I have read the “Declaration of Faith” on the Foursquare Gospel website and was pleased to see that they hold many of the fundamental truths of Scripture. They believe: 1) God is eternal and the Creator of the universe; 2) the Bible is the Word of God; 3) in the Fall of Man; 4) that God has provided Man with salvation through the sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus Christ; 5) that Jesus Christ is coming again; and many other vital doctrines of Scripture.

But there is also concern for some of their beliefs. Their name (Foursquare) comes from their belief that Jesus is the Savior, the Healer, the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, and the Coming King. I would like to address two of these, for their teaching on Jesus as the Healer and Baptizer do NOT line up with Scripture. In their Declaration of Faith they say the following about “Divine Healing”:

“We believe that divine healing is the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to heal the sick and the afflicted in answer to believing prayer; that He who is the same yesterday, today and forever has never changed but is still an all-sufficient help in time of trouble, able to meet the needs of, and quicken the body into newness of life.”

They base their belief that PHYSICAL HEALING in the atonement on Isaiah 53:5, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes WE ARE HEALED.” They fail (we believe) to see that Isaiah is speaking of SPIRITUAL HEALING FROM OUR SINS and NOT PHYSICAL HEALING. That “spiritual healing” is in view is made clear in Peter’s words in 1st Peter 2:24, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” The verse is clearly referring to SIN, which is a “spiritual sickness, not a physical sickness.” It is the malady of sin that we have been healed from by Christ’s sufferings and death on the cross. Eventually all believers will receive a new, glorified body that will never get sick (see 1st Corinthians 15:35-49 and Philippians 3:20-21). Until then we can experience the wonderful healing from sin and “live for righteousness,” because the Lord Jesus willingly took our place on the cross and “bore our sins in His own body on the tree.”

Regarding Jesus as the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, they believe this baptism is a “second blessing” that happens sometime AFTER one is saved. It could be a few hours later, a few days, a few months, or even a few years after one has trusted in Christ as their Savior. One verse alone will suffice to refute this teaching. In Ephesians 1:13 we read, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, HAVING BELIEVED, YOU WERE SEALED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE.” The very moment a sinner believes the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is given to them and seals them, marking them out as one who belongs to Christ. Romans 8:9 declares, “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLS IN YOU. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”

They have other serious teachings that contradict Scripture. The most serious is found in their Creedal Statements and Declaration of Faith, where they believe in “the free moral will power of man, who can backslide, apostatize, and be lost.” This belief (that a true believer can lose his/her salvation) denies the “eternal security of the believer” which is taught clearly in the following scriptures: John 3:16; 5:24; 10:27-29; and Romans 8:1, 31-39. A true believer will never apostatize (see Hebrews 10:38-39). (330.5) (DO)