“We never like to close our broadcast, without giving you a chance to make Jesus the Lord of your life.”
“Will you pray with me?”
“Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins, come into my heart, I make you my Lord and Savior.”
“Friends, if you prayed that simple prayer, I believe you just got born again, get into a good Bible based church, and keep Christ first place in your life.”
There is so much wrong here with this “salvation” message, I don’t know where to begin.
Dear reader, I am not here to attack Joel Osteen, belittle, berate, or insult him as a person, as a teacher, or any such thing, I am here simply to shine light (Psalm 119:105) on the false gospel being preached at Lakewood church and around the world on his broadcast.
First and foremost, the very first statement is unBiblical both in theory and regarding salvation.
“We never like to close our broadcast, without giving you a chance to make Jesus the Lord of your life.”
We do not “make” Jesus the Lord of anything. God the Father made Jesus Lord after His resurrection.
Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
God made Jesus Lord and Christ, we do not have lordship over who Jesus is Lord over, that would make us lord if we could tell Jesus when and when not He can be Lord, secondly, Jesus already is Lord of all.
Acts 10:36 The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
All means all, and to say “make Jesus Lord of…” implies belief that He is not Lord of all.
Putting aside this serious blunder, salvation is not about making Jesus Lord of your life, it’s a matter of do you believe on His death, burial, and resurrection as payment for your sins?
John 6:28-29 28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
God requires our faith in the gospel for our salvation. That’s it. Making Jesus Lord of anything (if that were possible) is never mentioned in Scripture as a requirement for the new birth.
Also, someone can “make” Jesus their Lord all they want, if they don’t believe He died for their sins they’re still not saved.
“Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins, come into my heart, I make you my Lord and Savior.”
Firstly, there is not one mention of Jesus Christ’s Deity, death, burial, or resurrection here. Any Mormon (people who believe Jesus is the brother of Lucifer) Jehovah’s witnesses (people who believe Jesus was created) or unitarian (people who believe Jesus was just a man) can easily recite this statement, and never be saved from it because it doesn’t tell them what Jesus did for them, and who He is.
Jesus coming into our hearts, while a beautiful and true doctrine (Ephesians 3:17) is not mentioned as an invitation to Jesus. The gospel is not asking Jesus to come into your heart, He does automatically when you believe the gospel (His death for your sins, burial, and resurrection). See Ephesians 3:17.
“Friends, if you prayed that simple prayer, I believe you just got born again.”
This is the final error in this salvation invitation.
Being born again is not the result of prayer. While prayer is great and should be done by the saved (1 Thessalonians 5:17) being born again comes from your belief in Jesus Christ.
1 John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
John 1:12-13 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Needless to say, the errors and incompleteness of Joel Osteen’s gospel, combined with the obvious prosperity teachings and new age affirmations, are reason to mark and avoid Joel Osteen.
Now I would like to close this article with a real salvation presentation.
“Dear reader, I would not like to close this article, without giving you a chance to become justified in the sight of the Holy God whom you have sinned against.”
“Will you keep reading?”
“The Bible says you’re a sinner, (Romans 3:23, Ecclesiastes 7:20)
“The punishment for our sins is death (Romans 6:23) eternal death that is, in torment in the lake of fire. (Revelation 21:8)
“But God who is rich in mercy, sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who lived a sinless life and who is God in the flesh, to die upon the cross for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried, and He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. (John 3:14-15, Romans 5:8, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 1 TImothy 3:16)”
“Faith in this, that Christ (God in the flesh) died for your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day is what saves us. Believe upon this, trust in this as payment for your sins, and God will grant you eternal life.”
Babylon exposed 