Tuesday, 13 May 2014

The Prosperity Gospel

And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. (Isaiah 58:11)

They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; (Psalm 92:14)

It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. (Proverbs 3:8)

The passage from Psalms is about those who are "planted" or grounded we might say in the house of God. The passage from Proverbs is about those who fear God and depart from evil. Is this the prosperity gospel?

Hardly, even if it was suggesting the God will make us rich for obeying him that is hardly the prosperity gospel either. The real (wicked) prosperity gospel is that by giving money to a man or human organisation I will receive more money from God through other means. It thrives off the occasional testimonies where this happens, and ignores the fact that usually the members just get poorer. People who go to churches that have the prosperity gospel are transformed into christianised gamblers, if that's you I suggest you leave.

No the real (true) prosperity gospel that the Bible teaches is that if you make Jesus your priority, obey him and disregard the things of this world that scream for your attention, you will have a strong relationship with him. Therefore you will have no reason to be afraid under any circumstances in this life or the next. In addition he will add to you a quality of life you have not experienced before, there will also be hard times, but they will seem better than the good times before you gave your life to Jesus. Unshakable joy; that is true prosperity, no amount of money can buy that.

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