Prophet T.B. Joshua has countered insinuations that he is fighting with Christ Embassy Pastor Chris Oyakhilome over a session of questions that saw the respected ministers of God produce different answers.
Answering another question from a Facebook fan who was seeking explanation for the Scripture in 1 Corinthians 10:13, Joshua addressed the online uproar that resulted from his answers on the issue of abortion after rape and masturbation and their perceived variance with Oyakhilome’s.
“This reminds me of a recent article in which people put me side by side with my brother Pastor Chris Oyakhilome talking about masturbation,” Joshua wrote on his official Facebook page. “Our brother was referring to Christians, not others. Christians who already have a relationship with God – their wrong is different from others because the root of their wrong is from the flesh, not from the heart,” he explained, attempting to add clarity to Oyakhilome’s much debated explanation about masturbation.
He went further to say, “When the root of your wrong is not from the heart, your wrong will make you to run to God the more. That is, it will intensify your relationship with God. I mean, you will see the need of God the more until His name is glorified.”
T.B. Joshua stated that true men of God were united because “the Bible is our standard” and “our Bible is one”. He suggested that it was people’s understanding that actually differed. “The understanding of people that read us can only differ,” he concluded, evidently showing his support for Oyakhilome who was widely criticised for his controversial responses.
In answering the tricky question about ‘not being tempted beyond what we are able’, the cleric revealed, “It simply means you will not encounter a temptation that will stop you from seeing the need of God. The essence of temptation is to overthrow your position before God but in this case, it does not stop you but encourages you to see the need of God the more because it is from your flesh, not from your heart.”
He went on to differentiate between ‘temptation’ from the heart and the flesh. “If it is from your heart, you will begin to exalt satan, listen to the voice of temptation and act out of character. If it is from your flesh, you will see the need of God the more because the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”
He said that Christians do often make mistakes but they have a Mediator in Heaven. “When a Christian makes a mistake, he does not lose his place as a son but loses his fellowship. We can immediately go to God about our behaviours. He will help us to get back on our feet, forgive us and help us not to make the same mistake again.”