Do Christians Need Certificates Preach the Gospel?

I was a fan of an American Pastor, Paul Washer until he made a statement that stirred up anger in my spirit. He advised Christians who wished to know God more intimately to study theology. I was shocked because I thought he was preaching under the auction of the Holy Spirit. It is ironic that the Protestant movement that accuses Roman Catholics of raising human traditions above the Scripture is equally promoting doctrines that are contrary to the revealed will of God.

          Anyone who is familiar with the Bible knows that Christianity was born on the Day of Pentecost. Before then, Jesus Christ strictly forbade His early disciples from preaching the good news of His resurrection or what we refer to as the gospel until they are clothed or endued with the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:12). There is no place in Scripture in both the Old Testament and New Testament where men were required to undergo any form of study to prepare them for ministry.

The prophets of the Old Testament were called by God Himself, who also filled them with His Spirit to minister to the people. The twelve Apostles were not sent to any theological institution to prepare them for ministry. The fact that they spent more than three years with Christ did not even qualify them to preach the gospel, otherwise the Lord would not have charged them to wait for the infilling by the Holy Spirit.

            Even Paul who set the doctrinal tones in most of his letters to the churches did not attend a Bible School to study theology. He said in Galatians 1:11-12, “For I certify to you, brothers, that the gospel I preached was not devised by man. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ”. This agrees with what the Lord said in Mathew 11:27, “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father. And no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and to whom the Son might choose to reveal Him”.

Where did the idea for the establishment of Bible Schools and Seminaries spring from if it is not rooted in Scripture? The only place that a school is mentioned in the New Testament is in Acts 19:8-10, “And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading daily in the school of one Tyrannus. And this continued by the space of two years; so that all which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

Tyrannus’ facility was not referred to as Bible School. It was a convenient place for Paul to impart spiritual knowledge to others. Of course, Paul himself was not a theologian as he clearly stated that whatever he knew about Jesus was by revelation. In 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 Paul said, “And my language and my message were not set forth in persuasive (enticing and plausible) words of wisdom, but they were in demonstration of the (Holy) Spirit and power (a proof of the Spirit and power of God, operating on me and stirring in the minds of my hearers the most holy emotions and thus persuading them), so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men (human philosophy), but in the power of God”.

If Jesus, the head of the church, prohibited His early disciples from proclaiming His victory over death and the grave until they received the power of the Holy Spirit, when did He endorse the propagation of the same gospel through human wisdom and philosophy which are the hallmarks of theology? If the apostles who knew Him in the flesh and were eye witnesses to His miraculous power, manifested in healings and deliverances, as well as His death and resurrection needed to wait for the in-filling by the Holy Spirit, why do we believe that theology can give us the power to preach the same gospel?

       If the Holy Spirit is the Scriptural requirement for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, how did the study of theology become the yardstick for measuring Christian spirituality? According to the website redeeminggod.com, “theology is the study of the nature of God and religious truth; rational inquiry into religious questions, especially those truths posed by an organised religious community; It is an organised, often formalized body of opinions concerning God and man’s relationship to God”.

        Even this definition tells us all we need to know about the source of theology. If Jesus declared that only the Father can reveal the Son and the Son the Father, are we not calling Him a liar if we insist that man can know God by reading books about Him, including the Bible? Of course, those who attend Bible Schools and Seminaries do not limit themselves to the study of the Bible alone. Here is a sample of courses taught in some Bible Schools:

1. Prolegomena – A critical or discursive introduction to the Bible;
2. Bibliology – Academic study of the Bible as physical, cultural object;
3. Theology Proper- The sub-discipline of systematic theology which deals specifically with the being, attributes and works of God;
4. Christology – The branch of Christian theology relating to the person, nature, and role of Christ;
5. Anthropology – The study of people, past and present, with a focus on understanding the human condition both culturally and biologically;
6. Hamartiology – A branch of theology which is the study of sin;
7. Soteriology – The study of the religious doctrine of salvation;
8. Pneumatology – A branch of theology concerned with the Holy Spirit;
9. Ecclesiology – The study of churches, especially their building and decoration; and
10. Eschatology – The part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind.

      According to the website, journals.sagepub.com, theology, which is principally what is taught in Bible Schools and Seminaries, mainly deals with communal dogma of the church. It is intellectual, objective and academic. Theology’s construction and judgment are often based on ‘secular’ ideals of reason. This is in contrast with true spirituality whose major concern is personal relation with God. The operative word in any definition of theology is rationality or reasoning.

The students are encouraged to be ‘objective’ in their discourse- objectivity meaning that whatever does not align with their five physical senses is not acceptable. This is why some Catholic scholars have declared that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are fiction. This is why the Catholic Church raises its traditions above the word of God. This is why some Protestants do not accept the operations of the Holy Spirit.

           Rather than further the cause of Christianity, some Bible Schools and Seminaries have become the purveyors of heresies. In their quest to make the Bible acceptable to their own standards, they water down Scriptural demands for holiness and promote a God who accepts everyone, no matter how ungodly their actions are. Some of the so-called scholars are filled with pride because they are experts in Hebrew and Greek languages. They distort Bible verses at will and interpret Scripture to suit their nuances. They readily ignore the warning in 2 Peter 1:20 that “no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s one interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”.

Why is it difficult for anyone who identifies as a Christian to accept God’s word at face value and live his or her life in accordance with God’s dictates? According to the wise men of our day, taking God at His word makes you a fundamentalist or a fanatic. Unfortunately, they have acquired so much influence in society that they are able to lead their gullible followers astray.

They take pride in their academic laurels and pontificate using their exalted positions in the academic community to also sell their polluted religious ideas. It is now a fad in Christendom for Pastors to acquire PhD or to attach honorary title of Dr. to their names. This is why their sheep are famished, running to and fro looking for spiritual nourishment. These charlatans know that they have no power to preach the gospel of Christ. This is why most of them sell their souls to satan to acquire demonic powers to deceive their followers.

           God does not speak from both sides of the mouth. If He designed the gospel of Jesus Christ to be preached in the power of the Holy Spirit, then no dispensation of the church can do without it. And there is no substitute to the power of the Holy Spirit. What satan has done is to convince the church at large that theology is what Christians need to do God’s will. That is a lie from the pit of hell. Satan and his demons do not fear eloquence or scholarship to any degree. What they dread is a child of God filled with the Holy Spirit. This is why they have ambushed organised Church and persuaded it to promote the establishment of Bible Schools and Seminaries.

How many of the products of these schools and seminaries are working in God’s vineyard? How many of them have been used to start a revival in any nation? A study of church history shows that 95% of those listed as God’s Generals did not attend Bible Schools or Seminaries. One of them, Charles Finney, the American preacher who led the revival in early 20^th Century actually dropped out of a Bible School. During the revival which rocked Indonesia between 1967 and 1972, one of the preachers used mightily by God had been expelled from a Bible School for his inability to memorize Scriptures.

“For God has chosen the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and he has chosen the weak of the world to shame the mighty. He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are. That no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Corinthians 1-27-29).

         What it all boils down to is that false religions have deceived humans into believing that they can please God in their own strength. They are leading people astray and into the kingdom of darkness. Hebrews 11:6 declares that “it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him”. Jesus Christ told us in John 4:24 that “God is Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth”. This is why the Father sent His Holy Spirit down on the Day of Pentecost, to establish a productive and two-way relationship with us.

Contrary to the claims of the Cessationists in the fold of Baptist Church and other Protestant denominations, the Holy Spirit was not withdrawn after the church was established in the first Century. Jesus said in John 14:16, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever”. Note that Cessationism is a doctrine that spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues, prophecy and healing ceased with the Apostolic Age. The doctrine is popular among some orthodox churches such as the Baptists and Calvinists.

         The reason the church has shifted focus from Scripture to destructive heresies originated in Bible Schools and Seminaries is the quest to be politically correct and to please the society at large. If we throw the word of God into the dustbin and propagate doctrines of men and demons; we have become like the people Paul the apostle spoke about in 2 Timothy 3:5, “They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from such people”. Jesus’ charge to all of us is for us to repent of our unbelief and hold the word of God in high esteem. If God exalts His word above His great name (Psalm 138:2), should we not put our confidence in His word as well?

         While there are some verses in the Bible that are difficult to understand, this should not encourage us to use philosophy, anthropology and other humanistic tools to interpret Scriptures. Even Peter confessed that he did not understand some of the revelations given to Paul by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 3:15-16). We do not need anyone to interpret Scripture for us.

The Holy Spirit who is the Author of the Bible is the only one that is qualified to interpret Scripture. What the Bible Schools and Seminaries call exegesis of Scripture (that is interpretation based on their own ideas) is nothing but an exercise in futility. This is why products of these institutions have no power to help themselves spiritually or add value to the lives of their followers.

           If we must touch people’s lives the way Paul or any of the early apostles did, then we must have the kind of relationship they had with God. They did not know God through the study of the Bible or any other book. They knew God by revelation. Jesus said in John 17:3, “This is eternal life that they might know You the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You sent”. The knowing the Lord is talking about here is intimacy that flows from daily engagement with the Father through the Holy Spirit who is living in our hearts. Of course, those who argue in favour of Bible Schools refer to Paul’s charge to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 that he should “study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”.

How can anyone rightly divide the word of truth without the auction of the Holy Spirit? Nothing justifies the so-called ‘rational’ interpretation of Scriptures in Bible Schools and Seminaries that has spurned so many heresies in Christendom. The church must repent of this idolatry.

So, what is the basic requirement for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ? Romans 10:14-15 gives us a clue. It says, “How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can they preach unless they are sent?

The last question basically answers our question. If only those that are sent by God are qualified to preach the gospel, it means that everyone cannot be a preacher. It also means that those called to preach are under some form of obligation to God. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:16, “Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel”. He was certainly conscious of his calling to win souls for Christ and he took the assignment seriously.

         Have we ever bothered to dig deep into why Jesus declared that some of the people who did good works in His name would face damnation in hell? Let the Scripture speak for itself in Mathew 7:22-23, “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!” Simply put, these people called themselves into ministry and only used the name of Jesus to build their little kingdoms. They were not anointed by the Holy Spirit to win souls for Christ. Some of them would be products of Bible Schools and Seminaries. And some of them would have obtained occult powers with which they bewitched their followers.

            Those called by God into the ministry of reconciliation are part of the army of Jesus Christ and will be with Him when He confronts the enemy at the end of time.  Revelation 17:14 says, “These kings have one purpose; to yield their power and authority to the beast. They will make war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and he will be accompanied by His called and chosen faithful ones”. Jesus said in John 6:44 that no one can come to Him except the Father who had sent Him draws that person. Conversely, no one is qualified to preach the gospel except he or she is called by God to do so. And when God calls people into ministry, He equips them for that role by anointing them with the Holy Spirit and power.

         Before Jesus started His earthly ministry, He read from Isaiah 61:1-3 thus, “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because of which He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor, He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD” (Luke 4:18-19). Because the Lord knew the importance of the Holy Spirit and the latter’s role in the redemption plan of God, He charged His early disciples not to commence the work of the ministry except they are similarly endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49).

What this means is that those who substitute Holy Spirit power with their certificates and degrees from Bible Schools are building their own kingdoms. They might win souls for Christ or perform miracles in His name, but risk eternal separation from God at the end of time. It is wise for us to take correction and amend our lives when we still have the time and when God’s mercy is still available. Now is the time for these fake ‘men of God’ to repent of their lawlessness and turn to God before it is too late for them.