The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has criticised the General Overseer of Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry, Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin, over his claim that giving a “first fruit” offering can wipe away sins, including those committed by fraudsters.
The CAN labelled the cleric’s claim as “heresy”, warning Nigerians against being misled by preachers with “dubious theological backgrounds”.
Fufeyin made the claim during a sermon at his church, claiming that the first fruit brings miraculous blessings and forgiveness.
The Christian practice of offering the first and best portion of a person’s harvest, income, or earnings to God as an act of gratitude and faith is rooted in the Old Testament.
Fufeyin, also known as Papa J by his disciples, has been the focus of numerous controversies, particularly on social media, where many of his beliefs and activities have been widely criticised.
The Warri-based pastor has been chastised for marketing and selling miraculous items such as special soaps, oils, and perfumes, which he claims can cure a variety of personal, spiritual, and bodily problems.
His detractors accuse him of abusing susceptible followers by commercialising faith.
In 2024, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control initiated an investigation into several of his spiritual items, claiming that they might cure infertility and other medical ailments.
In a video that circulated on social media, the preacher argued that first fruit offerings have such spiritual weight that they can cover even the gravest of crimes.
Although the preacher made the assertion in a sermon delivered in January 2022, the video, which reappeared online, has sparked outrage among many Nigerians.
The clergyman, who was asking his members to bring their first fruits to the church, said, “Your first income, please let it pain you; try God with it. Not that there are no blessings in the year, but the first fruit that you carry once you give it unto the Lord, it breaks protocols, even your sins; it cancels them.”
According to him, just as Jesus Christ was presented as God’s first fruit for the redemption of humanity, believers who give their first earnings to God will receive pardon and wealth.
“When God sees that this man (pointing to a man in the congregation) is a fraudster, called 419, but because of the first fruit, God said when He was at the place when the angels were ascending and descending, He said, ‘I, the Lord, God of Israel, God of Abraham, am surely behind you because of the first fruit, that is the product of the first fruit,’” the cleric said to the cheering of his congregation.
In response to the cleric’s assertion, CAN’s National Director of National Issues and Social Welfare, Abimbola Ayuba, stated that God is not phoney and that He does not “share booty with crooks” or condone sin just because of church gifts.
He said, “Heresy and false teaching. CAN does not join issues with people of doubtful theological backgrounds. CAN recognises approved speakers and men of God in the five blocs, which constitute CAN. It recognises sound theological teachings and respects the various do tribes of its members.
“CAN does not associate with persons of dubious backgrounds who manipulate innocent Nigerians and fleece them of their hard-earned resources.
“God is not fraudulent. He has more treasures than any one man. He has everything under his control. He is not a thief that shares booty with crooks.”
Bishop Stephen Adegbite, CAN’s Lagos State Chairman, also reacted, dismissing the sermon as unbiblical.
He asked Fufeyin to provide scriptural support for his stance, noting that such teachings could encourage people to stay in sin in the expectation that their annual contribution would exonerate them.
“He (Fufeyin) is preaching out of context, and he does not know what he is talking about, but we should not be disturbed by such preachers because the Bible says at end-time, there will be false teachers that are not called by God, but they will say God has called them.
“He should let us know where God gave such instruction in the scripture that when you do that, then your sins are forgiven, so you can go on sinning with the hope that you have something to give at the beginning of the year,” Adegbite said.
