As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. 2 Corinthians 7:9-10

Recently, I was listening to a famous faith healer discuss his ministry on a podcast and the issues surrounding it. This self-requested interview came on the heels of a released 4-hour long video concerning this very individual and the apparent abuses committed by him through the years. In answering the question if he had any regrets during his ministry, he answered in the affirmative, stating that he had made errors in preaching about prosperity, and that he had inaccurate prophecies.

While listening to his response, I observed some of the ways he stated the issues concerning his failed prophecies. He stated the following, “I’m a human being. I made mistakes. I thought God was showing me things that He was not showing me, and I spoke it out. There were some prophecies I gave that were not accurate or from the Lord. But who’s perfect? I ask people to forgive me; I’m just human. I will probably make mistakes like that again down the road because I’m not perfect. It is a shame that people want to focus on what I got wrong rather than what I got right.” Though there are some who will come to this individual’s defense and positively affirm his repentance, one has to ask if this is true repentance.

There can be an immediate response to say that because someone has acknowledged their mistakes with an issued apology that true repentance has taken place. However, we can see from simply reading 2 Corinthians 7: 8-12 that the Apostle Paul delineates between true repentance and false repentance. There is a Godly sorrow and repentance that acknowledges sin against God, and that Godly repentance brings transformation. It is not human perfection, but God’s work in us for our sanctification will produce good fruit testifying of true repentance. Worldly sorrow may acknowledge an issue after light is exposed on the darkness, but it is a false repentance based in the sorrow of getting caught. Ultimately, it comes down to spiritual fruit. John the Baptist told the Pharisees and Sadducees in Matthew 3:8 to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. This is a sobering and gracious reminder of what true repentance looks like.

We can also see in the verse 11 the fruit produced by the Corinthian church in their Godly sorrow and repentance: earnestness, indignation, fear, longing, zeal, and punishment or justice. This author makes this observation concerning the Corinthian church, “Paul knew the Corinthians were truly repentant because they were angry over their sin, they were longing to restore their broken relationships, they were zealous to make things right, and they trusted in God’s justice for their sin.” A person displaying true repentance for their sin is angry over the sin and not the act of its exposure. A truly repentant person longs to restore broken fellowship first with God and then with others. A truly repentant person longs for reconciliation due to the damage their sin may cause to others. There is a zeal and a passion to make things right according to God’s ways. A truly repentant person will not despise God’s correction and even discipline for their sin.

So, I go back to the discussion between this faith healer and the interviewer, asking the most important question, was this true repentance? In the matter of false prophecy, it is a serious matter to speak on behalf of God and to take His name in vain. There is a difference between a mistake due to our humanity and fallibility and a sin committed against God Himself, claiming He said something which He never said or revealed. When God spoke through the Prophets noted in Scripture, it was infallibly through fallible people. God is incapable of speaking errantly or fallibly, and it is grieving when so many view prophecy in such a flippant way. What is equally more concerning is to hear someone say that because of their imperfection, they will likely give a false prophecy again. That is not true repentance. There is no fruit on that branch worth inspecting.

Furthermore, a popular tactic in the modern prophetic movement is to share alleged accurate prophecies publicly and to diminish when one is found to be false. The immediate response at times is to detract from that false prophecy and to say, “Why are you focusing on what I got wrong? Look at all the ones I got right!” To this point, Scripture provides an answer for us. Deuteronomy 13:1-5 states, “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

I believe that one false prophecy is one too many for a professing prophet of God, and accuracy is not the only mark of a true prophet. False prophets are like a busted watch, and the fact that anyone would detract from the sin of blaspheming God’s name while claiming to prophesy in the name of the Lord and not have contrition for that sin is alarming. It is Biblical to test the fruit of professing believers to see if their fruit is abiding in the Vine. True repentance does not return to business as usual. True repentance sees the gravity of sin before a holy God, and true transformation takes place, both inwardly and outwardly. I pray that more people continue to inspect the fruit of such individuals and to note even the bare branches where fruit is said to be.

Listen to this in-depth episode concerning Benny Hinn and his apology concerning past failed prophecies: The Lovesick Scribe Podcast: The Charisma of Benny Hinn and Fallible Prophecy on Apple Podcasts