The Faith teaching of Hagin says that Jesus dying physically and shedding His blood on the cross was not sufficient to atone for sin. He says that the real atonement happened by what he calls the spiritual death, and that was a death in which Jesus became one with the nature of Satan and, therefore, Jesus was compelled to be born again. Hagin says that: “The physical death of Jesus would not be able to blot out our sins. He tasted death — that is spiritual death — for all men. Jesus was the first man to be born again. Why did His spirit have to be born again? Because it was separated from God. …. Spiritual death involves more than being separated from God. Spiritual death means that you have even the nature of Satan.”
He continues, saying: “His spirit was separated from God. And He went down to hell in our place.” 45 “The cross is actually a place of defeat, whereas the Resurrection is a place of triumph. When you preach the cross, you’re preaching death, and you leave people in death.” 46 In this way, according to Hagin, the cross is no longer the focal point of the atonement.
According to this doctrine, Jesus is said to have received the nature of Satan as part of the act of the atonement. Thus, He had to be born again to regain His position as the Son of God. Hagin says that: “Jesus is the first person ever to be born again. Why did His spirit need to be born again? Because it was estranged from God.” 47 “It is important for us to realise that a born-again man defeated Satan.” 48
In stark contrast to such teachings, the Bible clearly shows that the focal point of the atonement and the whole Christian faith is the physical death of Jesus on the cross. 49 And the blood of Jesus is central to the atonement. 50 The apostle Paul took great care to keep the death of Jesus on the cross as the central theme in his preaching. 51
If it were really true that Jesus had to be born again, then He could not have been the Son of God before He, supposedly, was born again. This teaching is similar to the teaching of Cerinthus, the Gnostic who “taught that the divine Christ came upon the human Jesus at his baptism and then left him at the cross, so that it was only the man Jesus who died.” 52 This teaching was labelled heresy by the early Church.
Footnotes
45. Kenneth E. Hagin, The Name of Jesus. Quoted from Horton, The Agony of Deceit, p 102.
46. Kenneth E. Hagin, The Believer’s Authority, p 16.
47. Kenneth E. Hagin, The Name of Jesus. Quoted from Horton, The Agony of Deceit, p 102.
48. Kenneth Copeland, Believer’s Voice of Victory, September 1980, p 6. Quoted from Horton, p 117.
49. I Corinthians 1:17-18, 1:23, 2:2, Galatians 3:1, 5:11, 6:12, 6:14, Ephesians 2:16, Philippians 3:18, Colossians 1:20, 2:14, I Peter 2:24.
50. Matthew 26:28, Acts 20:28, Romans 3:25, 5:9, Ephesians 1:7, 2:13, Colossians 1:20, Hebrews 9:11-28, 10:19, 10:29, 12:24, 13:12, 13:20, I Peter 1:2, 1:19, I John 1:7, Revelation 1:5, 5:9, 7:14, 12:11.
51. I Corinthians 2:2, Galatians 3:1, 6:14, Philippians 3:18.
52. NIV Study Bible, Footnote on I John 4:2.
