Guest Post: The “Prosperity Gospel” Vs. God’s Gospel

Note: This is a guest post since presently I am busy today teaching class online for seminary students overseas.  This is by Robert Chamberlain.  His blog be found here, here and here!  Yes he blogs in three places!  Go check out his page and give his blogs a follow!

If I was to ask you what the gospel is, what would you say? It’s good news yes, but what is the good news of the gospel? If you say that to come to Jesus you will be healthy, wealthy and happy; that is not the Biblical gospel, it is a false teaching.

If we come to Jesus for health, wealth and happiness, Jesus isn’t our God. Health, wealth and happiness are our gods. Let’s consider some of the words of Jesus:

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.
“Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

Luke 6:20‭-‬26 ESV

 

Do you see how controversial Jesus’ words are? They’re the opposite of what we might assume! What do we assume blessedness, or being made happy by God looks like?

Well if someone’s rich, it must be because God is happy with them. If someone has a full stomach, it must be because God favours them. If someone is happy, God must have blessed them. If people speak well of us, surely God is smiling down upon us.

But Jesus says the exact opposite! Not only does He not say that riches, fullness, happiness and favour mean God’s blessing, but He actually pronounces woe on such people!

Likewise in terms of blessedness, Jesus blesses people who we would assume are cursed by God: the poor, the hungry, the sad and the hated.

Here’s one way to explain Jesus- to spiritualize His sayings. After all, doesn’t Matthew record that He blesses the poor *in spirit*? So surely we could be poor in spirit and rich in material things, and thus be doubly blessed? Surely we could be rich in spirit (or so we think) and poor materially, and so be doubly cursed?

The problem is, when rich people come to Jesus, if they accept Him, they don’t stay rich for long. The rich young ruler went away sad because Jesus told him to sell everything he had and give to the poor, and he wasn’t prepared to do so. Zacchaeus on the other hand was prepared to give back multiple of what he had cheated from people.

In the early church, the rich would impoverish themselves to enrich the poor, so that there were no needy people among them. The gospel is the great equalizer. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. Rich and poor must kneel before the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

So if the gospel isn’t prosperity, if it isn’t health, wealth and happiness, what is it? Paul summarizes it in the opening verses of his letter to the Romans:

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

Romans 1:1‭-‬6 ESV

Surely we can have faith in Jesus to resurrect us and to make us healthy, wealthy and happy? Sadly, to add anything to the gospel is to adulterated it, like adding oil to water. The whole book of Galatians is about how we shouldn’t add anything to our faith in the crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus.

In conclusion, if you’re idolizing health, wealth and happiness, repent and trust Jesus. And if you’re trusting Jesus, don’t let health, wealth and happiness distract you.

God bless,

Robert