When a believer becomes devastated because of adversity then, the believer has much growth to do. It is simple. The believer has to study the life of Christ in the Gospels. The believer also has to study the Epistles of Paul, James, and Peter. The Gospels teach the believer the tremendous suffering that Jesus endured at the cross for us. He did not commit a single act of sin and yet He suffered on our behalf. Paul, James, and Peter build on the sufferings of Christ and apply it to the adversity that His followers would experience in life. Therefore, Pastors and Evangelists are to teach these truths to their congregations. These biblical truths are antithetical to the Prosperity and Good Health gospel that is promoted in the United States, some of the Western world, and others.
If we could have our own way, nobody would
embrace or accept suffering in his/her life. However, when we receive Christ as
Lord and Savior and pick up the cross it entails denying ourselves. We are no
longer the boss of our lives; Jesus is our Lord and Master. Therefore, as He
suffered during His life on earth, we too would suffer. Furthermore, some of
the sufferings we experience as followers of Christ are orchestrated by Satan and his minions. The good news however
is that Christ has defeated them. Therefore, we can claim His victory, put on
the complete armor of God, and walk in victory in spite of any circumstance in which we find
ourselves.
This is why the Good Health and Prosperity Gospel are false and unbiblical. Christian TV is inundated with this false gospel. My challenge to those who peddle the gospel is that if a gospel cannot be preached in poor nations of our world then it is not the gospel at all. The answer is simple. The true gospel of Christ is a universal gospel that can be preached in finest places of the world and slums of Calcutta and Africa. The Apostle Paul states that those who want to live a godly live for Christ would endure persecution (2 Tim. 3:12). The truth is that sometimes persecution and suffering are orchestrated by Satan and his minions.
Hi Doc.
ReplyDeleteI am referencing a part of what you have written here, " Good Health and Prosperity Gospel are false and unbiblical." and I want to show you in the light of scripture where this statement you made is rather unscriptural.
2 Cor 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
Jesus suffered so we will not have to suffer. He took stripes in his body so we might be healed. He became poor so we through his poverty might be rich. This is what the bible teaches.
Dear Emmanuel,
ReplyDeleteHow are you? I know where you are coming from but do you know that you lifted the 2 Corinthian 8:9 text out of context? Why did Paul make that appeal in the first place? The context is the famine and hardship that were going on in the Jerusalem church. Therefore, the text in question does not teach financial and material prosperity. If the text teaches prosperity in material and financial issues then the church in Jerusalem would not suffer need in the first place. Finally, you have to understand the full meaning of Isaiah 53 before you can give me that quote. Context, context, and context is the key to understand and interpret the Bible. Thanks.
The context says exactly what this statement is saying. I have read the whole chapter and I have read the whole of Isaiah 53. Every word in this chapters are talking about physical healing and financial prosperity.
ReplyDeleteYou said content is the key, as though the context is going to say something different from what the scripture is saying.
And that context is not supporting your view either, that God wants his children Poor and Sick?
How does that even make sense that you will say the Gospel of health is false and unbiblical, and the Gospel of Prosperity is false and unbiblical.
Therefore what Gospel is biblical? Poverty and Sickness?
If the will of God for us is to be poor and Sick, why then do you go to the doctor to get rid of your sickness and get out of the will of God for you? Why not remain sick all your life so the will of God will be manifested in your like through poverty and sickness?
What is the full thrust of the Isaiah pericope? Second, if God wanted every Christian to be materially wealthy or rich why did the Apistle Paul appeal to the Corinthians to help the church in Jerusalem? I'm not stating that God wants every Christian to be poor. However, God knows that there would be poor among the Christian community. God never ordains poverty neither does He ordain that every believer would be rich materially. That is why Jesus and the Apostles teach the churches to help the poor among them. You misinterpret the Scriptures so that you would refuse to help the poor among your congregation and those on the outside. Let me ask you one important question? Why did Christ become poor so you may become rich? Christ owns the entire universe and everything in them. Why then should He become poor because of you? Therefore, use your wealth to help others and lead them to the saving knowledge of Christ.
DeleteWhat you wrote is so confusing and contradictory a Holy God could not possibly run a universe with such confused and inconsistent ideology. Is it the will of God for christians to prosper or not? Is it the will of God for his children to be in good health or not? That's the question we are dealing with. Do not mystify it. Tell me what the scriptures say about God's will for us. Does he want us poor or rich? Does he want us sick or healed? After we answer that question we can begin to identify the reasons why the people are not where they should be. Yes there will always be the poor, but Jesus said I came that they might have life and life more abundantly. I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in good health. Tell me where the Bible says God wants us poor and God wants us sick.
ReplyDeleteNow we are getting somewhere. First, define the word "prosper." Is prosperity only in material things? How do you interpret the "abundant life?" Is the abundant life limited to material things? The problem I have with you is that you limit prosperity and abundant life only to the material things of life. However, prosperity and abundant life are inclusive. Can you tell me that the Apostle Paul was materially rich? Can you tell me that the Apostles Peter and John were materially rich? They were not rich by the world's standard but they were rich in spiritual things. When Jesus came to die His primary concern was not that His death would make you rich materially. His primary concern was to save your life and reconcile you to God the Father. He came to redeem you from the slave market of sin and the bondage of the devil; to transform your life to one of freedom, forgiveness, and eternal life. In effect He came to set you free from the domain of darkness and to translate you into the kingdom of light. The problem with some of you is that you are preoccupied with good health and material riches of this world that you forget the new Jerusalem that Christ is preparing for the saints. I am not saying that Christians are to be sick and poor. That is farther from the truth. However, I am teaching that we are not to limit our teachings of the Scripture to only the material things of life. That is why I would like you to read Matthew 6:25-34. Some of you make people feel guilty and depressed when they are not rich materially and when they are not healed physically when they pray for healing. There is a mystery about suffering that you and I do know know or have all the answers. In fact, I have done a lot of studies in suffering in the Bible including taking a course in the Book of Job and reading many books on the subject. Yet, I don't have all the answers when it comes to human sufferings. Therefore, whiles I do not reject material prosperity and good health, I contend that there is more to the subject than what you and others deem physical and material. Many of the heralds and advocates of the prosperity gospel have millions of dollars in their accounts and yet they refuse to help the poor people in their churches and even their neighborhoods. They conclude that these people are poor because they do not claim the blessings of God. That is not right.
ReplyDeleteHello Doc., In fact what you need is the Holy Spirit. The Baptist have destroyed your thinking and even your right judgement. I can help get you out of your wrong thinking. Without the BAPTISTism of the Holy Spirit, of course your Baptists have also told you that it is a thing of the past, but you will never understand scriptures without the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
ReplyDeleteNow you are resorting to insult. Read my piece on the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. In fact, it is you and the charismatics who have confused the simple and direct teaching of the Holy Spirit. There is no where in scripture where a believer is commanded or under imperative to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. However, believers are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit. There is a difference between the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Read my series on the Holy Spirit and it will help you gain the right insight and doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Pray for illumination of the Holy Spirit and study the Scriptures carefully.
ReplyDelete