What Should We Think of the Prosperity Gospel?

Question 1: Can it ever be God’s will for a Christian to be sick or to suffer?

Question 2: Is the purpose of the cross to make us physically rich and prosperous?

Stephen: What is the prosperity gospel?

Pastor Eric: The teaching that Christ died either primarily or in part to make us healthy, wealthy, and prosperous.  The teaching that it could never be God’s will for a Christian to be poor, sick, or suffer.

Stephen: Is it true?

Pastor Eric: No, it is not true, and here is an example:

Hebrews 11:33-39Through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.  Women received their dead raised to life again:

and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith…

Stephen: Why do some people teach the prosperity gospel?

Pastor Joel: Rather than teaching the whole counsel of God on the issue, they take portions of scripture and lift them form their context to defend and present this idea.

Example: Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.

Or:

Deuteronomy 28:1 The LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.  The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.  The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.  And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

• Many pastors ignore the context of these verses.  They were given to Israel in a covenant with God.  In the NT, we see a basic principle that God blesses His children, but we do not have the same kinds of absolute statements that we see here about Israel.
• Many pastor fail to see the other side of these passages.  Notice the next section in Deuteronomy. 

If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.  Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.  Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.  Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.  The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.  The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.  The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.  And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.  The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.  The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.  The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:  And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee. Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.  Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

• God had entered into a covenant with Israel, and He gave them the promised land.  These verse are meant to inform Israel that if they obey their king, God will bless them, but if not, He will swiftly judge them.  This is exactly why we read the terrible thing in the OT concerning Israel.  They broke the covenant, and God kept His word.  We see God’s faithfulness to His covenant in these verses and in Israel’s history, but we are now in a new dispensation/era, and a part of a new covenant.

Stephen: Is it really dangerous to preach this message?

Victor: Yes.  Any time you preach something that is not true, whether it is a calculated decision or simply an honest mistake, their will be consequences for you and for those who are under your teaching ministry.

Stephen: What are your greatest concerns with this message?

Victor: It distracts from people’s true need.

• A preoccupation with things distracts us from the true needs of our soul. Notice:

Proverbs 30:8 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

Matthew 6:30-32 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (The things meantioned in the context are not riches, but rather the basic needs of life, food and clothing)

Revelation 3:17-18Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich;

• They thought they were rich because of what they had, but in God’s eyes, they had neglected their greatest need, the needs of their soul.

Stephen: What are some of your conncerns with the prosperity gospel?

Pastor Joel:

• It takes the issue away from justification and holy living, and puts the emphasis on ease and comfort.

1 Timothy 6:6-11 Godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  Flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

• It encourages people to be worldly.

1 John 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

• It twists people’s view of God’s sovereignty.
• It puts God under man’s authority, not man under God’s authority.
• It fails to see the redeeming value of suffering in the Christian life.

2 Corinthians 4:17 Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

Romans 8:18 The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Romans 8:22-29 We know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.   And even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the redemption of our body.  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son,

1 Peter 3:17-18It is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

• It makes the people at the top rich and those on the bottom servants to those on the top.

1 Timothy 6:5 False teachers are men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.

9 Reasons I Reject the Common Prosperity Gospel

•  God tells us not to love this world or the things in the world.
• Some of the godliest saints in the history of the church have suffered intense persecution and deep poverty for the cause of Christ.
• The rich are often viewed as the most difficult to reach with the gospel.
• Riches tend to control us.
• Riches often become idols to us.
• Riches often turn our hearts away from God.
• Ease has a tendency to destroy a godly sense of dependency upon God.
• Christ tells us that the world will hate us and persecute us.
• Suffering is a necessary part of our Christian growth.

Enjoy the good gifts of God with humility loving Him not because of your portion in this life, but because He is your portion both now and forever. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

John MacArthur Answers His Critics

Excellent interview on the Prosperity Gospel Movement that is essentially the face of the Charismatic movement here in Ghana. Check out this interview as well as the sermons on Grace to You. It is important to be informed and discerning about these kinds of issues. This is no small mater.

Evaluating the Prosperity Movement

You’ve heard of the Prosperity Gospel, haven’t you? Essentially, it is the “good news” that Jesus came to deliver people like you and me from poverty, problems, financial ruin… to “save” us to a life of success, blessing, and prosperity. This is the “gospel” preached by people like Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, and many (but certainly not all) preachers in more extreme versions of the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements.

Theopedia remarks: “Prosperity gospel supporters ‘believe that faith works as a mighty power or force. That it is through their faith that they can obtain anything they want such as health, wealth, or any form of personal success. However, this force is only released through their faith.’[1] Adherents of the Prosperity Gospel, almost always also part of the word of faith movement, usually hold to the tenet that God never grants suffering or poverty, and that both always should be attributed to sin and Satan in every way, and in no way attributed to God. For example, Kenneth Copeland writes,

‘Tradition has taught that God uses sicknesses, trials, and tribulation to teach us. This idea, however, is not based on the Bible. God has never used sickness to discipline His children and keep them in line. Sickness is of Satan, and God doesn’t need Satan to straight us out! “Kenneth, I see Christians that are sick all the time. Why does God allow it?” God allows it because we do. Why? Because He’s given us the right to make our own choices, along with authority over the kingdom of darkness. According to Deuteronomy 30:19, He has put life and death before us. Then He instructed us to choose life. It’s up to us to make that decision. You have the power to live after God’s ways and resist sickness, or not to. You have the choice to let Satan run over you, or use the authority you have been given. Good gifts come from God. No matter what tradition has taught, sickness and disease simply don’t fall into the category of good gifts—ever.’[2]”

Sadly, this is the version of Christianity that many third world countries have bought into hook-line-and-sinker. Missionary Seth Meyers of South Africa, on his blog, points out the following errors of this interpretation of the gospel message:

1. The prosperity gospel is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. The prosperity gospel urges sinners to commit idolatry.
3. The prosperity gospel denies God’s sovereign purposes for pain as revealed in Scripture.
4. The prosperity gospel ignores Biblical teaching on wealth.
5. The prosperity gospel discourages logical thought about the Bible, a work ethic, sickness, economics, and politics.
6. The prosperity gospel requires other heresies to support it such as deification and positive confession.
7. The prosperity gospel inoculates people from hearing the truth because they think they already know Gospel.
8. The prosperity gospel has never been accepted in the Christian church until the 1980’s.
9. The prosperity gospel contradicts the lives of the many godly but poor believers in the Bible and history.

Theopedia also offers the following points in evaluation of this movement:

God himself is the chief blessing

While it is true that God often shows his goodness by granting health and wealth, we must see these as secondary blessings. The primary blessing is knowing God himself (Psalm 27:4; John 17:3), and all secondary blessing is meant to point to him. We will enjoy health and material blessing to a degree unfathomable at the resurrection, but while on this fallen earth, preparing in a spiritual battle for either heaven or hell, we must remember the words of Proverbs:

“Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.” (Proverbs 30:7-9)

Jesus warned of the danger of wealth

Jesus frequently warned against the allure of wealth. In Matthew 19, after Jesus told the rich young man, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (v. 21), he said:

“Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:23-24) And in Matthew 6:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21) And in Luke 6:

“But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger. Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.” (Luke 6:24-25)

Suffering is a blessed means of producing endurance and testing genuineness

When we define (either implicitly or explicitly) blessedness chiefly as having material things and good health, and obligate God to bless us with these things, we ignore scripture which speaks of the sufferings of the followers of Christ as a badge of honor, and a means of producing endurance and testing genuineness. Paul wrote,

“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29, emphasis added). “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5, emphasis added) Peter wrote,

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7, emphasis added) And we have David saying,

“It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” (Psalm 119:71) And lastly, James writes a sober warning to those who have “lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence”:

“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.” (James 5:1-5)

God’s goodness is not bound by our exacting demands

The theology of the Prosperity Gospel also distrusts God’s higher prerogative and wisdom and sovereignty–God has the final, supreme right to answer our prayers how and when he pleases. His wise goodness is not bound by our exacting demands.

Pastor Micah Colbert at gospelcenteronline.org