Are We Little Gods?
"Word-faith" or "positive confession" teachers
often make the claim that we are "little gods." Are we?
If pressed about their "little gods" doctrine,
positive confession teachers would probably respond by saying that they
are only repeating what the Bible says. We should therefore turn our
attention in that direction, and look at some passages that are frequently
cited by these men.
There's no doubt that the Bible declares that
there's only one God, who is unique and distinct from the world He created.
Yet, there are passages like Psalm 82:6 which refer to men as gods.
What are we to make of this? One common interpretation is that the term
"gods" in this passage is used in a figurative sense to refer to Israelite
judges, who were called "gods" by virtue of their position as judges,
representing God. Therefore, this passage cannot be taken to mean that
men are gods in the literal sense. Furthermore, it would only be relevant
for judges of Israel, and no other persons.
Positive confession teachers also argue that
since believers are called the sons of god and because like begets like,
we must somehow have the same nature as God. Two points need to be made
here. First, as Rom. 8:23 clearly reveals, we do not share God's nature,
since Christians are simply "adopted" - and not "natural" - sons of
God. Second, when speaking about the sonship of believers the New Testament
is referring to the fact that Christians have entered into a relationship
with God as their Father: Christian conversion, then, involves being
renewed into the moral likeness of God, rather than being transformed
into a god. This is precisely the meaning behind 2 Peter 1:4, which
speaks of believers partaking of the divine nature (cf. verses 5-11).
While a lot more can and will be said on this
subject, I believe it's clear that the usage of the term "little gods"
is unbiblical and should therefore be avoided.
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