The Preacher of Repentance Who Needs Repentance Himself

Ever since Dr. Edward Owuor—commonly referred to by his followers as ‘The Mightiest Prophet of the Lord’—entered the scene of public preaching in Kenya about 14 years ago, he has attracted a number of criticisms from a section of Kenyans who aren’t happy with the floridity and grandiloquence that characterize not just his meetings but also his lifestyle and the fact that he is in possession of a security detail. Besides, the members of his movement—including the senior leaders—have also been spotted in a number of occasions genuflecting in his presence and referring to him as ‘my lord’ as a way of according him the reverential treatment that they think he so deserves—being a ‘prophet’ of the Lord. You can read more about the Repentance and Holiness Ministry that he founded at (http://www.repentandpreparetheway.org/). My interest in this article is not however, to address all these concerns but rather to give a pericopal analysis of the claims that the ‘Mightiest Prophet’ made concerning entry into the kingdom of God in a video clip that has been making rounds in the social media. The clip begins where the ‘Mightiest Prophet’ is conferring blessings upon one of the congregants next to the dais. For a more exhaustive analysis of Dr. Owuor’s ministry including his theological beliefs, please read what Pastor Murungi says by following the link (http://pastormurungi.blogspot.com/2012/12/dr-owuor-true-or-false-prophet.html).  

The claims made by the ‘Mightiest Prophet’ regarding entry into the Kingdom of God

Before you read what follows, please watch the clip that begins at 6:05:14 hours by following the link (https://youtu.be/x5jIiFOu43g?t=21914). It is part of a 6:19:24 hour YouTube live recording by Bishop Prof. Jason Getheko on July 8, 2018 and captures the claims made that day by the ‘Mightiest Prophet’ in a meeting that took place at Central Park, Nairobi. For more about Bishop Githeko please visit (http://githeko.blogspot.com/).  In this clip, the ‘Mightiest Prophet’ tells a congregant, “…The Lord bless you eternally. I have also blessed your entry into eternity. You will enter the kingdom of God strictly based on the word of my tongue.” The male translator at first renders it in Swahili as, “…Bwana atakubariki milele. Pia nimebariki kuingia kwako kwa umilele. Utaingia ufalme wa mbinguni kuzingatia maneno yangu ya kinywa.” The clip captures the ‘Mightiest Prophet’ unleashing an indignant tirade against the translator for omitting the word “strictly” in his translation. He wants the translator to include the word “strictly” that he omitted. He corrects him by emphasizing the phrase “strictly based” in Swahili (“kuzingatia tu”). I’m not sure whether or not the translator was deliberate in this omission—he knows best. It is apparent however, that this omission turns out to be costly on him as the ‘Mightiest Prophet’ immediately asks the lady translator to jump up to the dais and take over. Her faithful translation immediately receives the approval of the ‘Mightiest Prophet’ when she renders the phrase in question as, “Kuzingatia tu kwa neno la kinywa changu.”

From this verbatim statement, it is clear that Dr. Owuor is claiming divine powers, to say the least. He is claiming that he has the power to bless one’s entry into heaven. He goes ahead to gravitate and escalate this claim by emphasizing that he has the absolute power to grant his audience entry into the kingdom of God. Notice his emphasis here on the word “strictly based on the word of my tongue.” Let these words resonate in your mind as I briefly undertake to put him under Biblical scrutiny in three subheadings—Sovereignty, Salvation, and Scripture.

A brief Biblical scrutiny of these claims

I.          Dr. Owuor and Sovereignty

First of all, by saying that “…I have also blessed your entry into eternity. You will enter the kingdom of God strictly based on the word of my tongue,” Dr. Owuor is claiming a prerogative that only belongs to God. Only God can speak like this! Only God does grant entry into His kingdom to whomever he wills, including even the understanding of His hidden treasures of His kingdom (Matt. 11:25-26). Notice that the kingdom doesn’t belong to Dr. Owuor but absolutely to the Sovereign God. We must not forget that it is called the “kingdom of God” and rightly so. It is only the Lord who does what He pleases and whose decrees will always indelibly stand (Isa. 46:9-11; Psa. 135:6; 115:3). He is holy and righteous to do with His kingdom that which pleases Him. He is free to admit whomever He pleases in His kingdom. Nobody holds Him accountable when He acts. Nobody tells Him who or not to admit into the kingdom for He unequivocally says that He will have mercy on whomever he will have mercy (Rom. 9:15). Dr. Owuor doesn’t have the capacity to act like God. He seems not to understand the Sovereignty of God in such careless utterances. This is the very knowledge the Old Testament prophets had in relation to who God is and whenever the Lord gave them His word to speak to His people, they said, “Thus says the Lord.” They knew their boundary and defined it very well. Notice that they didn’t claim the words they spoke but rather attributed them to God. What Dr. Owuor has uttered in this clip is blasphemous and he must—with humility and reverential awe—acknowledge it and ask God for His mercy, repent and ask the Lord for forgiveness.

II.      Dr. Owuor and Salvation

Secondly, by saying that “… I have also blessed your entry into eternity. You will enter the kingdom of God strictly based on the word of my tongue,” Dr. Owuor is claiming that he has the absolute power to grant salvation. Only those who are saved are the candidates of the kingdom of God. The Scripture explains to us very succinctly that “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). This is what Dr. Owuor’s work ought to be—to preach the necessity of the new birth to his audience as the Biblical requirement for entering the kingdom of God. He forgets that being born again exclusively means being born of God, not according to human will (John 1:12-13). Jesus Himself—being the very Son of the living God—preached the gospel as of utmost necessity for those who would enter the kingdom of God. He says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15). Here the Lord is clearly stating for us what kind of response the gospel demands for one to enter the kingdom of God—faith and repentance. It must be remembered, dear readers, that the gospel is the only means through which sinners are saved when they respond—not the promises of men like the one Dr. Owuor is making to his audience. It must be said that by making such a claim, Dr. Owuor is misleading his followers into false hope of salvation that the Bible knows nothing about. Such claims are alien to Scripture, and must be condemned in the strongest terms possible.

III.  Dr. Owuor and Scripture

Thirdly, by saying that I have also blessed your entry into eternity. You will enter the kingdom of God strictly based on the word of my tongue,” Dr. Owuor is assaulting the authority of the Word of God or the Scripture. At the heart of the matter is the authority of Scripture. These claims being made here cannot be just ignored. These should be matters of grave concern to the entire body of Christ whose chief aim is to exalt Christ here on earth. The church belongs to the living God and exists as a pillar and buttress of the truth to which she was called (1 Tim. 3:15). My readers, this truth must not only be expressed in the church’s credal confession as the substance of her faith but also in her practice. This is the faith for which the church is to contend—the once-for-all faith delivered to the saints by the apostles (see Jude 3). This is the truth that we must fight for like the apostles and saints of all ages. But how can preachers like Dr. Owuor stand on the truth when he claims authority apart from the Bible? Hasn’t he forgotten that the only extant tool used by the Holy Spirit in leading the church in all her endeavors to glorify Christ is the inscipturated Word of God that was handed down to us by the apostles in the form of the Bible and that no one has ever dared to add to it and new revelation? Hasn’t he so quickly forgotten that the church has always maintained throughout all ages that the Bible alone is the only trustworthy source of divine revelation and that it is the only tutelary tool that inoculates the people of God from any form of error? Hasn’t he so quickly forgotten that the authority and sufficiency of the Bible was at the center of Protestantism when the church of Christ was led by the Spirit to see that the Church of Rome had grossly deviated from apostolic teaching by raising her tradition above the Scripture? Let me submit to you that Dr. Owuor hasn’t considered the gravity of all these issues at all when making his claims and I’m afraid if his followers don’t open their eyes now, then they are already slipping back into Roman Catholicism that venerates her Papacy above the Scripture when he speaks ex cathedra. It is a system whereby one man speaks authoritatively based on the powers vested on him by the church. Consider the apostle Paul for example. His teaching—although he was an apostle of Christ who did mighty things for Him and received inexpressible revelation from heaven—was tested by the noble Bereans to see whether he actually spoke from the Scripture (Acts 17:10-12). They only believed Paul because he spoke from the Scripture. You can imagine that this took place when the only complete and available Scripture was the Old Testament. It means Paul had to base all his teachings on the Old Testament. The question Dr. Owuor ought to ask himself is: based on our propensity to sin as fallen creatures and taking into consideration our marred noetic configuration, can anybody’s words be truly trusted and held in the same level with the veracious word of God? Is there anyone who can by dare claim to speak in the place of God by issuing any decretive statement that stands? By no means! Let God be true and every human being a liar (Rom. 3:4). Let it be known to you that those who spurn the Bible, adds to or subtracts from it, or supplant it with other claims of direct revelation yet claim to belong to the body of Christ will always run into error. Let the church return to the Scripture as the only authoritative and sufficient Word of God.

What does this mean for us today?

I.          It is a call to Authority and Sufficiency of Scripture

The church has become so gullible to every wave of teaching that comes her way because she rejects the authority and sufficiency of Scripture as the only rule of faith and practice. Paul—in his farewell to the young Timothy—charges him to devote himself to the study of the Word of Truth to rightly divide it (2 Tim. 2:15). For “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (3:16-17). It is the very word through which Timothy became a believer (2 Tim. 3:15). It is this very Word of God that Paul charges him in the presence of God and of Christ to incessantly preach. For he knows that a time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but will be led astray by their itchy ears that are looking for what they like hearing (2 Tim. 4:1-5). The church must return to the centrality of Scripture in its mission on earth and must deliberately do so. We must remember that entry into the kingdom of heaven is not guaranteed for those who prophesy in the name of the Lord or perform various signs and wonders. If such people do not do the will of God, they will be told to depart from the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ into the eternal lake of fire (Matt. 7:21-23).

II.      It is a call to Humility and Servanthood for Ministers

Preachers must—like Paul—recognize that we are not in any way superior to the people to whom we minister. We are not in any way better than them. Dr. Owuor’s dealings with the male interpreter wasn’t gracious enough. He ought to have politely and graciously requested for another translator! We are prone to stumble and we must always depend upon God’s grace with humility for our salvation by daily trusting upon the one who is able to keep us from stumbling (see Jude’s Doxology in vv. 24-25). Here what Paul the apostle says concerning himself, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (1 Cor. 9:27). One of the most stubborn sins to deal with as a preacher is pride. It can easily lead to your disqualification. It is very easy to exalt yourself especially where the Lord seems to be using you in any way. We therefore, need God’s grace that He alone gives to the humble while he rejects the proud.  

III.  It is a call to the only way of salvation of sinners

Lastly, it must be remembered that Jesus is the exclusive way to the kingdom of God (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). One only becomes a candidate of the kingdom of God by putting all His faith and trust in Him and by repenting of his sins. All those who hear the gospel call and respond by believing in Jesus Christ will be saved!