Prosperity gospel or also known as the word of faith is, I believe is one of the greatest adversaries to the true gospel in the church today. The present circumstances we face right now as a country has brought to light some of the most egregious messages of these church leaders and teachers that espouse this type of belief. It may sound provocative to ask this but, did the apostles die defending a gospel that says you can just believe and then receive wealth, health, success, & happiness? I stop and think of these things and can’t comprehend why this is so popular, but then I’ll admit I attended two very well-known churches that would fall under this category. I know many of you have certain ministries in mind and I’d bet I have the same ones, too. However, I am confident the message of the word of faith is much more widespread then you’d imagine.
When we elevate ourselves and our self-worth above God and present a gospel that only tells people that they’re awesome just the way they are and they are loved by Jesus we’re missing pieces. Have you ever completed a puzzle and got to the last piece to only find out it was missing? It makes the image incomplete and for those OCD folks it is annoying. Can you see the subject of the puzzle? Sure, but that one glaring missing piece stands out. Presenting an incomplete gospel diminishes all the power of it. Sure, it’s got the image of it, just like these word of faith ministries. They say the right things to stir up the image of God’s blessings we can possess but there’s a piece missing and it’s really obvious when you are paying attention. This pandemic and all the struggle that it brings has shown these missing pieces in their messages.
I started a flower garden on my patio and so far, I haven’t killed all of them yet. I began to read online how to tend to these plants and do you know when a seed is planted it must die before it breaks forth to produce fruit. I like what Two Minute Theology says, “Can you dig up the plant, and find it’s seed down at the bottom, with plantybits growing from its insides? No! It’s essentially died to itself! It ceases to be a seed in order that the plant would live, it can no longer find its identity in that of its old self, a seed. And in this way, it has died, it has ceased to exist as its original self.”
Why am I telling you about plants and seeds? Because the part of the gospel that many have become accustomed to leaving out or quickly glossing over is the truth of our sinfulness and our need for repentance. Dying to ourselves just like these seeds. Yes, I’ve heard that line “ask for forgiveness and just believe and you’ll be saved.” I’ll be completely transparent here, I did that, and I wasn’t. At 12 years old, I didn’t know how my sin broke God’s law and separated me from Him. The 10 Commandments or the righteous laws, are like a mirror we look upon to show us our sin.
Romans 3:19-20 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
No human being will be justified. Matthew Henry’s commentary says, “It is in vain to seek for justification by the works of the law. All must plead guilty. Guilty before God, is a dreadful word; but no man can be justified by a law which condemns him for breaking it. The corruption in our nature, will forever stop any justification by our own works.”
Okay, I know this is going down a pretty rough path but stay with me. I truly found my salvation when I finally got this.
We’re all guilty of breaking the law. That gospel is offensive and not popular and it’s certainly not telling me that God thinks I’m awesome and deserving of all the things I want in this world. It offends my pride. It’s telling me that I can in no way work my way out of this and earn righteousness. That verse in Matthew 7:21-23 used to strike such a fear in me and I never understood why. This is Jesus saying, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
I would collapse under the idea that I could very well hear these words. Now, when you feel the crushing weight of this truth and see who you really are that is exactly when you can see Jesus is the only way to be saved.
John 16:23-26 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
This struggle we face right now seems to root up all types of emotions and when we’re not planted in His Word, in Christ, we will be manipulated because of our ignorance. We’ll follow anyone that offers a positive message that looks like hope and a reprieve from our pain. I plead once again to study the scriptures. God speaks through every word written. The gospel in and of itself is the power that leads to salvation. Nothing needs to be added or taken away to make it more popular or palatable.
Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Reframing Faith 