Faith, Works and the Prosperity Gospel
Posted: 15 September, 2011
By Fikayo Adeyemo
Administrator
Administrator
The popularity of the prosperity gospel is not in doubt. It is a
movement that greatly satisfies the innate desires of human nature
- both to be fixated on earth and earthly experience as well as to
see all things as "work and effect".
What is now being observed, which is very disturbing, is the error
of the movement in labelling works as faith, and proceeding to
replace the core ingredient of faith, which is trust, with a false core
which is "rights". But when rights become prominent in the New
Covenant equation, we should know that grace and mercy would
take back-seat. The door is therefore opened to legalism again.
Redefining Faith
On a careful examination of what prosperity gospel now calls faith,
we see a subtle movement whereby the sheer trustworthiness of
God to perform what He has promised is replaced with the ability
of man to come up with formulae and great EFFORTS of
affirmation to secure and EARN the fulfilment of the promise.
Under this scenario, what is paramount is no longer trustful prayer
of the Christian to his heavenly Father, but the ability of the
"knowledgeable" believer who knows his fundamental "rights" very
well to wrench it from the Father. Thus, prayer, as we all know it
disappears, only to be replaced by repetitive affirmations. (I used to
do a lot of this when I was in the occult before God saved me - for
all such repetitive declarations belong properly in the occult,
mysticism and psychicism).
Back to Basics
But the proponents of prosperity gospel claim that their approach
is the REAL FAITH in operation. So, we need to ask ourselves the
basic questions first: What is faith? What is Works? Is it still faith if
it is the volume and effort of human input that EARNS the purported
blessing of God? Is it still faith when a blessing is earned by the
tenacity of positive repetitions (uncanningly similar to incantations!)
that a believer can muster to "say it and claim it"? Where then is the
simple childlike trust in God, knowing that He knows best and He
is also sovereign? (The reader may wish to look at my treatment of
these foundational questions under the article, "Work, Works and
Faith Primer".
It is a grievous error to say that faith earns. No. Faith does not earn.
It RECEIVES. It is Work that earns. Anything that earns is "works",
whether we admit it or not.
The Faith of Abraham
The so-called prosperity gospel turns faith on its head when it
equates inability with unbelief or living in sin. A prosperity preacher
actually said Abraham took 25 years to have the son of promise
because of unbelief for 24 years, otherwise, he would have been
able to successfully "claim" the promised Isaac into existence by
the age of 76 instead of 100. While such words may be intended to
stir up the hearers to increase their faith in the almighty power of
God, the fact remains that it is erroneous teaching that must be
repented of. The Bible makes it quite clear that Abraham
"...NOT BEING WEAK IN FAITH, (he) did not consider his own body,
already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the
deadness of Sarah's womb. HE DID NOT WAVER AT THE
PROMISE OF GOD THROUGH UNBELIEF, but was strengthened in
faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that
what He had promised He was also able to perform."
Romans 4: 19-21 (Emphasis are my additions)
A view of Christianity that discounts God's sovereignty (presumably
based on ill-understood scriptural promises or even outright
human lustful craving) is not Christianity at all. Similarly, such a
thoroughly programmable God as presented by prosperity gospel,
who can both be accurately anticipated and/or arm-twisted to be
practically led by the nose because "He has bound Himself by His
word" is definitely not the Jehovah of the Scriptures.
Validity of Prosperity
Both true gospel and prosperity gospel accept prosperity as a
divine gift and a valid characteristic of the Christian. The difference
is that true gospel makes salvation the reason for prosperity while
prosperity gospel makes prosperity the reason for salvation.
Therefore, to the prosperity gospeller, the attainment of prosperity
is the sine qua non of genuine Christian faith. To such people,
prosperity is first defined in monetary terms and second, any
non-prospering Christian (i.e. cash-wise) is either living in sin,
unbelief or has backslid. Everything is measured by cash or
what cash can buy. Their position can be summarised, "Show me
your bank account, and I will tell you the success of your Christian
life."
Brethren, these things ought not to be so. I pray God shines His
light more and more on all our hearts unto more grace to walk the
Christian walk according to the New Covenant pattern.
movement that greatly satisfies the innate desires of human nature
- both to be fixated on earth and earthly experience as well as to
see all things as "work and effect".
What is now being observed, which is very disturbing, is the error
of the movement in labelling works as faith, and proceeding to
replace the core ingredient of faith, which is trust, with a false core
which is "rights". But when rights become prominent in the New
Covenant equation, we should know that grace and mercy would
take back-seat. The door is therefore opened to legalism again.
Redefining Faith
On a careful examination of what prosperity gospel now calls faith,
we see a subtle movement whereby the sheer trustworthiness of
God to perform what He has promised is replaced with the ability
of man to come up with formulae and great EFFORTS of
affirmation to secure and EARN the fulfilment of the promise.
Under this scenario, what is paramount is no longer trustful prayer
of the Christian to his heavenly Father, but the ability of the
"knowledgeable" believer who knows his fundamental "rights" very
well to wrench it from the Father. Thus, prayer, as we all know it
disappears, only to be replaced by repetitive affirmations. (I used to
do a lot of this when I was in the occult before God saved me - for
all such repetitive declarations belong properly in the occult,
mysticism and psychicism).
Back to Basics
But the proponents of prosperity gospel claim that their approach
is the REAL FAITH in operation. So, we need to ask ourselves the
basic questions first: What is faith? What is Works? Is it still faith if
it is the volume and effort of human input that EARNS the purported
blessing of God? Is it still faith when a blessing is earned by the
tenacity of positive repetitions (uncanningly similar to incantations!)
that a believer can muster to "say it and claim it"? Where then is the
simple childlike trust in God, knowing that He knows best and He
is also sovereign? (The reader may wish to look at my treatment of
these foundational questions under the article, "Work, Works and
Faith Primer".
It is a grievous error to say that faith earns. No. Faith does not earn.
It RECEIVES. It is Work that earns. Anything that earns is "works",
whether we admit it or not.
The Faith of Abraham
The so-called prosperity gospel turns faith on its head when it
equates inability with unbelief or living in sin. A prosperity preacher
actually said Abraham took 25 years to have the son of promise
because of unbelief for 24 years, otherwise, he would have been
able to successfully "claim" the promised Isaac into existence by
the age of 76 instead of 100. While such words may be intended to
stir up the hearers to increase their faith in the almighty power of
God, the fact remains that it is erroneous teaching that must be
repented of. The Bible makes it quite clear that Abraham
"...NOT BEING WEAK IN FAITH, (he) did not consider his own body,
already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the
deadness of Sarah's womb. HE DID NOT WAVER AT THE
PROMISE OF GOD THROUGH UNBELIEF, but was strengthened in
faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that
what He had promised He was also able to perform."
Romans 4: 19-21 (Emphasis are my additions)
A view of Christianity that discounts God's sovereignty (presumably
based on ill-understood scriptural promises or even outright
human lustful craving) is not Christianity at all. Similarly, such a
thoroughly programmable God as presented by prosperity gospel,
who can both be accurately anticipated and/or arm-twisted to be
practically led by the nose because "He has bound Himself by His
word" is definitely not the Jehovah of the Scriptures.
Validity of Prosperity
Both true gospel and prosperity gospel accept prosperity as a
divine gift and a valid characteristic of the Christian. The difference
is that true gospel makes salvation the reason for prosperity while
prosperity gospel makes prosperity the reason for salvation.
Therefore, to the prosperity gospeller, the attainment of prosperity
is the sine qua non of genuine Christian faith. To such people,
prosperity is first defined in monetary terms and second, any
non-prospering Christian (i.e. cash-wise) is either living in sin,
unbelief or has backslid. Everything is measured by cash or
what cash can buy. Their position can be summarised, "Show me
your bank account, and I will tell you the success of your Christian
life."
Brethren, these things ought not to be so. I pray God shines His
light more and more on all our hearts unto more grace to walk the
Christian walk according to the New Covenant pattern.
| Fikayo Adeyemo |
| . |
| ORG |
UPHOLDING THE NEW COVENANT PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE
|
Join us in this exciting biblical exposition series Genesis 1: 1 |
|
| ALL THE ARTICLES |
HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
| Copyright Fikayo Adeyemo, 2010-2012 |
Current user is:
| not signed in |
| Hey! Jesus calls you, NOW! Have you ever accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour? We were all born with the sinful nature of Adam which God cannot fellowship with. The Good News is that God therefore gave Jesus to us to redeem the situation. It is only by receiving this provision of God that you can have spiritual salvation and enjoy eternity in heaven with God. I implore you to allow Jesus into your life now. Yield yourself to Him. Stop the struggle and religious debates. While he who is spiritually saved will enter into the Kingdom of God (which is commonly seen as the Christian faith), this is not a call to the Christian “religion”, but a call to the salvation of your soul. For no religion can save – not even Christianity as a religion. So, being born into a Christian family or going to church or mosque, or trying to live a devout life will not save you. Whatever your religion, whatever moral standing you have, you must repent of your sins and personally receive Jesus into your life. So, now, Jesus is calling you one more time. What shall your response be? |
