https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-395154.0.html#msg5475115

It was sometime around 10pm, three days to Christmas last December. I’d just finished my meal in a restaurant close to my hostel in school (UNILAG) and was just about leaving when I heard Pastor Chris’ voice over the TV (Atmosphere for Faith) and looked up hoping it wasn’t a mere ad and that the programme was really just about to start so I could watch. I hadn't had the time to watch him preach or listen to any of his tapes for quite a while so I felt this was a rare chance to do so and I could spare some extra 30 minutes. What’s more? I was in a really good mood! I mean, after a plate of well cooked egusi soup and eba (my favourite). I decided to relax and watch.

After the introductory montage a lady came on and did the usual prep talk. Something like – “get ready to hear the word of God from the man of God Pastor Chris”… bla, bla, bla. Then the main man himself came on. It was an excerpt from a full length video from a conference they had. He was mostly spewing out his usual crap about the Christian being more than meets the eye, in the sense that when you become a Christian, you become some kind of superhuman. And then he gave the most shocking example I'd ever heard, as an illustration.

He said “years ago when he first discovered these things”(the supposed secret about the superhuman capabilities of the Christian), he would cut some of his flesh out (pointing to his arm) and after some time, place the flesh back from where he cut it out and “decree” or “command” or “speak” the flesh back into place and before long, the cut out flesh would blend back into his body – the bleeding would stop, it would heal up and even look as if nothing happened there. No scars. No pains.


[size=14pt]Why I brought this up[/size]

Simple answer – the bible nowhere teaches this megacrap delusion! [/color]The bible shows us clearly that the change a person experiences when he becomes a Christian isn’t physical and not the way pastor Chris and others like him teach it. Below is the verse of scripture he normally uses to support his “Superhuman gospel”, as I like to call it.

[color=#990000]17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. [/i]
– 2 Corinthians 5:17 (RSV)

The problem comes from the part where it says “he is a new creation”. I remember he (Pastor Chris) said some years ago in other videos, that this meant that the Christian is a “new species”- “one that didn’t exist before”. "One made in the class of God".

Well, this is nowhere near what the bible is actually talking about when it speaks of the born again Christian being a new creature.


[size=14pt]A common mistake[/size]

One of the most common mistakes the professing church makes today when trying to interpret the scriptures is to pluck a verse out of its original context and then twist it to mean whatever they want it to. That’s called lifting scripture out of context!

Back in SSCE days, we were taught the importance of interpreting sentences or statements in the context of the passage it was lifted from. I haven’t taken a look at recent UME Use of English past question papers but I can tell you, as a veteran, that it is tested every single year.

I remember when we were being taught to attempt those kinds of questions in UME prep classes. We were warned over and over again not to give in to the temptation of interpreting the statement/sentence with any preconceived notions or ideas we may have had about the statement or sentence. I love JAMB! They’re very clever. If you tried to answer the question with a preconceived notion, which is usually a common one they know most people will be familiar with, you will surely find that answer among the options! And it was always the wrong answer to pick.

What were they trying to teach us? To learn to interpret the things we read – comments, statements and sentences that are part of a larger body of text, IN THEIR PROPER CONTEXT! And that surely includes bible verses and passages. And we’re going to correct that mistake here, as regards 2 Corinthians 5:17, as it is (to the best of my knowledge) one of the verses of scripture that’s commonly abused in this way. Let’s take another look at it:

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. [i]
– 2 Corinthians 5:17 (RSV)

You see, by isolating this verse of scripture, it’s very easy to impose any crazy interpretation to it, like most of our current crop of preachers do. Some of them in ignorance, others deliberately. And this is what I believe Mr. Oyakhilome has done (does, actually, as it’s one of his favourites) with this verse.

[size=14pt]Comparing scripture with scripture[/size]

One more thing before I continue. The next most common error modern-day church folk make in interpreting scripture is that they fail to compare it with other related scriptures. This is the proper thing to do when the original, immediate context of the verse(s) doesn’t seem to reveal much about the verse in question. Like someone put it, you let “scripture interpret scripture”.

And this is what we’re going to do in trying to understand what 2 Corinthians 5:17 really is about because the immediate context doesn’t say much to completely clear up the air about the meaning of verse 17, unless you start reading from chapter 1 verse 1 and pay close attention. I encourage you to please make out time and read 2 Corinthians from the very beginning right up to the end of chapter 5 or better still, all the way to chapter 13, so you can get the full picture. Paul nowhere said anything about being superhuman. While reading, please remember the bible originally wasn’t written in verses and chapters. That was introduced much later for easy referencing.

You’ll agree with me that 1 Corinthians chapters 1 – 5 would be a little too much to paste here right? So we’ll look at another verse that explains it better. Thankfully it’s Paul writing here too.

22 Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts,

23 and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

24 and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore, putting away falsehood, let everyone speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

27 and give no opportunity to the devil.

28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need.

29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear.

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice,

32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
[color=#990000][/color]
- Ephesians 4

I think verses 22-24 really clarify what Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 5:17. The Christian is “renewed” and given “a new heart”. A heart that now not only longs to live the holy and righteous life God has always desired, but is now empowered by God to do so. Biblically, this is a marked departure from the norm with unsaved people (Jeremiah 17:9).

So Paul wasn’t talking about people becoming new, “superhuman” creatures when they become Christians. Like a friend of mine pointed out when speaking about this issue sometime ago, everything about the person remains the same. His name remains the same, his face remains the same, his wife and kids remain the same, his job remains the same, his bank account remains the same and err… his car doesn’t suddenly turn into a space ship.

Christians are completely normal everyday people with no superhuman abilities whatsoever, except for God’s saving grace that cleanses us from sin as result of faith in work of Christ and a new heart to live righteously for God right in the midst of a sinful and rebellious world. And no, Christians can’t cut out their flesh, place it back and then decree it back into place.

Soon I hope to do a follow up article called the “The Superhuman Complex part II – The lie that Christians can’t be sick” to see what the bible really says (or does not say) about Christians being sick.

Other scriptures to read up: Ephesians 2:1-10, Titus 2:11-14, Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Ezekiel 36:26.