Prosperity Gospel and False Teachers
Prosperity Gospel, blab it and grab it, name it and claim it, health and wealth... false teachers who say you need to "give to get" come in many flavors. Beware of false doctrines and false teachers. We are called to walk in truth and light and worship the one true God. What do we mean when we say prosperity gospel? What makes a false teacher and why do we need to be aware of them? How do we know what the truth is and if someone is a false teacher? NOTES: This Weeks Whiskey: Stranahan's Blue Peak single malt whiskey Prosperity Gospel relies on ideas like, "that the more money you give, the more money you'll get"... "doesn't a good God what you to be prosperous, happy and healthy?" It uses hope and promises of "the good life" and part-truths, to emotionally manipulate people to give money they don't have to make false teachers wealthy The "Health and Wealth Gospel" treats God like a magic genie, who is obligated to give us what we want if we just have enough faith or say the right prayer or give enough money Suffering, hardship, illness or poverty are not necessarily due to people sinning or being unfaithful to God (but the prosperity gospel would tell you it is) A large indicator of a false teacher is that they don't preach on or talk about suffering. They don't have a theology of suffering because they are preaching a false gospel about how god wants to deliver us from suffering, if we just give enough and have enough faith. Idolatry is what happens when we focus more on the gifts, then the Giver. Prosperity Gospel is a counterfeit gospel... you spot counterfeits by really knowing the real thing (intimately knowing God and His word) “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.'” Deuteronomy 18:20 ESV “My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord God.” Ezekiel 13:9 ESV “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4 ESV “And the Lord said to me: "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.” Jeremiah 14:14 ESV ---- The Gospel Coalition - "What you should know about the prosperity gospel" - www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-you-should-know-about-the-prosperity-gospel David W. Jones outlines five errors of prosperity gospel teaching: 1. The Abrahamic covenant is a means to material entitlement. 2. Jesus’s atonement extends to the “sin” of material poverty. 3. Christians give in order to gain material compensation from God. 4. Faith is a self-generated spiritual force that leads to prosperity. 5. Prayer is a tool to force God to grant prosperity. “In light of Scripture, the prosperity gospel is fundamentally flawed,” Jones says. “At bottom, it is a false gospel because of its faulty view 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 they’re talking about the Abrahamic covenant, the atonement, giving, faith, or prayer, prosperity teachers turn the relationship between God and man into a quid pro quo transaction.” ---- https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/story-behind-john-pipers-most-famous-attack-on-the-prosperity-gospel/ Call To Action: Follow us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/the_old_fashion_
