A CRITICAL
REVIEW:
Preface
This document is the result of a major project undertaken by the Elders of Grace Church to evaluate what is known as
Theophostic Prayer Ministry. Motivation for this study came from our personal encounter with Theophostic Prayer
Ministry in our own church.
It was our experience that it required a great deal of time to eventually discover the true premise behind Theophostic Prayer
Ministry (Lie Based Theology as opposed to Sin Based Theology). It is our hope that publishing this study
will allow others who encounter Theophostic Prayer Ministry to more quickly make an informed decision as to whether
they want to embrace this ministry or not. We in no way intended this study to be directed at Dr. Ed Smith
personally or at anyone who endorses Theophostic Prayer Ministry, but rather to be a tool for evaluation by all.
We have provided a link at the bottom of this page to a document published by
the staff of Community Evangelical Free Church of Elverson, Pennsylvania for additional information on Theophostic Prayer Ministry. May God bless
you!
Introduction
How we approach the world and
our relationship with God depends totally upon how we perceive ourselves. There
are basically two ways that we view ourselves. We either see ourselves as being
the product of our life experience and environment or we see ourselves as God sees us.
If we see ourselves as products of our life experiences and environment we are nothing
more than a reflection of the sum of our life experiences. Who we are depends
on what we have heard, felt, and seen. As a result, in order to remove our flaws
and imperfections that are the result of experiences in our past we will have to have a positive experience in the present
that overrides the negative experience in our past that caused the flaw or imperfection in the first place. It takes little thought to realize that this kind of worldview will constantly lead us on from one experience
to another in a futile search for wholeness and peace.
If, however, we see ourselves as God sees us we see the truth. God looks upon
man and sees the singular object of His affection. God sees us through eyes of
mercy, grace, and love. Man is alone made in the image of God, therefore God
sees us as His children.
Sin based theology or lie-based theology?
At its core, the difference between Theophostic Theology and Evangelical Theology
is the view of sin. In basic terms Theophostic Theology sees sin as the result
of lies that have been believed leading to defective thinking and ultimately manifesting as sin. Evangelical Theology sees sin as the product of our fallen natures and corrupt flesh. Clearly these two views are polar opposites and as always we must search the Scriptures for the truth.
On pages 224-225 of his book “Beyond Tolerable Recovery”, Dr. Ed Smith
says that “I have come to believe that there is a fundamental misconception about the root of sinful behavior (in the
true Christian) and the reasons that many people struggle with sin throughout their Christian lives. The fundamental misconception I am describing is what I call sin-based
theology. Sin based theology believes that the root of my problem is sin. It says, ‘Because I have sinned I suffer
and am in pain. To be free of my pain I must repent of my sin, confess it to
God, and choose to obey and apply the truth of God’s Word. By this I can
walk in victory.”
Is the root of man’s problem sin?
We must turn to God’s Word for the answer. Matthew 1:18-22 “Now
the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was
found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man,
and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But
while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph son of
David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from
their sins."
Matthew 26:26-28 “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and
said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave
thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this
is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
John 8:34-36 “Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
It is clear from these three references that Jesus’ primary purpose was to deal
with the issue of sin. He came to “save His people from their sins”,
He died to atone for sin “this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins”,
and He offers freedom from sin “whoever commits sin is a slave to sin…Therefore if the Son makes you free, you
shall be free indeed.” Also, the word sin or sins is used 616 times
in the Bible. Whatever the case, sin is problem enough to have required the
coming of Jesus in the form of a man followed by His death on a cross in order to provide freedom to those enslaved by sin! It is also problem enough to be mentioned by the writers of Scripture under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit 616 times!
On page 225 Dr. Smith says “The trouble with this belief is it doesn’t work.
I believe we need to be honest about the success rate we are having trying to get people free through this approach. Is what we are doing truly producing “maintenance-free victory” by confessing,
repenting, and trying really hard?”
Are repentance and confession the proper responses to sin?
Once again we must turn to scripture to see how we are to deal with sin in our lives.
Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Mark 1:14-15 “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee,
preaching that gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom
of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Luke 5:31-32 “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who
are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Luke 24:46-47 “Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and
to rise up from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
Acts 8:20-23 “But Peter said to him, ‘Your money perish with you,
because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! You have
neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.
Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven
you. For I see that you are
poisoned by bitterness and
bound by iniquity.”
Acts 17:30 “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all
men everywhere to repent”
Romans 10:8-10 “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that
if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you
will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
James 5:16 “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that
you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails
much.”
II Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us,
not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
I John 1:8-10 “If we say that we have not
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
The only instruction found in God’s Word
for dealing with sin is repentance and confession. The same instruction is given
to those who are lost and of those who are saved. Those who are lost are to repent
of and confess their sins to establish a relationship with God. Those who are saved are to repent of and confess their sins to maintain
fellowship with God.
Does Scripture teach that Christians can have “maintenance-free victory” over sin in their lives?
Romans 7:15-24 “For what I am doing, I
do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I
hate, that I do. If then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that
it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will
is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good
that I will to do, I do not; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now
if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
For I delight in the law of God, according to the inward man. But I
see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which
is in my members. O wretched man that I am!
Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God-through
Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God,
but with the flesh the law of sin.”
I Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain in. And everyone who
competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a
perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus:
not with uncertainty. This I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached
to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
Galatians 5:16-17 “I say then: Walk in
the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh
lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the
things that you wish.”
Philippians 3:12-14 “Not that I have
already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also
laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but
one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward
the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
James 1:12-15 “Blessed is the man who
endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those
who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God”;
for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each
one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then,
when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
I Peter 2:11 “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly
lusts which war against the soul”
II Peter 2:5-9 “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to
brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be
neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For
he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed for his old sins.”
The words of Paul, Peter, and James seem to indicate that even as believers we will have to endure temptation that appeals
to the flesh in which we are clothed until we are ultimately glorified. Those
of us who are Christians were saved from
the penalty of sin at conversion, we are being saved from the power of sin
as we are sanctified, and we will be saved from the presence of sin when we are
glorified!
What does it mean to have believed the lie of the enemy?
Romans 7:8-10 “But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced
in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I
died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.”
II Thessalonians 2:9-12 “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and
lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth,
that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion,
that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned, who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
Titus 3:3 “For we ourselves were also
once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating
one another.”
It seems clear that to be deceived and to believe
the lie of the enemy is to be lost.
Can believers be deceived by Satan?
Matthew 24:24 “Then if anyone says to you,
‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For
false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”
John 10:2-5 “But he who enters by the door
is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear
his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when
he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice
of strangers.”
John 16:13 “However, when He, the Spirit
of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever he hears
He will speak, and He will tell you things to come.”
John 17:17 “Sanctify
them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
I John 2:20-21 “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.”
I John 2:26-27 “These things I have written
to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you
have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you
concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”
The contrast is clear. Christians know the truth and don’t believe the lies of the enemy.
Believers have no need of some additional experience with God in order to discern truth, they need only to be sensitive
to the indwelling Holy Spirit as He guides them in God’s Word.
What is the ultimate lie?
I Corinthians 6:9-11 “Do you not know that
the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom
of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and
by the Spirit of our God.”
Galatians 6:7-9 “Do not be deceived,
God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who
sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we
do not lose heart.”
The ultimate deception is to think that one can
live a life of perpetual sin and be saved. Nowhere in Scripture is the notion
of a lifestyle of sin considered consistent with regeneration.
Other troubling statements made by Dr. Ed Smith in “Beyond Tolerable Recovery”.
On pages 226-227 Dr. Smith tells of a man who
he prayed for who had battled homosexual desires for over 10 years. This is how
Dr. Smith ends the story, “After three hours of receiving many truths in sexual abuse, abandonment, and other
related memories, the man was released of all his homosexual desires. Months
later he contacted me with the report that he had no further desires or thoughts and was truly walking effortlessly in
constant victory.” As noted earlier the concept of an effortless walk
with regard to sin and temptation is foreign to Scripture.
On page 228 Dr. Smith speaks of true repentance,
“True repentance is the inner mental change which occurs when God intercedes on our behalf in the darkness of our false
thinking. When we are able to receive truth in our innermost parts (subconscious
mind), this truth will transfer and translate into our conscious awareness and outward behavior. When we know the truth experientially we can walk in true victory.” A fundamental rule of interpretation is that our experience must always be measured against God’s
Word; never is God’s Word to be measured against our experience.
On pages 231-232 Dr. Smith tells the story of
“a man who had been addicted to pornography for over 30 years.” The
troubling part is that Dr. Smith felt it was appropriate and acceptable for his wife Sharon to council with this man on such
an intimate issue.
On page 235 Dr. Smith says, “It is time
we began to proclaim the true Gospel that says we are incapable of keeping any part of the law whether it be the Tora or the
New Testament.” The Bible says in II Peter 2:2-4 “Grace and peace
be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that
pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given
to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the diving nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust.” In our own strength
we will always fail to meet God’s righteous requirements of holiness. However,
as God’s power works through us we gain victory over sin. Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” The reality is that this is a process, which we call sanctification, that takes time as the Spirit of God
transforms us into the very image of God.
II Corinthians 3:17-18 “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Conclusion
As these statements are carefully
compared to the Scriptures quoted in the preceding pages it becomes painfully obvious that Theophostic Ministry and lie-based
theology is out of harmony with the clear teaching of God’s Word. At best
it is nothing more than a repackaged Second Blessing Theology and at worst it is a spiritually-packaged psychology that preys
upon a society that is obsessed with playing the role of the victim. It is natural
for individuals to want to escape the responsibility for and the consequences of their actions, however it is not spiritually
healthy nor is it sound ministry or theology.
After careful consideration, study, and prayer, the leadership of Grace Church does not believe that Theophostic Prayer or lie-based theology have a place in our fellowship.
Smith, Ed. Beyond
Tolerable Recovery. (Campbellsville, KY: Alathia Publishing)
