Is the church anointed to reign? The short answer is no, but let me state the problem and explain my answer.
Understand that I am thankful Donald J. Trump was elected our next U.S. President. I think he is good for the gospel, and that is just a huge factor as we wind down the Church Age. Too many on the Left are clearly enemies of the gospel.
But his election produced the following headline I caught: Trump Win Brings Era of Church ‘Anointed to Reign’. In a statement by Tim Sheets, brother of Dutch Sheets, in early December. It represents the false teaching of Kingdom Now or Dominion Theology, often promoted in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).
The church is not appointed or anointed to reign. Jesus Christ is in his thousand-year Millennial reign on earth.
Sheets said on the Elijah List that God told him that it’s time for a newly confident ekklesia—a term dominionists use to refer to the church as a governing body on Earth—to exercise a higher level of authority. He said the church now has a “prevailing anointing” and is “overwhelming hell’s effort on Earth.”
NAR leaders teach that modern-day apostles and prophets, and their Christian followers are meant to take dominion over governments and other institutions of cultural influence to speed the day when a triumphant church will rule and reign with a returning Christ.
One of the fastest-growing false teachings in the church today is called by various names: Kingdom Now, Dominion Theology, Reconstructionism, and the Restoration Movement. It is an effort to use the church to make the world perfect for our Lord’s return.
The excellent online resource, Got Questions (GotQuestions.org), writes, “Lance Wallnau coined the term Seven Mountain Mandate and is one of its prominent teachers (within Dominionism). Wallnau adapts the missionary mandate of Jesus to His disciples to ‘go and make disciples’ of all the nations into a mandate to effect social transformation. He reasons that, since churches already have a presence in every nation in the world, we need to now concentrate on influencing the systems (the ‘mountains’) within these nations.
“The seven mountains are education, religion, family, business, arts/entertainment, and media. These seven sectors of society are thought to mold the way everyone thinks and behaves. So, to tackle societal change, these seven “mountains” must be transformed. Those who follow the seven mountain mandate speak of ‘occupying’ the mountains, ‘invading’ the culture, and ‘transforming’ or ‘taking back’ society.”
This theology is borne out of the Manifest Sons of God movement and Latter Rain movement in about 1948. It also has ties to the positive confession movement.
The number one purpose of the church is to take away the souls of men from Satan. The rest of society may be a lost cause because of the Fall in the Garden. The world is a sinking Titanic ripe for judgment, not Garden of Eden perfection. Jesus will take dominion over the cleansed earth. For men to speak of doing that before the judgment of this earth is spiritually arrogant and ignorant.
There are far too many verses in the Bible that speak of the coming apostasy in the church and not the glorification of the church! The Bible says that in the last days, the church will not give heed to sound doctrine (2 Timothy 4:3-4) and will feature far too many “doctrines of demons” (I Timothy 4:1). There will actually be “wolves among the flock” (Acts 20:29).
That does not sound like a reigning church. That’s because the world requires a reigning Messiah serving His Millennial kingdom. Today’s self-appointed prophets and apostles who are Dominion proponents need to do a reality check.
