Prosperity Teachers and the Old Testament pt. 1

 This video is in response to a question I was asked recently, "How do prosperity teachers use Old Testament texts in order to justify their teachings (a.k.a the prosperity gospel)?" In this video I give an overview of "The Blessing of Abraham" as taught by prosperity teachers and what the Bible says about Abraham's blessing. I wrote on this a few months ago and I use a lot of the same points I wrote here. The verses that I cover in this video are: 

 Genesis 12:3 

 Genesis 24:34-35 

 Galatians 3:5-9

Reformed and Charismatic? A Look at Spiritual Gifts in the Life of the Church

I listened to this sermon recently that was preached at the Desiring God Pastors Conference by Tope Koleoso. It rocked me. If you are looking for a good sermon to listen to on how the spiritual gifts function in the life of a gospel centered, Christ-exalting church...(minus the chaos)...this is a great sermon to listen to. My biggest takeaway from this is that we cannot allow fear to cause us to limit or constrain the Holy Spirit and how he wants to work in our preaching, and in our praying for the sick and deliverance of those oppressed by Satanic opposition. The same Spirit who empowers the former, empowers the latter. Thoughts and comments are welcomed.

A Call to be Rigorous and Discriminating in our Doctrinal Knowledge

This was taken from John Piper's sermon on Galatians 1:6-10 entitled "When Not to Believe an Angel". Piper's challenge to his church is to not be babes in their thinking but to think and think hard about the essential and foundational doctrines of Christianity. The gospel is something that as Christians we must be clear on. Heresy and false teaching are very real threats to the church that often arise not from outside of the church but from the inside. Our experiences and feelings as Christians should never be elevated above or replace our thinking about the gospel or foundational Christian teachings.

And what makes that underlying truth in the text so powerful is that the "different gospel" in the churches of Galatia was not a religion from a foreign land. It was a close counterfeit to the real thing. The people in verse 7 who were perverting the gospel were professing Christians. They probably belonged to the church in Jerusalem and knew its leaders (2:12). This "different gospel" was not on the order of Buddhism or Hinduism or Islam. It was an in-house distortion. It was promoted by men who called themselves Christian "brothers" (2:4).

So another implication of verses 6 and 7 for us is that doctrinal maturity is not a luxury at Bethlehem. It is a necessity. If a "different gospel," which is no gospel but only a perversion, can spring up inside the church, then surely we must make it our aim to become rigorous and discriminating in our doctrinal knowledge. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:20, "Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; be babes in evil, but in thinking be mature." Galatians is one of the best books in the Bible for helping us refine and clarify what the heart of the gospel is, which can't be replaced or altered. There is a tragic pattern in churches and in history, I think. Renewal breaks forth on a church or on an age through a fresh encounter with the gospel and the Spirit. Hearts are filled with the love of Christ, and mouths are filled with praise. The concern for evangelism and justice rises.

But in all the glorious stirrings of heart there begins to be an impatience with doctrinal refinements. Clear doctrine requires thought, and thought is seen to be the enemy of feeling, so it is resisted. There is the widespread sense that the Holy Spirit will guard the church from all error, and so rigorous study and thought about the gospel are felt to be not only a threat to joy but a failure of faith. The result over a generation is the emergence of a people whose understanding of biblical teaching is so hazy and imprecise that they are sitting ducks for the Galatian heresy. It arises right in their midst. Paul said to the elders of Ephesus in Acts 20:30, "From among your own selves will arise men speaking distorted things to draw away the disciples after them." He says in verse 27 that he has done his part to prepare them by "declaring the whole counsel of God." I hope to be able to say the same thing some day about Bethlehem: "I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God."

Your Faith Has Made You Well

"Your faith has made you well....."

I've often wondered about this statement made by Jesus concerning the woman who touched the hymn of His garment and was made whole. Was it her faith that made her whole or was it her faith that made her whole? The difference between these two statements is huge, as the former suggests that faith is something that we posses which we use to obtain something. The latter statement suggests that it is the belief and trust in someone or something (faith) who is able to do something which we are unable to do in and of ourselves.  R.C. Sproul, in his commentary on the Gospel of Mark, provides some good insight concerning this passage. Mark 5:24-34 says,

 And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” 

Sproul states

What did Jesus say to her? He did not say, "Daughter, your touch has made you well." Neither did he say, "Daughter, My garments have made you well." No. He said, "Daughter, your faith has made you well" (v. 34a). What did He mean? There was no intrinsic power in her faith. Her faith was not the efficient cause of her healing; Jesus was. But her faith was the instrumental cause of her healing. Just as in our justification, God does not declare us righteous because there is any inherent righteousness in our faith, prompting God to say, "Because you have faith, I will save you." No, faith is the instrumental cause of justification because it is the tool or instrument by which we take hold of Christ. Christ is the efficient cause of our justification. In the same way, it was Jesus who healed the woman.

2 Sermons by Demetrius White

These are  two great sermons by a good friend of mine, Demetrius White. This brother has truly been a blessing to me and an encouragement to so many others. He recently preached on the New Birth from John 3 and yesterday he gave an awesome sermon on the book of Numbers. Check these out and enjoy!

The New Birth - by Demetrius White

Numbers - by Demetrius White

B.Graves on the Holy Spirit

Yesterday, my brother, Brandon, got the opportunity to speak at his church for a few minutes on the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The audio can be found here. I'm so proud of this dude! Check it out.

Allow Me To Re-Introduce Myself...

              So after thinking over some potential topics for a while, I've decided to start posting some shorter posts on the Attributes of God. This series will be called "Allow Me To Re-Introduce Myself...", derived from the Jay-Z Black Album song, "PSA". Why call it this?  Other than it being a cool name for a series, the attributes of God have nothing to do with Jay-Z, but have everything to do with God, the Creator, Sustainer, and Author of all things. At the most basic level, what we think about God will shape everything about us. I don't intend to unpack each attribute in an exhaustive way, but my only hope is to state the attribute of God's character and provide some practical ways on how His character has everything to do with us. For this brief look at the manifold characteristics and essence of the One True God, I will use two voices from the past in addition to the scriptures in order to help me communicate the attributes of God. The first will be A.W. Tozer's "The Knowledge of The Holy", and the second source will be Stephen Charnock's "The Existence and Attributes of God".

What do God's attributes and characteristics have to do with us? Why are they important? Of what benefit will they be to my life, other than being able to spell "omnipotent" in Words with Friends? Hopefully the next few posts in this series will be able to answer these questions. To begin, here is a quote from the late A.W. Tozer on the importance of having a right view of God.

"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God."

 Tozer's words could not ring any louder. Firstly, God is important because in the Bible, God's Word about Himself, God tells us that He is the most supreme being both inside and outside of anything and everything that is known.Because He is that, He deserves our worship, honor, and love. If God is supreme in His being - supreme in power, life, love, righteousness, and justice -then to attribute to anyone or anything else supremacy and worship is not only wrong and misplaced, but un-fulfilling. God's attributes are important because it is through these characteristics that we are able to attain an incomprehensible, yet true view of who God is. It isn't  enough to simply know that there is a God and that He has a few good attributes that seem to benefit us and the world we live in. Almost anyone we can think of who will affirm that there is a God will affirm that He is a creator, good, loving, and generous, and these are all good things to know; but to only know these things about God is incomplete. In the Bible, God presents Himself completely, in that we can know what we know about Him in truth, yet what we know truly about Him isn't a fraction of what we can know about Him exhaustively.

Practically, knowledge of God's attributes is for our worship of God. An incomplete knowledge of who He is will only result in incomplete worship and an incomplete perspective of our lives within His dominion. Many are ready to praise the Lord for His goodness while only few will praise Him for His justice. God's love for the world is proclaimed aloud for everyone to hear, while His hatred for sin is proclaimed often softly or angrily. The fact is that we cannot have one attribute without the other. A God with all love, patience, and mercy and no justice would be like the unjust judge who pardons every criminal without hearing the case. Likewise a God with absolute justice, wrath and no love, patience or mercy would have crushed this world under His wrath the minute Adam sinned against Him. When we examine these attributes and how God reveals Himself in His word, it will produce in us a reverential awe for God, the proper perspective of Him, and overwhelming joy at the fact that this Sovereign, all-powerful, merciful God is on our side through Christ.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.              Proverbs 9:10

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,   but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”  - Jeremiah 9:23-24

Your Identity in the Fight for Holiness - Kevin DeYoung

This is a quote from Kevin DeYoung's book, "The Hole in Our Holinesss" concerning how the Christian is able to fight sin and pursue holiness by focusing on their new identity in Christ. I found it to be very helpful and hope it helps and encourages you as well.

Second, the gospel aids our pursuit of holiness by telling us the truth about who we are. Certain sins become more difficult when we understand our new position in Christ. If we are heirs to the whole world, why should we envy? If we are God's treasured possession, why be jealous? If God is our Father, why be afraid? If we are dead to sin, why live in it? If we've been raised with Christ, why continue in our old sinful ways? If we are seated in the heavenly places, why act like the devil of hell? If we are loved with an everlasting love, why are we trying to prove our worth to the world? If Christ is all in all, why am I so preoccupied with myself?

                                                              - Kevin DeYoung, "The Hole in Our Holiness", 84

 

 

Writer's Block...

So, I've just about written my brains out for the last several posts and I haven't posted in a while as you can see. I recently started a Tumblr titled "Gospel Prosperity" just to post random pictures and thoughts, but I will begin writing again here shortly...about what, I dunno. If you have any suggestions, ideas or questions, send them...

The Prosperity Gospel's Biggest Proof Text

   

 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

   
(Mark 11:20-25 ESV)

Without getting into an exhaustive post about the origins and ideas of the Word of Faith movement, the purpose of this post is to take a look at the Word of Faith movement's big proof text from which much of its theology originates. The term "prosperity gospel" is one that has been used throughout the previous posts to describe the ideas that the Bible teaches the guaranteed health and wealth of Christians through the atonement of Jesus Christ. Synonymous with that term is the Word of Faith movement. This movement began in the 1940's and 1950's with a man by the name of Kenneth Hagin, who is often regarded as the Father of the Word of Faith Movement, and many of his writings and teachings helped shape what many know today as the prosperity gospel. Hagin began his ministry of health and wealth when he was miraculously healed from his sickbed as a 17 year old in 1934. According to Hagin,

"I was only 17 then and had no other Christians to fellowship with who believed as I did. I didn't have even one person, young or old, to stand with me to encourage me in this area of faith and believing God. I simply had to stand alone - but I tell you, I had a great time doing it! I am sure the one reason I didn't have some of the problems others had with the world, the flesh, or the devil was because I told everyone, "I am a new creature." That was my constant confession. Hold fast to your confession that you are a new creature. You will always rise to the level of your confession. The new man on the inside will be manifested on the outside because he will dominate the flesh."  -

                                                        "Understanding How To Fight the Good Fight of Faith, (7)

I believe this quote summarizes most of Hagin's work and Word of Faith's doctrines in more ways than one. I would like to elaborate further on this in another post, but here are the three ways that I think this quote captures all of Hagin's writings and WoF's beliefs on faith, confession, health, and wealth:

1) They are based on experiences.

• With all due respect to Hagin, I believe that the sickness and suffering that he experienced at 17 was real and was as serious and as intense as he says. I also believe that he was genuinely healed from his sickness by God. But Christians are not called to base our faith on our experiences or base the Bible on our experiences, but rather let the Bible be the base from which we interpret our experiences and ground our faith. According to Hagin in this quote, it appears that he trusted more in his confession than in Christ and this is where the Word of Faith teaching bears left off the road of sound doctrine.Just within the book quoted, "Understanding How To Fight..", Hagin uses roughly 40 personal experiences to justify what he believes the Bible is saying about confession, faith, health and wealth. Many of these experiences are personal dialogues or "revelations" with himself and God that form into doctrinal principles that he says Bible supports.

2) They are based on what YOU say.

• In the prosperity gospel, God promises healing, wealth, and success in the atonement of Jesus for all who believe. The way that one accesses this guaranteed prosperity is through faith and this faith is not "active" until one confesses and verbally says what they believe. By Hagin telling everyone that he was a "new creature" he was activating his faith to believe God for healing. His new man within would overcome the "flesh" or sickness. 

3) They are based on YOU

• Much of what you hear or see within the prosperity gospel begins with you and ends with you. What this means is that it begins with God having your best interests in mind (health, wealth, success). Prosperity begins with your confession, is only coming to you  when you keep confessing it, and in the end only benefits you. Hagin, nowhere in his book "Understanding How To Fight" mentions anything about the eternal purposes of Jesus in healing people presently. It is interesting that in Mark 16:16-18, Jesus in the Great Commission, lists healing the sick as a sign that points to the message of the gospel and Himself. Hagin never mentions healing or God's blessing as a way to be drawn closer to God through the person and work of Jesus, but only describes these things as  "rights" and "benefits" from a "covenant". Healing and God's blessing in a material connotation is not mentioned in the Bible in this way at all. When Christ healed in scripture and when He heals today, it is to point to Himself (John 5:1-15, Matt 8:18, John 9:3-7), not so that we could point to ourselves. 

So here is the prosperity gospel's biggest proof text, Mark 11:20-25. The reason that I believe that this is their biggest proof text is because it is the passage of scripture that is constantly referenced in many prosperity teachers writings and sermons. Below, I have listed three quotations from three of prosperity or Word of Faith teachers concerning this passage. In these quotes we will look at their perspective on this passage, determine if it is accurate with the scriptures, and then see what the text says for itself. The quotes will be from Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and Gloria Copeland, some of the prosperity gospel's original and most renown teachers.

Kenneth Hagin

Our confessions rule us. That is a spiritual law which few of us realize. Jesus said, "...whosoever shall say... and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith" (Mark 11:23). Notice the last phrase again, "he shall have whatsoever he saith." What we say is our confession. What we say is our faith speaking - whether it is on the positive side or the negative side. Jesus said that whosoever shall say, he shall have whatsoever he saith.... I tell people all the time, "If you are not satisfied with what you have in life, then change what you are saying. You have created what you have in  your life with your own words."

                                                                                         - Understanding How To Fight, 112


Kenneth Copeland

Jesus said in Mark 11:23, "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain , Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." Notice the last words, "he shall have whatsoever he saith." Faith is released with the mouth. Even our salvation is based on the confession of our mouths that Jesus Christ is our Lord (see Romans 10:9-10). You can have what you say! In fact, what you are saying is exactly what you are getting now. If you are living in poverty and lack and want, change what you are saying. It will change what you have!...Since then I have learned the powerful force of the spiritual world that creates the circumstances around us is controlled by the words of the mouth. This force comes from inside us....In mark 11:23, Jesus is talking about saying things that have not yet come to pass. The mountain had not yet been removed when it was spoken to. Jesus said for us to believe that those things which we say will come to pass and then we will have whatsoever we say. When I learned these facts, it became easy for me to confess, "I have it now...I can see it through the eye of my faith."

                                                                                      - The Laws of Prosperity,  80


Gloria Copland

"Get ready to release your faith right now for whatever you need from God. Mark 11, verses 22-24, will work for any need. And Jesus answering them saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Whosoever shall say unto this mountain. According to Jesus, in order to change things you are to speak to the mountain. The mountain is the obstacle or need in your life. Let's assume that your need is financial - you just simply need more money to live and to give. Say this: "Poverty, I speak to you in the name of Jesus, and I command you to be removed from my presence and my life. I will no longer tolerate you. I forbid you to operate against me in any way." You do not talk to God about the problem. Talk to Him about the answer - the Word of God....Most people want God to talk to the mountain for them, but HE WILL NOT. He has given the believer that authority; and if you want results, do it His way. TALK TO THE MOUNTAIN!"

                                                                                 - God's Will is Prosperity, 103

So what can we conclude from these interpretations?

1. This passage speaks of confession
2. We can have whatever we confess, both negative and positive
3. We can speak to circumstances, and they will change

Is this what Jesus is communicating in Mark 11? Does this interpretation fall in line with the other parallel passages in the gospels (Matt 21:10-22)? Remember, in proper Biblical interpretation, we cannot simply pull a passage from scripture and make a doctrine of it, we must interpret the scriptures in their context. The way that this verse initially looks and sounds, it seems that it says exactly what these interpretations say.  But what is the context?

Context:(Mark 11:1-19)
It is the last week of Jesus' life before the crucifixion. He enters into Jerusalem on a colt, being celebrated in what we know as the Triumphal entry, where people are laying their coats on the street for Jesus to ride on and palm branches are being waved by excited men, women, and children crying out "Hosana! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Jesus enters Jerusalem for the final time of his life with His disciples and heads towards the temple. That night he stays in Bethany, a city outside of Jerusalem, and in the morning, on the way back to Jerusalem, Jesus makes a breakfast stop at a fig tree on which he finds no fruit. Without hesitation, Jesus curses the fig tree by simply saying to it "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." He then proceeds to enter the city. Whereas Matthew 21 records the fig tree's immediately withering and the disciples immediately asking Jesus about it, Mark records that Peter made an observation about the tree on the next day and Jesus proceeds to tell the disciples about what has happened to the tree.

The context tells us that this was the last week of Jesus life and therefore He would not be with the disciples much longer. Up until this point whatever they needed, Jesus provided and they hadn't had to ask for anything (John 16:24). Jesus teaches the disciples this lesson on prayer because when He leaves them, they will need to talk to the Father in the name of Jesus, rather than Jesus talking to the Father on their behalf as he has done over the last 3 years (John 16:26). Therefore upon seeing the disciples astonishment in the case of the fig tree, Jesus tells the disciples to "Have faith in God." It is upon this statement that Jesus begins to elaborate on the confidence that His disciples can have in facing the most impossible situations. Because God is on their side in Jesus, the disciples can do as Jesus did to the fig tree and even speak to "this mountain" and tell it to be thrown into the sea, if they do not doubt, but believe that what they say will come to pass. Unlike the previous interpretations, this faith and confidence does not stand alone, confident in its own ability to produce results, but rather, this faith works itself out, not through isolated demanding and confession of something, but through prayer - looking to God's ability to do all things, and this kind of faith asks for God's will to be done believing that we have received what we ask for. This text does not teach that our faith has creative and destructive powers, it teaches that God has creative and destructive powers and it is through confident prayer and trusting in Him that we can believe and receive whatever we ask for.

So what about the word "whatever"?
Both Copelands and Hagin believe that what falls under the category of "whatever" is: life circumstances, circumstances in the world, and anything you aren't satisfied with. If you are sick, then you can ask for health; if you are poor, then you can ask for wealth; "if you are not satisfied with what you have in life..." then ask for whatever you want in order to be satisfied. Your words essentially have power over anything and everything. Gloria Copeland goes even further when she says that God will not override what you say.

"God is not going to override your authority either. He has given you authority in the earth. He has given you instructions in His Word to put you over in every situation. He will let you die sick if you choose to do so. You would have to ignore every healing scripture in the Bible and all that Jesus bought for you when he bore your sickness and carried your diseases, but you have the authority to go ahead and die."  - God's Will is Prosperity, 104-105

 There is absolutely nothing wrong with asking God for money or healing or success in some area in life in prayer, but is this what Jesus meant in this passage- That we will get whatever we ask for whenever we ask for it? Clearly, whatever means whatever, but is there any qualification to "whatever"? Can I say to the ATM " No one will ever draw money from you again", when it refuses to give me two $10's instead of a $20? Can I say to my Saturn ,"Tomorrow you will be a Ferrari?" Can I say "I'm going to live until I'm 240 years old" and God be unable to overrule that statement? In a sense, I am joking, but I'm really not joking. I believe in Jesus, I trust that God can give me a Ferrari, and I sincerely believe that the ATM in the lobby will stop working, at least until it gets a feature that allows for smaller bills. What is to stop me from receiving that? I have made a confession about something that I am not satisfied with, and I fully expect for it to be done. In all seriousness, whether these things happen or not, there is a reason requests like these are made all of the time and remain unanswered. New jobs, new houses, sickness, restoration of a relationship, poverty - these are all things that people immediately think of when we think "whatever" in this verse. In addition to these things, there are many more that could be said and there are things "confessed" in a much more sincere and serious way that seem to never come to pass. Why? Is Jesus saying that we can only ask for mountains and fig trees? Is there a limit or restriction to what we can ask for?

In order to answer these questions, scripture must interpret scripture. Our prayers and requests before God as Christians must be within the sphere of God's will. 1 John 5:14-15 states "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
Its easy to see where John, Jesus' closest disciple, gets this statement from. He writes it as if the words had just come from Jesus' mouth that morning at the fig tree. The thing that stands out from this verse, which helps to balance Mark 11:22-25 is that the prayer and asking that we are told to do must be according to God's will.

Now you may say, "Well, its God's will that I be healthy all the time and wealthy and be successful and victorious in life." I would ask, where do you find this in the Bible? Where does God ever say that His will is that all who believe in Jesus be physically healthy all the time and materially prosperous and never suffer? Yes, God does bless His people with prosperity at times and yes, He does heal, but nowhere does He guarantee this to anyone in the Bible - it is a gracious gift when He gives it.  While these things are weighty matters to us and of great concern to us, scripture tells us that God's will is much more concerned with weightier matters - the condition of our soul, our sanctification, and our being conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:27-29; Romans 12:2; 1 Thess 4:3). This does not mean that God wants Christians to be poor and sick. Word of Faith often responds with this accusation when it hears that God doesn't guarantee healing and prosperity in the atonement of Christ. This also doesn't mean that God wants all Christians to be wealthy. God may will for some to be wealthy in order to accomplish His will in their sanctification (1 Tim 6:17-20). In the same way, God may will that poverty be used in order to do His sanctifying, Christ-conforming work in the life of a believer.( 2 Cor. 8:1-5). Suffering  in the life of the believer is even used to work for the good of the Christian's sanctification (Romans 5:3-5). The proper application of  Mark 11:22-25 and 1 John 5:14-15 is this : We can have confidence and assurance to pray and ask for whatever we need in order for God to continue His sanctifying, transforming, and Christ-conforming work in our lives - and God will grant it. That can be health, it can be money, it can be good things, it can be the lack of money, or health, or "good things" when we trust in them more than we trust in God. What we cannot do is use passages such as Mark 11:24 and make them  bow to our own selfish desires and what we think God's will for us should be. James, the brother of Jesus, warns us against this in his epistle when he states "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." (James 4:3).

Conclusion
In conclusion, after thoroughly reading what these teachers had to say about confession, faith, and prosperity, I didn't see any statements that pointed to the person and work of Jesus Christ. To the Copelands and Hagin, Jesus' death and the extra benefits that they believe it gives are only a means to an end, that end being their happiness and contentment in this life. Healing is never mentioned for the purpose of exalting Christ's mission of spreading the gospel in the world. Prayer is never mentioned for the purpose of dependence upon God to know His will, and prosperity is only mentioned as a right that Christians are obligated to rather than a conduit to distribute to those who are without on the basis of God's graciously giving to us in Christ. Mark 11:22-25 is often used within the prosperity gospel in order to convince people that God wants us to have whatever we want, and all we have to do is speak it. We can see that what Jesus wants is for His disciples, both then and now,  to confidently and humbly depend on and pray to God, believing that He will give us whatever we ask, namely, all things necessary for His glory and our joy in this life, for the ultimate purpose of being conformed into the image of Jesus.

Prosperity in the Atonement?: The Case for Suffering

 ** *This will be a long post***


What is kryptonite to the message that believes that Jesus died in order to make His followers wealthy and healthy? Christ-exalting suffering. The word suffering is pushed away by many in the church in our nation, but it is mainly frowned upon by those who teach that Jesus died to materially bless and physically heal all who trust in Him. Why? Well, as I have previously stated in the first few posts, health and wealth are two important pillars of our lives - especially in the United States. One's health is vital to enjoying the good life that is sought after so heavily in our day and one's financial status is the key to the door of enjoying the good life. Therefore when a word such as "suffering" makes its way into many church doors, it is immediately frowned upon and rejected, because nobody wants anything to do with lack as opposed to prosperity or sickness as opposed to health. The words "suffer", "broke", "poor", "sick", "affliction", "need", "weak", and "going thru" are words that no one wants to be characterized by and to the one who believes that prosperity is guaranteed in Jesus, these words are an anathema, contrary to what the Bible teaches about who a Christian is and how they are supposed to live. So, this post will focus on what the Bible says about suffering and what its place is in the life of a follower of Jesus. Do Christians suffer? Did Jesus die to end suffering? Does God allow suffering?

When I say “suffering”, I’m talking about something that everyone experiences on some level. God sends rain upon the just and the unjust according to Matthew 5:45, and suffering is common to both the Christian and the one who does not trust in the person and work of Christ. All experience suffering in one form or another: illness, loss of loved ones, natural disasters, calamity, job loss, hunger, pain, trying times, or violence. Suffering can be pictured as a fiery furnace that all kinds of elements are placed into, yet all are not refined. The difference between the Christian and the unbeliever is what their outcome is in the furnace of suffering. The Christian is said to be refined as pure gold is refined in the fiery furnace of suffering, while the unbeliever is left without true hope and will bear the weight of their sufferings themselves.The Bible mentions three kinds of suffering, the latter two of which I am dealing with in this post.

1) Consequential suffering: this has to do with the suffering that comes because of  civil disobedience, lawbreaking, or sin. This would be like going to jail for murder. Although murder can be forgiven in God's sight, there would still be civil consequences for the crime such as life in prison.(1 Peter 2:20)
2) Discipline from the Lord: this is the suffering that Hebrews 12:11 speaks of. God's discipline in our lives may seem more painful than pleasant, but in the end the Lord uses it to produce the fruit of righteousness in our lives.
3) Christ-exalting suffering: This kind of suffering may come through the trials and storms in our lives or through the persecution we face for the sake of Christ. In our trials, our faith is often tested to expose where our hope lies - and if it is in Christ, it will be to the praise of His glory (1 Peter 1:7). Persecution is suffering that has been seen throughout the church for hundreds of years. From the martyrs of the early church, to the missionaries in countries today all across the world, persecution for the sake of the gospel remains and millions have lost their lives, families, and freedom for the sake of the gospel. The words of Christ to His followers hold true in the midst of persecution, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matt 5:10-11)

This post is going to focus on two responses to suffering.
1) The Prosperity Gospel’s response to suffering
2) The Bible’s response to suffering

The Prosperity Gospel’s Response
Just in my own personal experience, when it comes to the topic of suffering in "prosperity" circles, suffering is viewed as Sin’s next door neighbor. The two are intertwined in that they are both viewed as evil, from the devil, and both are not talked about when it comes to the prosperity teachings we often hear. Satan is the one who causes people to suffer and God is totally opposed to suffering and wants no one to experience it. According to the health and wealth teachings, Christians do not have to suffer. People suffer only because they do not have sufficient knowledge of who they are in Christ and what God's will is for them. People also suffer because they lack faith to conquer pain or affliction or lack. According to the gospel of health and wealth, the many believers who lack sufficient knowledge of who they are in Jesus are still in bondage to Satan in their finances, health, and relationships. Suffering, in this perspective, is connected to disobedience of God's laws. As I wrote previously in the "Curse of Poverty" post, Deuteronomy 28's curses are often said to come upon or remain upon those who do not obey God's Word. The logic behind the prosperity message is “You obey, you prosper; don’t obey, you suffer.”
Furthermore, suffering is seen as "religious". Teachers who preach that you will suffer are regarded by health and wealth advocates as old-fashioned, weak, and religious. God only allows suffering on His people because they allow it. When Christians do not take advantage of their rights to be healed and prosperous because of Jesus, then God's hands are tied and He will only allow what we allow. In the health and wealth gospel, Satan has sovereign power to steal from you, kill you, and destroy you before your time. All suffering is from Satan and it is up to the Christian to produce enough faith to break free from it. God's will is not for anyone to suffer.
A popular text that many use to prove that God is against suffering and would never want any believer to suffer, but watches as a compassionate bystander waiting to be asked to intervene, is James 1:13-15 which states:

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

 Without spending too much time unpacking this verse, first observe how the trials or temptations mentioned in this verse are temptations to sin. In the previous verses, "temptations" in the King James Version is the same as the word trial. During the time when James wrote this letter, the word temptation did not have such a negative connotation associated with it, but could also mean a good testing. The flow of thought in verse 13 is: temptation ----> desire ---->sin ----> death. The temptation according to this verse springs from our being lured by our own desires. God tempts no one to sin, but He does test our hearts through various trials. Scripture confirms this in passages such as Deut.8:2; 13:3; 1 Chron.29:17; 2 Chron.32:31; Ps.7:9; Jer.17:10; 1 Thess.2:4, that the Lord tests the hearts of men which tests are also tests of our faith (Jas. 1:3; 1 Pet. 1:7; Heb. 11:17). This verse is not saying that God's will is that we never suffer. It is saying that God has nothing to do with tempting anyone to sin. James follows this by stating that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." God is actively behind the trial which is used for the testing of faith to produce endurance: a good gift (James 1:3), but God is not behind the desire within us that takes a trial and uses it as a temptation to sin. What are the responses?

Suffering is neglected. 
The prosperity gospel responds to the issue of suffering by avoiding the issue altogether. If a Christian is suffering, then, according to the prosperity gospel, they are allowing Satan to have dominion in their life. The way to defeat any suffering is through the "power of your words". The Word of Faith movement believes that when you pray things over yourself or confess things over yourself, by either speaking to the devil and "taking authority over him" or positively confessing good things over yourself instead of saying how you actually feel, you can overcome any pain or affliction in life. Suffering is viewed as something that is evil, yet controllable and all one has to do is resist the devil, speak the right words over their life, and refuse to accept the present reality of their suffering. 
The prosperity gospel never provides any comfort to the afflicted in their suffering. It never provides any consolation that God is ultimately in control of every situation. Rather, this message of health and wealth convinces you that you are in control, and if you are suffering or have embraced suffering, then you have allowed it, not God, and that you have the ability to stop it. Beneath this kind of response to suffering is the attitude that “I don’t have to accept this! I am better than this!” What the prosperity gospel misses greatly is the fact that much of our suffering is beyond our control and it doesn’t simply end when we tell it to. 

The prosperity gospel also concludes that the believer is in a state of disobedience or under a curse when they encounter suffering and this couldn’t be more false. It concludes that suffering comes when the believer does not know enough about Jesus, whose voice they hear and follow, or that they don't have enough faith in order to get out of their circumstance. For this reason, the believer’s rights and privileges are often emphasized when it comes to this issue of suffering and the message of prosperity believes that the Christian ought not to suffer and has a right not to suffer. It is often said by health and wealth teachers that Jesus suffered so that you would not have to suffer, but the reality is that the Bible teaches that Jesus suffered, so you will suffer. This suffering that the Christian will go through is a gift (Phil 2:29). It is through suffering for the sake of Christ that we become heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). Our sufferings are part of the "all things" that are working to conform us into the image of Jesus (Romans 8:28-29). Philippians 3:10 says that it is through sharing in the sufferings of Christ, that we will obtain the resurrection from the dead. This does not mean that we need to be physically crucified in order to be resurrected, but it means that in Christ we have a sympathetic and understanding Savior who feels with us in our sufferings. Our sufferings drive us to Christ. Yes, suffering is painful, its sad, its grieving, and it is hard; yet suffering is also character producing, endurance building, hope anticipating, and God-glorifying (Romans 5:3-5). Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22)

Suffering is rejected. 
To embrace suffering is to “make Satan’s job to kill, steal, and destroy, much easier.” (Gloria Copeland, “God’s Will is Prosperity”, 106). The notion that God could use suffering for His glory and the Christian’s joy is a completely foreign concept to Word of Faith teachers. Suffering is of the devil, and because God wants you prosperous, suffering is the devil’s way of trying to stop that from happening. To believe that God would allow or work through suffering is doubtful, weak, and “blasphemous”, as some health and wealth teachers say. As I stated previously, Word of Faith teachers believe that God will stand by and watch you suffer and be kicked around by the devil because you allowed it, and He only allows what you allow. When a Christian is suffering, the prosperity gospel tells them to refuse, fight, react, and resist because suffering is your enemy and it is against your success. 

The Bible’s Response

 Suffering is a product of the sinful world that we live in. When God created this earth, suffering was not a part of it. Suffering came into this world because of the decision Adam and Eve made to rebel against God by eating of the tree that God forbade. Because of Adam and Eve's rejection of God, all kinds of natural calamity, evil, pain, and suffering have come into the world affecting all who have ever lived. Struggle and disaster has touched every age, pain is something everyone has felt, and suffering has followed all men from the greatest to the least. Suffering is evil in that it is a fruit of man's evil decision, but it is good in that the Lord uses it to accomplish His holy and wise purposes. Behind every case of affliction and evil intention recorded in the scripture is a sinful man or the devil. But behind every evil intention of man or devil in causing suffering, there stands God with a holy, good, loving and wise purpose that never fails. This is why when a prosecuting Satan asks for the life of Job, he is given permission by God to inflict Job with boils, kill his family, take everything he owned, yet God was still glorified in the end even through the sufferings of Job (Job 1:6-2:10)

Or look at the life of Joseph. The intention of Joseph's brothers in his suffering was inherently wicked. Their hatred for Joseph was real, their intent was to kill him, and their throwing him into a pit and selling him into slavery was beyond sinful. Joseph, at the end of Genesis, is recorded as saying to his brothers "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive..." (Genesis 50:20). This circumstance was one of suffering. Joseph's brothers' intentions were evil. God's intent, in the same circumstance, was good. God was not caught off guard in Joseph's case or in any case of suffering, but rather, He was at work the entire time actively working in and through the hatred of Joseph's brothers, the arrival of the Egyptian slave traders, and the selection of Joseph by Potiphar, and using it for His glorious purposes. Joseph's brothers didn't intend to make Joseph the Vice President of Egypt, but Psalm 105:17 says that God "sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave..." Based on these passages, to deny suffering or to wield it as a consequence of disobedience (only) is to limit the power and purpose of God in accomplishing what He intends to accomplish. Here are some words from Ecclesiastes that confirm the goodness of God in working through suffering. 

Consider the work of God:
     who can make straight what he has made crooked?

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. (Eccl. 7:13-14)

 What does the Christian do with suffering? 

We should embrace it. 

Christians will face sickness, death, loss of loved ones, loss of a job, trying times, strained and severed relationships, spiritual warfare, hurt and pain, and the long list of suffering given by Paul in Romans 8:35. The Christian can embrace suffering because as bad and as intense as some of these things are, the Christian realizes that they are not his greatest problem - sin is. The Word of Faith movement sees suffering and lack as the Christian's greatest problem, and therefore it sees health and wealth as the greatest treasure. The truth of the matter is that sin's effects are much worse than even the most terrible of earthly sufferings. Because of sin, we face God’s wrath and punishment. Sin is our greatest problem, and because of our sin, we deserve far worse than any sickness, pain, or even physical death. We deserve eternal separation from all that is good, pure, right, and lovely. We deserve a cancer that will eat at our souls forever, and ages upon ages of spiritual emptiness and bankruptcy. Once we realize that our greatest problem is sin, we will see that we are not entitled to anything, but God has been gracious in giving us so much more. If we are honest with ourselves and search our hearts and think of the ways that we have sinned against God in our thoughts, words and actions, hopefully we will see that we deserve far worse than any suffering we have or will ever face on this earth, and God has been gracious in not giving that to us. In the gospel Jesus eliminates our greatest problem. On the cross, He willingly and lovingly bears the penalty for our sins and gives us eternal fellowship with the Father. It is on this basis of the good news of the gospel that the Christian can face any kind of suffering that serves to work against them, because the God of the Universe is now for them in Jesus. It is with this confidence that Paul asks the rhetorical questions in Romans 8:31-35 " If God is for us, who can be against us?   He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.   Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?"
If God gave His Son to bear the penalty for our mountains of sins, will He not much more take care of us in the midst of our temporary and earthly sufferings? If God did not let our heinous crimes of sin separate us from Him forever, will he not much more ensure that tribulation and distress will not separate us? If Jesus can endure suffering under God's wrath, can He not much more give us the strength to endure earthly sufferings? If Jesus can take something as evil as death and use death to defeat death, is it too hard for Him to use death to work for our good in making it a doorway for eternal life?  In the gospel, Jesus takes our greatest trials,sufferings, and afflictions and uses what would seek to destroy us to strengthen us and conform us into His image. This is how we can embrace suffering in a Christ-exalting way.

We should rejoice in it.  

Romans 5:3-5 gives Paul’s thoughts on the Christian’s response to the doctrine of justification. He begins in verse 1 by stating that because of our being justified and declared righteous before God, we have peace with God because of Jesus. In addition to peace with God, we also have access, through believing and trusting in the finished work of Christ, into grace. Paul continues by saying that because of our justification we can rejoice in hope and anticipation that God will glorify Himself by bringing us to Himself forever.  In addition to rejoicing because of our future hope, Paul states that more than that, we rejoice in our  sufferings. The day hasn’t come when suffering will cease. The rejoicing Paul is speaking of is in the present tense. There is still pain, persecution, and affliction now. While the prosperity gospel suggests that God will remove these things now, Paul suggests that we rejoice in these things now, mindful that the suffering that we face produces patience or endurance. The suffering that once produced despair and hopelessness is now producing patience and endurance. Notice that the list doesn’t end at endurance, but continues, stating that endurance produces character and character produces hope (remember that this all begins with suffering). In short, suffering produces hope in God; an unashamed and steadfast hope that we will one day be free from this fallen world and taken to spend forever with Him in a new one. What assures the Christian of this? An end to his present suffering? The good life? No, our assurance is God’s love poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. The love of God is what comforts, strengthens, and encourages the Christian in the face of suffering. This love isn't defined by  what He can do to eliminate my suffering, or what he can do to give me a prosperous, suffering-free, healthy life. This love is defined and demonstrated in the death of Christ. Romans 5:8 Paul states, "but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Conclusion

Unfortunately, this was not an exhaustive (exhausting, maybe) study on what the Bible says about suffering. I left many scriptures out and examples of those who experienced suffering in the Bible. This may even cause me to write a second post about this particular topic, but until then, we must conclude that suffering is a crooked bat used by God to hit grand slams for His glory and our joy. While the suffering that we face is very real and very anguishing, God chooses to use this tool with the purpose of conforming us into the image of Christ and working out His sovereign purposes in the world. To deny, ignore, or reject suffering  is to imply that we know better than God about His will for our lives and His purposes in creation and redemption. As Christians we do not have to run from suffering, but we are encouraged to embrace it and rejoice in it, realizing what a privilege it is to participate in glorifying God through showing the world that even the greatest trials against His people only serve to strengthen them and draw them closer to Christ.

Abraham's Big Proof Text...

 I missed a big proof text in the last post concerning the blessing of Abraham. I wanted to address it here in a shorter post because its huge to think about when weighing out what the Bible says about the "Blessing of Abraham".

Acts 3:25-26  
 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

What is the blessing of Abraham doing in this verse?
1) All the families of the earth will be blessed through Abraham's offspring.
2) To be blessed is to be turned from your wickedness through Jesus,God's servant.
3) God sends Jesus, His servant, to Israel first to bless them...and then to the world so that all the families of the earth can be blessed and turned from their wickedness.

Where does Peter (the one who is speaking in Acts 3) get this interpretation from?
Genesis 12:3
Genesis 12:3 "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.”

If this is how Peter interprets this verse in Genesis, then how has this verse acquired the interpretation that we hear so often today? Peter never mentions guaranteed wealth or wealth being because of Abraham. Peter does make a beeline to Jesus in his interpretation of Genesis 12:3. Jesus is the promised offspring (not offsprings, but offspring singular) (Galatians 3:16) that Peter is talking about in Acts 3:25 and it is through Jesus that all the families of the earth will be blessed.

What does blessed mean in Acts 3:25-26?
Does blessed in this verse indicate guaranteed success in life to all who are in Jesus? Does blessed in this context indicate prosperity or guaranteed health? Peter doesn't allude to any of these things in any sort of way. Rather, the blessing he refers to, as he is talking to the Jewish audience in Acts 3, is the blessing that comes when Jesus turns "every one of you from your wickedness." The blessing is spiritual. It delivers us from something much worse than a bodily sickness or shattered finances.Jesus was raised up by God, sent first to the house of Israel, and then to the rest of the world for the forgiveness of sins and the turning of mens' hearts towards God.

As I have concluded in the last posts, so I will do with this one. Taking the blood of Jesus and using it to acquire earthly and temporary provisions as an end greatly reduces its meaning and worth. The Bible does not teach that we can use Jesus blood and Abraham's blessing as an extreme makeover for life. The reason that we lean more towards applying these things in this way is because the things of this present life are elevated over the things of eternity. Sin is minimized, mocked, and laughed at while people give money away in droves "sowing for healing" or "financial blessing". Many ministers preach with passion that God wants to bless you NOW, while "the glory that WILL BE revealed" is pushed aside for later. Once again I am not against the Lord's blessing and healing of His people - when He sovereignly chooses to. I am 100% for that kind of blessing and I believe the Bible is too. The error comes when the Bible used to make these things normative and guaranteed when they are not. So what is a Christian to do? Next post.