Book Reviews

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Critical Evaluation of Paul C Jong’s Gospel of “Water and Spirit”
Is this Doctrine true or false?


In my desire to explore into Christian literature deeper, I read several good books, and then I came across Paul C Jong’s book titled FROM PHYSICAL CIRCUMCISION TO THE DOCTRINE OF REPENTANCE. When I began reading the book, the first page raised my curiosity. I continued reading and found out that as biblical as the book may sound, it preaches another gospel and blatantly condemns the gospel I know about Jesus Christ. He preaches a different gospel which he calls the “Gospel of Water and Spirit.” I almost got carried away in this turbulence then I decided to put on my thinking cap and seek scriptural reference. I strongly believe that a lot of people have read this book and have been converted into this new doctrine. I personally know one. Paul C Jong is the leader and founder of the New Life Mission in Seoul, South Korea. His mission is on TV, on the internet and in print. This is a critical evaluation of the Gospel of Water and Spirit by Paul C Jong of the New life Mission. This evaluation is in conformity with scripture which is the indisputable word of God and is our greatest source of authority as Christians.

A summary of Paul C Jong’s Doctrine of Water and Spirit

According to Paul C Jong’s book, From Physical Circumcision to the Doctrine of Repentance, You must believe in Jesus Christ as the “only begotten son of God as your savior from sin (From Physical Circumcision to the Gospel of repentance, Paul C. Jong 2005, page 12, para 1) You must also believe that Jesus came into this world in human form. You must also believe that Jesus took away all the sins of the world when John the Baptist laid hands on him in the Jordan and he was baptized. According to him, John the Baptist was the last high priest of the Old Testament and consequently as high priest of the world, he handed over the sins of the world to Jesus when he was baptized. Jesus carried these sins, shed his blood on the cross and paid wages of the sins. He then condemns any Christian gospel that preaches Repentance claiming that “we are human beings who just commit sin until we die” (Paul C Jong 2005, page12, para 2). He compares any Repentance message with the Gospel of circumcision condemned by Paul in the book of Galatians 1:6-8, which says;

Galatians 1:6-8
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. (verse7) which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. (verse8) But even if an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned.

In the days of Apostle Paul, intruders invaded the church and perverted or distorted the gospel of salvation, and preached that one must be physically circumcised to be saved. Paul C Jong then compares the message of circumcision with the message of Repentance preached by most churches today. He calls most Christian churches “legalist” (Because they preach that people repent from their sins and avoid the life of sin) and insists that the right gospel is the doctrine of water and spirit which he preaches. He claims that even Apostle Paul preached and believed in the gospel of water and spirit which he advocates (Paul C. Jong 2005, page 217, para 3) and that any gospel that goes with the repentance and confession of sin is wrong because no one can stop sinning and it is from the devil. He backs the doctrine of water and spirit with the book of 1john 5:6-8 which states as follows

1john 5:6-8
“This is the one who came by water and blood-Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the spirit who testifies because the spirit is the truth (verse7) for there are three that testify,(verse 8) the spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”
Consequently, any Gospel that preaches repentance is the same as the Galatians gospel of circumcision which Paul condemned. To be saved therefore, you need to believe in the “true gospel of water and spirit and stop trying to fight sin because Jesus himself knows that we could not stop sinning and therefore took away all the sins of the world and all we need to do is believe in the gospel of water and spirit and we will be saved (Paul C Jong, 2005, p 21, para 3) That if we try to believe in any repentance message, we are indirectly saying that we can never sin again and this can be compared with the Law that was given to mosses to the Israelites where they had to respect every rule of the law. He terms all churches preaching repentance and confession of sin ‘Legalists’
Saying more to this will be nothing but repetition which is very characteristic of the book “From physical circumcision to the Gospel of Repentance.

Critical Appraisal

What is correct about the Doctrine?

It is compulsory that all Christians believe in Jesus Christ as the son of God. Paul C Jong is right when he makes this requirement. The bible says in John 14:6 that Jesus is the way the truth and the Life, and that no one can come to the father except through him. This doctrine also recognizes that Jesus came in human form into the world. It recognizes the Baptism of Jesus, as well as his death and resurrection.
What is wrong about the Doctrine?
The doctrine of the Gospel of water and spirit has no biblical backing. Again and again Paul C Jong mentions it and insists that it is the right gospel Paul advocated (Paul C Jong 2005, page 217, para 3)
Through out the book, Paul C. Jong keeps using the words water and spirit and claiming it to be the right biblical gospel yet he does not back up the doctrine biblically. 1 John 5:8-6, is the only scripture that could have backed his doctrine but it has a totally different message. Looking at a critical interpretation of this portion will be of prime importance. This is the only portion he uses to back his doctrine, yet the portion has a different message.
1john 5:6-8
“This is the one who came by water and blood-Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the spirit who testifies because the spirit is the truth (verse7) for there are three that testify, the spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”
As any one can see, this portion is concerned with establishing the complete authority of Jesus and his ministry. Not only did Jesus came into this world by water, which can be interpreted as; not only did he preach baptism, he also cleansed the sins of the world with his blood which means that he established the Christian tradition of baptism and also shed his blood, and the holy spirit testifies through its comforting mission. Jesus’ authority is established in its completeness.

He goes further to claim that it is the Gospel of water and spirit which Paul believed in and approved is the gospel of Water and Spirit. (Paul C Jong 2005, page, 217, para 2) The book of Galatians does not explicitly explains what apostle Paul preaches as the right gospel, but he makes this clear in unequivocal terms in the book of 1 Corinthians 15:1-7. Let us look at the right Gospel apostle Paul preached in this portion.

‘’1corinthins 15:1-8
“Now brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. (Verse 2)By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Other wise, you have believed in vain.
(Verse 3) For what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, (verse 4)that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, (verse 5)and that he appeared to peter and then to the twelve. (verse6)After that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of who are still living, through some have fallen asleep. (Verse 7)Then he appeared James, and to all the apostles (verse 8) and last of all he appeared to me also as to one normally born.”

This is the true Gospel of Christ which Paul believed in and preached and he makes it clear here. It is not doctrines, it is the heart of Christianity it’s self. The Gospel of Water and Spirit by Paul C Jong is just a doctrine with insufficient scriptural backing. But this is it; this is a summary of the whole Gospel truth which Apostle Paul believes that if any one preaches anything else, even if that person is an Angel, let the person be condemned. The bible has detailed instructions that substantiate the Gospel, but this is it. If one therefore believes in this, then that person must believe in the entire ministry of Jesus which begins before his birth, his birth, his entire life time as human, his death and his resurrection. It is therefore needless to claim that people do not believe in the baptism of Jesus just because they preach repentance
What then is this Repentance Paul C Jong blatantly condemns? And does it have scriptural backings?
Repentance is turning away from the path or way of life one had been living and taking on a new and positive path. It is imperative that one look at instances in the bible where repentance is used in the New Testament. Let us examine scriptures where repentance is commanded.
In the book of Luke 13:3, Jesus said
“Unless you repent you too will perish”
In other words Jesus set the pace for living a Christian life to begin from repentance.

Mathew 4:17
“From that time, Jesus began to preach ‘repent for the kingdom of God is near’

Acts 2: 38
“Peter replied repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 7:10 “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret but worldly sorrow leads to death”
Repentance leads to salvation. But this has to be spurred by the power of God.
The bible again and again calls for repentance. Repentance is a turning point where a sinner recognizes that he or she has been walking on the wrong path and then invites Jesus to come in. It is only after one has repented that he or she can invite Jesus to come into his or her life according to Revelation 3:20
Revelation 3:20 says “Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him and he with me”
One can only invite Christ to come into his or her life, when that person repents.
From the examination of these scriptures, one can see that it is imperative or compulsory to repent from ones life style before one can follow Christ. Repentance is simply acknowledging that the path one had been walking in is wrong and turning around to follow a new path. Without repentance, ones life can not change. How then can one believe in Christ and continue to live the same life one had lead before he or she believed in Christ. That will mean that the person was already ok and did not need to believe because nothing has changed in the person’s life. Paul C Jong is wrong here.
Confession
Paul C Jong equally blatantly condemns the life of confession. This is what he says
“Of course when one spends 5-10 minutes confessing all the sins that he ever wanted to confess, asks God to forgive him, and thinks about the precious blood that Jesus shed on the cross, then it may seem as if all his sins were indeed washed away. However, for those who believe like this, their sins never disappear but continue on piling in their hearts” (Paul C Jong 2005, page 43, paragraph 4)
To summarize Paul C. Jong believes that when one confesses his or her sins, that person is telling God that he will never sin again and yet the person will go out there and continue sinning and then pilling up sin in the heart. Confessing therefore is wrong according to him.
But what then does the bible say about Confession?
Jesus who is God and master of Christianity said this, when he was teaching his disciples how to pray.
Mathew 6:9, says
“This is how you should pray”
Those were the words of Jesus himself and teaching his disciples how to pray, he urged them to confess. This can be seen in:
Mathew 6:12 where he says
“Forgive us our debts as we have forgive our debtors”
Now in verse 9 of Mathew 6, Jesus is teaching his disciples how they are always going to pray. While reading out the popular lords prayer, Jesus in Mathew 6:12, urges his disciples to confess. That portion is self explanatory. No need to lay emphasis, which means that we ought to always confess when we pray.
Further, 1john 1:9, says “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”
This book was written by Apostle John, one of the twelve disciples whom Jesus selected, to accompany him in his human ministry here on earth. If Jesus, who is the master himself, requires that when we pray, we should confess, then any doctrine that contravenes this instruction is wrong and full of errors.
The Question of cleansing from sin
Paul C Jong preaches that one must believe that Jesus took away the sins of the world precisely at the moment when John the Baptist whom he claims was the last high priest of the old testament, laid hands on Jesus and baptized him (Paul C Jong 2005, page 13, para 1) He further claims that most churches have ignored the baptism of Jesus. (Paul c Jong 2005, page 13, para 2)
The questions one will be looking at are:
When precisely did Jesus take away the sins of the world?
Is it true that the Christian church has ignored the Baptism of Jesus?
What is the true significance of Baptism?

1. When and how precisely did Jesus take away the sins of the world?
Scripturally, one can conclude without raising dust that Jesus took the sins of the world on the cross of Calvary, which in other words means that it is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from sin. Before I go further to present scriptural evidence of the fact that it is the blood of Jesus that does the cleansing or that is the blood of Jesus that purifies us, I will show you the importance of blood and its relationship to sin and cleansing right from the Old Testament to the New Testament.
God had always ordained blood as a means of cleansing and purification of mans sins. Because there is life in blood, God ordained it as a means for man to make atonement for his or her sins. This can be seen in;

Leviticus 17:11
“For the life of a creature is in the blood and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the alter. It is the blood that makes atonement for ones life.”
From the scriptural portion above, one can observe that it is through the blood that atonement or reconciliation with Christ can be found. One can also observe that it was ordained by God. Those were the direct words of God instructing the children of Israel on how to live. But then how was it done? What was used for cleansing of sins in the Old Testament? The book of Hebrews has the answer for us.

Hebrews 9:7
“But only the high priest entered the inner room and that only once a year and never without blood which he offered for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance”
Cleansing and sacrificing was done by the priests ordained from the line of Levi and they used the blood of animals. Hebrews explains this further

Hebrews 9:13
“The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify, then so that they are outwardly unclean”
The truth is that the blood of animals was not worthy enough to cleanse the sins of the world once and for all. Man had to always go and make sacrifices of animals each time they committed sin. And recognizing how burdensome this was for man, God decided to take away this burden and offered his one and only son as the final sacrifice that not only will take away the sins of the whole world, but will always cleanse the sins of the world from generation to generation.

Hebrews 9:14 brings us over to the new covenant brought in by Jesus Christ, the covenant where the sins of the world are cleansed by the blood of Jesus and no longer by the blood of animals. This is what it says:

Hebrews 9:14
“How much more then will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God.”

The following scriptures are proof of the fact that it is no more the blood of animals that cleanses man, but the blood of Jesus. How ever, it is still the blood that does the cleansing but this time, the blood of the only son of God, Jesus Christ which means that man’s sins were taken away precisely when the blood was shed on Calvary. Let us look at more scriptural portions that back this view.

Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
When Christ died, our sins were taken away. If we read verse 9, of Romans 5, we will see that it is through the blood of Christ that we are sanctified.

Romans 5:9
“Since we have been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him”

Ephesians 1:7 says
‘’in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of Gods grace”

1john1:7
“But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his son purifies us from all sin”

Acts 20:28
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God which he bought with his own blood.”

Romans 3:5
“God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance, he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished”

Ephesians 2:13
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ”

The Question now arising is what is the importance or significance of the Baptism of Jesus?
Let us examine the scriptures again to get our answer. In the first place, let us examine the significance or the meaning of the Baptism of John the Baptist.

Mathew 3:11 John says
“I baptize you with water for repentance, But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. “
Simple and clear, Johns Baptism was for repentance. The aim of baptism is to demonstrate the spiritual change that has taken place. Jesus’ earthly ministry in human form was aimed at setting the pace for Christians to follow. His baptism by John was aimed at presenting the righteousness of Christ to the world. Jesus thought his disciples a lot of things. He showed them how to live the Christian life before he died on the cross for our sins. Baptism, Christian life style and the miracles he performed was part of this ministry which he instituted before going to the cross to act once and for all like the final sacrifice for our sins. Let’s see what Jesus said when he was with John about to be baptized

Mathew 3:13-15
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by john. But john tried to deter him saying. ‘’I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
(Verse 15) Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness” Then John consented
Baptism is all about cleanliness and righteousness. To the Christian today, baptism is much more than what John had presented; the book of Romans is more explicit here.

Romans 6:3
“or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.
Romans 6:4
“we are therefore buried with him through baptism onto death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the father, we too may live a new life.”
Baptism therefore comes after repentance. It is simply burying the old nature of sin in us and rising up again to live a new life with Christ Jesus. Romans 6: 3 and 4 says it all.
We Christians are therefore baptized to burry the sinful nature and rise with Christ into a new life controlled by the Holy Spirit. This is substantiated in the book of Acts 2:38 and 39

Acts 2:38
“Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Question now is; Have the Christian church ignored the Baptism of Jesus?
Certainly not. I speak for real churches where God is truly worshiped and where the Holy Spirit reigns. True Christians today after repenting by giving their lives to Jesus, usually get baptized. No one will get baptized if he did not believe in the baptism of Jesus, nor did he or she respect it. For Paul C Jong to say that the Christian church has ignored the baptism of Jesus is what I call “raising dust over nothing”. I strongly believe in the baptism of Jesus even if I do not believe that it is at that particular point that the sins of the world was taken away. There is no scriptural backing to defend the claim by Paul C Jong that the sins of the world was handed over to Jesus by John the Baptist, but there is scriptural backing that proofs that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin, which means that our sins were taken and cleansed on the cross when Jesus suffered and died for us.
Secondly, it is wrong to conclude that John the Baptist was the last high priest of the Old Testament (Paul C Jong 2005, page 13, Para 1) because we know very well that John the Baptist was from a priestly family, (luke1:5) but he was not the last high priest of the Old Testament. He is identified in the bible as the one preparing the way for the lord (Luke 3:4) he is the forerunner, the one who had to go on before the lord and prepare the way in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17)
It is also scriptural that during John the Baptist’s era and after he had been beheaded, Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests
Luke 3:2
“During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zachariah in the desert”
Even after the death of John, they were still the high priests
Mathew 26:3
“The chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest whose name was Caiaphas”
It is therefore heresy and wrong to advocate that John the Baptist was the last high priest of the Old Testament. John the Baptist had his own mission which was to prepare the way for the lord and he preached repentance and baptism as we have already seen scripturally. Making assumptions where the bible is clear is therefore false doctrine. The bible is our final authority; any human doctrine that does not conform to it is full of errors and consequently false.
Paul c Jong’s water and spirit doctrine is canal.
It promotes worldly pleasures and the lust of the flesh. This is what he says in his book ‘From physical Circumcision to the Doctrine of repentance’.
“We are human beings who just commit sin until we die” ( Paul C Jong 2005, page12, para 2). He further claims that “we are all born as a brood of evil doers, we can’t bear anything else but the fruits of sin” (Paul C Jong 2005, page 22, para 3) He then recommends that one, simply believe in the Gospel of “Water and spirit” and he will be clean. No need to repent, no need to confess. Just believe and of course by implication, don’t fight sin. He accuses those who try to obey Christian rules as “legalists” (Paul C Jong, 2005, page 27, para 3) if one can not obey Christian principles, then there was no need of inviting Jesus into ones life because ones life is not supposed to change. Trying to make people who want to obey Christian rules feel guilty that they are still living according to the law given to the people of Israel by mosses is just another way of making man feel comfortable with sin. This is nothing but carnality. There are Christian rules that should be followed by those who have given their lives to Jesus. All over the bible and especially the New Testament, there are biblical and Christian rules that must be followed by those who stand with God. Accusing people of being legalists is indirectly telling them to relax and not to obey these Christian rules. One may err and sin, but one does not have to justify sin in his conscience which by implication is what the doctrine of water and spirit does.
If I were an unbeliever who had never known God and came across this doctrine, I will accept it and continue living the same life I had lead before meeting it, believing that I am save because there is no need to repent, there is no need to confess. Only believe. This may sound like an over statement but the doctrine of water and spirit encourages sin and the fulfillment of the cravings of the flesh blatantly condemned by the bible, and consequently canal.
Confusion
The doctrine of Water and Spirit is confusing. Paul C Jong claims that;
“We are all born as a brood of evil doers, we can’t bear anything else but the fruits of sin” (Paul C Jong 2005, page 22, para 3)
In an attempt to make his doctrine look credible, he confuses his readers with the following
“Of course all of us who believe in Jesus should indeed fight and overcome the sins of this world” (Paul c Jong 2005, page 21, para, 4)
The book "From physical circumcision to the doctrine of repentance" is flooded with confusion. “Fight sin”, “you can not stop sinning” and all of that confusion that keeps baby Christians, those who do not read the bible, and all who are weak and desire to satisfy the cravings of the flesh confused and consequently place them in a position where there is no growth in their Christian lives for they believe that God understands that they have to continue living in sin. When you build your mind in this way, you will hardly find yourself disconnected from sin. You will not try to resist sin as instructed by the bible. This is what the bible says about this;
1peter 5:8-9
“Be self controlled and alert, your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for some one to devour. Resist him, stand firm in the faith because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering”
This is what Paul C Jong says about sin:
“Because we are fundamentally born with sin from our very birth in this world, we had no choice but always be sinful” (Paul C Jong 2005, page 25, para 2) It is on, and on, and on, and on the same thing in the entire book.

Heresies
Paul C Jong’s doctrines are flooded with heresies. We will look at a few of them. This is what he says about his doctrine.
“Fundamentally speaking therefore the gospel of water and spirit did not come from men, but is the gospel of salvation that come from God” (Paul C Jong, 2005, page 147, para 3)
There is no scriptural backing, or proof for this statement.
“He claims that apostle Paul believed in the Gospel of water and spirit and preached the truth to the saints of the Galatians churches” (Paul C Jong, page 217, para 2)
No scriptural backing. There is no where in the bible where Paul mentions the words ‘Gospel of Water and Spirit.” The only gospel he mentions is the gospel of Christ.
He also misinterprets Galatians 1:6-7 which says;
“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel which is not another but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ”
According to paul C Jong, the right gospel of Christ is his doctrine of water and spirit. The right gospel Paul preaches is mentioned in the book of 1corinthians 15:1-7. This is what Apostle Paul says;
‘’1corinthins 15:1-8
“Now brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. (Verse 2)By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Other wise, you have believed in vain.
(verse 3)For what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, (verse 4)that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, (verse 5)and that he appeared to peter and then to the twelve. (verse6)After that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of who are still living, through some have fallen asleep. (Verse 7)Then he appeared James, and to all the apostles (verse 8) and last of all he appeared to me also as to one normally born.”

This is just a summary of the gospel Paul preaches. Advocating that he preached the gospel of water and spirit without scriptural backing is heresy. Apostle Paul himself again and again through out the new testament insists on the importance of desisting from sin and resisting the devil through the obedience of Christian principles, while the doctrine of water and spirit by Paul C Jong by implication looks at those trying to obey Christian principles as “Legalist” and consequently he condemns the obedience of the word of God consequently discrediting the entire earthly mission of Christ which was to save us and to set a pace or an example for Christians to follow.
Conclusion
False
A careful sturdy of the gospel of water and spirit could be very challenging. Each time a wrong concept is presented and one is pondering over its validity, Paul C Jong carefully presents a scripturally acceptable principle with scriptural backing, which then masks the wrong concept and covers the eyes and minds of people from contesting the wrong concept. It is very difficult to make out the wrong doctrine. On a personal note and in relation with scripture as have already been examined above, I have come to the following conclusions.
The doctrine of water and spirit as presented by Paul c Jong is just a careful scheme by the devil carefully fashioned out to cause internal squabbles and confusion within the Christian church and consequently distract them from its original mission of wining souls for Christ, by fighting within its self. Any wise and mature Christian will not waste his or her time on such heresies. He carefully claims that Jesus took away the sins of the world in the river Jordan so that we can concentrate on this and quarrel amongst our selves. We as Christians strongly believe in the baptism of Jesus, that is why we all get baptized as he did in human flesh while setting the pace for us to follow. No one should deceive you that you do not appropriate sufficient importance to it if you truly believe in Jesus. Besides his presentation of repentance and confession in his book is nothing but exaggerative, he claims that people actually pray and tell God that they will never sin again. This kind of prayers are made by ignorant people and not by knowledgeable Christians.
This is what he says;
“In the present age, the legalists lead their lives of faith as follows: they offer prayers of repentance to the lord, trying to wash away their sin on their own crying our loud “lord forgive me!” They try to purge their sins through their prayers of repentance. To this day countless liars have tried to perfect their faith through such Christian practices and doctrines as the prayers of repentance and the doctrine of incremental sanctification, but none have been able to meet their goals and all have been ultimately forsaken. Because they have tried to wash away their sins not through the gospel of water and spirit, but through their own prayers of repentance they have been stamped as the ones practicing lawlessness “ (Paul C Jong 2005, Page 217, para, 4)
Secondly it is a canal doctrine that encourages and steals away the conscience of the young Christian in the face of sin. He advocates that one has no choice but to sin till death while the bible thinks otherwise. He indirectly tells us that the bible is wrong when it says that if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, old things have passed away and behold everything has become new” (2corinthians 5:17) is it possible for a new creation to continue the previous sinful life? Certainly not Romans 6:1-2, Paul laments when he says
“; what shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means, we died to sin, how we can live in it any longer.”
The doctrine of water and spirit can cause guilt within a Christian creating a rift or gap between that Christian and God. If you do not have to confess your sins to God, then you will stand before God with sin. Let this topic of sin not fool any Christian. It is true that we are born with a sinful nature, but when we repent and believe in Jesus, this sinful nature dies. (Romans: 3-4)We may commit sin out of error, but the unbeliever plans and executes it and justifies it in his or her conscience. So sin is error to the Christian and certainly not part of his or her daily life, while unbelievers make it part of their lives. An unbeliever plans and executes sin, but a Christian commits it by error and immediately realizes it and turns to God. Any true Christian will confess that while they were unbelievers when they had not yet repented, there were sins or things they were addicted to and thought they could never stop doing, but today, they have stopped doing such things and they are very happy not doing them.
It is not by our power that one is able to stop doing these things, it is by the spirit of God and that is why a Christian always looks at his life as miracle and thanks God for it. Talking less about my self, I know a lot of people who were addicts to money, thieves, adulterers, fornicators, causers of havoc, drunkards and addicted smokers, but when they gave their lives to Christ, they miraculously overcame these addictions. It is not by their power but by the spirit of God as the bible tells us in the book of Galatians 2:20, that

“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”
When we repent and invite God into our lives, Jesus comes in as he has promised in revelation 3:20, and as we have just seen in Galatians 2:20, it is Jesus who lives for us and not us. By our own we can do nothing. But by the power of Jesus who lives in us, we can live a victorious Christian life where we get rid of our old sinful habits and put on a new craving in us which is to please God. We may err, but we don’t plan sin and besides, we turn to God at once, which keeps our relationship with him flowing and strong. Apostle Paul challenges us to strive for perfection. Paul C Jong is therefore wrong when he claims that repentance is a fallacy (Paul C Jong, 2005, page 42, para 3)

It is important to note that Paul C Jong’s book “From physical circumcision to the Doctrine of Repentance is very voluminous and yet speaks the same thing over and over and over again. The book is Centered around the same thing and I strongly believe that he could have said all he wanted to say in 20 pages but he has managed to write 405 pages of the same thing and it turns out he has over thirty one other published books. The truth is that these books will not help anyone in any light as they are all correlated to the doctrine of water and spirit which is nothing but false doctrine. For instance in one of his books titled OUR LORD WHO BECOMES THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD (1),

This is what he says;
“Human beings, whose flesh cannot help but to sin until their dying breaths, demonstrate the greatness of God’s righteousness through their weaknesses.”

This statement indirectly tells us that the more we sin, the more God’s righteousness is manifested. So, to see more of Gods righteousness, we need to sin more. Well he does not say it directly, but the book rolls around it on and on and on.
In this book, he advocates that only Gods righteousness can save us (Paul C. Jong 2002, page 72, para 3) then he indirectly implies with the above statement and more, that one has to remain in his sinful state, so that the righteousness of God can save that person one hundred percent. (Page 73, para, 2) According to him, when you make any effort to respect the will of God in obedience to his commands, you are demonstrating what he calls righteousness of the flesh (Page 73, para 3) After reading his careful use of percentages, you can be deceived to think that your efforts of trying to follow the word of God in practice is nothing but Flesh righteousness as he calls it. (Page 73, para,3), and you can find your self relaxing in sin, so that Gods righteousness will save you 100%. The book goes on and on and on again about The Gospel of water and spirit and how you have to believe in it to become saved.
One can say here that Paul C Jong’s entire message is about having faith in this Gospel of water and spirit and keeping on with the life style you have been living in. he calls you “Legalist” or “Flesh righteousness” when you try to obey the word of God by practicing his commands. The bible says this in

James 1:22
”Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves, do what it says”

1peter 1:14 says
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.”
Peter clearly tells us that we can not continue to live the lives we use to live when we had not yet known God. Peter uses the word “ignorance” which means our lives must change to show what God has done in our lives. It is not just some believe system, but a type of believe system caused by the presence of Jesus in our lives.
James asks us this question.

James 2:14
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

James 2:17
“In the same way, faith by its self, if it is not accompanied by action is dead.”

James 2:26
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”
Our faith in Jesus Christ does not cancel the fact that we have to obey his word. After all it is Christ who helps us to obey because on our own, we can not. So it is the righteousness of God that is manifested when we obey Christian principles and not “flesh righteousness.” Apostle Paul has written several books for Christians with instructions they have to obey to live practical Christian lives. The Christian life is manifested by what the Christian does and not merely by believe. The Gospel of water and spirit is based entirely on believe and besides it makes an unscriptural recommendation for believe.
This Doctrine of Water and Spirit, is his scheme to attack those who try to obey Christian principles and to make them relax their desire to resist sin and the devil as instructed by the bible, and to set arguments within Christian circles on when Jesus took away our sins. Don’t be deceived, Christ in you will live for you and you will find your self living a victorious Christian life with the ability to do what you could not do before. Just let Jesus to live for you and you will be shocked at the miraculous transformation that your life will take.
In a nude shell, the Gospel of water and spirit is nothing but a passport for Canal Christians, people who don’t read the bible, and innocent ignorant people to satisfy their in-satiable desires of the flesh which are in contradiction with the word of God, with a relieved mind.
Dear Christians and all seeking Christ, watch out for wrong and false doctrines out there. The devil is not sleeping. He is roaring around like a wounded lion. If you allow yourself to be fooled, you will have your self to blame. The bible its self says that they will come in my name. False prophets and doctrines will come in Jesus name and they will look like the truth but they are not. This is what Apostle Paul told the elders at Ephesus when he left them.

Acts20:29-30
I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. (verse30) Even from your own number, men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. (verse31) so be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
Take this warning which Paul C Jong is not ignorant of.
Galatians 1:6-8
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. (verse7) which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. (verse8) But even if an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned.

This advice is coming to all of us today. If you prefer man made doctrines to the word of God, then you will have your self to blame. I want to assume that Paul c Jong may have made a mistake in presenting this doctrine and that on seeing this summarized but crucial critique of his work, he will turn around and lead his congregation, followers and disciples to the truth.
Truth
For those who have not accepted Jesus into their lives, you must recognize that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) We have to repent from the lives we have been living. Jesus loved us so much and came into this world in human form, and died for our sins (John 3:16) His sacrifice on the cross took away the sins of the world because God had ordained blood as source of atonement for human beings. (Leviticus 17:11) The blood of animals could not do perfect cleansing and so God sent his one and only son to die for us. Imagine the sacrifice he went through just for your sins. Take a moment and imagine the pain he passed through because of you. Think about it. All you have to do is invite Jesus into your life as your personal lord and savior from sin as instructed by the bible in revelation 3:20 and God will surely come in and be with you as he has promised. This starts with recognizing that the path you are walking on is wrong and turning to Jesus in repentance. You must confess your sins (1john 1:9) and name them before the throne of grace of God and he will surely honor his word as usual and make us new creations as promised in 2Corinthians 5:17. From here we can steadfastly read the bible and count on God to lead us by the power of the Holy Spirit as he has promised in his word. It is advisable to become part of a true Christian church where Christ is the master and where the Holy Spirit is in charge and the church will help you to grow.
This critique of Paul C Jong’s work is simply a way of showing him that he has taken a wrong path and that he can return to the truth and help all his followers of the New Life Mission to come in contact with the truth if not return to the truth. It is also aimed at helping those who have been mislead by this doctrine to realize their errors and turn to the truth. Above all it is aimed at helping prospective converts into this gospel of “Water and Spirit” to stay away from it. This critique is not done out of negative motives, but simply out of the desire to honor the word of God which instructs us to preach the gospel and to correct one another. I leave for you the exact words Apostle Paul left for the elders of Ephesus when he left them.

Acts 20:32
“I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”
If you need more help, you can write me and I will gladly render it. May God bless you as you allow the Holy Spirit to lead you and to guide you onto the right path, into the secrets of God which he has abundantly bestowed on all who trust and believe in his name, Amen.



References
1. FROM PHYSICAL CIRCUMCISION TO THE DOCTRINE OF REPENTANCE. (2005) By PAUL . C JONG (HEPHZIBAH PUBLISHING HOUSE)
2. OUR LORD WHO BECOMES THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD (1) (2002) By PAUL C JONG(HEPHZIBAH PUBLISHING HOUSE)
3. THE NIV BIBLE

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