eternal-destinations.blogspot.co.ke/…/tgrm-issues-and-conce…
Iam not the author of the article below.It was written by a brother in Christ but I wish to share it as it is important especially for people in Nigeria.
People have been directing me to a certain website of a Christian
movement in Nigeria, known as True Gospel Revival Movement
(TGRM) Worldwide. Until now I kept saying that I did not feel led to
go and look at it. But recently I did take a look and evaluated some
of the things I read. Here are some issues I discovered that are
cause for serious concern:
World Domination
On the TGRM website, it states: In the very words of Jesus Christ,
He said, “I, Jesus Christ of Nazareth set up ‘True Gospel Revival
movement’ to dominate the world.”
I don’t see that in the Bible where any group of believers is
supposed to dominate the world in this present age. This sounds
more like “Dominion theology” or “Kingdom Now” theology, which
are false. The reign of Christ and the saints on earth does not occur
until after His visible return to earth to set up His kingdom.
Dominionism aims to reform all sectors of society, or bring about
the renewal of all things, in order to establish Christ’s kingdom on
earth before He comes. However, Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly
I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on
his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on
twelve thrones , judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Mt 19:28). He
taught that the renewal of all things would occur “when the Son of
Man sits on His glorious throne.” He also taught that He will sit on
His glorious throne when He returns, not before He returns: “When
the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he
will sit on his glorious throne.” (Mt 25:31). So it is presumptuous
to attempt to renew all things in this world before He comes and
sits on His glorious throne. (Also see Sequence of Signs Preceding
the Coming of Christ ).
Salvation by Church Membership
The TGRM website states: “Again Jesus Christ said that anybody
who wants to see Him on the last day should join this movement He
has founded by Himself. Whatever religious or secular position held
by any person, if he or she does not join and assist ‘True Gospel
Revival Movement’ and pattern his/her life and religion according to
all the truth He is revealing through this movement, that person is
doomed .”
The apostle Paul reproved the Corinthians for this kind of
sectarianism when he said, " What I mean is this: One of you says,
“I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow
Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul
crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?" (1 Cor.
1:12-13). This prohibits divisions in the Body. Yet TGRM is creating
divisions by saying they are the only true movement of God on the
earth, excluding all others that do not join them.
It literally says, “Jesus Christ said that anybody who wants to see
Him on the last day should join this movement… if he or she does
not join and assist ‘True Gospel Revival Movement’…that person is
doomed.” This means that we must join a movement in order to be
saved, and that goes against the Scripture. We are saved by faith in
Christ, not by Church membership, or being part of a religion, or
group. (Eph 2:8-9).
Working for the Lord vs. Working with Him
The site also says: “I, Jesus Christ raised ‘True Gospel Revival
Movement’ to work with me. Others are working for me. The
danger in working for me is that they will end up in destruction.”
So this site claims that if we work “for” the Lord we will end up in
destruction. But the Scripture says, “Whatever you do, do your work
heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,” (Col 3:23). The Greek
word is “tō” meaning “to” the Lord. If it was “with” then the Greek
word would be “pros”. The better translation says, “as unto the
Lord and not unto men”. “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as
to the Lord, and not unto men; (Col 3:23, KJV). Elsewhere Paul said,
“With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to
men,” (Eph 6:7)
It also states on the TGRM site: “Jesus Christ said that all other
people are working for Him but only this movement is working with
Him. Any other project or support or assistance governments and
people are giving in His name, outside this movement is on a wrong
foundation. He, Jesus Christ does not accept it. Therefore whatever
project, support or assistance given to this movement 'True Gospel
Revival Movement’ is directly to Him, Jesus Christ of Nazareth."
To summarize, TGRM is saying: “only this movement is working
with Him” and “Any other project or support or assistance
governments and people are giving in His name, outside this
movement is on a wrong foundation. He, Jesus Christ does not
accept it .”
Husbands are Little gods?
TGRM also states that the Lord said, “When a woman is married,
the first father that she has to obey as a little god other than her
biological father is her husband…A woman is free to call her
husband lord because he is a small god to her.” This prophecy does
not even say a husband is "like" a small god, which would have
been bad enough, but that he "is" a small god. However, there is no
Scriptural basis for any man being a little god. See Are We Really
Little gods?
The Authority of the Only Begotten Son of
God
TGRM states that the Lord said, “When I came before, I spoke like a
child who has no authority . I gave a message to the world before
now, that I am not the only son of my father. Adam was a son,
Satan was a son .”
However, this has two issues: 1) the Bible says that when Jesus
came, “He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as
their scribes.” (Mat 7:29). Also see Mk 1:22 and Lk 4:32. And 2) the
Scripture says that Jesus was the only Son of God. "For God so
loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son , that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (Joh 3:16).
All throughout the New Testament, the Lord Jesus is referred to as
“the Son of God” (Mat. 26:63; 27:40,43,54; Mark 1:1; 3:11; 15:39;
Luke 1:35; 3:38; 4:41; 22:70; John 1:34,49; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4,27; 19:7;
20:31; Acts 8:37; 9:20; Rom. 1:4; 2Co. 1:19; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:13;
Heb. 4:14; 6:6; 7:3; 10:29; 1Jn. 3:8; 4:15; 5:5,10,12,13,20; Rev. 2:18),
as well as "His Son" in the singular form (Rom. 1:3,9; 5:10; 8:29;
1Co. 1:9; Gal. 1:16; 4:4,6; 1Th. 1:10; Heb. 1:2). He is not referred to
in Scripture as merely “a son of God” or “one of the sons of God,”
but “THE Son of God.” His disciples attested to it (Mat 14:33). It
was His position as the only Son of God that satan challenged when
he tempted the Lord in the wilderness (Mat. 4:3,6). But even the
demons, whenever they saw Him, cried out that He was the Son of
God (Mk 3:11). And the reason the Jews crucified Him was that He
claimed to be the Son of God. “They all said, ‘Are You the Son of
God, then?’ And He said to them, ‘Yes, I am.’” (Luk 22:70). This was
such a significant claim that they considered it to be blasphemy. By
calling God His Father, He was making Himself equal to God (Joh
5:18).
TGRM is teaching that satan was a son, too. It says, “Satan was a
son.” Why would Jesus say such a thing? Granted, one might find
Scriptural basis to say that satan was one of the many “sons of
God” in the sense that he was originally an angel, and angels were
direct creations of God, known as “sons of God” (Gen. 6:2,4; Job
1:6; 2:1; 38:7). But that does not put satan on the same level as the
only begotten Son of God, nor does it make him the brother of
Jesus as some cults teach. When TGRM says that Jesus is not the
only son of His Father, and that satan was also a son of His Father,
it puts Jesus and satan on the same level as brothers, which is
false. Satan is a created being. Jesus Christ is the Creator — God,
not a created being (Col 1:16)!
Property Ownership
About ownership, TGRM states the Lord said:
“The idea of ownership is from hell . In heaven there is no claim of
ownership. I and my father and the Holy Spirit are one. I made this
world in such a way that anywhere somebody finds suitable he can
build and live. I want to tell the world that this world was created
before man was created. My programme for man is to replenish the
earth and not to claim ownership of it. I have come to tell those
who claim ownership of land that, right as I am speaking now, no
man should own more than a flat . Every document of land
ownership is fake. These are things Satan is using to confuse the
world. Nobody in the world is qualified to own more than a flat. As
I’m giving this order the governments of the world should adopt it.
If they cannot, I will achieve it with True Gospel Revival Movement.
That is why I said, this is the only movement I have raised to
dominate the world … Those who claim they own lands are working
against me, for this reason, I declare to the world that my plan for
the whole earth is that any where people find space they should
build and live… Tell the world that I, Jesus Christ of Nazareth said
that even the car owner seat, people sit on, is a seat of pride. So,
tell my children who really want to obey me that they should avoid
the car owner seat because it is the seat of pride.”
On the one hand, the Lord did say in His Word, “So then, none of
you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own
possessions.” (Luk 14:33). But is all ownership evil? This prophecy
says that “the idea of ownership is from hell,” which effectively
means all ownership is evil, except for owning a flat (apartment),
which TGRM says that believers are allowed to own.
It says, “my children who really want to obey me that they should
avoid the car owner seat.” This means that it is disobedience to
own a car.
It also says, “Any where people find space they should build and
live.” So if a believer builds and lives in a place, does he not then
own what he built? Is it not a house, rather than a flat? Does this
mean that he can build on property that someone else claims to
own? It seems to imply this, because it says, “Every document of
land ownership is fake.” So if a TGRM member finds space and
builds on it, and the owner of that space (another private citizen,
corporation, or government) claims ownership of it, what will be the
deciding factor to settle the dispute? If the owner produces their
ownership documents, perhaps the TGRM member will claim that
the documents are fake and he has right to live there.
This means that in the Bible, when God told the prophet Jeremiah
to buy land, that was a sin (Jer 32:6-15). In that same passage, the
Lord commanded the use of property deeds to prove ownership.
Were those deeds fake or illegitimate? What about when Boaz
bought the field of Naomi (Ruth 4:1-10)? What about the field he
already owned before he bought that one (Ruth 2:3)?
In the New Testament, the disciples all had their own homes. It
says, “So the disciples went away again to their own homes. “ (Joh
20:10). Peter and Andrew owned a house, in which it appears that
Peter’s mother-in-law also lived, so it could not have been too small
(Mk 1:29-30; Mt 8:14). Martha welcomed Jesus into her own home
(Lk 10:38). Jesus ate at the house of Matthew (Mt 9:10), and He
said to Zaccheus, "I must stay at your house today" (Lk 19:5). He
was anointed at the home of Simon the Leper (Mt 26:6). In making
arrangements to eat the Last Supper, He instructed His disciples to
ask permission from the "owner" of a house to use a guest room
(Lk 22:11). He sent out His disciples with instructions to stay in the
home of a worthy person, whenever they entered a town or village
(Mt 10:11). He referred to a prophet having his own home (Mt
13:57; Mk 6:4). John took Mary into His own home (Jn 19:27).
Peter once stayed at the home of another disciple named Simon the
tanner, who owned a house by the sea in Joppa (Acts 9:43;
10:6,32). Paul once stayed at the house of a disciple named Judas
on Straight Street in Damascus (Ac 9:11). The saints gathered
together and prayed at the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark
(Ac 12:12). Yet not a word of condemnation is spoken against any
of these disciples for owning homes.
If ownership were evil, then stealing would not be a sin. Yet the
Lord commands us not to steal (Eph. 4:28). This means that there
is such a thing as people owning property.
TGRM says in this prophecy that “Nobody in the world is qualified
to own more than a flat. As I’m giving this order the governments
of the world should adopt it. If they cannot, I will achieve it with
True Gospel Revival Movement.” This means TGRM is claiming
divine authority to defy the governments with regard to property
ownership. However, this seems to contradict the Scripture that
says, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing
authorities.” (Rom 13:1ff)
One last thing I would like to say about ownership is this. If a
married man and his wife have a large family together, a flat
(apartment) may not be big enough for them to live in. If so, then
what are they to do? Since TGRM says they are not qualified to own
anything more than a flat, does that mean their only recourse is to
squeeze into a flat that is too small for them? Or if they must move
into a home, does it mean that they are only allowed to rent a
home, even though it may be more expensive than for them to own
one?
Financial Support of TGRM
It is interesting to note that the matter of ownership presented in
this last TGRM prophecy is directly connected with financial support
of their ministry. The obvious implication is that to be a member in
this movement, you must sell everything you have and bring the
money to them.
About financial support of TGRM, TGRM states the Lord said: “Tell
the world that I, Jesus Christ of Nazareth said, since I announced to
people to bring their resources into True Gospel Revival Movement
and use it to achieve my project, they are finding it difficult because
Satan has filled them with the idea of ownership . But I want to tell
them that if they keep it to themselves because of their plans to
build, own lands, train their children and so on, I will come and do it
myself but they will end up in hell fire. Thus, said Jesus Christ of
Nazareth. So I am calling them to unite and do as I commanded
them for their own good. Tell them that with this movement I will
introduce my own money which will not have the head of Caesar ,
when I said “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar”, the money of
the world has the head of human beings on them. With this
movement I will introduce my own money which will not possess
the heart of my children. Thus, said Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Who
has ear let him hear what Jesus Christ of Nazareth said.”
These statements have several issues with them: 1) First of all they
imply that anyone who does not support TGRM financially is going
to hell. 2) It also states that there will be a currency especially for
those in TGRM that is not one of the currencies produced by any
government. When Jesus was on earth, He did recognize the
Roman denarius and Caesar’s image on it, and He said to give to
Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s (Mat. 22:19;
Mark 12:15; Luke 20:24). There is no place in Scripture where it
says the Lord will introduce a new worldwide currency for the
saints. 3) If ownership is from hell, then wouldn't the Lord want to
abolish it completely? Why then would He want to generate another
new currency to help support the practice of ownership? One
would think He would want a world where everyone just shared
everything they had and there was no need for currency.
Moreover, after Barnabas sold his tract of land and gave the full
proceeds to the apostles (Act 4:36-37), another disciple named
Ananias sought to imitate it, while secretly and deceptively keeping
some of the proceeds for himself (Ac 5:1-2). Peter told Ananias,
"While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it
was sold, was it not under your control?" (Act 5:4a). He said the
field remained the property of Ananias until it was sold, so he
acknowledged that Ananias was the rightful owner of it . Moreover,
he said that after it was sold, the proceeds from the sale remained
under the control of Ananias. Peter did not say it was evil for
Ananias to own the property, or that the Lord required him to sell it
and give the resources to the projects the apostles were working
on . Yet TGRM states the Lord is announcing to the world that
people should “bring their resources into True Gospel Revival
Movement and use it to achieve my project.”
King James Version Only
On their website, it also says, “MESSAGE OF JESUS CHRIST ABOUT
THE HOLY BIBLE. I, Jesus Christ of Nazareth tell the world that they
should not go with or interpret my word from any other version of
the Bible except King James Version (KJV), both English and any
other language. Other translations are arranged by the kingdoms of
darkness, to water down my word. All who buy and use those other
version are partakers of the harm those versions are doing to my
word and they will perish with the translators. I tell those who join
me in TGRM not to go with any other version except KJV.”
This is a major concern for a few reasons:
1) The King James Bible has undergone three revisions since its
inception in 1611, incorporating more than 100,000 changes. So
which King James Bible is inspired?
2) TGRM prophecies that Jesus Christ of Nazareth said, "tell the
world that they should not go with or interpret my word from any
other version of the Bible except King James Version (KJV), both
English and any other language ." The problem with this statement
is that Bible translations into non-English languages are not the
King James Version. Moreover, there are no translations into non-
English languages based on the KJV that I am aware of. Just to be
sure of this, I asked Wycliffe Bible Translators, and their contact
person replied to me after researching it, saying, "I didn't find any
non English translations that said they were translations of the
KJV." If any such foreign translation exists that is based on the
KJV, it must be very rare. If so, that means most nations are using
a Bible that is arranged by the kingdom of darkness, and the people
who read it are doomed, according to TGRM.
3) The KJV Preface asks, “How shall men meditate on that which
they do not understand?” They sought to put it into the language
that common people used every day, so that they could understand
the Bible. However, what was common language 400 years ago, has
become outdated and difficult to understand for most English-
speaking people today.
4) In his Critical Analysis of the King James Version, Al Maxey
points out that for all its flowery language and other positive
characteristics, the KJV has doctrinal problems, textual
manipulation, lack of uniformity, archaeological inaccuracies,
textual inaccuracies, and paraphrasing.
5) Factual evidence reveals that the KJV is not the most accurate
and easy to understand version of the Bible.
6) Other English versions existed before the KJV, such as Tyndale's
New Testament, the Rheims New Testament, the Great Bible, the
Bishop's Bible, and the Geneva Bible , so it is not the original
English version. The Geneva Bible was the Bible of the Protestant
Reformers; it was the people's choice for seventy-five years before
the King James Bible was produced, and was the preferred Bible of
the common Christian household. In fact, it was the Bible used by
the Puritans who migrated to America. However, based on the
prophecy above from TGRM, we would have to conclude that the
Geneva Bible translation was arranged by the kingdom of darkness
and all those who read it perished with the translators.
7) The KJV translators used more than just the original Greek and
Hebrew texts of Scripture to produce the English text found in that
version. They also used the Bishop's Bible as their source text, as
well as the Geneva Bible, along with other versions already in
existence. So it is a real hybrid of many sources.
I can understand if some individual or some church prefers the King
James Version over all others, but it is wrong to require its use by
prophecy as a commandment of the Lord, under penalty of hell fire.
That's what TGRM has done, making this a requirement for
salvation, thereby condemning billions of people who cannot read
the King James Version or prefer not to do so.
Dietary Laws
Another major concern with this movement is that they teach that
Christians should not eat foods that were forbidden in the Law of
Moses. They claim that Jesus Christ of Nazareth has now released
to the world the message that anyone who eats such foods is
condemned to hell. However, these are dietary laws, and Christians
are not under any dietary laws. Jesus declared all foods clean (Mk
7:19), and Paul did, too (Rom 14:20). Anyone who puts Christians
under dietary laws is preaching another gospel and is eternally
accursed according to the apostle Paul (Gal 1:9).
Paul warned us about teachings like this in his letter to Timothy:
“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away
from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of
demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own
conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and
advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be
gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For
everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if
it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word
of God and prayer .” (1Ti 4:1-5)
To use Paul’s words, TGRM advocates abstaining from certain
foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those
who believe and know the truth. Paul said these are doctrines of
demons. Based on what he wrote, as well as the Lord's own
teaching, we can be assured that nothing is to be rejected if it is
received with gratitude.
Observing the Law
Not only does TGRM want to bring the Gentile disciples of Christ
back to the dietary laws of Moses, but they teach that we must
obey the entire Law of Moses . In the context of the message about
dietary laws, they prophesy, "I have come to tell the world that this
message I am giving now, is with heaviness of heart…. Every law
My Father instituted must be obeyed…No commandment of My
Father should be disobeyed ." (capitalization and underlining added
by editor for emphasis). This means that in the name of the Lord
they are requiring Christians to obey all dietary, ceremonial, ritual,
and sacrificial laws. That includes circumcision, wearing tassels on
their clothing, and observing all Jewish days, months and years.
I can assure you that the Lord is not calling the Gentiles to come
under the Law of Moses. This fact was firmly established in the first
century, when certain Judaizers insisted that the Gentile Christians
must be circumcised and observe the Law of Moses. The apostles
and elders in Jerusalem discussed this, and Peter asked, "Now
therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck
of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been
able to bear ? But we believe that we are saved through the grace of
the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” (Ac 15:10-11).
James concluded, "Therefore it is my judgment that we do not
trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but
that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated
by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from
blood. For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those
who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every
Sabbath.” (Ac 15:19-21).
We are not justified by observing the Law (Rom 3:20; Gal 2:16).
Paul said, "For all who rely on the works of the law are under a
curse, as it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to
do everything written in the Book of the Law.'" (Gal 3:10, NIV). He
said that every man who lets himself be circumcised is obligated to
obey the whole Law (Gal 5:3). Brethren, we are not seeking to keep
up the Law of Moses in conjunction with the gospel . Please see my
articles What Then Must We Observe? and Righteousness by Faith
not Law . Also see Zipporah Mushala’s Second Testimony of Hell , in
which sister Zipporah saw a man of God in hell for observing the
Law of Moses.
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