Exposing Joyce Meyer's False Teaching - Identity Theft

Joyce Meyer’s Ordination and Rejection of Biblical Qualifications for Pastors

To inaugurate our Joyce Meyer updates, I think it's important that we do a little bit of background information on Joyce Meyer, because this plays into whether or not anybody should be listening to her.

And so I'm at the Joyce Meyer website, JoyceMeyer .org, and they have a simple section called FAQ, or About Us, and you can add, you know, they answer questions about Joyce Meyer. And so one of the questions that comes up, is Joyce Meyer an ordained minister?

Is Joyce Meyer an ordained minister? Here's what the Joyce Meyer website says. Joyce Meyer was ordained over 25 years ago. She has a worldwide congregation through the Enjoying Everyday Life television and radio programs, and Joyce Meyer speaks publicly or regularly at public conferences in the United States and around the world.

She also preaches occasionally at St. Louis Dream Center Church and inner city outreach of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Well, here's a problem. So Joyce Meyer puts herself forward as a pastrix, okay? However, she's a pastrix of her radio and television program, but she claims that she's an ordained minister.

Well, that's a problem, because the Bible nowhere, and I mean nowhere, permits a woman to have authority over a man. None whatsoever. There's no such thing biblically as a female apostle. There's no such thing biblically as a female pastor.

I call them pastrixes, and the Bible prohibits this flat out. In fact, the qualifications for a pastor is that he must be the husband of but one wife. Now, so here's the deal. Already there's a big problem.

She is in flat out rebellion against the biblical qualifications for a pastor, an ordained minister. That should raise a red flag immediately, which tells you something about her, and that's this. She does not, does not truly believe the Bible is the inerrant, inspired, infallible Word of God.

She takes issue with the Bible and engages in obfuscation in order to basically blunt, shunt, and eliminate clear teachings of Scripture that don't agree with her ideas, her theology. She stands in judgment over God's Word.

Make no mistake about that. Now, when you look at the history of things that Joyce Meyer has said, I find this one to be probably the most amazing, in a bad way, and also the most telling and revealing, and this is a very important thing to note.

She has never repented of this statement, and if you don't believe that this is part of the beating heart of her personal theology, her personal brand of Christianized religion, then, well, you'd be mistaken.

This is truly, truly at the beating heart of her theology, and we'll come into play behind the scenes from what we're going to hear from this soundbite from her identity theft sermon that she preached this year.

But, here, listen, you've probably heard this before. Listen very carefully.

Joyce Meyer’s Claim That She Is Not a Sinner

That is a lie from the pit of hell. That is what I were, and if I still was, then Jesus died in vain. I'm going to tell you something, folks, I didn't stop sinning until I finally got it through my thick head.

I wasn't a sinner anymore. And the religious world thinks that's heresy, and they want to hang you for it. But the Bible says that I'm righteous, and I can't be righteous.

And be a sinner at the same time. All right. So, Joyce Meyer, she says, I'm not poor, I'm not miserable, and I'm not a sinner. The Bible says I'm righteous, and I can't be righteous and a sinner at the same time.

Now, this ought to tell you something, and it ought to alarm you. This tells you she is not properly trained in any kind of Christian theology whatsoever. She is a Word of Faith prosperity heretic. This is one of the false doctrines that runs rampant through prosperity Word of Faith heretics.

Now, I would just quote against her such things as 1 John 1, verse 8,. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we say we have not sinned, we make Him, that's God, a liar, and His Word is not in us. Now, let me give you another passage from Jesus Himself, okay? From Jesus Himself, and this is from Jesus' teaching as far as how to pray, and this can be found in the Gospel of Matthew.

I'll start at chapter 6, verse 5 for context. Jesus says, and when you pray, from the Sermon on the Mount, by the way, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, and that they may be seen by others.

But truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room, shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

So pray like this, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we have forgiven those who have trespassed against us.

Okay? Jesus instructs us how to pray, giving us a daily prayer. Give us this day our daily bread, and yet in this daily prayer, we are to pray for God to forgive us of our debts, our transgressions, our sins.

So here, Joyce Meyer, as part and parcel of her theology, she denies that she's a sinner.

I am that is alive from the pit of hell that still was, then Jesus died in vain. I'm going to tell you something, folks. I didn't stop sinning until I finally got it through my sick head. I wasn't a sinner anymore.

And the religious world thinks that's heresy, and they want to hang you for it. But the Bible says that I'm righteous, and I can't be righteous and be a sinner at the.

Same time. Okay, so I can't be righteous and a sinner at the same time. Yeah, yet the Apostle Paul, and my question for her would be, are you greater than the Apostle Paul? Do you know better than Jesus who instructed us to pray every single day, forgive us our trespasses?

Okay, are you greater than the Apostle Paul? Who is an eyewitness to the bodily resurrection of Jesus? And who is written the big bulk of the New Testament? Because here's what the Apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy 1.

I'll start at verse 15. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief, the foremost. But I receive mercy for this, that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life.

The Apostle Paul didn't say, I were the chief of sinner. He says, I am the chief of sinners. Present tense. Read Romans 7. So here's what we know about Joyce Meyer. She is a word of faith heretic. She is a pastrix, contrary to the clear commands of the Word of God, that women are not to be ordained or hold the preaching office in the church.

And you notice what she says, and the religious institution calls out heresy, but I didn't stop sinning until I... Right, right, right. She is firmly against the religious institution. This is a woman who is the lone ranger of heresy, if you would.

She is a woman standing against the false establishment of Christianity, and she herself has apparently figured it all out. Well, what do we know so far? She is in direct contradiction and violation of the clear teaching of the Word of God.

And with that as our foundation, let's add onto this a very slick, very subtle, very narcissistic twisting of the gospel and its implications and a presentation that's apparently supposed to save us from the problem that we all face.

Here's Joyce Meyer and part of her sermon entitled, Identity Theft, that was preached and broadcast earlier this year.

Joyce Meyer’s “Identity Theft” Sermon and the Problem of False Identity

Father, we thank you for the Word tonight, all the beautiful people that have taken Friday night to come and wait on you and let you touch them. And I do pray, God, that you would touch them and not one person would leave here the way they came.

Encourage, edify, deliver, heal, set free, and save those that are lost. In Jesus' name, amen.

Now, that creates the impression that this is a Christian preacher. She's not.

A woman testified a little bit ago that although she grew up in church and would not have missed church, that her and her family diligently went to church, that behind the scenes, behind closed doors at home, she was just an absolute mess.

So despite the fact she went to church, apparently the effects of her fallen sinful nature was running its course, right? So apparently this is…. So the problem that she's setting up here is, listen, if you're in Christ, you shouldn't be having problems like this.

Huh.

Part of it was because she really had lost her God-given identity.

Really? So the reason why… see, because remember, I'm not poor, I'm not miserable, I'm not a sinner, and I didn't stop sinning until I realized that I'm not a sinner, right? So that's what's beating behind this theology.

She's just not saying it out loud, but that's the premise. If you're truly a Christian, if you're truly in Christ, well, then you have a new identity and, well, you don't experience bad things behind closed doors at your house.

That's just absolutely insane. It's not normal. You're a Christian. You shouldn't be having problems like that. You're not a sinner.

Anymore. I believe that many times what we see going on in the world is something that's actually a manifestation of something that's going on in the Spirit,.

Only we don't see it in the Spirit. Notice the words, I think. No Christian pastor leads off a statement regarding God or doctrine or theology with the words, I think. They always begin by saying it is written or the Lord has spoken and said in His Word,.

But not I think. Today, identity theft is a huge, huge thing. I saw a movie once about a girl whose identity was stolen, and her life just became an absolute nightmare. This person who'd stolen her identity, racked up all these bills, and they were trying to make her pay debts that she didn't know.

She was being accused of things that she did not do, very much like the enemy deals with people. He accuses us all the time. He tries to make us think that we constantly need to be paying for something, paying, paying, paying, although the Bible tells us that Jesus has already paid.

There's a little gospel nugget, okay, but don't think she's preaching the biblical gospel here.

Because she's not. You need to know who you are, and you need to know who you are in Christ. You need to know where to get your identity. This identity theft thing has become such a problem that now people are buying insurance against identity theft.

But the good news is, is that Jesus is our insurance against identity theft. Huh? I'm talking about spiritually speaking. So I really want you to open your heart and receive this word tonight because I...

Yeah, no, I will not unless it's from the clear, solid, in-context exegesis of God's word. But already it's clear that you have no intention of doing that.

So many people just don't feel good about who they are.

Okay, I'm going to back that up because you need to hear that statement again. So apparently there's a big problem out there. People just don't feel good about who they are. Huh?

I'm talking about spiritually speaking. So I really want you to open your heart and receive this word tonight because I believe that so many people just don't feel good about who they are.

There it is again. I believe that so many people just don't feel good about who they are. No Christian preacher is ever called to say, well, I think, or the problem is, or I kind of sort of believe that the problem is this or whatever.

All Christian pastors are called to preach and proclaim God's word, not make assertions about what they think or feel.

They feel the pressure from the world. They feel peer pressure to be what they think everybody wants them to be. And sometimes we try to be so many people and we try to play so many different roles that we get confused about who we are.

I believe we have an epidemic of insecurity in our.

Society. I believe we have an epidemic of insecurity in our society. Oh, that sounds terrible. Is that the problem that scripture says? That the world out there, basically people are an epidemic of insecurity.

Is that our problem? Or is the problem that scripture presents that humans born dead in trespasses and sins don't even realize just in how much trouble they are with God and are absolutely secure rather than insecure, but secure in their sinfulness.

The Universal Condition of Sin in Romans 3

Romans chapter three, Paul writes, what then, are we Jews any better off? No, not at all, for we have already charged that all, that's everybody and everybody everywhere. You remember the movie Back to the Future Three, where Marty McFly goes to the old west and the name that he picks for himself is Clint Eastwood.

Well, he goes into that bar and he has to face Biff's ancestor and fight him. They were trying to get him to go outside and they were calling him a coward. The one guy said, everybody everywhere will say that Clint Eastwood is the biggest yellow belly in the west.

You remember that line? Well, here Paul says, are we Jews any better off? Well, not at all, for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greek, that means all, everybody everywhere, are under sin.

As it is written, none is righteous. No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside together. They have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave.

They use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. In their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.

There is no fear of God before their eyes. See, that's the dire situation that Scripture presents. But see, Joyce Meyer here is basically going to set up a big problem. There's an epidemic of insecurity out there and the world is robbing people of their identity.

No, it's not. That's not the problem. The problem out there is that the world is full of people who are dead in trespasses and sins and are sinners and have transgressed God's holy commands and laws and are in rebellion with Him and, according to Jesus, are still under the wrath of God unless they believe in Him, in Jesus, for the forgiveness.

Of their sins. But we continue. And I think it causes so many problems in relationships because people are not functioning together on an open, honest level. There's a lot of pretense and a lot of works of the flesh, people trying to be what they think that everybody else wants.

Them to be. So a work of the flesh, now she's redefined it very carefully right there. A work of the flesh now in her way of thinking is trying to be somebody else other than who you are, because the world is trying to get you to be somebody other than who you are.

Subtle, dangerous, and absolutely false. And the truth is, is God is never going to help you be anybody but you. What kind of statement is that? Did you hear me? Yeah, I heard you and it makes no biblical sense whatsoever what you just said.

God is never going to help you be anybody other.

Than you. And He doesn't want you to be a people pleaser, not that we don't want to please people, but there's a difference in a normal desire to please people and becoming a people pleaser in that you end up letting them manipulate you and control you because you're so intent on keeping them happy that in the process you're making yourself unhappy, and very often making God.

Unhappy. So you make you make God unhappy when you try to please people by becoming somebody who you ain't. You've had your identity stolen from you apparently. This is not a biblical.

Teaching at all. You can't really say no to people when you need to say no if you don't know who you are in Christ. So many people go to church and they try to follow all the rules and regulations, but the truth is they just don't like who they are.

Oh yeah, see that's the problem. They just.

Don't like who they are. So here comes the obligatory Joyce Meyer swipe at solid Bible.

Teaching churches. They feel guilty. They feel condemned. They live under shame and blame and a reproach that they picked up somewhere along the way in the world. So the world is the one.

That made them feel like they're guilty. And I can tell you when you go to church and you're.

Handed ten more rules to follow and three new doctrines, it's not going to deliver you from that mess. What you have to know is Christ and the power of his resurrection, and you have to know.

Who you are in him. You have to learn. Now that's part of her shtick. When you listen to Joyce Meyer sermons and listen to hours of her program, which unfortunately I've just begun doing, this is all part of her shtick.

She alone understands what's really going on. Those people in those established churches, those pastors are rubes. They don't understand really the power of God or anything, but she does. They try to help people by giving them three new rules and two more doctrines and stuff like that.

What a bunch of morons. That's kind of how she treats them. But she alone has figured out the secret. She's got the straight talk that's going to put you on the inside track so you can overcome these problems, and you don't need to go to those morons and those established churches where they give you doctrines and stuff like that.

That's part of her shtick. Identify with who you are in him. If any man be in Christ. Now here comes a verse out of context. He is a new creation. A new creature all together with a brand new nature deep on the inside of him.

Now this is true. All things pass away. All things become brand new. In Joshua chapter 5. Now we're going to the Old Testament.

When Joshua is going to go in. So the technique is this. You rip verses out of context and you stick them next to each other as if they're commentaries on each other, but they're not talking about the same thing.

Rip a verse here, rip a verse there, rip a verse there, and then you weave it into a tapestry, and she's in control of the narrative, not the biblical text.

The people in and take the town of Jericho. First God told them, today the reproach of Egypt is rolled off of you. You cannot possess the land until reproach is rolled off of you.

Now this is her own unique interpretation of this passage, and watch how she then applies it.

Reproach is shame, blame, and a feeling of being a general failure.

Okay, so apparently God has taken away from the children of Israel the feeling of failure that was foisted upon them by those evil Egyptians. See, that was the problem. See, the real enslaving apparently by the people of Egypt against the people of Israel was that they made them, the children of Israel, feel like a bunch of miserable failures, but God in His mercy there in Joshua removed that reproach and rolled it off of them, so now they no longer need to feel like a failure.

Talk about a complete narcissistic twisting of God's Word. When you read it in context, that's not what this is about, nor is this what Christ came to save you from. Christ didn't come to save you from a feeling of failure.

In fact, it is absolutely imperative that you and I come to grips with the fact that we have utterly failed to keep God's law, that we are called to humble ourselves before God and confess our sins, and confess that we have trespassed against God, trespassed against our neighbor, committed sins against them, and over and again call upon God for mercy and forgiveness, humbly, repentantly, and contritely confessing that we have failed to keep His law.

That's an important part. Remember 1 John 1? If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. See, she does not admit that she's a sinner. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Is the truth in Joyce Meyer? Not at all. She is speaking lies, which means the origin of her doctrine is the devil, because the devil is the father of lies. He's a liar. She's not speaking the truth. She's lying, and she's doing it very craftily, very confidently, very audaciously, if you would, but all of these things that she's speaking are flat-out lies.

When you go through.

The world a few years, almost everybody has that reproach, but Jesus died. Yeah, you go through.

The world a few years, and now you just feel like a failure. Roll that thing off of you. Okay, I'm going to back it up so you can hear it in context. She's going to say why Jesus died. Listen.

And a feeling of being a general failure. When you go through the world a few years, almost everybody has that reproach, but Jesus died to roll that thing off of you so you could live like a new creature.

We don't want to just sing songs about it. We want to live it. We want to enjoy it. We want it to be a reality in our lives. Can anybody say.

Amen? I cannot say amen to what you're saying. What you're saying is absolutely not what the teaches. Jesus came to roll back that feeling of failure and reproach that the world has put upon you. No, the problem is that you've transgressed God's holy law.

Is there anybody here who needs.

To feel better about who you are? Amen? Anybody that's tired of feeling guilty and condemned and like you got to compare yourself with somebody else and compete with somebody else all the time? Sick and tired of feeling guilty and condemned.

That is a lie from the pit of hell. That is what I were, and if I still was, then Jesus died in vain. I'm going to tell you something, folks. I didn't stop sinning until I finally got it through my sick head.

I wasn't a sinner anymore. And the religious world thinks that's heresy, and they want to hang you for it. But the Bible says that I'm righteous, and I can't be righteous and be a sinner at the same time.

Yeah, that's what's beaten behind this particular sermon.

I can tell you that I used to have mega problems with that, and I am free from it.

That's right. I had mega problems. Feeling like a failure.

There's nothing the devil despises more than a person who knows who they are in Christ. He hates a person who is confident. The devil is afraid of a person who is confident.

Oh, give me a break.

And you can be confident in Christ Jesus.

Yes, we can be confident in Christ Jesus. Confident of what, though? Confident that we're reconciled to God through Christ's shed blood on the cross. Confident that God is merciful towards us, and that Christ has paid the wrath of God in our place.

Took it upon Himself that He was pierced for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. Notice the emphasis that I'm giving here is on what Christ has done to forgive us, because we have sinned. She's basically preaching a gospel where God has come to free us, set us free from feeling like failures.

Yet, well, failure and that feeling of failure before God is a primary and integral part of the gospel message itself, because we are called to repent and be forgiven by the shed blood of Christ. That's not the gospel she preaches.

She preaches a gospel that sets us free from feeling like failures and having our identity stolen by the world. Well, that's our first Joyce Meyer update. We will be having more in the future, but that's just kind of to grease the skids, so to speak, and introduce you to a false teacher whom we're going to have to pay closer attention to in episodes to come.

All right, we're up on our second break. If you'd like to email me regarding anything you've heard on this edition or any previous editions of Fighting for the Faith, you can do so. My email address, talkbackatfightingforthefaith .com.

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