Thursday, May 31, 2012

Prosperity in The Atonement:The Blessing of Abraham?


 **Warning: This is another long post...**

 The last post on "The Curse of Poverty?" was a little harder to stay focused on because of its complexity. The reasoning behind deliverance from poverty almost automatically brings with it the notion that one is delivered for blessing or prosperity as well.  I look at this topic as having two sides like a coin. Redemption from the curse of poverty would be one side of the coin that is often preached by those who believed Jesus died to give it, and the other side of the same coin is the guaranteed unlimited material and financial blessings that one can have through the atonement because of the same redemption.In the last post I tried to narrow down my objections to just showing that the curse of poverty was a misinterpretation of the scriptures, but I wasn't really able to talk about the other side of the coin like I wanted to because of longevity of the post. This post will focus on that side of the coin. The teachings we often hear about financial and material blessing being ours through Christ don't usually come from fanatics who do not believe the scriptures, rather they come from well-intentioned, seemingly genuine preachers who have a plethora of verses from the Bible to back up what they're  saying. If a direct passage or verse doesn't back up the said position of the preacher, a concept from scripture is often used to proclaim the message that Jesus dies so that you and I can be financially and materially taken care of. One of those concepts is "The Blessing of Abraham",and that will be the focus in this post.

What is the Blessing of Abraham?
What is the blessing of Abraham? Where did it originate? Why is it used to prove that Jesus died to give those who trust in Him material wealth, health, and financial blessings? When we hear the term "The Blessing of Abraham" we often hear it used to explain that God will bless those who trust in Him on the basis of God's covenant with Abraham. The actual term comes from the book of Galatians 3:14 which says "so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles..." Abraham is viewed as the first or primary example of what it means to believe God and experience not only justification but material and financial prosperity because of faith and those who are Abraham's "seed" or children, by faith, can experience the same. Many believe that God established a "faith covenant" with Abraham that essentially said "Abraham, because you believe in my (God) promise to you , I am going to bless you, not only by declaring you righteous, but by blessing you with great wealth." According to many teachers today, the blessing of Abraham is the basis of salvation, prosperity, and success for the Christian. Because of God's covenant with Abraham, all who believe in Jesus have the right to be saved and successful because they are heirs of the  promise God made to Abraham.  The verses that are often referenced to prove this are the following scriptures:
Genesis 12:1-3
"Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

 Genesis 13:1-7
 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the LORD. And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.
 Genesis 15:4-6 
 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 17:1-8
    When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
 Galatians 3:7-9 
    Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Galatians 3:29
And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

From these scriptures, it is concluded that
1) God made a promise to Abraham to bless him and multiply him.
2) Abraham received the blessing by believing God
3) Abraham received a promised son and great wealth (livestock, silver, gold, land) because of the covenant he made with God
4) If we believe on Christ, we are Abraham's legal offspring and we receive the same wealth and blessing he received. Therefore being "very rich in livestock, silver, gold" applies to us as well.

Does scripture support this logic? It seems to on the surface ,especially since multiple scriptures are used to arrive at this conclusion; but how are these scriptures used? Are they taken out of their proper context? Does the proposed teaching that uses these scriptures flow with the rest of the Bible's teaching? These are important questions to ask if we want to gain the proper meaning from what the Bible is saying.

Genesis
What is ultimately not in question in this post is the fact that Abraham was rich. Yes, Abraham was very rich and he was rich prior to being called by God and even more so after being called by God. The fact that God blessed Abraham with great wealth is supported by Genesis 24:34-35 which records the words of Abraham's servant to Laban,  "So he said, “I am Abraham's servant. The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. Abraham had Pharaohs and kings dealing well with him (Gen 12:16; 20:14) , the King of Sodom wanting to make him rich (Gen. 14:21-23), and so many possessions that he and his nephew had to split land in order to have enough space for all they had (Gen 13:6). God was the source of Abraham's blessings and there is no denying that Abraham was wealthy. But is "blessing" in God's covenant with Abraham defined by material wealth? Is material and financial prosperity guaranteed to all who are Abraham's seed? To these questions I believe the answer is no. No, because nowhere in Genesis, where the Lord appears to Abraham and makes His covenant, are riches and material wealth promised to Abraham or his offspring on the basis of God's covenant with him. To Abraham, nations are promised (12:2; 17:4-6; 18:18; 22:18), offspring is promised (13:16; 15:4-6; 17:8, 15; 22:17-18), and land is promised (12:7; 13:14-17; 15:18; 17:8). I believe riches were providentially and graciously given to Abraham and even to his descendants by God, but to say that these riches are normative or guaranteed to all of Abraham's offspring is a stretch. All of Abraham's offspring are "blessed" according to the scriptures and for those who trust in Jesus the blessing of Abraham has come upon them.

"The Blessing "
The question to be answered now is "What is the blessing in "The Blessing of Abraham?" Is it money? Is it wealth? Is it healing? Is it prosperity of all kinds? Is it all of these? Is it more? It appears at first sight that Abraham's covenant with God brings wealth to its beneficiaries as we see in the life of Abraham's first three descendants. It is often said that "the blessing" promised to Abraham included financial wealth because Isaac, Jacob, and even Joseph were given great wealth or prosperity by God. Isaac was blessed by God and given great wealth (Gen 26:12). Jacob was extremely wealthy (Gen 30:43). Joseph was successful and prosperous while he was a slave in the house of Potiphar (Gen 39:4-6). It appears that the basis of this wealth in the patriarch's lives is because of Abraham's sake, and therefore it is concluded that all who are in Christ will be blessed in this same way being Abraham's offspring; but based on the lives of those who lived after Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph we can see how God's blessing upon Abraham's descendants was of pure grace and not obligation. In Genesis 15, Abraham, in making a covenant with the Lord, was promised that his descendants would be "sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years."(Gen 15:13-14). If this covenant made wealth obligatory on God's part or guaranteed that all who were Abraham's descendants would be financially and materially successful, then it means God failed on the behalf of four hundred years of people who were enslaved. In addition to those who were enslaved in Egypt, wealthy living is so scattered in the Old Testament, that it couldn't possibly be something that was obligated to the people of God. When God's covenant with Abraham is mentioned again in the Old Testament, it always speaks of the Lord being Israel's God, Abraham's offspring, and the land the Lord promised to give to Abraham's descendants (Ex. 6:8, 32:13, 33:1; Lev. 26;42; Num. 32:11; Deut 1:8, 6:10, 9:5, 34:4; Ps. 105:9-11). As for the Bible's position on being rich and poor, it can be summarized in Hannah's prayer to the Lord  in 1 Samuel 2:6-7. The sovereignty of God is exalted in God choosing to make one rich and another poor. Neither poverty nor wealth is something obligated or guaranteed to any man, it is always a gift sovereignly and freely given.

Why Was Abraham Rich?
So why was Abraham rich? Why did God choose to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob wealth and cattle, and silver and gold? Believers and unbelievers both experience wealth but why does God give wealth to some believers? Why does he choose to give any believer monetary or material wealth when He does? To say something about Himself. Ultimately wealth and possessions are a gift to show that He is good and that He is the greater wealth (Eccl. 5:19). The feeling of sufficiency and enjoyment that comes from wealth isn't meant to be an end, but a means to an end, namely, to point to the ultimate riches and sufficiency in Christ, and to spread that feeling to others who have not experienced it - not so that they can be materially wealthy, but experience the spiritual wealth and true blessing that comes from God. The pursuit of wealth and riches as an end is deadly (1 Timothy 6:9-10) and often "The Blessing of Abraham" is disguised and preached as a way to meet this end. God does care about the welfare of His people, and He is more than able to bless a man with the greatest of wealth which will have no sorrow with it (Proverbs 10:22), but the blessing of the Lord isn't limited to or defined by material things or money. When Hebrews 11:8-9 speaks of Abraham's promise and inheritance, it isn't speaking of his wealth and possessions. It speaks rather of "the city that has foundations whose designer and builder is God". For this reason Abraham lived as a stranger and as an exile on this earth having seen what was promised from afar and sought a heavenly country. (Heb 10:9-10, 13-16 paraphrase mine). This is the true blessing of Abraham, looking forward to and experiencing that eternal and heavenly country which was promised to Abraham and his offspring who would outnumber the stars and the sand of the sea and would be from every nation. Revelation 5:9-10 and 7:9-10 speak of the fulfillment of this blessing when it says:
 And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
    from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
    and they shall reign on the earth.” (Rev 5:9-10)

 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”  
(Rev 7:9-10)

Romans
The true blessing of Abraham is how you and I, those who aren't the blood related descendants of Abraham, can be part of this eternally joyful, innumerable, and ransomed multitude who will be in this heavenly country .The book of Romans and Galatians give Paul's teachings on how Jesus, the promised Seed of Abraham (Gal 3:16), justifies those who believe and trust in His substitutionary death on the cross. Romans 4:13 states " For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith."; and Romans 4:3 states "For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”. In Romans 4, Paul is speaking to a Jewish and Gentile audience in Rome and the Jews within the Roman church are questioning the nature of the Gentile's salvation because they did not observe the law or become circumcised in order to be saved. The Jews prided themselves in their law observance and their circumcision in order to be justified and declared righteous before God and Paul, in the first three chapters of Romans, destroys their confidence in these works by proclaiming that all men, both Jews and Gentiles are under sin and all have fallen short of glorifying God. Once Paul has flattened their pride in their works, he then proceeds in Romans 4 to show that law observance and circumcision never justified any one in the first place. Faith in God is what makes one justified before God's sight. Paul uses Abraham, the great forefather of the Jews (4:1) to prove his point. Its important to note that the Jews and Gentiles who were reading Paul's letter and came across Abraham weren't at all thinking about Abraham's wealth when they read this. Paul directed their minds towards Abraham's faith, and God's freely acquitting and forgiving Abraham's sins because of his faith. Therefore Abraham's blessing, namely, "the promise...that he would be heir of the world..." was not about riches or wealth, but rather about right-standing with God and an eternal dwelling with Him along with Abraham's many promised offspring.

Galatians
In the Galatian church, Paul was dealing with a similar situation as he was in Rome, only this time, he would address the Gentile's side of the issue rather than addressing the Jews. The Galatians were Gentile Christians who had begun to believe a false teaching that had crept into their gathering which stated that in order to be justified or declared righteous before God, one needed to observe the commandments of the law along with its rituals such as circumcision. Paul writes passionately to the Galatian believers pleading with them to remember the clear gospel presentation of the crucified Christ that was portrayed before their eyes (Gal 3:1). In his sharp rebuke to them in the beginning of chapter 3, Paul asks a series of rhetorical questions contrasting the "works of the law" and the "hearing by faith". Paul asks the Galatians these questions in order to show them that the Holy Spirit and the miracles that had been done among them were not because of their observance of the law and circumcision, but because of their faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ that came through the preaching of the gospel (v2-5). Before he proceeds into elaborating on their justification by faith, Paul parallels their "hearing with faith" with Abraham's example, proving that justification has always been by faith in God. The Galatians were declared righteous, receiving the Spirit of God, "just as Abraham 'believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.'" (v 6). Paul concludes in the next sentence that because Abraham was justified by faith, then all who believe in the person and work of Christ through the hearing with faith, are justified by faith and are sons of Abraham (v7). He continues by explaining that the Scriptures, knowing that "God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying "In you shall all the nations be blessed."( v 8). Here we see what it means for God to bless the nations through Abraham, as was seen in Genesis 12:3, namely, that God would justify ALL who believe in Jesus - both Jew and Gentile (Gal 3:28-29). Therefore, the blessing that all who have faith experience is the blessing of justification - undeservedly being declared righteous in the sight of a holy God. This is why Paul writes in verse 9, "So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith." Justification is not the end in the blessing of Abraham, it is only a means to an end. Abraham, you, me, and all who believe in the person and work of Jesus are declared righteous before God for something greater, for God. Because a sinful Abraham was declared righteous before God by faith, God could be his God, his shield, and his exceedingly great reward (Gen 15:1). Abraham could look forward to heavenly country whose builder and maker is God (Heb 10:10,16). This is always the case with us; our justification is not so that we might enjoy a guilt free, forgiven life that is healthy, wealthy, and successful. Our justification is so that we might enjoy something much greater, eternal life with an infinitely joyful, sovereign, good, and gracious God.This is the true blessing of Abraham that has come upon those who believe in Jesus! 

Before I proceed to the last passage, notice that Paul never mentions anything about Abraham's wealth, health, or success in this passage that deals explicitly with the blessing of Abraham. To be blessed, according to Paul is to be justified, forgiven, and loved by God. This is why in Romans 4:6-7, just after explaining Abraham's justification in verse 2 and 3, Paul quotes Psalm 32 where David talks about the "blessing of the one to whom God counts righteous apart from works."
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
    and whose sins are covered;blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Curse of the Law?
As Paul moves forward in Galatians 3:10, he talks about the curse that comes on those who seek to be justified by the law.  According to the scriptures, the curse comes to "everyone who does not abide by ALL things written in the Book of the Law, and do them."(v10 emphasis mine). Paul continues on by re-iterating the evidence from Abraham that proves that justification was never by the law because "The righteous shall live by faith." Seeking to obey the law in order to be justified and accepted before God is not faith but works and ultimately, because no one can keep the law's demands perfectly because of sin, all who try to be justified by the law will find themselves under a curse. Just to be clear, this "curse" that Paul speaks of is not the curse found in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 that brings horrible earthly afflictions upon the disobedient. It is often preached by those who misinterpret the blessing of Abraham that this curse that Paul speaks of is the same curse Adam received upon being kicked out of the garden, and the same curse that came to those who were disobedient to God's laws in the wilderness.They will often preach that you can experience the blessing of Abraham when obeying God's word and will experience the "curse" when you disobey. According to the context of Deuteronomy 28, this curse was for disobedient Israel based on the implications it had on their society. The most that can be taken away from the "curse" passage in Deuteronomy 28 is that it is a type and a symbol of what it means to be under the infinite and eternal wrath of God for our sin and disobedience apart from Jesus, which is far worse than anything listed in Deuteronomy. Our attempts to be justified by the law will only bring  this curse of God's just condemnation upon us. But there is a solution. Paul sates in Galatians 3:13 that "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us... - so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith." Jesus dies in our place for our sins, becoming a curse and bearing the curse for us that we deserved, not so that we might be rich in this life and not so that we might have the best and most successful lives possible on this earth; Jesus dies so that we can receive the blessing of being declared righteous in God's sight, not on the basis of anything we have done or haven't done, but on the basis of Jesus. This declaration is so that we might receive God's promised Holy Spirit, who will seal us until the day when Jesus comes to bring us to Himself so that we might enjoy and experience His love forever. 

Conclusion
In conclusion, the blessing of Abraham was never about riches and success in this life. It is about God  bringing nations of people to Himself to experience eternal life with Him. When we define the blessing of Abraham to mean that we can experience physical health and material blessings, we misinterpret and limit its extent and minimize what Jesus actually came to give us. Jesus dies to give His bride so much more than 70 or 80 years of health and financial security. That's nothing. He dies to give people all over the world (rich,poor, healthy, sick,) an eternal and rock solid hope that they will spend not 70 years but 70 billion ages of years experiencing unending joy and love before the throne of God. Its time this term "the blessing of Abraham" be used in its proper meaning. If we believe in Jesus and His work on the cross for us, then the blessing of Abraham has come upon us and we are heirs according to the promise God made Abraham. We are justified, forgiven, and we have access to the unlimited riches of the grace of God and therefore we can rejoice in this present life in any favorable or unfavorable circumstances, knowing that God will bring us to Himself and is working all things for His glory and our conformity to Jesus.
  
 














Monday, May 21, 2012

Prosperity in The Atonement -part 1: The Curse of Poverty?



 This will be the second part of two posts about what Jesus' death guarantees those who trust in Him. The first post was an attempt to answer the question "Did Jesus die to deliver you from physical sickness?". This post will attempt to answer the question "Did Jesus die to deliver you from poverty?" In order to stay focused on the topic at hand, this post will only answer the question “Did Jesus die to deliver you from the curse of poverty?” It would be very easy to veer off into talking about whether or not God is for or against prosperity and how much prosperity is too much prosperity and so forth. Personally, I believe God blesses people financially, physically, and spiritually when He chooses to for His glory. I am not writing this to say God wants everyone poor or everyone rich. In undertaking these questions, I’ve read many articles and essays that can seem to get slightly off balanced in addressing this issue, so I don’t really want to go there at this point because I think it would take up too much time and paragraphs. If what can be answered in this post are the questions of “Is poverty a curse?” and “Did Jesus die to deliver you from poverty?”, then I have been successful in meeting my goal. Hopefully, addressing the questions and concerns of the biblical view of prosperity will be addressed sometime soon in another post. So here goes.
In the beginning of the last post, I began by asking why things like physical health and socio-economic status were so important to our society and Christianity in our society and why don’t questions concerning the state of our souls have as much impact upon us as questions about our bodies and our welfare. I stated that because of our fallen nature and our over concern with sensuality, it is easy for people to grasp the implications of things that are physical and present rather than things that are spiritual, unseen, and are eternal – either too far off or too transcendent for our minds to think about. Therefore, in response to our sensual and earthly desires, it is much easier to take something such as the Bible and conform it to address the things that we and society place heavier emphasis on, namely, our health, our money, our relationships, and so forth. The issue is not that the Bible doesn’t address these things, because it does to some extent. The issue is do we make the Bible give answers to or make promises about these things that are clearly not there? I believe this is the case with the question addressed today – “Did Jesus die to deliver you from the curse of poverty?” Poverty is something nobody wants,especially if they don’t have to live under it, and in our society (the U.S.), it is seen as something that is controllable in life because in our country, nobody HAS to be poor. So poverty, in the US, is not seen as a cultural issue – meaning the whole nation is in poverty and is oppressed because of issues beyond its control, but rather it is seen as more of a personal problem – just because you were born poor doesn’t mean you have to stay poor. The answer then to eliminating poverty according to some who preach the Bible is “Do this or believe this and you don’t have to be poor”. What does the Bible say to this question? Where does the support from the Bible come from that says “Jesus died to guarantee that you do not have to live in poverty?” There are many verses and concepts from scripture that are used to defend this question. Here are the verses I’ll focus on:

1) 2 Cor 8:9:  For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

2) John 10:10 : The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

3) Galatians 3:13-14: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—  so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Was Jesus Rich or Poor?
According to the prosperity view of  2 Corinthians 8:9, Jesus was rich in heaven prior to the incarnation. He became poor by becoming a man, being a poor carpenter while on this earth, and dying a sinner’s death, so that you might become rich – financially stable and never lacking anything. The problem with reading and interpreting this verse in this way is that it misses the entire context of the passage. It would be similar to me writing a letter to my wife saying “I love you”, and the mailman interpreting the words “I love you” to apply to themselves. That would be a misinterpretation of my letter and this is what often happens with this verse and several others used like it. So what is the context of this passage? What did Paul, the writer of this letter intend to communicate to the Corinthian church when he wrote this sentence?
Clearly, in chapter 8 he is discussing giving, so he is talking about money. Paul wants to encourage the Corinthian believers to give to the ministry for the relief of the saints (v4). Paul uses the Macedonian church as an example of how God's grace enabled the Macedonian churches to give to the ministry for the relief of the saints, even in the midst of their extreme poverty. In light of this wonderful testimony, Paul, through sending Titus to the Corinthian church, wants to encourage (not command) the Corinthians to give to the relief of the saints, not in order to  gain the love of God, but to prove its genuineness among them. The basis and source of this giving will come from love -  not an earthly, human like, temporary good will for others, but a sacrificial, life-giving, alien-like love that came from Jesus who, though he was rich, (not monetarily -because heaven has no dollars)- but He was rich in glory, grace, the fullness of God, eternal pleasure, joy, and goodness - He became poor - leaving behind all of these wonderful eternal riches,- so that you and I may experience what He left behind: God's glory, grace, fullness, joy, goodness, and life. Therefore, in light of Jesus' rich, grace giving, sacrificial love to poor sinners, the Corinthians are exhorted to finish what they started in their giving - that is, to display this type of sacrificial love to those in need that had been displayed for them in Jesus.  If we were to extract this verse alone to mean money, meaning that Jesus was financially rich , then we miss the point. The rest of the passage would mean "Jesus had financial wealth, and then gave up his financial wealth, so that you could have financial wealth." If we interpret this passage through this lens, it actually lessens the meaning of what Jesus came to do and to give. Also, it wouldn't hold true for the millions of believers throughout hundreds of years of the Bible and history who have lived in extreme poverty and lack. Also, notice in the testimony about the Macedonians giving in 2 Corinthians 8:2, the solution was not that Jesus eliminated their extreme poverty, but rather He gives them grace to give joyfully in-spite of it.  So according to this passage, which is so often used to prove that Jesus redeems those who trust in Him from poverty, Jesus death doesn’t guarantee any deliverance from poverty, but rather Jesus takes poverty and uses it to serve His glorious purposes of  building His church and advancing the gospel.

Abundant Life?
 What about the verse in John 10:10 which states that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”? This is a verse that is often used to defend the notion that God does not want His people to live under poverty, because He came to give them an abundant and wealthy life. Firstly, in the context of this passage, poverty is never mentioned. Jesus is talking about the love and care that He has for His people as a Shepherd has for his sheep (v 1, 10). The issue is not that the sheep are impoverished and broke, but are oppressed by hired hands and robbers who do not truly care for their estate. These thieves and “rent -a- shepherd’s” only care for themselves and therefore they steal from the sheep, they kill the sheep and allow the sheep to be killed, and they destroy the sheep, taking their lives rather than preserving them (v7-10a). Ezekiel 34 is a great reference to the language Jesus is using in John 10. The issue in this passage is who is caring for the sheep and Jesus’ main point is that only He is the Good Shepherd, anyone and everyone else is out for a buck or some lamb chops. When it comes to the life mentioned in this passage, it contrasts those who subtract life against Jesus who gives life abundantly. Nowhere in this passage is money or not having enough money mentioned. Nowhere in this passage is Jesus guaranteeing a poverty free, prosperous earthly duration of years to those who will follow Him. Jesus doesn’t promise to give “the good life” in this passage, but He does promise to give His life. A life defined by the abundant  knowledge of Him just as He knows the Father (v14)(also see John 17:3) and a life defined by the love of God being poured out on us because of His sacrifice (v17).

Curse of Poverty?
Lastly, I would like to observe how most who view the atonement as a way to be set free from poverty and lack tend to view poverty as a "curse" and Christ's death as bringing in "the blessing". The line of thought that concludes that poverty is a curse begins with thinking that the curse of God upon the earth for Adam's sin is the same as the curse of the law found in Deuteronomy 27:26. Poverty is not a curse. Poverty is a result of the curse - as is sickness, disease, famine, stress, pain, pain in childbearing, earthquakes, floods, murders, rapes, genocide, and agricultural problems. Because of Adam's sin, the entire creation was subjected into futility and these are the results, yet they are not beyond the control and sovereignty of God. Romans 8: 20 says that God subjected creation to futility in hope that it will be free from the bondage and decay that it is presently in and obtain freedom, the same freedom that the Christian obtains in Christ. It is often said by those who see Jesus' death as a means to financial blessing that "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of poverty” and the scriptural basis for this statement is Galatians 3:13-14 which says:
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—  so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
The problem with this statement is two fold.

1) If Jesus has presently delivered all who trust in Him from the "curse of poverty", then it equally means that He has delivered them from earthquakes, famine, sicknesses, pain, murder, rape, and genocide. If poverty is a fruit of the curse, and it is, and Christ has redeemed us from poverty and we can have prosperity and abundance now, then shouldn't that mean we are presently redeemed from the realities of murder, rape, pain, and stress now as well? If these realities were  guaranteed on demand for the present, why do women still feel the excruciating pain of childbirth? Why do earthquakes rock nations, and infants are mauled by dogs? True, God has redeemed us from all of these things, in that He uses them for His glory and our joy and He will one day make all things new.  The problem with this statement is that is essentially asking for glorification (new bodies, heaven on earth) NOW and God hasn't guaranteed that in this life.

2) Galatians 3:13-14 isn't even talking about the curse from God upon the earth. It deals entirely with the curse that the law brings for those who seek to be justified by it, which is the whole point Paul was making in the book of Galatians (Gal. 3:10). To say that the "curse of the law" is the same as the "curse of poverty" is misinterpretation of the scripture. Once this curse of the law is removed through Jesus becoming a curse for us,bearing the punishment of  our disobedience to the law, we are not given material abundance and financial prosperity and wealth, but something greater: eternal life, justification and the promised Holy Spirit, who pours out God's love in our hearts and seals us until the day of redemption.

It goes without saying but poverty is frustrating and I am in no way saying that those who are poor should just be content and not make the attempts to get out of poverty. But to go as far as to say that one is cursed or cut off from God, or still under the bondage of Satan because they are poor is taking it a little too far. God condemns no one in scripture for being poor except for the sluggard (Prov. 13:4). In all other circumstances there is 1 Samuel 2:7 which exalts the sovereignty of God in His establishment of the poor and the rich. " The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts." God gives grace to poor sinners who are rich and poor and He is no respecter of persons.

Conclusion
In attempting to use scripture to guarantee the removal of things such as sickness, poverty, suffering, and affliction, the real problem is not one of understanding the nature of the atonement of Christ; rather, the problem is eschatological. Ministers who preach that deliverance from poverty, health, and a suffering-free life are guaranteed to us now by the death of Jesus replace sanctification with glorification in the golden chain of redemption. Their eyes are set on now rather than eternity. They see eternity as "later" and conclude that God is powerful enough to act now. The Bible teaches that we are justified and declared righteous before God at our conversion, sanctified during our lives as Christians on this earth continuing to face struggles, affliction, sin, temptation, pain and trials, and we are glorified at the last day when Christ comes again and gives us new bodies, eliminates the presence of sin, and makes all creation new. To promise deliverance from poverty, sickness, and suffering now is to insist that God declare us righteous and then make all things new instantly. While this desire is well intended and may even be sincerely preached, it is not biblical because God does not promise to do things this way in His word. If Jesus were to promise a poverty-free life to believers, then it would be applicable to all who have ever trusted in Christ. Instead, what we usually see today is these messages proclaimed and applied in a wealthy America and then watch the same message totally mock the impoverished believers throughout the rest of the world and those who have died throughout history. Abundant life is given to ALL who trust in Jesus, but it is way past our pay grade to define abundant.We do not decide that. If it is defined as a quality of life filled with material and monetary wealth, it is limited because all haven’t had this, don’t have this, and won’t have this. It doesn't mean that God doesn't give material blessings, it just doesn't suggest that they are guaranteed. If abundant life defined as a surpassing knowledge of Jesus as God and an eternal and overflowing fountain of grace that covers all sin so that the believer can enjoy and delight in God forever, then it is sufficient. All who trust in Jesus WILL have this eternal and abundant life and will experience it both now and forever. This life is guaranteed to all who believe in Jesus, whether paid or poor and it works throughout any social status to the glory of God and the joy of His people.  

Friday, May 11, 2012

Healing in the Atonement?


**Warning** This is a long post. I usually try to keep it short on here, but this turned out to be one of the longer posts I have written. You are in for a lot of reading. Enjoy.

This will be the first of two posts on The Gospel: Health and Wealth . In these posts, I am asking and answering the basic questions of 1) Does physical healing come through Jesus' death on the cross? and 2) Does material prosperity come through Jesus' death on the cross?

I want to ask these questions because they have major implications for the life of a Christian and they also have implications for the person who doesn't trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. This is because, for many people, our well-being is essentially wrapped up in these two questions, particularly in the society we live in. Today, it seems that many people, whether Christian or not,  are not as concerned as much with something such as sin or even eternal life as they are with their physical well-being and their financial status. To most people (Christians included) to hear the words from a doctor of "You have cancer" takes way more of a toll on us than a preacher's words of " You are under God's wrath and justice in your sin".The words "You can live 100% happy, healthy, wealthy, and wise right now" seem much more captivating than "You will experience fullness of joy at the throne of God for eternity." While the news of having a life-threatening disease is devastating and should never be minimized when it comes to facing the reality of it, the news of having an eternally-life threatening disease is far worse and in reality is much more devastating. Likewise,  the news of experiencing endless joy at the throne of God is far better than millions of days filled with success and bliss on this earth . Clearly most would regard the bad news of physical sickness as  being worse because we live in the here and now, and it is much easier to understand and visualize the implications of a physical sickness on our bodies than it is to understand the implications of sin's effect upon our souls. Likewise, to many, the word that Jesus has paid your eternal debt and you will spend eternity with Him, does not resonate as much in our minds as Jesus has paid your financial debt and you can be wealthy right now. Therefore, because we are programmed this way, naturally, we want answers for the here and now. Many say,not with their mouths but with their affections, "its good to hear about redemption from sin and forgiveness, but we would be far more interested in Christianity and the things of God if we were guaranteed solutions for our present circumstances."  In the gospel, Jesus appears as beautiful because He takes away the penalty and power of sin and will one day take away the presence of sin. He reconciles us with God, absorbing the justice and wrath that we deserved to fall on us and gives us grace to enjoy the beauty of our Lord.Through Jesus, God will one day make all things new from our souls to the solar system. This is great news to most people, but the reason it often gets cast to the side in search for "more benefits" is because the gospel isn't seen as a glorious enough remedy for our lives now and something such as sin isn't seen for being the impossible and monstrous problem that it is . The post where I deal with why these things are not as highly esteemed as they should be is for another day. Today, the focus is on what does the Bible say about Jesus' death and its application to your present health and your physical well-being?
Because these questions that I previously stated are so serious to the context that we live in, it is easy for us to take the good, loving, and gracious God that we hear so much about and then ascribe to Him our definitions of what is good, loving, and gracious. (i.e., a good life, no problems, good health, good money, etc.) The next step from there is to use God's word to address and speak to what we define as good, loving and gracious, and this is where the confusion tends to set in. It isn't hard to miss much of the preaching that we see on TV or read about in bookstores that says that God is in the business of healing you, and not just that, but assuring that you have a physically healthy life. The basis of your "physical prosperity" is Jesus...nothin' wrong with that...and because Jesus healed the sick, He will heal you. The reasoning is that because He is powerful enough to defeat sin, He is powerful enough to defeat sickness and disease too. Makes sense, right? Yes, plus the millions of testimonies from people who have been healed by believing for their healing and by pastors and teachers who laid hands on them. I can personally say that I was healed from asthma when I was 9 years old when a preacher laid hands on me and told my asthma to leave. Yes, I know it was God who healed me, and I do not think anything was special about the man who laid hands on me, God sovereignly chose to heal me through this minister. I haven't wheezed since....
This all makes a great case for healing through Christ's death, doesn't it? Scripture hasn't even been mentioned yet. I am not writing this to oppose that God doesn't heal. I believe that God can heal any sickness, disease, or infirmity that anyone will ever face and I believe He is actively working today in healing through the church (James 5:13-15). What I want to draw into question is the statement that God must heal you or that God is obligated to heal you because of what Jesus did on the cross. Do we find this in the Bible? Is there something we have to do, or believe about God and the atonement that obligates Him to heal us? Can we demand healing?
Here is the scriptural support for this kind of reasoning .

#1 Isaiah 53: 4-5
Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
     smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
     and with his wounds we are healed.

#2 Matthew 8:16-17
And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17  This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

#3 1 Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.


#4 Mark 16:14
Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18  they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
#5 3 John  2
Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
Once again, there are many more verses in the Bible about healing. I am not saying that God does not heal today. There are several passages and accounts both in the Old and New Testament where people have been healed by God and through Jesus while He was on the earth. What I am after in this post is to answer the question "Does Jesus' death on the cross guarantee us physical healing in the same way that  it guarantees  salvation to those who believe? This is the fine line that is crossed by many preachers today when the subject of healing is discussed. Some preach that physical healing is available today just as it has always been available - God was and is actively working in the world, healing the sick when He sovereignly wills to.One of the spiritual gifts given to the church in 1 Corinthians 12 is gifts of healing. The Holy Spirit currently works through Christians to heal today. James speaks of the elders of the church laying hands on the sick and praying the prayer of faith and anointing the sick with oil (James 5:13-15).Others preach that physical healing is guaranteed to Christians the same way salvation is guaranteed to all who believe and trust in Jesus. They say that it is always God's will that you be healed. No questions about it. To not believe this is to doubt God. This is a stretch. Its a stretch firstly because this view is not supported throughout the scriptures. No matter how good this "guarantee" sounds, or how pleasant it is to think about, scripture in no way supports the logic that to be saved spiritually means to be healed physically or kept from physical sickness and disease throughout the rest of life. Scripture in many places supports the rock solid guarantee of salvation to all who trust in the work of Christ - that their salvation is eternally secure and guaranteed, purchased by Jesus' blood. On the other hand, healing is not spoken of in the same way. If we just observe the life and ministry of Jesus, there were times when He healed all the sick in a city(Matthew 4:23, 8:16-17,9:35,12:15)and times when He only went to one or a few out of hundreds of sick people (John 5:1-9; Mark 6:5),healed them and departed. Is this to say that all who were healed were saved or all who were sick or remained sick were not? Does this mean that all those who believed on Christ, and yet weren't healed physically had "enough faith" to believe, but not "enough faith" to be healed? Secondly, If we believe that physical healing is guaranteed to us in the same way that salvation is, we will be greatly let down by the world around us.Christians die every day, get sick every day, and experience all sorts of afflictions and suffering all around the world - for years, many without a miraculous healing. This perspective, if we hold to it, will in turn affect our belief about God's being in absolute control of everything, Satan's power in this world, and the nature of the Christian's faith in God. More doubt (or denial) is produced in the one who believes that physical healing is guaranteed to the Christian, than the Christian who simply believes that God heals when He wills according to His own holy, loving, and gracious purposes. 
Let's go through the list:

1) It affects out belief about God's sovereignty
  • If we believe that physical healing is guaranteed through the cross of Christ, and observe the world around us, filled with Christians who trust in Jesus as their only hope yet are sick and even die because of sickness, it will be easy to conclude that God must not be in absolute control of all things. If He promises healing with the same power as He promises salvation, then it must be His will that I will be healed but other forces or powers are getting in the way of that by somehow delaying or thwarting His power. Maybe He can't heal because I won't allow Him to because of my negative confessions, or perhaps by being around negativity in general. He wants me healed, but there must be something I must do in order to receive it such as fast, pray, sow a seed, etc. If God promises healing and yet I don't see ALL Christians healed (in the same way ALL who call on the name of the Lord will be saved) I must conclude that He isn't in control of all things, or He takes a step back and waits for me to do something or give Him permission, or there is some other power contrary to His hindering my healing.  
2) It affects our belief about Satan and his power in the world 
  •  Furthermore, if we believe this perspective that physical healing is guaranteed to the Christian because of Christ, we might also conclude that Satan's forces and power are much greater than we anticipated. After all, sickness is of the devil....(rather than being of man's choosing to rebel against God by sinning,) right?(Wrong) .We will conclude that the devil is a sovereign who steals, kills, destroys, and does it all from his own free purposes while God watches and waits planning a counter attack. God is therefore powerful enough to save spiritually millions around the globe losing none of them, but Satan is just too busy at work keeping them sick until they trust God enough for healing. This view says "Its out of God's hands if we die from sickness, because that wasn't His will for us. It is out of God's hands if our sicknesses keep returning because we just don't have enough power to fight the devil." If we believe this perspective, it ends up minimizing God and deifying Satan. God doesn't have enough power and Satan has too much power. 
3) It affects what we believe concerning the nature of our faith
  • Thirdly, if we believe that physical healing is guaranteed to us in the same way that salvation is, it will affect our view concerning the nature of our faith in God. We will not see faith as a gift from God, or an empty outstretched hand, but as quarter to be used in a vending machine: if you don't have enough, you don't get what you want.We will start to believe that faith must be mustered up within ourselves, and that we have to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps in order to believe God enough to do something for us. Instead of boasting in weakness, this perspective shames weakness and calls it doubt, saying, "well, God promised that you would be healed, you just have to believe and receive it!". Viewing healing through these lenses will see Jesus' passages on faith and interpret them to mean that God has left you to generate your own faith and that His hands are tied until we give Him permission to act. 
Rather than looking at physical healing through putting it in the same chain link as justification, sanctification, and glorification, we should rest and trust in the sovereign Lord who is good, loving and gracious to all who trust in Him. Viewing healing through this lens doesn't deny suffering, sickness, and disease in this world. It doesn't place a standard on Christians that we ultimately have no control over and fail to live up to. It is impossible to live sinless, even much more impossible to live 100% healthy all the time and ensure yourself that you can be free from every form of sickness in this life. When we don't make physical healing in this life a mandatory benefit to the atonement, we are able to trust in God much more freely, knowing that even sickness and disease are orchestrated in His purposes to work for our good and eternal joy and His glory. We can pray earnestly for healing and trust God to do the miraculous, but we can realize that even if He doesn't give it in this life, we are still loved with a steadfast, immovable and unfailing love, and we can rest knowing that there is nothing we can do for God to love us anymore and nothing we can do for Him to love us any less. 


I hope that we can see a little more clearly now why making physical healing a part of the golden chain of redemption (justification, sanctification, and glorification) stretches what the Bible says about healing. Now let's see how scripture gives the same reasoning. The previous verses listed which are used to defend guaranteed physical healing in the atonement are mostly taken from Isaiah 53, where the crux of this belief is centered on. The phrase "griefs and sorrows" and "you were healed" are the defense for this view of  healing. Let it be said, healing is promised and guaranteed in the atonement. It is what we believe Jesus ultimately accomplished on the cross that will define what healing means for us. 
Clearly Matthew's interpretation of Isaiah 53 in Matthew 8:16-17 is speaking of Jesus fulfilling Isaiah 53 by healing the sick. So why can't we take this passage and conclude that Jesus through His death, guarantees physical healing in this life to all those who trust in Him? Matthew 8:17 says that Jesus healed the sick in this passage to say something about Himself and who He was. He healed "to fulfill what was spoken" about Him, for the glory of God and for the joy of those healed. Jesus healed all the sick in this city the same way that He gave wine to all at a wedding in another city. Jesus did not heal all the sick everywhere just as He did not become a wedding accessory who gives wine at everyone's weddings all the time. He does these things to show something about Himself and what He intends to accomplish. Jesus heals sicknesses to show that He is the compassionate Healer who will one day eliminate sickness and disease forever. Jesus gives bread to 5,000 people to show that He is living bread who will one day eliminate hunger forever.He casts out demons to show that He will one day cast the great Satan and his kingdom out forever . He gives wine at a wedding to show that He will one day host a wedding feast where there will be joy and fullness that will never run out. Therefore,those healed were healed to point to something bigger; those fed were fed to point to something greater. If you and I experience physical healing through Jesus today, its not because Jesus owes it to us or so that we can live our best lives now, it is to point to something greater. Today, if we experience any blessing and benefit because of Jesus in our lives, it is to point to something greater. Jesus heals physically to show that one day He will heal and make new all creation. He took our illnesses physically to show that he has taken our greater illnesses spiritually - sin - and He will remove them and their effect on us forever. Jesus, through his miracles on the earth gave glimpses of His eternal kingdom. 
Here is a quote from D.A. Carson on Isaiah 53 concerning healing in the atonement and what it means for Christians today. 
This text and others clearly teach that there is healing in the Atonement; but similarly there is the promise of a resurrection body in the Atonement, even if believers do not inherit it until the Parousia. From the perspectives of the NT writers, the Cross is the basis for all the benefits that accrue to believers; but this does not mean that all such benefits can be secured at the present time on demand, any more than we have the right and power to demand our resurrection bodies. (D.A. Carson, "The Expositor's Bible Commentary")

The last passage that I'll address in this post is Mark 16:14 because of its emphasis on Christians healing the sick in light of of Jesus' command in the Great Commission. As I previously stated, just as Jesus' miracles pointed to something greater than their physical manifestations, so do the healings that come through our hands. When Jesus tells Christians to lay hands on the sick and they shall recover He doesn't intend for us to wield some sort of power that will only make peoples lives better in the end. Rather, we are commissioned to lay hands on the sick as a sign that points to the one who will one day eliminate every sickness forever. Just look at Peter and John in Acts 3:11-26. The lame beggar's healing was an ice breaker for the gospel to be proclaimed. Peter gives life to a man physically and then points to the Author of Life who was murdered by and for these on-lookers. This is why Mark 16 says that "these SIGNS" shall follow those who believe, not so that we can make life on earth easier and better for people, but so that Jesus can be exalted and seen as the One who will make all things new.
In conclusion, healing is guaranteed in the atonement of Christ, but it is the healing from our sin. Because our sins are placed on Jesus in His death, we have been declared righteous before God. We are said to be a "new creation"( 2 Cor. 5:17). It is in this making us a new creation that God begins the process of making all things new- our souls, our bodies, our relationships, our world, and all creation. Jesus' death doesn't guarantee a body without sickness now, but guarantees a a body that will be made new in eternity. His death doesn't guarantee that He will heal us presently, but His death does guarantee that He will take our present sicknesses and diseases and work in and through them to conform us into the image of Jesus for His glory and our present and eternal joy. Jesus' death has de-fanged the venomous snake of sin, sickness, death, affliction, and persecution. What serves to kill the Christian only conforms them more into the likeness of Jesus. Therefore rejoice if you have experienced the healing hand of God in your life, as He has powerfully overcome the sickness and diseases that you once had. Realize that this is His gracious gift to you to show you that what He has done for you in your physical healing, He will do in a much greater way for an innumerable multitude of people all over the world who trust in Jesus as their hope (Rev.7:9-17). Also rejoice if you have been living with and battling disease in your body. Continue praying that God would be merciful in healing you now, but realize that through Jesus, God is graciously, lovingly, and powerfully working through the pain, through the operations, through the stress, through the weariness, and through the struggle to shape you into the beautiful, God-glorifying, eternally pleasing, accepted and beloved image of His Son. Whether you have experienced 5 minutes or 55 years of sickness, know that God cares very much about your physical body; He cares very much about your soul, and He has made provision through the cross of Christ for all who believe in Him to make both of them new - free from the fatal snares of sin and free from the afflicting grip of sickness so that you may take in and enjoy His goodness and His love forever.