The prosperity gospel it alludes to the false doctrines that teach the theme of abundance as the center of their preaching, misrepresenting the word of the Lord and placing the gospel of the Kingdom in second place, which is the main essence of the Christian foundation.
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What is the prosperity gospel about?
Currently this type of false gospel He preaches different messages with many names such as “positive confession theology”, “the gospel of health and riches”, “speak it and receive it”, “step on it and snatch it”, among many others.
This type of false doctrine it focuses on money, health, abundance and leaves aside the message of the cross, of the second coming of Christ. They do not mention anything that could alienate the audience because their purpose is focused on the crowds, on money covenants, on offerings for specific purposes, among other things that are contrary to the word of God.
In this sense, the prosperity gospel teaches us that the Lord wants believers to be rich, always healthy and happy. Which contradicts what the Bible states regarding the processes by which we must face ourselves as children of God, where we will not always be in the best physical, economic or emotional conditions, since we are human.
In the Bible we can see clear examples that the biblical characters who were servants of God had to go through vicissitudes and adversities before obtaining victory, such as Job, Abraham, Joseph, David, Moses, Daniel, among others.
Within this prosperity gospel we find different teachers who teach their followers to pray specifically for material things, in fact they demand that God have an abundant life.
Wrong Foundations of the Prosperity Gospel
Within the prosperity gospel there are five doctrines that are based on erroneous foundations of what the word indicates, such as:
1.- The Abrahamic covenant as a means for the right to acquire material goods
The Abrahamic covenant observed in the book of Genesis 12,15,17,22 is used within the prosperity gospel, and it is important that the theologians of this false gospel recognize that much of the Holy Scriptures are a record of the fulfillment of the pact with Abraham, but it is not good that they maintain an orthodox vision of this pact, since they wrongly visualize the beginning of the pact, and also incorrectly see the implementation of said pact.
The prosperity gospel teaches that the main purpose of the covenant with Abraham was the material blessing by the Lord. As now believers are Abraham’s spiritual children, where they claim that as Christians we have inherited those financial blessings.
The teachers of prosperity are based on the book of Galatians 3:14 “the blessing of Abraham that comes upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.” However, they are not taking into account what the second half of the verse says: “so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Certainly in this specific verse, Paul is reminding the Galatians of the spiritual blessings associated with the salvation and it does not refer to the material blessing of riches.
2.- The atonement of Jesus expands to the “sin” of material poverty
The prosperity gospel holds that both physical and mental health financial prosperity, they have been endowed in the atonement. In addition, it is stated that the basic foundation of the Christian life is to have the knowledge that God has placed our sin, anguish, sadness, illness, discomfort and poverty on Jesus at the moment of his sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary.
This misconception about the scope of the atonement arises from two errors that proponents of the prosperity gospel make.
First, many prosperers of prosperity theology have a misconception regarding the life of Jesus. For example, Professor John Avanzini pointed out in a TBN program that Jesus lived in a big and beautiful house and that he handled large sums of money, and that he even wore designer clothes.
In this way we can see that the prosperity gospel is based on a distorted vision of the life of Jesus, which leads us to think that they also have a misinterpretation of Christ’s death on the cross.
Another of the errors that lead this false doctrine to have a wrong view about atonement is the misinterpretation of 2 Corinthians 8:9, which states: “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 this superficial reading of the word could lead us to a misinterpretationit is important to know the context, since Paul was teaching the Corinthians that because Christ did so much for them through the atonement, they should divest themselves of their riches in the service of the Savior.
This is why Paul points out in the following verses to give your wealth for brothers in needpointing this out: “At the present moment your abundance supplies their need”, (2 Corinthians 8:14)
3.- Christians must give to obtain a material reward from the Lord
One of the most salient characteristics of prosperity theologians is their fixation on giving. We are encouraged to give generously and confronted with compassionate statements, where we are manipulated by saying that we should give to help and meet the needs of humanity in any aspect of life.
On the other hand, they also point out that they are destined or have been called to finance the gospel in the nations and the entire world. These statements may seem favorable, but this emphasis on giving is based on motives that are anything but philanthropic.
This teaching is based on what the prosperity teacher Robert Tilton points out as the “Law of Compensation.” This law is erroneously based on the book of Mark 10:30, where they point out that Christians should give generously to others, because when they do, the Lord gives them back more in return. Therefore, this is a cycle where prosperity never stops.
In this way, the prosperity gospel is built on a foundation of sand that misrepresents the word of God at your convenience and personal benefits. On the other hand, Jesus taught his disciples to “giving without expecting anything in return” (Luke 10:35), but prosperity theologians teach their disciples to give because they will get a great reward that will increase their material goods.
This gives us to understand that they use manipulation, deceit and take advantage of the faith of the believers so that they believe in their lies and the tithes and offerings multiply.
4.- Faith is a self-generated spiritual force that leads to prosperity
Meanwhile he orthodox christianity sees faith as trust in the person of Jesus Christ, the prosperity teachers point out something very different where they state that faith is a spiritual energy, power and force.
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Not far away are the Jehovah’s Witnesses who affirm that the Holy Spirit is an active force, since they do not believe that it refers to the person of Jesus Christ because they do not believe in the trinity.
The prosperity gospel is based on the fact that energy is the force that makes it possible for the laws of the spiritual world to work. In this regard, Copeland, there are certain laws that govern the prosperity manifested in the Word of God.
In this sense, according to the theology of prosperity, faith is not an act of the will attributed by the Lord and based on him, but refers to a spiritual force molded in the human and directed to God.
certainly any false doctrine or theology that sees faith as a means to acquire material benefits instead of justification before the Lord, must be considered incorrect.
5.- Prayer is a tool to force the Lord to award prosperity
Prayer is one of the powerful tools that God left us in his word through which we can maintain a close communion with the Lord. Through it we can also know God more and express our needs, anxieties, fears and sins.
Through prayer we can achieve God’s mercy and salvation. Therefore, it is unheard of that this type of false doctrine uses prayer incorrectly, since Jesus Christ clearly teaches us the correct way to pray:
“You therefore pray in this manner: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13)
In this sense, Jesus taught us that prayer has as its main motive to exalt the Lord, to thank him for everything he gives us, for food, for his mercy. He teaches us to forgive those who offend us, just as the Lord does.
In the same way, it teaches us to approach God through prayer, since when he came to this earth he went into the mountains to pray for hours. In other words, he teaches us through his example the importance of praying and relating to the Father, who is our source of life and life in abundance.
At no time does Jesus teach us the love of money or material goods. He also does not emphasize boasting about what we have. In addition, he points out that to the extent that we give, we will receive; on the contrary, he teaches us to give selflessly and to submit to the will of the Father.
He tells us about the rich and the consequences of having love for money, he tells us about the spiritual plane more than the earthly because the latter is ephemeral. Whereby the prosperity gospel It is based on the doctrine of men and false interpretations that are adequate to the personal interests of the leaders, who seek to increase the members of their churches to obtain more income that allows them to be prosperous and obtain material wealth that is far from spiritual wealth.
In this sense, these doctrines that emphasize the love of money, show us that we are in the end times where we must be attentive and discern what is correct and what is outside the biblical principles established in the word. So prosperity gospel preachers often point out that “We do not have because we do not ask” (James 4:2). They prompt us to pray for personal success in all aspects of our lives.
In this regard, Creflo Dollar points out that “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…