2014.
"Recurring problems with sickness and disease are the result of us refusing to take our responsibilities seriously. You can plead with your friends to pray for your healing all you want, but if you never learn to exercise the authority God has given you over sickness, you're never going to remain healed." [2]Notice how this author teaches that the responsibility for sickness rests squarely on the shoulders of the sick person. The positive confession heresy is abusive. It compounds the suffering that a Christian is already experiencing when he is told that his sickness (or other negative circumstance) is the result of some supposed failure to exercise authority over the sickness.
I am reminded of a godly Christian family that I know. They had a precious daughter who was a classmate of one of my girls. Their 8 year old daughter tragically died of cancer, This godly couple is a testimony of the grace of God that enables one to endure such tragedy. They are an inspiration to countless others, not because they were able to speak away their daughter's disease, but because they took shelter under the shadow of the Almighty during the storm of their girl's suffering.
Finally, I will close with a quote from the previously mentioned article from GotQuestions.org.
"But our words are not magic. Our role with our Heavenly Father is not to demand, but to ask for help and to trust. And to realize that our blessings are not dependent upon the strength of our faith, but on His plan and His power." [3]
NOTES:
[1] Author unknown, "THE little GOD/MEN", http://www.letusreason.org/pent11.htm, accessed August 1, 2014.
[2] prayingmedic, "Time to Grow Up", July 31, 2014, http://prayingmedic.com/2014/07/31/time-to-grow-up-2/, accessed August 1, 2014.
[3] Author unknown, "Is there power in positive confession?", http://www.gotquestions.org/positive-confession.html, accessed August 1, 2014.