What does the Bible say about the Prosperity Gospel / Word of Faith Movement | GotQuestions.org

Today's question is, what does the Bible say about the prosperity gospel? In this video I'll answer that question from a biblical perspective.

Afterwards, as always, I'll share some helpful resources, so stick around until the end. In the prosperity gospel, also known as the

Word of Faith movement, the believer is told to use God, whereas the truth of biblical Christianity is just the opposite—God uses the believer.

Prosperity theology sees the Holy Spirit as a power to be put to use for whatever the believer wills.

The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a person who enables the believer to do God's will.

The prosperity gospel movement closely resembles some of the destructive greed sects that infiltrated the early

Church. Paul and the other apostles were not accommodating to or conciliatory with the false teachers who propagated such heresy.

They identified them as dangerous false teachers and urged Christians to avoid them. Paul warned

Timothy about such men in 1 Timothy 6, 5, 9 -11. These men of corrupt minds supposed godliness was a means of gain, and their desire for riches was a trap that brought them into ruin and destruction.

Verse 9, The pursuit of wealth is a dangerous path for Christians, and one which God warns about. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Verse 10, If riches were a reasonable goal for the godly, Jesus would have pursued it, but he did not, preferring instead to have no place to lay his head.

Matthew 8, 20, and teaching his disciples to do the same. It should also be remembered that the only disciple concerned with wealth was

Judas. Paul said covetousness is idolatry. Ephesians 5, 5, and instructed the

Ephesians to avoid anyone who brought a message of immorality or covetousness. Ephesians 5, 6 -7.

Prosperity teaching prohibits God from working on His own, meaning that God is not Lord of all because He cannot work until we release

Him to do so. Faith, according to the Word of Faith doctrine, is not submissive trust in God.

Faith is a formula by which we manipulate the spiritual laws that prosperity teachers believe govern the universe.

As the name Word of Faith implies, this movement teaches that faith is a matter of what we say, more than whom we trust or what truths we embrace and affirm in our hearts.

A favorite term of prosperity gospel teachers is positive confession. This refers to the teaching that words themselves have creative power.

What you say, prosperity teachers claim, determines everything that happens to you. Your confessions, especially the favors you demand of God, must all be stated positively and without wavering.

Then God is required to answer, as though man could require anything of God. Thus, God's ability to bless us supposedly hangs on our faith.

James 4, verses 13 -16 clearly contradicts this teaching. Now listen, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make money.

Why? You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while, then vanishes.

Far from speaking things into existence in the future, we do not even know what tomorrow will bring or even whether we will be alive.

Instead of stressing the importance of wealth, the Bible warns against pursuing it. Believers, especially leaders in the

Church, 1 Timothy 3, verse 3, are to be free from the love of money, Hebrews 13, verse 5.

The love of money leads to all kinds of evil, 1 Timothy 6, verse 10. Jesus warned,

Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed. A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions,

Luke 12, verse 15. In sharp contrast to the prosperity gospel emphasis on gaining money and possessions in this life,

Jesus said, Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal,

Matthew 6, verse 19. The irrevocable contradictions between prosperity, teaching, and the gospel of our

Lord Jesus Christ is best summed up in the words of Jesus in Matthew 6, verse 24, You cannot serve both

God and money. Want to learn more? Subscribe so you don't miss the next video! Visit GotQuestions .org

for more great content. And check out the details section below this video, there is one book I recommend, along with several related articles.

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