The Assemblies of God from its early days has recognized the importance of the life

of faith. It has been given prominent emphasis because Scripture gives it prominence.

The writer to the Hebrews points out that without faith it is impossible to please

God. Then he describes faith as believing two things-that God is, and that He is the

rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

All the blessings which God has for His people are received through faith.

Salvation (Acts 16:31), baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:15-17), divine preservation (1

Peter 1:5), inheritance of the promises which include healing and provision of material

needs (Hebrews 6:12), and motivation for witnessing (2 Corinthians 4:13) are among the

many provisions of God's grace.

Today, as in every generation, it is important for believers to be mindful of the

example in Scripture of being strong in faith (Romans 4:20-24). They must be on guard

against anything which would weaken or destroy faith. They need to pray for its increase

(Luke 17:5) and constantly seek to cultivate it through reading the Word of God (Romans

10:17).

Occasionally throughout church history people have taken extreme positions

concerning great Biblical truths. Sometimes teachers have advocated these extremes. On

other occasions followers have gone beyond the teachings and reflected adversely on the

cause of Christ.

and the pattern of usage give some insight into the implications of these terms.

The fact that extremes are brought into focus does not imply rejection of the

doctrine of confession. It is an important truth. The Bible teaches people are to confess

their sin (1 John 1:9). They are to confess Christ (Matthew 10:32; Romans 10:9, 10).

They are to maintain a good confession (Hebrews 4:14; 10:23, ASV).

But when people, in emphasizing a doctrine, go beyond or contrary to the

teaching of Scripture, they do not honor that doctrine. Conversely, they bring reproach

The positive confession teaching relies on an English dictionary definition of the

witnessing for a truth which has been embraced.

This view goes a step further and divides confession into negative and positive

aspects. The negative is acknowledging sin, sickness, poverty, or other undesirable

situations. Positive confession is acknowledging or owning desirable situations.

While there are variations of interpretation and emphasis concerning this

teaching, a conclusion seems to be that the unpleasant can be avoided by refraining from

negative confessions. The pleasant can be enjoyed by making positive confessions.

According to this view, as expressed in various publications, the believer who

refrains from acknowledging the negative and continues to affirm the positive will assure

for himself pleasant circumstances. He will be able to rule over poverty, disease, and

sickness. He will be sick only if he confesses he is sick. Some make a distinction between

acknowledging the symptoms of an illness and the illness itself.

This view advocates that God wants believers to wear the best clothing, drive the

best cars, and have the best of everything. Believers need not suffer financial setbacks.

All they need to do is to tell Satan to take his hands off their money. The believer can

have whatever he says whether the need is spiritual, physical, or financial. It is taught that

faith compels God's action.

According to this position, what a person says determines what he will receive

and what he will become. Thus people are instructed to start confessing even though what

they want may not have been realized. If a person wants money, he is to confess he has it

even if it is not true. If a person wants healing, he is to confess it even though it is

obviously not the case. People are told they can have whatever they say, and for this

reason great significance is attached to the spoken word. It is claimed the spoken word, if

repeated often enough, will eventually result in faith which procures the desired blessing.

It is understandable that some people would like to accept the positive confession

teaching. It promises a life free from problems, and its advocates seem to support it with

passages of Scripture. Problems develop, however, when Bible statements are isolated

from their context and from what the rest of Scripture has to say concerning the subject.

Extremes result which distort truth and eventually hurt believers as individuals and the

cause of Christ in general.

help to avoid the extremes which eventually frustrate rather than help believers in their

walk with God.

The apostle Paul gave an important principle of interpreting Scripture which calls

for “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:13). The basic thrust of

this principle is to consider everything God’s Word has to say on a given subject in

establishing doctrine. Only doctrine based on a holistic view of Scripture conforms to this

Biblical rule of interpretation.

When the positive confession teaching indicates that to admit weakness is to

accept defeat, to admit financial need is to accept poverty, and to admit sickness is to

preclude healing, it is going beyond and is contrary to the harmony of Scripture.

For instance, King Jehoshaphat admitted he had no might against an enemy

alliance, but God gave him a marvelous victory (2 Chronicles 20). Paul admitted

weakness and then stated that when he was weak, he was strong because God’s strength

is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9,10).

It was after the disciples recognized they did not have enough to feed the

multitudes and admitted it that Christ marvelously provided a more than adequate supply

(Luke 9:12, 13). It was after the disciples admitted they had caught no fish that Jesus

directed them to a most successful endeavor (John 21:3-6).

These people were not told to replace negative confessions with positive

confessions which were contrary to fact. They stated conditions exactly as they were

rather than pretending they were something else. Yet God marvelously intervened even

though they made what some would call negative confessions.

Comparing Scripture with Scripture makes it clear that positive verbal expressions

do not always produce happy effects, nor do negative statements always result in

unhappy effects. To teach that leaders in the early days of the Church such as Paul,

Stephen, and Trophimus did not live in a constant state of affluence and health because

they did not have the light on this teaching is going beyond and contrary to the Word of

God. Doctrine will be sound only as it is developed within the framework of the total

teaching of Scripture.

The Greek word translated “confess” means “to speak the same thing.” When

people confess Christ, it is to say the same thing as Scripture does concerning Christ.

When people confess sin, it is to say the same as Scripture does concerning sin. And

when people confess some promise of Scripture, they must be sure they are saying the

same thing about that promise as the total teaching of Scripture on that subject.

yourself.”

When the positive confession doctrine indicates a person can have whatever he

says, it fails to emphasize adequately that God’s will must be considered. David had the

best intentions when he indicated his desire to build a temple for the Lord, but it was not

God’s will (1 Chronicles 17:4). David was permitted to gather materials, but Solomon

was to build the temple.

Paul prayed that the thorn in his flesh might be removed, but it was not God’s

will. Instead of removing the thorn, God gave Paul sufficient grace (2 Corinthians 12:9).

God’s will can be known and claimed by faith, but the desire of the heart is not

always the criterion by which the will of God is determined. There are times when the

enjoyable or pleasurable may not be the will of God. James alluded to this when he

wrote, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your

lusts” (James 4:3). The word translated “lusts” does not refer to perverted desire but to

pleasure or enjoyment; that which the heart desires. Several translations use the word

“pleasure” rather than “lust.”

In Gethsemane Jesus asked that if it were possible the cup might be removed.

That was His desire, but in His prayer He recognized the will of God. He said,

“Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).

The Bible recognizes there will be times when a believer will not know what to

pray for. He will not know what the will of God is. He may even be perplexed as Paul

sometimes was (2 Corinthians 4:8). Then, rather than simply making a positive

confession based on the desires of the heart, the believer needs to recognize the Holy

Spirit makes intercession for him according to the will of God (Romans 8:26, 27).

God’s will always must have priority over the believer’s plans or desires. The

words of James should be kept constantly in view: “Ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we

shall live, and do this, or that" (James 4:15).

Getting what the believer wants is not as simple as repeating a positive

confession. Pleasant things might be out of the will of God; and, conversely, unpleasant

things might be in the will of God. It is important for the believer to say as Paul’s friends

did, “The will of the Lord be done” (Acts 21:14)-more important than to demand a life

free from suffering.

When the positive confession view teaches that believers are to confess rather

than to pray for things which God has promised, it overlooks the teaching of God’s Word

concerning importunate prayer. According to some who hold this view of positive

confession, God's promises are in the area of material, physical, and spiritual blessings;

believers are to claim or confess these blessings and not to pray for them.

The instruction not to pray for promised blessings is contrary to the teaching of

God’s Word. Food is one of God's promised blessings, yet Jesus taught His disciples to

pray: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). Wisdom is a promised blessing

of God, yet Scripture states, if any man “lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to

all men liberally, and upbraideth not” (James 1:5). Jesus called the Holy Spirit the

promise of the Father (Luke 24:49), and yet He also taught that God would give the Holy

Spirit to them that ask (Luke 11:13).

While there were times God told people not to pray, as in the case of Moses at the

Red Sea (Exodus 14:15), there are many Scriptures reminding believers to pray, and that,

without ceasing (Romans 12:12; Philippians 4:6, 1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Jesus emphasized the importance of importunity in prayer. The illustration of the

persistent friend who came at midnight asking for bread to set before his guests became

the basis for Christ’s statement, “Ask, and it shall be given you” (Luke 11:5-10). The

parable of the widow and the unjust judge became the occasion for our Lord to

emphasize importunity in prayer (Luke 18:1-8). These people were commended for

importunity and not for prayerless positive confession.

While God’s ways are above man's ways, and we cannot understand the reason

for every command in Scripture, we do know that in His wisdom God has ordained

prayer as part of the process included in meeting a need. Rather than an indication of

doubt, importunate prayer can be an indication of obedience and faith.

The positive confession teaching advocates reigning as kings in this life. It

teaches that believers are to dominate and not be dominated by circumstances. Poverty

and sickness are usually mentioned among the circumstances over which believers are to

have dominion.

If believers choose the kings of this world as models, it is true they will seek the

trouble-free life (although even kings of this world are not free from problems). They will

be more concerned with physical and material prosperity than with spiritual growth.

When believers choose the King of kings as their model, however, their desires

with Christ: “If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

Paul even went so far as to glory in his infirmities instead of denying them (2 Corinthians

12:5-10).

Though Christ was rich, for our sakes He became poor (2 Corinthians 8:9). He

could say, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man

hath not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).

While God in His providence has endowed some with the ability to accumulate

greater wealth than others, something is tragically lacking if there is not a willingness to

do the will of God and surrender all, if need be, including creature comforts.

Jesus never ceased to be God, and through the power of the Holy Spirit performed

many miracles; yet He was not free from suffering. He knew He must suffer many things

of the elders (Matthew 16:21; 17:12). He desired to eat the Passover with the disciples

before He suffered (Luke 22:15). After His death, the disciples recognized that Christ”s

suffering was a fulfillment of prophecy (Luke 24:25, 26, 32).

When believers realize that reigning as kings in this life is to take Christ as the

model of a king, they will recognize suffering can be involved; that sometimes it is more

kingly to stay with unpleasant circumstances than to try to make all circumstances

pleasant.

Paul had been shown he would suffer (Acts 9:16). Later he rejoiced in his

sufferings for the Colossians. He saw his suffering as filling up “that which is behind of

the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church” (Colossians

1:24).

God promises to supply the needs of believers, and He knows how to deliver the

godly out of temptation; but reigning in life as Christ did may also include suffering. The

committed believer will accept this. He will not be disillusioned if life is not a continual

series of pleasant experiences. He will not become cynical if he does not have all the

desires of his heart.

He will recognize the servant is not greater than his Master. To follow Christ

requires denying ourselves (Luke 9:23). This includes denying our selfish desires and

may include admitting our problems.

Problems are not always an indication of lack of faith. To the contrary, they can

be a tribute to faith. This is the great emphasis of Hebrews 11:32-40:

To hold that all suffering results from negative confessions and indicates a lack of

faith contradicts the Scripture. Some heroes of faith suffered greatly, some even died

through faith, and they were commended for it.

The positive confession emphasis has a tendency to include statements which

make it appear that man is sovereign and God is the servant. Statements are made about

compelling God to act, implying He has surrendered His sovereignty; that He is no longer

in a position to act according to His wisdom and purpose. Reference is made to true

prosperity being the ability to use God's ability and power to meet needs regardless of

what the needs are. This puts man in the position of using God rather than man

surrendering himself to be used of God.

In this view there is very little consideration given to communion with God in

order to discover His will. There is very little appeal to search the Scriptures for the

framework of the will of God. There is little emphasis on the kind of discussion with

fellow believers which results in two or three agreeing what the will of God might be.

Instead, the desire of the heart is viewed as a binding mandate on God. It is seen as

constituting the authority of the believer.

It is true that Jesus said, “Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that

the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). But Scripture also teaches that the

asking must be in harmony with the will of God. “This is the confidence that we have in

him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he

hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him”

(1 John 5:14, 15).

“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) is still an important injunction

today. God is God. He will not surrender His glory or sovereignty to anyone. No one will

compel God to action.

The authority of the believer exists only in the will of God, and it is the believer’s

responsibility to discover and conform to the will of the sovereign God even in the things

he desires. Paul's words are still applicable: “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but

understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17).

with the will of God, they will not talk in terms of compelling God or using God’s power.

They will speak of becoming obedient servants. They will desire to become yielded

instruments in the hands of God.

In reviewing the efforts of those who advocate this positive confession teaching it

is evident that the basic appeal is to those who are already Christians living in an affluent

society. They encourage a spiritual elitism in which adherents say, “We believe the same

things you do. The difference is that we practice what we believe.”

A practical test of a belief is whether it has a universal application. Does the

teaching have meaning only for those living in an affluent society? Or does it also work

among the refugees of the world? What application does the teaching have for believers

imprisoned for their faith by atheistic governments? Are those believers substandard who

suffer martyrdom or grave physical injury at the hands of cruel, ruthless dictators?

The truth of God’s Word has a universal application. It is as effective in the slums

as in suburbia. It is as effective in the jungle as in the city. It is as effective in foreign

countries as in our own nation. It is as effective among deprived nations as among the

affluent. The test of fruit is still one way of determining whether a teacher or teaching is

of God or of man. “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).

confession teaching concerning the Greek word rhema, it is necessary to consider it as

used primarily in oral communication.

A distinction is generally made by proponents of this view between the words

logos and rhema. The first, it is claimed, refers to the written word. The second, to that

which is presently spoken by faith. According to this view whatever is spoken by faith

becomes inspired and takes on the creative power of God.

There are two major problems with this distinction. First, the distinction is not

justified by usage either in the G