Is this teaching biblical?
Kenneth Hagin's claim that believers are 'as much the incarnation of God as Jesus Christ was' is not merely wrong — it is blasphemy. The Incarnation was a unique, unrepeatable event in which the eternal Second Person of the Trinity took on human flesh. Jesus is the ONLY incarnation of God. To claim that every born-again believer is equally an incarnation denies Christ's unique nature, makes His incarnation unnecessary, and elevates sinful humans to divine status. This is the original lie of the serpent: 'you will be like God' (Gen 3:5).
What did Kenneth Hagin say?
"You are as much the incarnation of God as Jesus Christ was."
Speaker: Kenneth Hagin
Source: Word of Faith magazine, December 1980
What does Scripture actually teach?
Colossians 2:9
"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."
— NKJV
In CHRIST ALONE dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. This is unique to Jesus. No believer has 'all the fullness of the Godhead' dwelling in them. We have the Holy Spirit, but we are not incarnations of God. Hagin's teaching destroys the uniqueness of Christ's incarnation.
John 1:14
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
— NKJV
THE Word became flesh — not words, not multiple incarnations. Jesus is the ONLY BEGOTTEN — the unique, one-of-a-kind Son. 'Only begotten' (monogenes) means one and only. Hagin claims every believer is equally an incarnation, but Scripture says Jesus is the only one.
John 1:1
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
— NKJV
The Word (Jesus) WAS God from the beginning — eternally divine, not merely indwelt by God. Believers are indwelt by the Spirit, but we are not God and never were. The Incarnation is the eternal God becoming man, not God entering a man. Hagin confuses indwelling with incarnation.
Hebrews 1:3
"Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power."
— NKJV
Jesus is THE brightness of God's glory and THE express image of His person — not 'an' image among many. He upholds ALL THINGS by His power. No believer upholds all things. No believer is the express image of God's person. Hagin's claim makes every Christian equal to Christ — which is blasphemy.