UNQUOTABLE QUOTES - Evelyn Roberts

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un-QUOTABLE QUOTES

EVELYN ROBERTS

DAILY GUIDE TO MIRACLES from Oral Roberts Ministries
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
http://orm.cc

GOD IS A NOW GOD
Evelyn Roberts
Oral Roberts Ministries
www.orm.cc

"In Exodus 3, God told Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage. When Moses asked, 'If they say, "" Who sent you?"" what will I tell them?' God answered, I AM THAT I AM (v. 14). God was I AM then, he is I AM today, and He will be I AM tomorrow (see Hebrews 13:8). In other words, God is a NOW God. He wants to meet all of our needs NOW.

When Jesus came to the earth, He earth, He came in the flesh so He could feel our needs. On the Cross, He bore the hurt of every sickness and horrible disease that man would ever experience (see Matthew 8:17). He did it because He loves us, He did it because He's a NOW God who wants to heal us, meet our needs, and bring us life more abundantly in the NOW of our lives (see John 10:10)."

ON DOCTRINE NOTE:
Evelyn Roberts begins her comments with the attempt to provide a biblical foundation for what she is trying to present. Basically, she is using the argument that God is the same today as He has been in the past, so she claims that being the same equates with acting the same, and those actions are defined as meeting all the needs of believers. She adopts the same teaching as her husband, Oral Roberts, in his article, That's God's Promise, in which he uses Malachi 3:10-11 as his foundation for the identical claim.

The term, "I AM", indicates the nature of the existence of God who is always in the present and not a God who might have been in the past but is not now or a God who is not now but might be in the future.

"God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM'; and He said, 'Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ""I AM has sent me to you,""'" Exodus 3:14 (NAS).

Both Oral and Evelyn Roberts use the "I AM" statement and Malachi 3:10-11 in order to ever so subtly change what God stated is His essence, from being the same to acting or doing the same things in the same manner that He has done in the past.

Evelyn Roberts then adds Hebrews 13:8 to the equation, which states:

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8 (NAS).

She attempts to bring together the concept that God and Jesus Christ are the same, but then attempts to twist that concept into meaning that they always act the same or do the same things in the situations that she chooses, which are ". . . to meet all of our needs NOW". Within the context of her theology, this means that the believer will have all of their monetary, health, emotional and physical needs miraculously met. The believer can have all of their diseases healed, their debts paid with untold money left in their bank account, possess houses, cars, and have everyone in their family saved. Of course, the person who actually reads the verses that have been presented will quickly find that they do not make any claim that God or Jesus Christ will meet all of the presumed needs of the believer NOW.

In order to support her claim, Evelyn Roberts uses Matthew 8:17 as a "proof text" which states the following:.

"This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: 'He Himself took our infirmities and carried away or diseases.'" Matthew 8:17 (NAS).

Attempting to use Matthew 8:17 as her biblical foundation, Evelyn Roberts makes the following statement:

On the Cross, He bore the hurt of every sickness and horrible disease that man would ever experience (see Matthew 8:17).

However, Matthew 8:17 has nothing to do with the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross, but is in relation to the healings that He accomplished during the time of His ministry prior to the crucifixion, as verses 16 and 17 taken together plainly state:

"When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.
This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: 'He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases,'" Matthew 8:16-17 (NAS).

If a person does not actually read Matthew 8:17, then they will not realize that Evelyn Roberts misuses Matthew 8:17 in the attempt to apply it to the atonement of which it has no relationship whatsoever. What she is attempting to do is connect the atonement with physical healing and the receiving of earthly blessing by means of the satisfaction by God of every want, desire or presumed need that a believer can express. She then presents John 10:10 to further confirm her claims:

"'The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly,'" John 10:10 (NAS).

However, like Matthew 8:17, the verse in John has nothing to do with what Evelyn Roberts claims, because it is speaking about the spiritual life that salvation brings as opposed to the spiritual death in which all human beings find themselves outside of salvation. Jesus Christ defines the nature of life in a previous passage:

"'You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life,'" John 5:39-40 (NAS).

It is necessary for Evelyn Roberts to make the reader believe that John 10:10 is referring to the physical aspect of human life and not about the eternal life of salvation, because she is attempting to provide a foundation for the "Seed Faith" - ("Giving and Receiving") teaching originated by her husband, Oral Roberts. In his teaching, Oral Roberts states that physical healing, and wealth is guaranteed in the atonement, and the way a person can receive those blessings is by giving money to God in faith. Since it is claimed that God must grant any request presented in faith, of which the money given represents a surety, then God must heal every disease and grant any request that a person might make. It is also taught that God will also give a 100-fold return on the money given, so a person can have their diseases healed and become rich in the process. Conveniently, it is taught that giving to Oral Roberts Ministries is the same as giving to God, so giving "your best seed" or the biggest offering that a person can possibly afford, will accomplish the task.

Of course, Oral Roberts Ministries does not have to provide the 100-fold return on the money given and it does not promise that it will accomplish the healings or other requests, because that is the responsibility of God. What Oral Roberts Ministries does is use the money given to it, and if a person does not receive the substance of their requests, including the 100-fold return, then they are told that they did not have enough faith, or they had fear in their life and they should take their complaint to God.

The "Seed Faith" or "Giving and Receiving" doctrine was designed in order to fund ministries, and undiscerning believers will continue to send their money to those ministries, hoping to buy enough faith from God in order to obtain what they desire, and those ministries will continue to appeal to the core desires of human beings for health, wealth and happiness in this life.

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