More than a century ago, speaking to what was then the largest congregation in all of Christendom, Charles Spurgeon said: “I think it is unchristian and impious for any Christian to live with the aim of accumulating wealth. You say, ‘Aren’t we supposed to try as hard as we can to get as much money as we can?’ You could do it. I have no doubt that by doing so you can serve the cause of God. But what I said is that living with the goal of accumulating wealth is anti-Christian.”
Over the years, the message being preached in some of the world’s largest churches has changed. In fact, there is a new gospel being preached today. Many names have been attached to this message, such as the “speak it and receive it” gospel, the “tread on it and snatch it” gospel, the “health and riches” gospel, the “prosperity gospel,” and the “prosperity gospel.” theology of positive confession.
Regardless of the name used, the essence of the message is the same. In short, this “prosperity gospel” teaches that God wants believers to be physically healthy, materially wealthy, and personally happy. As Robert Tilton puts it: “I believe it is God’s will that everyone prosper, because that is how I see it in the Word, and not because I have seen it work powerfully in someone else. I do not set my eyes on men, but on God who gives me the power to make wealth.”. Teachers of the prosperity gospel encourage their followers to pray—even to demand of God—for material flourishing.
Five theological errors
Russell Woodbridge and I wrote a book titled “Health, Wealth and Happiness” (“Health, Wealth and Happiness: Has the Prosperity Gospel Overshadowed the Gospel of Christ?”) with the aim of examining the claims of prosper prosperity gospel. Although the book is too comprehensive to summarize here, in this article I will try to review five doctrines that are covered in it, doctrines where the prosperity gospel defends error. As we discern these errors regarding key doctrines, I hope we can clearly see the dangers of this false gospel.
1. The Abrahamic covenant is a means to material right.
The Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12, 15, 17, 22) is one of the theological foundations of the prosperity gospel. It is good that prosperity theologians recognize that much of Scripture is a record of the fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham, but it is bad that they do not hold an orthodox view of this covenant. They incorrectly view the initiation of the covenant, and, more significantly, they incorrectly view the application of said covenant.
In his book “Spreading the Flame,” Edward Pousson expounded the prosperity view on the application of the Abrahamic covenant: “Christians are the spiritual children of Abraham, and the inheritors of the blessings of faith… This inheritance from Abraham unfolds primarily in terms of material rights”. In other words, the prosperity gospel teaches that the primary purpose of Abraham’s covenant was God’s material blessing on him. Since believers are now the spirit children of Abraham, we have inherited these financial blessings. As Kenneth Copeland wrote in his 1974 book “The Laws of Prosperity”: “Since God’s covenant has been established, and prosperity is a provision of this covenant, you have to realize that prosperity now belongs to you!”.
To support this claim, prosperity teachers appeal to Galatians 3:14, which refers to “the blessing of Abraham that comes upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.”. It is interesting, however, that in their appeals to Galatians 3:14 these teachers ignore the second half of the verse: “so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”. Clearly, Paul is reminding the Galatians of the spiritual blessings of salvation, not the material blessing of riches.
two. Jesus’ atonement extends to the “sin” of material poverty.
In his article on Sacred Library “A Theological Evaluation of the Prosperity Gospel,” theologian Ken Sarles notes how the prosperity gospel claims that “Both physical health and financial prosperity have been provided in the atonement.” This observation seems correct in light of Copeland’s claim that “The basic principle of the Christian life is to know that God has placed our sin, discomfort, sickness, sadness, anguish and poverty on Jesus at Calvary.” This misunderstanding of the scope of the atonement arises from two errors that proponents of the prosperity gospel make.
First, many prosperers of prosperity theology have a fundamental misconception about the life of Jesus. For example, Professor John Avanzini proclaimed on a TBN show that Jesus had “a nice house,” “a big house,” “Jesus was handling lots of money,” and even that he “wears designer clothes.” It is easy to see how such a distorted view of the life of Christ could lead to an equally distorted error about the death of Christ.
A second mistake that leads to a wrong view of the atonement is misinterpreting 2 Corinthians 8:9, which says: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that while he was rich, yet for love of you he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich.” Although a cursory reading of this verse might lead us to believe that Paul was teaching about an increase in material wealth, reading it in context reveals that he was, in fact, teaching the opposite principle. In reality, Paul was teaching the Corinthians that since Christ accomplished so much for them through the atonement, they should empty themselves of their riches in the service of the Savior. This is why, just five verses later, Paul urges the Corinthians to give up their wealth for their brothers in need, writing: “At the present moment your abundance supplies their need”2 Corinthians 8:14.
3. Christians give to earn material compensation from God.
One of the most striking characteristics of prosperity theologians is their seeming fixation on giving. We are urged to give generously and confronted with pious statements like: “True prosperity is the ability to use the power of God to meet the needs of humanity in any sphere of life.” Y “We have been called to finance the gospel to the world”. While such statements may seem laudable, this emphasis on giving is based on motives that are anything but philanthropic. The driving force behind this teaching on giving is what prosperity teacher Robert Tilton referred to as the “Law of Compensation.” According to this law, supposedly based on Mark 10:30, Christians are to give generously to others, because when they do, God gives back more in return. This, in turn, leads to a cycle of ever-increasing prosperity, which never stops.
As Gloria Copeland put it in her 2012 book “God’s Will is Prosperity”: “If you give 10 dollars you will receive 1,000, if you give 1,000 you will receive 100,000 … In short, Mark 10:30 is a very good deal”. It is evident, therefore, that the giving doctrine of the prosperity gospel is built on faulty motives. While Jesus taught his disciples to “give without expecting anything in return” (Luke 10:35) prosperity theologians teach their disciples to give because they will get a great return on investment.
Four. Faith is a self-generated spiritual force that leads to prosperity.
While orthodox Christianity understands faith as trust in the person of Jesus Christ, prosperity teachers advocate something quite different. “Faith is a spiritual force, a spiritual energy, a spiritual power. It is this force of faith that makes the laws of the spiritual world work.”writes Copeland. “There are certain laws that govern prosperity revealed in the Word of God. faith makes it work”. Obviously, this is a misunderstanding of the faith. Maybe even heretical.
According to prosperity theology, faith is not a God-given, God-centered act of the will. Rather, it is a spiritual force forged in the human and directed at God. Of course, any theology that views faith primarily as a means to material gain rather than justification before God must be considered inadequate at best.
5. Prayer is a tool to force God to grant prosperity.
Prosperity gospel preachers often point out that “We do not have because we do not ask” (James 4:2). They encourage us to pray for personal success in all areas of life. As Creflo Dollar writes, “When we pray, believing that we have already received what we are praying for, God has no choice but to make our prayers come true… It is a key to achieving results as a Christian.”
Prayers for personal blessing are not inherently evil, but the prosperity gospel’s overemphasis on man makes prayer a tool believers can use to force God to grant their wishes. In prosperity theology, it is man (and not God) who becomes the focus of prayer. Interestingly, prosperity preachers often ignore the second half of James’ teaching on prayer: “They ask and do not receive, because they ask for bad purposes, to spend it on their pleasures” (James 4:3). God does not answer selfish requests that do not honor his Name.
Certainly, all our requests must be known before God (Philippians 4:6), but the prosperity gospel focuses too much on the desires of man, which can lead people to make selfish and superficial prayers that do not bring glory to God. Furthermore, when this is combined with the faith’s doctrine of prosperity, this teaching can lead people to try to manipulate God to get what they want, which is a futile endeavor. This is far from praying saying, “Your will be done.”
false gospel
In light of Scripture, the prosperity gospel is fundamentally wrong. In the end, it is a false gospel due to its faulty vision of the relationship between God and man. Simply put, if the prosperity gospel is true, grace is obsolete, God is irrelevant, and man is the measure of all things. Whether we are talking about the Abrahamic covenant, atonement, giving, faith, or prayer,…