UNMASKING THE HERESY OF THE PROSPERITY THEOLOGY
By Ezekiel Kimosop
INTRODUCTION
This article was originally posted on L & D WhatsApp Forum on 20/01/2018 in response to a question by a member. I have sparingly edited it and brought it back in response to the growing number of questions and concerns on prosperity theology.
The article was also written in response to an article posted by a member on 06/08/2018 which is titled "AS A BELIEVER, EVERY WORD YOU UTTER HAS TREMENDOUS POWER".
The article also addresses issues under a separate post in which the writer claimed, among other things, that God has equipped every believer with "seeds of greatness" in them which guarantee their material success on earth.
The writer further claims that believers should unlock the "seeds within" in every circumstances of life so that they don't settle for mediocrity and failure in life.
This message sounds appealing on the outset until one considers the intentions and doctrines advanced by the architects of this theology.
The Word of Faith/Prosperity Gospel movement teachers have attempted to advance a religion in which man is exalted and glorified as a demigod and the God of Scripture is debased and consigned to obscurity!
I have written this article to defend the purity and sanctity of Scripture against this modern heresy that is growing by leaps and bounds.
BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE WORD OF FAITH MOVEMENT
The Word of Faith movement is believed to have been founded by E. W. Kenyon [1867-1948].
Kenneth Erwin Hagin [1917-2003] is however considered as one of the most notable fathers and promoters of the movement. He was largely influenced by teachings of Kenyon.
Other popular televangelists and principal teachers of the movement include Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis and Creflo Dollar.
The Word of Faith is now a global movement that stretches across Africa and Asia. A number of charismatic/Pentecostal preachers in Africa identify with the movement's doctrines.
My evaluation of the prosperity theology is premised on the outlines that are based on its theological features.
A) EXALTED CREATURE AND AN ABSENTEE DEITY
The Word of Faith and Prosperity theologies are, in my view, two sides of the same coin. The notion that God equips and empowers believers for success is part of the popular Word of Faith heresy which views the believer as a powerful agent whose words cause divine influence to be experienced on earth. According to this movement, the believer is able to experience material riches because of the POWER WITHIN the believer which God is said to have deposited in the believer.
According to the Word of Faith doctrines, the believer simply needs to confess and possess whatsoever he desires and God is under a covenant obligation to respond.
My view is that there is no such thing in the Bible as SEEDS OF GREATNESS in the creature. God alone is exclusively vested with such originating power and He alone sovereignly exercises His divine discretion on who and how to bless.
The truth is that not all believers will be millionaires on earth but that does not preclude the fact that believers by whatever social description are God's children who share in the heritage of Christ, whether rich or poor, black or white, Jew or Gentile [Galatians 3:28].
B) MATERIALISM AND SPIRITUAL REDEMPTION
Allow me to debunk another heretical myth advanced by the Word of Faith theology. Their teachers explain the material disparities among believers purely on the basis of their faith or the lack of it.
They claim that believers should possess sufficient faith to "move the hand of God" or to unlock and release their needs from within them, saying that God is obligated to respond to our petitions based on the laws of prosperity and divine health that He has ordained. Never mind that such laws are not taught in Scripture!
They also advance a simplified heresy which says that since God has already deposited the "seed of greatness" or "power of divine destiny" in every believer by the Holy Spirit, all the believer needs to do is to "unlock it from within" without bothering God.
Really? Does God expect us to simply unlock our needs from within our spirits and without any reference to Him?
Is God absent from our spiritual sphere?
Again this is the same cleverly concealed old heresy we see in Genesis 3:1-6 by which Satan deceived the woman that she can be equal with God!
To exalt the believer to a demigod and to debase or reduce God's influence and sovereignty to that of a figurehead is perhaps the most repulsive of all prosperity gospel heresies! Nothing can be more sacrilegious, in my view!
The deity that these false teachers appear to project is manifestly distinct from the God of the Bible!
The doctrinal script of the Word of Faith group is anchored on the false notion that God's action in the past had "sealed" everything including the material prosperity and the physical wellbeing of believers. Scripture however does not affirm this claim. God has never delegated or abdicated His sovereignty to His creatures.
Biblical Christianity is not merely about material wellbeing, even though this is important for our earth living and ministry. If God's blessings are exclusively measured on the scale of material prosperity, how do we explain the fact that some of the global billionaires of our day are atheists?
C) DENIAL OF CHRISTIAN SUFFERING
The prosperity teachers deny Christian suffering of any description including illness or trials/afflictions saying that Christ nailed it all to the cross.
Wait a minute.... What exactly was nailed to the cross as taught in Colossians 2:14? Let me briefly analyze this for our benefit.
The context of this Scripture lies in the wider passage of Colossians 2:11-23 where Paul was teaching on the believer's spiritual liberty in Christ as contrasted with the bondage of the law of Moses.
He was reminding the church of Colosse that they should not be bound by the religious decrees of radical Judaism which some were advancing among them in their futile attempt at imposing religious legalism on Gentile believers.
The Bible teaches that it was our spiritual condemnation under the law that Christ by His atoning death annulled on the cross even as He purchased our freedom from spiritual bondage once and for all [cf. Hebrews 10:1-10].
There is no single reference to material prosperity in the passage of Colossians 2:11-23! The finished works of Calvary were not predicated upon material prosperity but spiritual victory and liberty from sinful condemnation. This victory in Christ was intended for the rich and the poor alike.
The spiritual pollution identified with the prosperity theology centers on its unhealthy focus on and glorification of earthly materialism at the expenses of fundamental truths of Scripture.
There is nothing wrong with believers acquiring billions of dollars in earthly riches but material prosperity was not primarily what took Christ to the cross!
Prosperity teachers further claim that all that believers would require for material wellbeing in this earthly life has ALREADY been supplied by God in advance! While this partly true, the statement is misleading in sense that it supports the notion of an absentee deity!
These controversial doctrines beg the following questions:
1) Do the prosperity doctrines not imply that God has no further business with us because He has discharged His "covenant obligation" of divine provision?
2) Does the Bible teach that all believers shall experience unlimited material prosperity in every conceivable aspect of their lives on earth?
If so, what sin have "materially disadvantaged" believers committed so that they are materially poor? Do they lack sufficient faith in God?
3) How should we explain Christian suffering? What became of Christian martyrs who died for their faith in Christ? Did they lack sufficient faith to escape arrest and incarceration during the persecution of the church?
4) How do we reconcile the suffering of great men of the faith such as Job, Joseph, David, and Daniel who suffered afflictions?
How do we explain Paul's "thorn in the flesh" in 2 Corinthians 12?
D) OPULENCE AND AVARICE OF PROSPERITY PREACHERS
Let us now turn our attention to another important aspect of the prosperity gospel enterprise.
It is an open secret that most of the American Word of Faith televangelists are multi billionaires who lead lavish/opulent lifestyles and own private jets which they display for all to see. They attribute their "financial success" to their "extra ordinary faith" in trusting God for provision.
Now here are questions to ponder about:
1) Is it not an open secret that their luxurious living is funded by their Christian congregations through their "seed giving" and other church donations and collections?
2) How many of these preachers can prove that they earned their billions from independent enterprise and investment ventures?
3) Is it not a fact that their "prosperity" was gained through sheer manipulation and deception? How can this be a godly means of success?
4) Is it also not a fact that some of the popular millionaire preachers in Kenya today have totally embraced the prosperity theology and are selling all manner of merchandise to their unsuspecting followers in the name of God?
CONCLUSION
Having closely studied the false teachings of the Word of Faith/Prosperity preachers for a period of time, I am convinced that true followers of Christ should be extremely cautious not to buy into their deception but rather focus on a healthy and balanced teaching of Scripture.
Let me conclude by stating that the word of God must always remain at the center of our Christian faith and practice. Any teaching that denies or contradicts the revelation and authority of Scripture is decidedly false.
Biblical Christianity must be distinguished from the religion of Mammon that lies at the heart of the prosperity heresy.
Our spiritual success or failure cannot be measured by material prosperity or the lack of it. It is far greater, far worthier than silver or gold. (Read 1Timothy 6:10-12).
The Bible warns us against ungodly greed. 1 Timothy 6:6-10 says "Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
© Ezekiel Kimosop 2021
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