The Errors of the Word of Faith Message in Relation to Prosperity and other topics.
By Tom Sargent
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Luke 12:15
I am writing this article as a former member of the “Word of Faith” (WOF) movement. Word of Faith people follow the teachings of Kenneth Hagin, (who plagiarized his teachings from E.W. Kenyon and was influenced by Christian Science and New Thought metaphysics) and Kenneth Copeland the undisputed leader of the movement today. WOF is a relatively new quasi-doctrine based primarily on the writings of ONE MAN, Kenneth Hagin. The WOF message conflicts with hundreds of years of accepted sound biblical doctrine established by men like Luther, Wesley, Whitfield, Spurgeon, Tozar and Moody. We must weigh what all teachers say against scripture and examine it to see if it is in harmony with the meaning of the cross.
There are many teachers of the WOF message on TV. I do believe that they are true Christians that have been deceived by the WOF hype. I have rejected much of what the WOF movement teaches in light of what the scriptures actually reveal. Why I’m so concerned about such a outwardly positive teaching? The WOF message on the topic of financial prosperity is nothing less a gross distortion of the blessings of the cross of Christ. In some ways it contradicts the cross. It is being used by churches today to tickle the ears of the congregation as a means for church growth. The WOF message has infected almost every full gospel church in the nation. I will address this topic later.
The “confession message” is a WOF teaching I have a big problem with. It involves putting faith in your confession rather than putting your faith in God. It puts faith in your faith; that you have “the God kind of Faith,” activating certain “spiritual laws” releasing the good forces (God or angels) to act on your behalf. That kind thinking makes you a “little god” and/or “god like.” I do think we have some of God’s attributes and we are made in his “image”. God is in us, yes and we can trust in His abilities, but WE are not and cannot be God or a god. That was Lucifer’s sin. Is. 14:14 “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High." And it was the serpents temptation to Eve. Gen. 3:5 “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Ps. 82:6 refers to Israel as judges with god-like attributes in that capacity. Not that they are or that we are “gods”. This is heresy and a sinful challenge to God’s sovereignty. It puts you and your will on the throne and removes God and His will off the throne. We do want to confess what God’s word says about a situation but let us not think that our confession is some kind of “force.” We must always focus our faith in Christ and his completed work at the cross, not in our confession. We don’t need faith “formulas“ or repetitive confessions, putting into motion certain “spiritual laws.” New Age people originated this type of thinking with their “law of attraction” and the “power of positive thinking.” You now create your life with your thoughts and your confession, not seeking God’s will for your life through prayer, study of the Bible and patience. Jesus said in Matt. 10:38 “Unless you take up your cross you cannot be my disciple.” Taking up your cross means dying to self and self interests.
“Faith” teachers create a mind set for their followers which is the opposite of the true meaning of the cross; which is to die to self and live unto Christ. Galatians 6:14 “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” How many times have we heard these WOF teachers brag about the material possessions they have? They are promoting breaking the 10th commandment, “thou shall not covet.” Coveting is wanting things other people have. In Acts 20:33 Paul states "I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes.” The prosperity message appeals to the materialism of man. This is a real problem with the American church. We are already much more blessed than Christians in other countries. This “gospel” does not work in poor countries. A true gospel should work anywhere! The true gospel is preaching repentance, salvation and sanctification by the completed work of Christ at the cross. You would think by watching TBN that prosperity is what the Bible is all about. The cross of Christ was the foundation of Paul’s theology and life. I Cor 1:23 “but we preach Christ crucified…” Jesus’ completed work on the cross provides everything we get from God. God does not operate outside the cross. This is what Paul was speaking of in I Cor. 1:17 “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.”
The Corinthians did not understand, as most Christians today, the message of the cross. Read I Cor. 2:2 “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” In D.R. McConnell’s book, “A Different Gospel“ he states, “For Paul the cross of Christ crucified is the totality of the believer’s existence. This includes both the believer’s life and his for things of this world. To believe in the cross meant the of the believers claim to his own life. To believe in the cross is to deliver the totality of one’s existence unto him who delivered himself up for us. Anything less “nullifies” the grace of God and the work of the cross.” Gal. 2:20,21. "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21"I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly." Also from McConnell’s book, “It is also evident that from Galatians that Paul did not conceive of Jesus’ cross in terms of its worldly benefits. He realized that identification with the cross of Jesus entailed the crucifixion of the believer’s relation to the world and its s. Read again Gal. 6:14 “…through which the world was crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”
The prosperity message never preaches about being crucified to the world. They embrace the world and it’s goods. The prosperity mind set subverts the cross in at least three ways. First, it subverts the demand of the cross for self-denial. Second, it reduces God as a means to an end. They become seekers of status and goods rather than seekers of God. God becomes the source from whom material gain flows rather than the sovereign for to whom material gain may be sacrificed to serve him. Third, the “sign” of God’s approval is based on how much you have of worldly goods. The demand of Jesus to leave the world and take up the cross is silenced by the prosperity message.
The prosperity message also demeans the poor and the sick. I Cor. 11:22 “What! Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise you.” The faith teachers say the poor and sick “lack faith” or that there must be some sin in their life or they would be prospering.
Don’t get me wrong, God does not want his children to be in poverty. Matt 6:8. "So do not be like them; for our Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” God will see that our needs are met if we trust Him. The prosperity message goes far beyond getting our needs met to a focus on materialism. Read Matt 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Go to verse 25 "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” Now verse 33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." We are not to worry about our needs. God will meet our needs IF we seek first His kingdom. God is not required to make us rich. God is not required to do anything except His promise to save us if we trust in the of Jesus shed for the remission of sins.
The WOF people often make demands upon God saying we should go “boldly to the throne of grace.” Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” They forget that the verse also states that we do so to obtain mercy and grace, not to make demands upon God. Note the parable of the prodigal son found in Luke 15:12 "The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me ' So he divided his wealth between them.” In this story of prodigal son sinfully demanded his inheritance. God is not required to grant every wish just because a person thinks he has found a scripture to confess. God is sovereign. His ways are higher than ours. He may or may not choose to prosper those who he can trust with the money. Money, for most people, including Christians, could be their ruin. James 5:1-3, Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! See also Mark 4:19; “but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” Read I Tim 6:8-11; “If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief’s. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness." Verse 17. “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.” If you have riches you will more than likely begin to trust in them and not God.
Jim Bakker in his book “I Was Wrong” did a study on the verses the prosperity people use to justify their position since he was one of them himself. What about John 10:10 the WOF defenders say. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Does abundant life mean material things? The Greek work for life here is the ZOE life. Zoë means “life in the spirit and soul” not life in materialistic gains. If that life means having cars, homes, riches, parties and entertainment then the world is experiencing the abundant life. But reality is that the world has more depression, pain and hatred then ever. What about 3 John 2? “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” Almost the foundation verse for the prosperity message. What did John truly mean when he said “above ALL”? Does God want you to have money above your soul’s salvation? No, of course not! Bakker looked up the word “prosper” in the Greek and found it was made up of two Greek words, “eu” which means good and “hodos” which means “road, or route, a progress, or journey.” He did not find a single reference to in the Greek to money, riches or material gain from the word translated “prosper” in the King James Version. So what John was really saying was “I wish you a good safe and healthy journey through your life even as your soul has a good and safe journey to heaven. As recorded in Acts chapters 27-28, his journey prospered spiritually but not prosperous in any other way.
What about Duet. 8:18? "But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” What God was really saying here is, “when you get to the promised land, don’t forget who brought you there and gave to you everything that you have.” The word “wealth” comes from the Hebrew world chayll which is used 232 times in the old testament. The word is meant to imply, “might, strength, power, ability, virtue, valor as well as wealth. This verse is not a “biblical formula” for us to confess for money. God may or may not bless us with a house, land, or other possessions. This verse should not be used to make it sound like God’s going to make everyone wealthy. God can and does bless some people to the point of wealth. He does this because he knows those people will use it to bless others. Money should never be the focus of our faith. God usually does want us blessed and he will pour out blessings if we are obedient to him and make Him number one in our lives. Even then it is still up to him. He is not required to prosper us. Wealth, for some, could hinder their understanding and obedience to Him. Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Bakker concludes by saying “In retrospect, one of the main reasons I slipped into believing and preaching a distorted doctrine was because of my lack of understanding of what it really means to allow Jesus to be the Lord of my life.
The WOF prosperity message is a contradiction of the example of the lives of Jesus, the apostle Paul and heroes of the faith. Heb 11:37,38. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.” The doctrine of prosperity is not worthy of such men. The bible says many times that we will have to endure trials, sufferings and persecutions for His sake. That God will discipline those that he loves and that he will test our faith. See Hebrews 12:6 and James 1:3. WOF people never talk about that! That would be negative and people might leave the church! They say that we are always living in victory and imply that nothing “bad” ever happens. We cannot know God’s will for every circumstance and every situation. Most of the time we do know by his word and His Spirit. We pray what we think God’s will is and what he puts into our heart. We intercede for others in prayer. We often quote the Word in our prayers. We can make our requests known to God. Phil. 4:6. But let us not make demands or say God must do this or that because we don’t always know for sure! I think God does want us to prosper spiritually and to prosper in our soul realm. We must lift up our prayers to the Father in Jesus’ name and HE does the work as he wills. If God wants everyone healed all the time then every WOF person would be healed all the time! Why did bother Hagin die? It was God’s timing for his life to end. I prayed earnestly for my dad to be healed and I fully believed that he would be healed; but it was God’s timing to allow him to die. Why? I’m not sure but I can rest knowing that “… all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.
Another WOF error is that we no longer have a sin nature because we are born-again. Wrong. The sin nature is still present and it can easily rise up to tempt us. Christ’s work on the cross has set us free from the power of the sin nature, thus making the sin nature much weaker but not totally absent . Read Romans 7:16-20 for proof. That is why we must take up the cross daily and continue to place our faith in Christ and the cross. Read Romans 6:3-5 to learn the key to victory over sin.
Another WOF error is that Jesus went to hell and suffered at the hands of the devil so he could be the first born-again man. Even the sound of that teaching tells me it’s wrong. Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished.” His work was done! He also told the thief on the cross next to him that “Today you will be with me in paradise”
I have seen people leave the church because their lives did not get any better by being in a “faith” church. They came to Jesus under false pretences thinking they will have all this prosperity rather than coming to him for forgiveness of sin. They came unrepentant and unwilling to take up the cross. The WOF doctrine has created many false converts as I once was. Please understand the dangers of this distorted doctrine. Do not be persuaded by the deceitfulness of riches. Have not many TV preachers used this teaching to enrich themselves? Why would we even remotely want to appear to be like them? Let us preach to save the lost and teach them how to be free from sin by the power and leading of the Holy Spirit. This is what they need! WOF teachings blinded my understanding of what it means to crucify myself and live unto Christ (a sign of being “born again”). If all your looking for is material blessings from God you can never die to self. Repent daily. Die to self. Take up the cross. Trust in Christ. Obey the Holy Spirit for His Glory.
Learn more at www.intotruth.org/wof/tract3.html
