A False Gospel

II Cor.11:3-4 - But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguilded Eve through his subtility, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For he that comes preaching another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not been taught, why do you accept these things?

Throughout church history there have been many heresies that have found their way into church teachings. There have been doctrinal disputes over the deity of Christ, the inspiration of Scripture, the deity of the Holy Spirit, the existence of hell, the path to salvation, and a host of other false teachings concerning essential elements to the true gospel and also side issues. Some have taken root and produced cults while others have received very minimal popularity, but regardless we should always be testing the spirits to see whether or not they are of God. Our spirit should not be haughty and high browed, but strong and humble as well.

There are any number of false teachings today, some suggest they hold to foundational doctrines of faith while practicing compromise while others openly dismantle important teachings either openly or by constructing verbally nuanced mazes that can hardly be understood as orthodox. The atmosphere in evangelicalism is a mess, including the lethargic and hedonistic lifestyles of the average western believer, even those who haven’t succumbed to any false teachings but their lives are a false teaching in themselves.

But no other movement in the last 50 years has spread so fast and deceived so many in the west as the health and wealth movement which is sometimes referred to as the gospel of prosperity. Since the Day of Pentecost this teaching has never even been suggested much less tied to the gospel itself. A handful of men fifty years ago began suggesting that God’s covenant to Abraham extended to the individual believer today in a material way, and that in fact God desired everyone to become wealthy. Curiously enough the spread of this evil corresponded with a general prosperity in the west within which the falsehood could hide. And today multiple millions have embraced this unbiblical and preposterous teaching.

It is easy to see objectively what is at the core of this heresy, it is the love of money itself. And that kind of lust is most easily foisted upon those who struggle financially and even the most poor among us. When some false teacher tells a poor person that God actually wants to make them rich he has their attention through their lust. In this kind of falsehood the New Testament Scriptures are irrelevant since a complete reading of the that same New Testament reveals no such thing at all. In fact, most of the teachings about money in the Scriptures are a warning of their dangers not their pleasures. And in fact the Word clearly warns about these wolves who are fleecing the sheep.

II Pet.2:2-3 - And many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingered not, and their damnation slumbered not.

Yes, many millions will follow these false teachers. The New American Standard says,

(verse 2 ) Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;

Could it be more clear? They preach a message of sensuality not of the Spirit. And the truth is maligned and compromised, and in fact the verse says the “way” of truth shall be maligned or defamed. And who is the way and the truth? It is Jesus Christ Himself. So these false teachers are preaching another Jesus and have changed and defamed Christ and His gospel altogether. They even use the profane term “gospel of prosperity” which is blasphemy. The Word gives ample warning against such heretics:

II Pet.2:14-22 - having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.
These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error,
promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.
For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.
It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire."

These men have made vomit attractive and in so doing convinced millions to seek to be greedy and in God’s Name nonetheless. They have taken the pure gospel of the cross and resurrection and turned it a conduit through which to get money. Can there be any deeper blasphemy than that? Taking the blessed and bleeding Lamb of God and using His cross for financial gain is a damnable heresy. Anyone who sits and reads the New Testament through in a week will recognize the absurdity, to say nothing of the blasphemy, of such teachings. Of course there are three basic reasons people can be deceived to such a degree.

The first is a shallow knowledge of the Scriptures. The Bereans searched the Scriptures to see if these things were true, but today the average believer does very little reading, much less searching, of the Scriptures himself. I challenge you, even if you are already convinced that the prosperity teaching is heresy, to read the New Testament from Romans through Jude in one week. It will require sacrificing some of our accustomed lifestyle of entertainment and leisure, but you will be astounded at what you see anew and afresh when seen in its entirety and understood as a whole. That is the same challenge I issue to Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons who knock on my door.

The second reason is the idolatry of men. Today’s media can through techniques enhance the stature, appearance, and authority of preachers. Skillful editing, camera angles, and communicative techniques have been able to deceive millions simply upon the weight of visual and audio manipulation. Just attaching a new and glossy book cover can increase dormant book sales. And since many people draw their spiritual food through television it has become an art form through which deception reaches right into homes and captures the gullible. Many preachers are held up and followed as idols, and I personally heard Benny Hinn say “There comes a time when your spiritual stature is such that many will believe whatever you say”. How right he was.

The third reason is that the culture has cultivated unbiblical lusts within the church. If a believer has a lust for money he must either repent or suggest his lust is from God. And so the American mindset that seeks money and success and advancement, has now been turned into a theology by slick manipulation of separated Scriptures and a distorted teaching that uses Abraham as the golden goose. Fulfilling people’s lusts is much less painful than repentance and so millions flock to hear these spurious promises that are erroneously couched as the voice of God.

The truth is that if I can convince you by my words, others can convince you of the opposite by their words. You should, you must, search the Scriptures. I again challenge everyone to read Romans through Jude in a week or two, and with a special ear towards this particular subject. The Holy Spirit will give you an open insight to this unassailable fact - the prosperity gospel is a deep and blasphemous teaching that goes against every clear teaching in the New Testament Scriptures. Avoid even those who sympathize with these heretics.

I will be posting more frequently on this subject since it has become apparent many do not realize the extent and influence of this deception.