I wrote the following points with fear and trembling, knowing that God will hold me accountable

for every careless word. I wrote out of love and especially concern for many younger believers
who will not know how to answer this new “gospel of grace,” which is different from what
hundreds of generations of Christians have received and what is taught in the Bible.

My intention is not to trash another man’s ministry, but to protect the flock of God from obvious
errors when so many are being led astray. I have nothing against Joseph Prince personally or the
way he runs his ministry. My only concern is with the wrong teaching that he espouses in his
books.

This document critiques Destined to Reign: The Secret to Effortless Success, Wholeness and
Victorious Living, published in 2007 by Harrison House. I wrote it in bullet point format so that
the logic would be easy to follow.

1. Examination
a. Joseph Prince teaches that Christians do not need to examine themselves
i. On page 173, “My friends, God does not require you to search your heart
and locate your sins before you can worship Him.”
ii. On page 187, “I do not deny that sin must be punished, but I am declaring
to you that all your sins have already been punished on the body of Jesus.
He is your perfect sin offering and we who have received His forgiveness
should have no more consciousness of sins. Stop examining yourself and
searching your heart for sin. Remember that when someone takes his sin
offering to the priest, the priest does not examine him. He examines the
sin offering.”
b. The Bible teaches that Christians should examine themselves to see if they are in
a right relationship with God
i. In 2 Corinthians 13, Paul is giving a stern final warning to people in
Corinth that are opposing him. He warns them to examine themselves to
see if they are truly in the faith. These are believers that Paul is talking to
(or at least people who think they are believers). In verse 5, “Examine
yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not
realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”
ii. In Philippians 2:12-13, Paul tells the Philippians to continue to work out
their salvation with great respect for God, who is also working in them.
This is a warning to pay attention to their spiritual state. “Therefore, my
dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but
now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with
fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act
according to his good purpose.”
2. Confession
a. Joseph Prince teaches that Christians must only confess their sins once to receive
forgiveness for all their sins—past, present, and future.
i. On pages 107-109, Joseph Prince teaches that 1 John 1:5-10 says
Christians must only confess their sins once. Afterwards, they can “walk
in the light” and no longer need to confess. (Furthermore, because 1 John
clearly tells people to confess, Prince says that it is addressed to Gnostics
and not believers. He is forced to make this assumption or otherwise admit
that 1 John tells believers to confess their sins whenever they are aware of
them. I address this point below.)
ii. On page 107, “My friend, this is the assurance you can have today: The
day you received Christ, you confessed all your sins once and for all.”
iii. On page 108, “When we understand this verse [John 1:7], we realize that
even when we sin, we sin in the realm of the light! So, if we sin in the
light, we are cleansed in the light, and we are kept in the light. This idea
of us going into darkness when we sin is not from the Bible.”
iv. On pages 111-113, Prince talks about Paul’s instructions on communion in
1 Corinthians 11. He says that partaking in an “unworthy manner” does
not mean partaking with knowledge of sin, but rather partaking without
acknowledging the payment of Jesus for our sin.
b. The Bible teaches that Christians receive forgiveness by confessing their sin, and
that not confessing our sin is spiritually harmful
i. James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for
each other so that you may be healed.” This admonition is addressed to
believers.
ii. Psalm 32:1-3 says, “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not
count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my
bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night
your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of
summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my
iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’—and you
forgave the guilt of my sin.”
In Romans 4, Paul uses these verses from David and says they apply to
believers.
1. Joseph Prince teaches that all teachings about repentance,
confession, and blessings and curses in the Old Testament do not
apply to believers today. However, God saved believers in the Old
Testament because of their forward-looking faith in Christ
(Hebrews 11:13) in the same way he saves us today. While we no
longer need to make animal sacrifices, we still need to confess our
 sin to maintain a right relationship with God. He still requires
repentance. In fact, in Romans 4:4-8, Paul quotes the Psalm above
as an example of someone in the Old Testament (King David) who
was saved by faith.
iii. In regard to 1 John 1, Prince teaches that this is addressed to Gnostics and
not to believers. It is true that 1 John warns about Gnosticism, but it is
addressed to believers and not to Gnostics. This is abundantly clear from
the creed John writes in 1 John 2:12-14. Therefore, I believe the
commandment to confess sins in 1 John 1:9 is addressed to believing
Christians. Also, all Christian commentaries that I have read are in
agreement about this, and Joseph Prince is the only person I’m aware of
who teaches contrary.
3. Repentance
a. Joseph Prince teaches that repenting is simply “changing our mind” and does not
include remorse or sorrow for our sin.
i. On page 233, “By the way, for all of you who feel that there should be
more preaching on repentance, do you know what the word “repent”
means in the first place? The word ‘repent’ is the Greek word metanoeo,
which according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, simply means ‘to change
one’s mind.’ But because we have been influenced by our denominational
background as well as our own religious upbringing, many of us have the
impression that repentance is something that involves mourning and
sorrow.”
1. Here, Joseph Prince clearly misleads the reader. Thayer’s Greek
Lexicon lists the following for “repent”:
a. to change one's mind, i.e. to repent
b. to change one's mind for better, heartily to amend with
abhorrence of one's past sins
The word “abhor” means to regard with extreme repugnance, to
loathe or hate. Clearly, this is more than simply “to change one’s
mind”! How can Joseph Prince selectively quote Thayer’s Greek
Lexicon to support his argument when that source actually teaches
the opposite?! To me, this seriously calls Joseph Prince’s honesty
into question. You can see the entry for “repent” in Thayer’s online
for yourself here:
http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/kjv/metanoeo.html
ii. On page 152, “It is a lie that guilt and condemnation will lead you back to
God.”
iii. On page 155, Prince tries to use the example of the Prodigal Son to show
that God accepts even those who do not repent. He says the son did not
have right motives, even though Jesus Himself describes the son as
 repenting in Luke 15:17-18. Moreover, Jesus puts the Prodigal Son
parable along with the Parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin. In both
those parables, Jesus explicitly says, “In the same way, I tell you, there is
rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who
repents.” All three of these parables hang together to illustrate how God
welcomes those who repent.
b. The Bible teaches that God intends for Christians to experience godly sorrow
when they sin that leads to repentance and life (but not worldly sorrow, which
leads to death).
i. In 2 Corinthians 7:8-11, Paul says that the Corinthians (who were already
believers) repented after reading his rebuke. They realized their sin and
were sorrowful. As a result of their conviction of sin, the Holy Spirit led
them to repentance.

Paul writes, “I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I
was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while. Now I
am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you
to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his
people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. For the kind of
sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in
salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow,
which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. Just see what this godly
sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear
yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such
zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have
done everything necessary to make things right.” (NLT)

This is a very important view into how the Holy Spirit brings conviction,
but Satan brings condemnation. The conviction that the Holy Spirit brings
leads us to the cross of Jesus, where we repent and receive full cleansing
of our sin—with no regrets afterwards! Satan, however, brings
condemnation that eventually leads to death. Joseph Prince does not
understand or acknowledge this distinction.

ii. James 4:1-10 is addressed to believers and calls them to repent of

friendship with the world. Even though he calls them adulterous people,
James writes to these Christians to remind them that God’s grace leads us
to repentance, which is marked with grief and mourning. In verse 8, James
clearly calls his readers “sinners” and calls them to make up their minds to
decide between God and the world. In short, he calls them to repent! This
clearly includes sorrow for their sin.
 “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you
sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and
wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble
yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (NIV)

iii. Revelation 3:14-22 contains Jesus’ warning to the church in Laodicea. He

is clearly addressing believers with language intended to shock them. He
wants them to realize their pitiful spiritual state. The purpose of this
chastisement is love. “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be
earnest, and repent.”
4. Stewardship
a. Joseph Prince never talks about stewardship in his book because it doesn’t fit into
his doctrine. Stewardship implies that we are responsible and accountable to our
Master, and that one day He will hold us to account for what we have done with
the things He gave us. Joseph Prince tells believers that God certainly will not
punish them for anything.
i. On page 61, “When I was growing up as a young Christian, I was taught
many things about God which robbed me of any desire to build a more
intimate relationship with Him. I was told the more I knew, the more God
would hold me accountable, and my punishment for falling short of His
expectations would be more severe than someone who knew less.”
b. Jesus taught that God gives everyone abilities, opportunities, and resources, and
that we are responsible for what we have been given. In fact, all these things that
God gives us are grace, including:
i. The opportunity to repent
ii. The opportunity to serve Him
iii. The physical things that God has blessed us with
iv. The spiritual gifts He has given us
v. Our opportunities to learn about Him and be trained in a good local church
vi. Our natural abilities and dispositions
vii. Our backgrounds (such as if we had responsible parents or good
education)
All these things are God’s grace to us. We are responsible for making the most of
them. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:9-10, he made the most of God’s grace in
his life. Hebrews 12:14-17 also warns us not to miss the grace of God by sinning,
like Esau did.
viii. Consider the parables that Jesus told concerning stewardship
1. Parable of the Stewards in Luke 12:41-48. Here, Jesus answered
Peter that more would be expected from the disciples than others.
 2. Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:1-23. Here, Jesus said that
people were responsible to respond to the gospel and the work of
the Holy Spirit.
3. Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. Here, it is clear that
Jesus will judge people according to the opportunities given them.
5. Conviction
a. Joseph Prince teaches that all guilty feelings are from the devil and that God only
works in people so that they know they are righteous in Him. He denies that the
Holy Spirit works in people to convict them of sin.
i. On page 134, “The bottom line is that the Holy Spirit never convicts you
of your sins. He NEVER comes to point out your faults. I challenge you to
find a scripture in the Bible that the Holy Spirit comes to convict you of
your sins.”
ii. On page 151, “Remind yourself that the Holy Spirit was sent to convict
you of your righteousness apart from works.”
iii. On pages 136 and 137, Prince says that Christians in the past
misinterpreted John 16:8-11. In his interpretation, the Holy Spirit convicts
unbelievers of only one sin: unbelief. He also interprets Jesus as meaning
that the Holy Spirit convicts people of their righteousness in Him.
b. The Bible teaches that conviction of sin leads us to repentance, and that it is the
work of the Holy Spirit
i. In John 16:8-11, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I
am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but
if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of
guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin,
because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I
am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to
judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” (NIV)
ii. Throughout Christian history, Christians have believed that the Holy Spirit
works in people to convict them of sin. This is shown in classic
commentaries on John 16:8-11 that have been used by preachers for
hundreds of years.
1. Adam Clarke (1826), in his commentary, said about John 16:8, “…
we may consider that it is one of the grand offices of the Holy
Spirit to convince of sin, to show men what sin is, to demonstrate
to them that they are sinners, and to show the necessity of an
atonement for sin.”
2. Matthew Henry (1721), in his commentary, said about John 16:8
and the general work of the Holy Spirit among all people, not just
unbelievers, “The Spirit convinces of the fact of sin, that we have
done so and so; of the fault of sin, that we have done ill in doing
 so; of the folly of sin, that we have acted against right reason, and
our true interest; of the filth of sin, that by it we are become odious
to God; of the fountain of sin, the corrupt nature; and lastly, of the
fruit of sin, that the end thereof is death.” About verse 10, he says
that the Holy Spirit convicts people of the righteousness of Jesus,
which can be applied to believers. “The Spirit shall convince men
of this righteousness. Having by convictions of sin shown them
their need of a righteousness, lest this should drive them to despair
he will show them where it is to be had, and how they may, upon
their believing, be acquitted from guilt, and accepted as righteous
in God's sight.”
iii. What Joseph Prince teaches is different than what Christian ministers have
preached before.
1. Men like Charles Finney, Jonathan Wesley, George Whitefield,
and Jonathan Edwards focused on people’s hidden sins to bring
them to repentance. Their ministries were marked by sorrowful,
heartfelt repentance and led to many sincere conversions.
iv. Furthermore, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit works through the Word
of God (either read in the Bible or heard through preaching) to convict
people of sin.
1. Hebrews 4:12-13 says, “For the word of God is living and active.
Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to
dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts
and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from
God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes
of him to whom we must give account.” (NIV) The author of
Hebrews is warning believers against rejecting the word of God.
He says the Holy Spirit uses the word of God that is read in the
Bible or heard through preaching to convict Christians of their
sins. This verse is not directed at unbelievers, but believers.

In conclusion, I would like to plead with my brothers and sisters to reject this new “gospel of
grace.” I believe that many sincere Christians, especially those who are young in the faith and
not grounded in God’s word, will be led astray by this teaching.

In his classic book, The Cost of Discipleship, the Christian martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer
specifically argued against this type of “cheap grace.” He wrote that cheap grace blocks
Christians from the fullness of what God has for them, and that understanding “costly grace” is
necessary to follow Jesus.

He wrote:
 “Cheap grace is not the kind of forgiveness of sin which frees us from the toils of sin.
Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of
forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline,
Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is
grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living
and incarnate.”

“Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go
and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell
all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye
which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his
nets and follows him. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again,
the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.”

Certainly following Jesus and His words is not easy. It is not like what Joseph Prince promises, it
is not a “secret to effortless success.” However, it is worth the cost.