Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / New
Stats: 3,153,348 members, 7,819,237 topics. Date: Monday, 06 May 2024 at 01:10 PM

What Does The Bible Say About The Prosperity Gospel? - Religion - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Religion / What Does The Bible Say About The Prosperity Gospel? (722 Views)

What Does The Bible Say About Tattoos / Body Piercings? / The Bankruptcy Of The Prosperity Gospel: An Exercise In Biblical And Theological / What Does The Bible Say About Make-up? (2) (3) (4)

(1) (Reply)

What Does The Bible Say About The Prosperity Gospel? by Nobody: 12:15pm On Sep 04, 2011
In the prosperity gospel, also known as the “Word of Faith,” the believer is told to use God, whereas the truth of biblical Christianity is just the opposite—God uses the believer. Word of Faith or 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 mind” supposed godliness was a means of gain and their desire for riches was a trap that brought them “into ruin and destruction” (v. 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” (v. 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. [b]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. [/b]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 in the Word of Faith movement is[b] “positive confession.” [/b]This refers to the teaching that words themselves have creative power. What you say, Word of Faith 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 4:13-16 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 and then vanishes.” [/b]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.

[b]Instead of stressing the importance of wealth, the Bible warns against pursuing it.
Believers, especially leaders in the church (1 Timothy 3:3), are to be free from the love of money (Hebrews 13:5). The love of money leads to all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). 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 12:15). In sharp contrast to the Word of Faith 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 6:19). The irreconcilable contradictions between prosperity teaching and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is best summed up in the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:24, “You cannot serve both God and money.”

http://www.gotquestions.org/prosperity-gospel.html
Re: What Does The Bible Say About The Prosperity Gospel? by HISchild: 3:58pm On Sep 04, 2011
Prosperity gospels are indicative of the status of churches all over the world at this time in history, in these very last days (that is, under the righteous judgment of GOD for spiritual harlotry),

"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" - 1 Peter 4:17
--------
"A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked." - Psalm 37:16

"Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith." - Proverbs 15:16
Re: What Does The Bible Say About The Prosperity Gospel? by Joagbaje(m): 5:04pm On Sep 04, 2011
frosbel:

In the prosperity gospel, also known as the “Word of Faith,

Thats your own definition . You got it all wrong. There is no prosperity gospel. There is only one gospel and it's a gospel of prosperity.  Prosperity's a state of wellbeing Spirit soul and body.A state of dominion over the works of the enemy. Sin ,sickness, poverty ,failure and demonic oppression. A christian is called into a blessing. It simply means to walk in your inheritance in God.

3 John 1:2
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.


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

Nobody teaches such nonsense . We are only hearing it from you. We exist for God. Not the other way round.

Word of Faith or 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.

You need to differentiate between the person of the holy spirit and the anointing of the holy spirit.  Power is given to a believer to function in the will of God. You can put the power to work at will. Didn't you hear paul say there should be no prophecies more than 2 or 3 in a service. Is it possible to shut the holy spirit down? You answer .for yourself. Why not research before criticising.

1 Corinthians 14:32
32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.


This means we can direct or control the manifestation of the spirit. It is different from controling the holy spirit .

(1) (Reply)

Lin-sanity! New York Knicks Star Gaurd Jeremy Lin: Playing For Jesus Christ / Boko Haram Is A Planned Islamic Jihad Against Christians - Archbishop Peter Akin / Sources Of Destruction Of Man

(Go Up)

Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health
religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket

Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 27
Disclaimer: Every Nairaland member is solely responsible for anything that he/she posts or uploads on Nairaland.