Weaponized Faith: How Adoption Theology Created Spiritual Elites

Hello and welcome to another episode of the William Brandham Historical Research Podcast. I'm your host, John Collins, the author and founder of William Brandham Historical Research at William-brandham.org and with me I have my co-host, researcher and friend, John McKennan, author of the Persuasive Preacher, the Gifted Profit, and the Noble Politician. John is good to be back together and to talk about this weird thing of adoption that the series that we've been going through. If I'm not mistaken this is the last in the series but we have when we first started this we have kind of brought the

audience in from nothing to there's there's quite a bit of interest in the last few episodes. I don't know if you've noticed this or not because when we began this we were talking about as you know William Brandham and the foundation the theological foundation that he laid and I remember some of the comments man is that people look at it and they think well this isn't relevant at all. What are you guys talking about? But the more we went on and the more comparisons we had to some of the modern day apostles and prophets in the New Apostolic

Reformation all the NAR crowd got interested and then from the non-NAR crowd many of the charismatic people got interested because they're starting to hear bits and pieces that really resemble what they're in and they had no idea where some of the stuff came from. What's really funny about this and scary at the same time when C. Peter Wagner coined the term New Apostolic Reformation he himself admitted this is nothing new this is something that pre-existed and he tried to put a brand on it and many people after him have built upon that brand and so even the brand of New Apostolic Reformation has

gone in multiple different directions but at its core what you and I are talking about in this specific series at its core this is the foundation that was laid that all of it was built upon and again Wagner said this this is something that pre-existed he never really went deep as to what it was that existed and why and how and I think that's where people are getting really really surprised because Wagner was he was basically saying that there are these modern day apostles and prophets with supernatural authority to transform society that was that was his claim and then everybody who joined into

this movement they would go to these conventions these seminars that were leveling preachers, evangelists, missionaries, et cetera, and as people were brought into this fold, they were establishing the idea that if you believe this modern day apostle or prophet, you can be empowered to do many of these things and we're creating this army of people. What did this army come from? I have rightfully named what you and I do together in our podcast series, The Weaponized Religion, and you can, you know, you can go on YouTube.

There's a playlist that's got the ones that you and I are doing, but we walked you through the very beginning of that history and it wasn't all coming from religion. It was also mixed with politics and many other things, but it was combining to basically create the theme that Brannum would be building upon. Now, if you're on the Brannum side, you don't recognize this because you really are unfamiliar with what came after. Most of the people are just blinded to the fact that it continued and it was rotten to the core and the core developed

into something else. But to the historians looking in, they see people like Wagner and Wagner never really goes back and says who was spearheading all of this. And especially whenever you consider that Brannum was basically the public face and there were other people behind the scenes in both Christian identity and white supremacy that was guiding it. Nobody in today's world and in the right mind, well, I'll take that back a few people do, but most people in the right mind won't credit Brannum because they don't want people to know how insidious this movement actually began as. But anyway, this grew from Wagner, you know, between 1970 and 2025. This grew and

exploded into, if I remember correctly, the count is like 600 over 600 million people worldwide have come into this type of system, not all of its new apostolic reformation, but there are many Pentecostal charismatic movements, all of which have been influenced by this, some of which did reject it, but vast majority, you know, still growing and brewing this stuff, not knowing where some of the theology is coming from. And essentially what happened, what Brannum was creating, which we kind of alluded to in the last episode, but we'll hit it home today. What he was creating was a

tiered structure of Christianity. There was your average not, he would call it nominal Christian, or there's other names he would use for this, but you can be just a Christian, you can just believe in Christ and, you know, you're a lesser Christian, but there were tiers that were built up and the super Christians are the ones that he was focusing on. And so it was basically a pyramid scheme of Christianity, and that's what the new apostolic reformation was built upon. So when you think of people who have apostolic authority or the overcomers, it's different language that they use.

What they're essentially talking about is the pyramid scheme that Brannum was trying to establish, and he was spearheading a movement with thousands of different evangelists who were taking these ideas and running with them even after they rejected Brannum.

They kept the most dangerous parts of his theology and just simply didn't say where they got it. That's the really scary part, but anyway, I'm excited to get into this. I think this is the last episode in this series and we'll kick off another one soon.

Well, John, I want to welcome everyone to the final punch of this series. This is episode nine, part three of the true adoption of the believer. It's so good to be here again, have the opportunity just to shed some light on the false doctrines which came out of the message of William Brannum and the latter reign from the 1950s, which can harm the Christian Church.

It's the one we've been focused on for the last eight episodes here. It's a twisted up version of adoption, really. In this episode, I'm going to hold this teaching up to the blazing light of scripture again.

It doesn't matter how famous the preacher is or how supernatural the stories they've got. The scripture will always override every thought we have about it. Tonight we're putting William Brannum's placing of the sun teaching on the table one last time, and this time we're not being gentle.

You've heard it a hundred times, you know, you're saved, but you're still just a baby. One day, if you're good enough, God will throw a road party and finally make you a real sun.

You know, to be honest, I'm pulling no punches on this one. And we'll probably say things which believers these doctrines will not want to hear may sound quite harsh. But I believe these things must be said.

And so we have a chance of getting the gospel right. I believe this adoption teaching of William Brannum's is one of the most many, and maybe the most as seductive, and maybe one of the most dangerous and flat-out unbiblical doctrines ever preached from a healing revival platform.

You know, William Brannum's placing of a sun adoption theology turned out to be, turned the finished work of the cross actually into a two-stage robe wearing check-signing ceremony that only the end time elite are supposedly get to experience.

So here's what we heard from William Brannum's message so far. Although he's been my son since he's been born, now I'm going to place him positionally in authority. What he fires is fired and what he hires is hired.

And the real context of the scriptures wrote between the lines, you just got to let God give it to you by revelation. But we're going to tear this thing apart. You know, line by line and verse by verse.

You know, think about this, John. Paul said, you have received the spirit of adoption. Romans 8.15. And if Jesus said, whosoever believes has everlasting life, if every blood-bought child, legitimate or illegitimate, is already a joint era with Christ right now, then anybody who's standing up proclaiming, you're saved, but you're still a spiritual toddler, you know, waiting on Papa God's public ceremony.

You know, he's not preaching the gospel. He's preaching another gospel, and Paul said to let them be accursed. So we better buckle up our seat belts this time for this one. And today we're going to ask these questions that the Brannamites just hate.

You know, where's the actual robe ceremony in the New Testament? Where's the elite place sons class that's mentioned in Galatians 328? Why does Brannam's between the lines revelation always sound exactly like voice of William Brannam or the latter reign and not the Bible?

So grab your Bible because we're about to read what God actually wrote. Not what some preacher is said hidden between the lines. And when we're done, you know, every rectal Christian here listening is going to walk away knowing these things.

If you've got Jesus, you're not waiting for your adoption date. It's already signed, sealed, seated, and you're eating at the Father's table right now. No robes, no rings, no waiting room. It's just Jesus, just grace, and it's just done.

We're going to open the word and watch this whole thing fall apart. Instead of reading between the lines, we're going to read on the lines the way we should. And watch Brannam's doctrine crumble under the word of God.

Absolutely. And to remind people just how important this is, I mentioned C. Peter Wagner, but think about the different streams of pinocostal, charismatic movement, basically the apostolic networks that are lying within the new apostolic reformation that are combining as different streams of theology to the same end.

And look at some of the names involved. And you don't have to take my word for it. You can go to Google News and you can just search for some of these names. And you'll find numerous articles about this.

But in the beginning episodes, we were talking about Christian identity and Christian nationalism, how that was combining with religion and fundamentalism. And it was birthing something new, something that was being used as a weapon.

And you can find numerous articles out there that are talking about faith, like, I've got one on the screen. I'll throw it up. It's faith as a weapon. You'll find numerous articles like this.

And they all mention the same streams of people. You've got this one in particular, mentions, apostles, dutch sheets, Chuck Pierce, Cindy Jacobs, Lance Wall now, names that I've mentioned quite a few times in different various podcasts and research videos.

These people, they're not part of the same org chart, so you don't see them as connected from a business standpoint. But ideologically, they're connected. And the news media just has no idea how to put all of this together.

They have no way to connect these people other than the fact that you listen to what they're saying, and it's a bunch of political rhetoric that is disguised as religion. That's basically what's happening here.

And when you think about William Brandham's theology, those same people, if they were to encounter William Brandham and his sermons, without knowing that loaded language and what it means, they would never be able to connect this.

But you and I have the special insight, right? Because we both have studied... Theology, you know, I'm not an expert by no means, but I've studied and read the Bible, and we know the loaded language that's in the sermon, and the themes that were hidden within that loaded language. So when you're talking about adoption, you're really talking about spiritual elite people. And when you consider some of the weaponized political statements that were in random sermons, when you combine all of this, you basically have a view into what the news media now is just calling Christian nationalism. It's just much more complex than that. Christian

nationalism was just one stream that was coming into the revivals. So as we get into this, and I know you're going to go through the theology of it, just remember how important all of this is as it relates to today, because this is not something we're talking about a guy who died in 1965.

Yes, and you can't really say that all trails run back to Brandon, but what you can say, Brandon was the foremost leader of the post-World War II healing revival, not just by my words, but by many historians accounts. Brandon was the foremost leader. Yes, he may have been rejected later on, but there was a period of time whenever he was saying many of the things that we're going through in this podcast and the other ones in the series that many, many people were agreeing with and standing behind, and it wasn't Christianity. In fact, as you're about to show, it was actually

the opposite of Christianity. What was it? It was weaponized religion for a political purpose, and that's really the significance of this. Yeah, you know, I'm going to start with a few quotes, which show we in Brandon and his ministers believe the bride always saved, was always saved back in eternity. There's many problems with this thinking John, but the big one is that Jesus and his work on the cross is severely diminished, and who God is is severely diminished, what God has to do to save us. Even though the cross of Christ has mentioned in many message churches,

you know, fear William Brown's message actually supersedes the cross of Christ in what they're teaching. So, and one of the ministers is preaching on Godhead. He says, anybody taking that statement or brother Brown that said, you'll come to a day when you know you're always were saved. You've got to come to him on what I'm talking about this morning, what he talked about, the ultimate predestination coming as that particle from God, right here, down here in God's plan, God manifests to himself. See? So, that's the God particle that is supposedly in believers when they come to the

earth, and this God particle is what makes you always saved in this minister's mind, and that's what he believed, Brandon taught. Brother Brown mentioned the same thing in 1964, identified Christ of all ages message. He said, so you see the whole thing is God's become intangible. That on that great day is to come when Christ sets on the throne of David, reigns in the millennium, it's God intangible in the earth. He is Now in you, you are his attributes.

If you've got eternal life, your life always was. And you was in God's thinking, the color of hair, whatever you are, what you was God's thinking, and you're just materialized. And that's what God was when he was materialized in Christ.

God displayed manifested inflation Christ, he become material, a God that we could touch. In future home, in 1964, he said, there's your holy convocation, not have anything to do with literal things. Because beyond that is the kingdom of God with eternal life, with the predestinated that never did start.

It never started on any day. You wasn't saved on any day. You was always saved. Amen. Jesus just come to redeem that. But you was always saved from the beginning because you had eternal life to begin with.

Now boy, what a statement. What does that do to the cross of Christ? If you didn't come into this world dead and you always were saved, maybe potentially in God's thinking, when he chose once before the foundation of the world was were taught in the book of Ephesians, that potentially it was there.

But you haven't even been created yet. You haven't even come into existence yet and you didn't exist as material particles in God's mind at that time. But yet here he says, you always were saved.

Now that can't be true when the Bible says you were dead in sins and trespasses. So here's another one on thinking man's filter in 1965. He says, what made you desire it in the first place because down in your soul there was a predestinated seed which was eternal life.

Always laying in there, always was in there. There isn't any of them going to be lost. All the fathers given me will come to me. And works as faith expressed 1965. He said, is that inside soul that never dies?

It's got eternal life. It always was eternal life. See, it come from God. It goes to God, it's the soul. So see, he's preaching some kind of message that says that you're a God-like particle coming down and that's really what makes you God on earth and how you become little gods.

And this whole teaching is buried in that very thing that we've been talking about for the last eight episodes here. Here's another one from another minister, not William Brownham, but is from his trusted theologian.

And he preached a message called Godhead number eight. Questions and answers. He said, now all right, look at this fact now that he went to the king of eternal, immortal, invisible and he made a son in his image.

Get that, he made a son in his image. But Jesus wasn't made. He was actually eternal with God in the beginning as John 1, 1 states. And so that son already was eternal, not that he did not have a beginning with the eternality of God.

He did have a beginning with the eternality of God, which was that life. The same as you and I have. That's why Brother Brownham said, you'll come to a time when you realize you always were saved.

Now remember Brother Brownham said, he did not lay aside that word body, but he had it and noted. doubt he brought it with him, but you and I did not have it. Another message and questions and answers on the Godhead, the same message minister spoke.

He said, you are the righteous, sinless, perfect bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then he said, you didn't even do it. And he said, there come a day when you realize you always were saved, because he knew that people didn't understand seed.

So, see, that's where they base all their whole thinking from, is that you actually were physical, somehow material seeds in God in the beginning, which that made you actually a part of God. So when you came to this earth, you always were eternal life, you always were saved.

And all you had to do was see the manifestation of William Brown's ministry in this day to become life. Whereas totally contrary to the gospel, because the gospel teaching is that everybody comes to this earth, you know, dead and sins, lost and without God, without hope in this world.

And it's only by hearing the gospel, believing by faith in Jesus Christ, that we're made alive at that time, and not before. So we didn't come to this earth with eternal life. We came to this earth in death because of the sin of Adam that was passed along to us.

His imputed unrighteousness was passed on to us, just as Jesus' righteousness is now imputed to us. So in William Brown's mind, you know, once a person is saved, then we get into this subject of adoption.

And he has to have the Holy Spirit to tutor him and examine him and report back to the father. So it seems right there, William Brown's got a trinitarianism thinking in his mind. And that's a real paradox for message believers to ponder on because if that's what's really happening, then there's a Holy Spirit person of God down here looking at people's lives and reporting back to the father God, another person of God, while the sun is sitting on the throne, interceding for us on our behalf.

But right there, you've got trinitarianism all wrapped up in William's Brown's message, but he would flat out deny it. So William Brown is trying to give people something that excites them into thinking they're going to one day receive some great powers from God if they just behave a little correctly.

And of course, behave according to his message, you know, you women stay in line. You men have to believe everything I say and keep your women in line, that kind of thing. But this is what excites, you know, the NAR crowd on the other side who don't have those restrictions, but they still take what he said as far as becoming God's rulers on this earth, taking dominion.

And that excites the word of faith movement in a our crowd. And they cause they won't roll power. That's what they're after and the freedom to use it. And this is also a gospel that relies on works.

Only those believers who are doing the works that satisfy God will be adopted because he said many won't receive their adoption. And I believe we know that God saves by grace through faith and not of works.

So let's hear how William Brownum teaches all this in a few quotes in 1960 in the adoption series. He said, That's my son, that's my boy. Will you think he's mature? Yep, I sure do.

Said the Holy Spirit. Now this is the father and the Holy Spirit talking. He said, I give him tests. Boy, I tried him this way, tried him that way. And he list a whole bunch of things that he did to him such as God did to Job one day.

He said, oh, well, we ought to call him out somewhere to a little special place and have an adoption. And here he goes, continue on this same sermon. How many knows that the adoption, that they adopted the son after he had proved to be, and he says, everybody that read the Bible, placing of a son, now God did the same thing to his son when he took Jesus up on the Mount Transfiguration.

So here William Brannum was got Jesus having to work his way up to an adoption. And finally, he received an adoption when he got to Mount Transfiguration. But actually, Mount Transfiguration was never an adoption of any son.

It was God showing forth his son as having supreme authority. And in his glorified state, which is what he was going to be in the time to come. But William Brannum spoke about adoption in the same manner, using these same type of quotes over a hundred times from 1950 to 1962.

And always referring to Mount Transfiguration as an adoption of Jesus. When he was finally recognized as God's son, whether his name on the check was as good as the fathers. And he relayed as an example to us that one day we're going to be adopted.

And our name is going to be as good as on the check as the fathers. So when we look at what Mount Transfiguration really was, it was not an adoption. And we've already seen how William Brannum tried to take some of the Roman customs and construct his Bible doctrine out of them.

And if I would say this, if Brannum's teaching does not fit, we must omit and humbly omit and ultimately submit to the Word of God. And there's very little that I could add to that, except for the difference between what developed from this framework and the submitting to the Word of God that you're talking about.

In the framework that Brannum was building, it wasn't a submission to the Word of God. In fact, if you talk to almost any Brannumite, if you show them clearly here is what the Bible says and here is what Brannum says.

And if they're in disagreement, they will choose what Brannum says over what the Bible says. Almost every single person that I've encountered with any type of question, that's what they do. Why is that?

Because the pyramid structure that he had created as this foundation was such that the spoken Word actually had priority over the written Word. It's new revelation, new mana, fresh mana. There's different words that Brannum used and there's different words that Charismatics, New Apostolic Reformation people who built on this framework are using.

But essentially it means this, it doesn't matter what the Bible says. It's more about what the Apostle of Prophet says because they're getting the fresh new mana. And that is for our Word for today.

The Bible, the written Word, was the Word of yesterday. is for different ages. Brannum was a dispensationalist, and he separated, he added to the book of Revelation and changed where it says seven churches of Asia, or seven churches, which was the churches of Asia Minor.

He would say they were church ages instead, so he added the word ages, and he would say things like the gospel for Moses, which clearly, as he's talking about this, clearly he doesn't understand what the gospel is.

The gospel for Moses day won't work in Paul's day, the gospel for Paul's day won't work in our day. Well, what does work? The word, the fresh manna from the prophet, that's what he's trying to say.

So from this theology and from this platform was built the idea that if you have an apostle or prophet, and they are the ones who are your supernatural authority in your church, it is their word that you're submitting to, not the written word.

So there's a big, big difference, and in that difference is a lot of danger. Have you ever wondered how the Pentecostal movement started, or how the progression of modern Pentecostalism transitioned through the latter reign, charismatic and other fringe movements into the new Apostolic Reformation?

You can learn this and more on William Brandham Historical Research's website, William-Brandham.org. On the book's page of the website, you can find the compiled research of John Collins, Charles Paisley, Stephen Montgomery, John McKinnon, and others, with links to the paper, audio, and digital versions of each book.

You can also find resources and documentation on various people and topics related to those movements. If you want to contribute to the cause, you can support the podcast by clicking the contribute button at the top.

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You know, the transfiguration was not an adoption at all, but it was, rather, it was a vision of Jesus's future, divine glory, and a confirmation of his identity as God's son to those disciples that were with him.

It was revealed by a heavenly voice. You know, the event which featured Jesus surrounded by Old Testament figures of Moses and Elijah, it just served a strength in the disciples faith before his upcoming death and passion that he had to go through.

But what the transfiguration was not, it was not an adoption because adoption doesn't even fit the event that happened there. It was just the demonstration of Jesus' divinity and his prefigurement of his resurrection and glorification in heaven, as we mentioned.

The transfiguration of Jesus has described in the New Testament is not typically interpreted in mainstream theology as an adoption of Jesus by God, by anybody. The event seen as a revelation of his divine glory, foreshadowing his resurrection, affirming his identity as the Messiah.

But it... In the Christian theology, you know, the idea of adoption, the concept of Jesus being adopted of God's son, this comes from an ancient heresy, and it's called adoption and adoptionism or dynamic monarchy-nism. It suggested that Jesus was a human who was eventually elevated or adopted by God at a specific point in his life, sometimes linked to his baptism, transfiguration, or resurrection. Now, that's what we've been saying all along. The first minister we ever quoted here that preached a series on the Godhead said that God did not end well Jesus until his baptism. And that's part of this same heresy called adoptionism because

his adoption in that minister's mind was only linked to the baptism. In William Brannum's mind, the adoption was linked to transfiguration. And other ministers' minds who have not heard of in the message, but it's linked to the resurrection. But it's all that same ancient heresy. This is very old. And the view is rejected, of course, way way back by the early church, such as in councils, such as Nicaea in 325. And I know that council of Nicaea 325 is very, it's a dark time for message believers because they believe that's where the whole church was organized and became corrupt.

But I would say the council of Nicaea, though it had all these players in it, though it had the Pope in it, and though all these things could have been some corrupt members there, there was some sincere church fathers there that gathered to try to set the record straight on these different teachings, such as adoptionism, such as Aryanism, who believed that Jesus was actually created a created son and not really divine. And so the whole thing wasn't just to put forth the Trinity of concept or anything like that. It was to defend the divinity of Jesus

Christ because his divinity was being questioned at the time. And through all these doctrines, these old ancient heresies, that's what led to the council. And also many other councils down through the ages. Even Jerusalem had a council in the early times. So councils aren't unique to the church and they don't come together necessarily for the purpose of creating something corrupt.

They really come together sincerely to try to set forth what is the orthodox or what we call true doctrine that we should believe that's based upon the scriptures. But of course, we be in human and doesn't always come out that way. So we're constantly having to reevaluate what we do believe and make sure it matches the scriptures. But the view was also rejected by the church councils because it contradicts the Trinity concept and teaching of God has been the eternal divinity of Christ as the Logos in the beginning. Because as we said, William Bratham's teaching says that the

Logos came out of God as a little Logos, but it wasn't God with God in the beginning as we went through the verses in John 1 and 1 a couple of episodes ago. But orthodox Christianity always teaches that Jesus was an eternal Son of God.

He was begotten not made or not created and not birthed, but he was eternally there with the Father. Fully divine from eternity not adopted at any point and given some divine abilities. Another reason why the transfiguration is not an adoption because the voice from heaven echoes the one at Jesus' baptism as this is my beloved son and it's a declaration of his existing sonship, not some new adoption and not some additional power that was given to him at any of those times. Of course, Jesus always possessed the power, but he always humbled himself since he was in

human flesh and he restricted himself and laid down his glory at the time as Philippians tells us he laid aside it and didn't consider it something that he had needed to grasp because he had to be submissive to the will of God, him being God himself. The event is more about revelation and confirmation. It reveals Jesus's divine nature to the disciples, bridging the Old Testament with the new, preparing them for his death and other theologians like Thomas, Aquinas, and modern scholars emphasize it's a glimpse of Jesus' pre-incarnate glory that he had with the Father as he mentioned

in John 17 before the world ever was, not a change in his status with God at all. So just to give a precise side-by-side comparison between William Brown and his placing of his son and adoption and Paul's adoption theology, both used a great word, who athesia, adoption, but they apply it very differently. In Paul's gospel, the legal act was completed at conversion. In William Brown's version, it's a two-stage process you're born once and then you're later adopted. The timing of it, Paul's gospel, it was already accomplished.

You know, you've received the spirit of adoption. We are now the children of God. Paul has said that many times in his letters. In Brown's theology, it's not yet for most believers, only the end time bride in the last days will receive the placing of his son with full authority. Most Christians remain children, but not yet placed sons. And of course, we could go along through that.

The evidence of sonship, of course, is always the end-of-well in Holy Spirit whereby we cry of Abba Father. There's no further proof needed that we will ever come to any further adoption. The Holy Ghost within us is what's going to resurrect us when the body change occurs as Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 15, or you know, in 1 Thessalonians 4 or 12 even. In William Brown's theology, though, you've got to prove yourself faithful for some period of time, perhaps years, and then in a public ceremony in some later time, you're given that robe of the Holy Spirit from God.

Your name on the check is as good as the Father's. As far as authority and All is gospel. The authority is immediate. You know, your joint errors with Christ now. You're seated with Christ now in heavenly places. But in Brannum's theology is future and a selective. Only the manifested sons in the last days get the mountain-moving faith creation liberating authority. We can go on here. Who receives the sonship? Well, every single believer in Paul's gospel receives it without exception. There's no elite class of Christians. But in Brannum's theology it's only the elect in time bride who makes

the rapture. Most of the spirit-filled believers never reach this placement and most end up in the tribulation period. So, relationship to the justification of the believer in Paul's gospel. Adoption is just part of the salvation package. You know, you receive justification, sanctification, positionally. You're adopted and you also, or a future, you'll be glorified.

It's the chain of salvation, that golden chain in Romans 8 that we read about. An adoption in Brannum's theology, of course, is beyond salvation. It's actually another work of grace after justification or sanctification of the baptism of Holy Spirit. You have to wait until you're further adopted. That's what I call the carrot on the stick religion.

And that's exactly what this is. You're carrying the stick. There's a carrot tied to the end of it. And no matter how far you go, that carrot is still ahead of you because it's on the stick ahead of you. That's what these leaders are doing. They're basically creating a type of theology that tells believers that, yes, you're saved, but you're not yet fully suned. So, or you're not yet mature in the faith, or whatever is the gimmick that they give you. And it is a gimmick. Brannum used different language. He would say future adoption further adoption. I'm trying to recall exactly what he said. But basically, the essence

was this, there is a higher authority or there's a next level anointing that you can get. In the manifested sons of God framework, wherein you too can do these things, he throws around the term, thus say at the Lord, randomly on all kinds of different things. When God clearly isn't speaking through his mouth, and it becomes so common place to the movement, he even says in one specific place when he's talking about this, you too can do this.

You too can say, thus say at the Lord, and I know people who have done it, and it doesn't work out very well, because it's not God speaking. You're basically trying to force God to do something that you're wanting, and it just flips Christianity upside down because instead of God being all-powerful, now you are the believer who can become all-powerful, but it's a carrot on the stick. You'll never become this. So, translate that into the New Apostolic Reformation in the modern systems. There's this waiting period of submission to the leadership, you have to be recognized by the leadership, and the thing of it is,

they're using different words, maybe they're not using Brannum's sonship or whatever, but it's the same concept. You have to become greater than you are. Being Christian isn't enough, you must become this other thing, and I'm going to show you how to do it if you give me your cash.

So John, I just to carry on with this, this is loaded. You know, what we've been saying today is loaded language, and it's very loaded with just strong, strong concepts and strong meat that it's going to take folks listening to this while to digest. But anyway, I'm going to share a further and show you how the Bible just totally contradicts William Brown's idea of seed theology and many seeds in the mind of God. So we'll see here what God was going to send down to the earth was only one seed. And Paul had the revelation of that, and you

know, really when you think about it, he was the one that finally brought it out. In Galatians 316, he said, now to Abraham and his seed, where the promise is made, of course, that was many children, Abraham's children. But it says, it says it like this, Abraham and his seed, where the promise is made, and he say, if not, and to seeds as of many, but as of one and to thy seed, which is Christ. So actually, the promises were not made to seeds in God's mind in the beginning, because like I said, there's only one seed and

that what Paul had a revelation of, one seed, which is Christ. And it contradicts William Brown's theology here. The seed Paul was talking about is about one man, Jesus Christ him coming to the flesh. So there's the revelation of it. And in 323 of Galatians, it says, before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up into the faith, which should after a bit words be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. So we're seeing here, here's a scripture that just blows out of the water, the concept that the Holy Ghost is the tutor until we receive

the adoption. You know, it was the law. That was what was the schoolmaster in the tutor. The law was the tutor, not the Holy Spirit. Paul's not saying the believers under tutors, as William Brown has said, as we've read in some quotes above, verse 25, but after that faith has come, we're no longer under a schoolmaster. So look at that. When you receive Christ by faith, it says you're no longer under a tutor or a governor. That totally contradicts William Brown's theology, because he says, after you're born again, you have to be under the tutor of the Holy Spirit until you're good enough for the Father. But Paul says, here,

after faith has come, there's no more schoolmaster, which was the law. The Bible says plainly here, there's no, no more schoolmasters to try to please the Father so that you can receive adoption. You've already been adopted. So rejoice in that. He said, for your all children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, verse 26, and if you be Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. So Christ came down as the seed of Abraham, one singular seed, lived a righteous life, died, was rose again, exalted.

accepted by God and by us believing on Christ we come under that same promise and that's the only way we can ever be a seed of God and become a seed of God is by the new birth.

We don't come down to earth as seeds of God prematurely, we only become seed is by the new birth and not because we were coming down as a God particle. Every believer that believes in Christ is part of Abraham's offspring or seed but there are only seed because they're in Jesus Christ and because he was the only seed of God and because of his righteous life it gets imputed to us in the same manner.

So we're not under works, we're under grace but our life allows us to live unto God and overcome this world. So Galatians 4, he said, now this I say the air as long as he's a child it differs nothing from a servant, no we be Lord of all.

Now that's exactly what William Brannum relates to and he says go back and look at Galatians. He says but he's under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father. So he took this very scripture and said, okay well that's Christians who are under this tutor and governor until a certain time appointed by the Father.

But that's not what Paul was saying at all here. He said even so we, when we were children, we were in bondage under the elements of the world but when the fullness of time has come God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons where we're no more a servant now but a son and if a son you're an heir of God through Christ.

So Paul is just using an illustration here about a child's coming of age ceremony and when Israel believers come to faith not something we experience after coming to faith in Christ. You know we already get it when we receive faith in Christ and that's the whole thing Paul is alluding to, not some future ceremony that we have to go through after we've done all these works and become pleasing to the Father.

You know after I left this and I began reading the Bible over and over and over again, trying to wash all of this nonsense out of my head. That was the big thing that hit me was just trying to understand what is grace because we clearly weren't taught that in the Brannum religion.

The one of my favorite passages was it's by grace you're saved through faith in Jesus Christ, not of works less than you man should boast, yet we had this works righteous religion that you had to do all of these things and you had to earn favor of the Father and that's not grace.

That is works. That's something that is completely different and separate. And as I began to understand that number one, it is a cared on the stick religion. There's, you know, you're holding the stick, you're never going to achieve this perfection that they climb.

Well, they're also dangling the idea that there is no grace. God doesn't save you by grace. He saves you. If you submit to the leadership and you believe the things that they're saying that you must do to become the next tier of Christian.

Being Christian isn't enough, faith in Jesus Christ isn't enough. And in doing that, you're basically creating a different gospel. That's not what Paul... preached, even though Brandham claimed I preached the same gospel that Paul preached.

It is clearly different than Paul preachers because there is this hierarchy of Christian, which isn't something that comes from the Bible, that comes from many, many insidious places, usually from people who are wanting to get a lot of money.

So as I began to read the Bible and understand the difference between grace and what we're being taught, I started to understand that it was a different gospel and in that different gospel, there was quite a bit of confusion.

So I quickly, John, just point out some key theological contradictions here in addition to what we've been talking about. We've already said, Paul said, you have received the Spirit of Adoption already in Romans 8.15.

So it's a present possession, whereas Brandham said, oh, you've not received the adoption yet. You're waiting for the placing, some future experience. So Paul and Brandham are not on the same page here. Paul never teaches a public ceremony, a robe, or a signet ring, or a delayed authority.

He says, the lowest believer is already a full adult son with Christ positionally. Now of course, we grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ over time. But as far as in God's eyes, we're fully already positionally seated with Christ in heavenly places.

But when Brandham's placing of a son of adoption theology is not in accord with the Bible, directly contradicts the playing teaching of Paul and the rest of the New Testament on these points here, I'm about to mention.

So here's some clear biblical refutations even some more with exact verses so you can go check them out. We've already said, Paul said, you've already received the adoption. Brandham said you had not received the adoption.

The New Testament never describes a public robe ceremony or the name on the check. There's zero mention of any such ceremony. Jesus's baptism was his own anointing as Messiah, not a pattern for some future church ceremony.

Of course, I said, Paul said every single believer is already positionally placed in authority with Christ. Ephesians 2.6 is a reference there. He's raised us up together, made us sit together in heavenly places.

You're already seated now. It's already the aeorous tense, again, it's already something that was done in the past already. Ephesians 1.3 has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ.

Colossians 3.1, you are risen with Christ. Your life is hid with Christ in God. It's a finished work. There's nothing else left to do. God has done it. And Brandham says, you're not placed in authority and only the end time bride will be.

And that's all a direct contradiction to Scripture. Rollins 8.19, which is talking about manifestations of the sons of God. That's not about an adoption ceremony either. The context here says, the whole creation waits for the resurrection of the redemption of our body.

That's what is waiting on so they could be... delivered from the corruption as well, but that's the final thing about our new birth is the resurrection of the body. It's not a new level of authority to the believer. Paul says we already have the first fruits of the Spirit. We're waiting for the adoption to hit the redemption of our body. That's the glorification at the rapture. That's not a public ceremony or a placing ceremony. That's just the final culmination of what God has already done in you, but in his time, he'll bring it to pass, not in our time, because once he brings that to pass,

it's all over. There's nothing further left here for this world. Of course, Brownem takes Romans 8 and 19 to mean a future placing of sons with miracle power, and that's a hundred percent wrong context. Jesus and the apostles gave mountain-moving faith to every believer immediately, not after some ceremony. In March 11, 23, Jesus said this to his twelve disciples, not to some end-time elite. He said, you know, if you say to this mountain, be moved and cast into the sea, it'll obey you. Or if you say to this tree, be moved, and it'll obey you. John 14, 12 said, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also. It's

just believing on him, any believer. Matthew 17, 20 said, if you have faith, there's a grain of mustard seed, which is a very small faith. You can move mountains right at this moment. And the 120 in the upper room, and all the brand-new believers that came to their turn to world upside down immediately after Pentecost, they didn't prove themselves for years, waiting for a future adoption so they could go turn to world upside down and heal the sick and cast out devils. They did it immediately. But Brownem's teaching also creates an elite caste system, you know, within the Christian church, which is also dangerous, because it sets out one man

against another. Galatians 3.28 says, we're all one in Christ Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 12 13, my one spirit, we're all baptized into the same body. We're all drinking of the same spirit. But in Brownem's theology, it's only a tiny, in-time group that reaches the full potential or the place's sonship. And the rest of the church, stay in a spiritual childhood, so to speak.

So, spiritual elitism is what it is. It's exactly what Paul was fighting against in 1 Corinthians when people would say, well, I'm of Paul, or I'm of Apollo's, I'm of Cephas. He said, well, who was any of those people? But they were just ministers by whom you believed and received your sonship. So, the honest conclusion from Scripture alone is we looked at all these verses.

Brownem's adoption, placing of the son theology, is just unbiblical novelty. It added extra stages to salvation. In which Brownem already had a three-stage salvation approach, he's just adding more and more stages to it. I guess he wants you never to arrive, but always- All him is the prophet of God, and maybe you'll reach it one day.

And that's how cult leaders generally string you along. You never really get there, but they always promise you something more, and promise you something more. We've heard it in the NAR, and in the Word of Faith, move it for years.

God's sending a revival someday. You're going to be God's army, and people are just feeding on that, and they're constantly hoping for that one day, but that's how they're stronger long as they're given some kind of outlandish promise, you know, that's not scriptural.

He invented ceremonies that were never mentioned in the Bible. Another thing is he post-pollens the promises of God for the believer. What Paul said was already ours to begin with. He's post-polling that, till sometime you'll worthy enough to receive it.

It also creates a two-chiric Christianity amongst believers that scripture condemns, that elitism that we've been talking about. So in Paul's gospel, you know, the moment you're born again, you're fully adopted, fully seated with Christ, you're fully in air, and fully authorized with all the promises of God.

And Brannum's gospel, all you're saved, but you're still a child waiting for that ceremony, and that's totally another gospel. So I would say the final verdict, you know, Brannum's adoption theology is not in accord with the Bible, and it's a serious, serious distortion of Paul's doctrine of grace and the sonship.

You know, that's just it. It is not the same gospel. I don't care how many times Brannum would say, I preach the same gospel Paul did, Paul never created a structure where there were different tiers of Christians, and Brannum did, and many others who were working with him did the same thing because there's a lot of money in this.

Sadly, there's a lot of money, and these people are doing the same kind of things. And then other insidious people built on top of this to create their entire platforms and their religious theology frameworks.

The problem is, it is a different gospel that they're building upon, and so for me, it left me with a question, well, what was this? This wasn't Christianity, what was it? And trying to reconcile what I had been trained for 37 years of my life to believe with what the Bible is saying, there was no reconciliation that cannot be the same.

So what does that leave us? Almost sum up all these things, these last eight episodes with what we've learned, and what is the ultimate conclusion of all this? First of all, we're not eternal righteous seeds in God's mind, prior to being born on this earth, and prior to the new birth.

It was only in the new birth that made us become righteous before God, or a righteous seed of God, and even that righteousness is not our own. It was imputed to us by Christ, because it was His righteousness alone that made us righteous.

Prior to our new birth, we were children of wrath, just like any other person. Every human being, point number three, is every human being, stands before God on the same basis. We're all guilty.

We're all dead. We all needed regeneration by the Holy Spirit in the same manner. We were all hopeless, helpless, and heart sick. Everyone is bankrupt before God prior to God showing mercy on us.

Point number four. Every human being is stone cold dead in the bottom of the sea, without the ability to raise themselves up. Out of that sea, we're out of the mire. We cannot even reach up to God on our own strength, because we had none.

God had to reach down, grab us, and drag us to Himself, where we would still be lost. Number five. We had not come into being yet prior to coming to earth, but God still was able to know we were coming.

Romans 3.10 says there's none righteous, no not one. No one does good, not even one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. It was God seeking us. Exactly. And that is what really hit me, especially as I began to study ancient religions and the occult and different things that, you know, I'm trying to figure out what was this thing that I was in.

It clearly was not Christianity, was it spiritualism, was it ancient spirits of evil, what is it? And I came to realize that we were in a religion that was teaching you basically to summon God.

Not that God's looking for you, not that God is so love the whole world that He sent His only begotten Son to save them. It's that specific people in the earth, who are believing in their Apostle of Prophet for their day, are trying to summon God.

And when you frame it like that, it is not Christianity. In fact, it's incompatible with Christianity. Okay, friends, let's take a deep breath because we just made it to the finish line. And so here's some other additional things we've learned that you should, you were never a little spark of God just floating around in God's mind before you were born.

You were lost like everyone else until Jesus found you. The moment you said yes to Jesus, God signed the paper, stabbed them, adopted, and then through the biggest party heaven has ever seen, no probation period.

Remember Jesus said the angels in heaven rejoice over one center, you know, that repents. There's no secret ceremony coming for you when God says, okay, now you're good enough. I will check you out by the Holy Spirit and you're good enough because only you're good enough because Jesus was good enough.

That's the only reason. You don't have to wait for a robe, you already have it. You have the robes of His righteousness. You don't have to wait for His ring or a checkbook with God's name on it.

It already is yours to begin with. You're already a foreground son or daughter of God. You can act like that now. You're already seated at the father's table with Jesus Himself. You know, in the best news, this invitation is now for super Christians or in time specials.

It's for every single person who loves Jesus Christ. It's for truck drivers, stay at home moms, kids, and Sunday school, grandmas with oxygen tanks, this for everybody. So if anybody ever tells you you're saved, but you're still a baby until the big adoption day, smile real sweet and safe.

Sorry, friend, my Bible already says I'm already home. Papers are signed, parties started, see to save right next to Jesus at God's table. So, John, I wanna thank everyone for writing this journey with us, you know, you're not sick at class, you're not on probation, you're a family, if you're Christians.

And family gets to eat at the table together today, not someday. So for all of you Christians out there, don't listen to William Brown's lies or message lies or not lies from the NAR, the latter reign, has told you over the years and promised to use something that you're looking forward to, that you never get, that you're waiting for your performance to be good enough for the Father, just to be acceptable enough to be one of those elite adopted children of God.

You know, listen to what Jesus said and hold on to that alone. He said, in John 1613, how be it, when he the spirit of truth has come, he will guide you in all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, he shall speak, and will show you things to come.

He'll glorify me for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you. All the Father has or mine, and therefore I said he shall take of mine and show it unto you. At that day you'll ask at my name, and I'll say not to you that I'll, but I'll pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you, because you've loved me and I believe that I came out from God.

I came forth from the Father and come into the world again. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father. He said, these things I've spoken unto you that you might have peace, and in this world you'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I've overcome the world.

Jesus has overcome all these false doctrines too, so you don't have to worry about being an appointed child or some performance. It's all by grace. So John, I think this is where I'll end the journey on adoption.

It's been an exciting ride, and it's a whole lot to digest. It's been taking me a long time to digest this, where I could even talk about it. Maybe we'll find another time, or another topic to talk about something else in the future that would have an impact on everyone.

I don't think any other topic would have an impact. I know these last eight episodes did, because it gets to the very core of this belief system. It exposes it for what it is, which is a huge departure from scripture and a false gospel.

Absolutely. Thank you so much for doing this. I know it took us a lot to build up to this. I've watched the views kind of progress as we go through the series, and you can tell clearly that people didn't really understand what it is that we were bringing out in the first parts of this series.

But if you're here now, and you've listened to it, and now you're beginning to understand and make those connections between the mess that we see today and what Brandon was building, you can always go back in the series.

It's there's a playlist that's called Weaponized Religion. You can go all the way back to the beginning and talk about where we're laying the historical foundations for this, but the past eight episodes, I think it is, this series you can go through, and you can see how the theological aspects of this is building up to create the...

form that many of these new Apostolic Reformation leaders are using today. So if you've enjoyed the show and you want more information, you can check us out on the web. You can find us at William-Branum.org.

For more about Roy Davis and William Branum, you can read The Persuasive Preacher, The Gifted Profit, and the Noble Politician. And for more about the dark side of the new Apostolic Reformation, you can read Weaponize Religion from Christian Identity to the NAR.

Available on Amazon, Kindle, and Audible. Available on Amazon, Kindle, and Audible, Kindle, and Audible.

Available on Amazon, Kindle, and Audible. Available on Amazon, Kindle, and Audible.