In a nutshell the sonship message is the teaching that there is great power beyond the Pentecostal or Charismatic experience and certain believers in the body of Christ will apprehend this greater power and will enter a higher realm of personal holiness and ministry power to bring great deliverance in the end-times.

The message has been taught since the 1950s by Bible teachers such as George Warnock, George Hawtin, Bill Britton and many others that have largely ministered in obscurity throughout their careers.

The sonship movement has been and still is a small movement that has sadly been prone to straying into doctrinal error. The movement began in the outflow of the Latter Rain Revival of 1948.

The message is still taught in the body of Christ today by such men of God as Buddy Cobb, Ron Cargil and Steve Everett. I also have personally taught the sonship message for many years. My book on the subject, The Cross, Self-Denial and the Manifestation of the Sons of God is available for free download from my website.

In my own teaching on the subject I have emphasized the role of sanctification in preparing the sons of God to come to full maturity to be ready to be released into the full measure of sonship power to bring deliverance to all creation.

It has saddened me that the sonship message hasn't prospered over the years and remains a largely unknown fringe movement to this day. I have recently seen some encouraging signs though. The message and messengers have matured.

For years many in the sonship movement (not necessarily those named above) were prone to elitism and strange doctrinal flourishes.

In addition, many, if not most, saw no real place of significance for the restored nation of Israel. I think the tendency to hyper-allegorize scripture fed the tendency to minimize the place of physical, literal Israel. The lack of support for Israel is especially disappointing.

To fully understand the eschatological significance of this doctrine we must understand the connection of the doctrine of manifested sonship with the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead.

In Romans eight, Paul taught about the manifestation of the sons of God in a passage dealing with the resurrection of the dead. This chapter contains the clearest verse in the Bible on the manifestation of the sons of God, Romans 8:19, "For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God" (NAS). Romans 8:11 & 23 teach specifically about the resurrection of the physical body.

Rick Joyner, Director of MorningStar Ministries of Charlotte North Carolina has often said that the resurrection is the most neglected doctrine in the Bible. My studies of church history has caused me to tend to agree with Rick on this.

As Christians we long for heaven but we must remember that in heaven we are disembodied spirits and our bodies remain on earth in graves awaiting the resurrection. Hebrews 12:23 describes heaven as a place wherein we find "the spirits of just men made perfect." In Revelation 21:2 &10 we read that the holy city, the new Jerusalem, will descend from God out of heaven. Heaven is coming to earth!

Planet earth is the place of our habitation for the ages to come. We will not be here as disembodied spirits but our bodies will have been raised from the dead and joined to our spirits in a glorified state.

When Jesus spoke about salvation in John chapter six He connected it to the resurrection of the physical bodies of the believers. Jesus said "Every one who beholds the Son, and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:40 NAS). The phrase "Raise him up on the last day" or "Raise it up on the last day" occurs no less than four times in this brief passage in John six.

The phrases about the resurrection occur in verses 39, 40, 44 and 54 of John six. Jesus didn't say "I'll see you in heaven someday as a disembodied spirit." Jesus's view of salvation was of the whole person: spirit, soul and body.

The manifestation of the sons of God can be viewed as a resurrection of certain believers that occurs before the general resurrection of the dead. This is not without precedent in the scriptures.

In Matthew 27:52-53 we read "and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many" (NAS).

This passage is unique to the gospel of Matthew and the incident is not discussed anywhere else in the New Testament. We are not told if the risen saints were recognized or if they spoke or if they worked miracles or if they ascended with Christ. All that is mystery. It is also interesting that this is recorded in Matthew which is regarded as the gospel especially directed to the Jewish people.

I regard the passage in Matthew 27:52-53 describing the raising of a small number of dead saints as a type or a picture of the out-resurrection which is the manifestation of the sons of God. Paul writes about the out-resurrection in Philippians 3:11 "in order that I may attain to the [out-]resurrection from the dead." (NAS)

The word for resurrection in this passage is Strong's #1815 "exanastasis." This is the only place that this word appears in the New Testament. The usual word for resurrection is Strong's # 386 "anastasis." The "ex" in front of "anastasis" means "out" hence the "out-resurrection" which is the resurrection that Paul was pressing on to attain.

We can infer from this passage that Paul was pressing on to attain the personal sanctification necessary to qualify for the out-resurrection from the dead which is the manifestation of the sons of God. Each and every one of us should likewise press on in Christ to attain this supreme level of sanctification! When the manifestation of the sons of God occurs will we see Paul among them? We'll have to wait and see.

In recent months a number of prophetic words have come forth through such seasoned ministers as Bobby Connor and Heidi Baker that indicate that now is the time for the manifestation of the sons of God. Neither of these ministers are involved in the sonship movement to my knowledge. The prophetic words don't necessarily mean that the manifestation will occur any minute but rather this is the general time for the event.

To bring this thumbnail sketch of a great truth to a close let me just say that we look forward to a resurrection before the general resurrection. It will be an "out-resurrection" of saints from past and present who will rise and do great exploits for the advancement of the kingdom of God. I don't presume to know exactly when or how it will occur but I'm sure it will be a glorious time!  

The Bible is scientifically accurate! Find the evidence at www.icr.org.  

Steps to salvation: Jesus said "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)

1. Believe that God created you and loves you and sent the Messiah (Messiah is Hebrew for Christ) to redeem you.
2. Believe that Jesus the Messiah came in fulfillment of over 300 Bible prophecies to die for you to take upon Himself the penalty for your sins. (Isaiah 53:5-6, John 6:29, Romans 4:5, First Peter 3:18)
3. Turn from sin and call on the name of Jesus to receive forgiveness. (Romans 10:13)
4. Receive Jesus as Savior and experience the new birth. (John 1:12, Acts 2:38)
5. Follow Him as Lord. (John 14:21)

"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13)

To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:

"Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen."

If you prayed that prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!

Bill Nugent, Overcomer Ministries of West Harrison, New York, USA

(C) 2010 William P. Nugent, permission granted to email or republish if credit given

DEFENDING THE FAITH APOLOGETIC ARTICLES Bill Nugent currently writes a series of articles called "Defending the Faith" which, as the title suggests, defend the Christian faith from the many attacks leveled against it in our postmodern world. The articles deal with such topics as evolution, UFOs, cults, modern/postmodern philosophy, liberal theology and popular culture. At the end of each article is an invitation to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. These articles are sent out over the Internet to several opt-in email lists. People who receive these articles are encouraged to resend them to their own lists and in this way reach their own unsaved relatives and friends with the Gospel. All Defending the Faith articles are © 2009 William P. Nugent, permission is granted to email or republish if credit given. To receive these articles which are sent out once per month fill in your email address below and click the SUBMIT button. *Security: Write the characters in the image above (Case sensitive)