From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 4 of a series. Read part 3.

The prosperity gospel portrays a false "God" whose love can be bought, and whose blessings are not free.

As former prosperity gospel preacher Costi Hinn continues his analysis of the deadly problems of this false gospel, he comes to a central point: The prosperity gospel insults God's nature:

The prosperity gospel teaches that, like a cosmic magic genie, God will grant our wishes if we rub him the right way with positive confession or significant monetary offerings. The prosperity gospel makes God a puppet and us the puppet master, pulling his strings as we please. This version of God does not introduce people to their Creator, whose love is not bought and whose blessings are free.

God is sovereign and infinite. Still, he has made himself known to us through divine revelation (Scripture) and his Son, Jesus Christ. Psalm 115:3 reminds us, "Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases." Because his attributes are beyond human control, he cannot be manipulated by a formula. God doesn't submit to us. We submit to him. [1]

We have multiplied examples of the sovereign power of our Lord over disease and demons in the gospels. In the opening verses of Matthew chapter 8, we find a succession of notable cases:

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour.

Now when Jesus had come into Peter' house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.

When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses." (Matthew 8:1-17)

At the very beginning of His public ministry, Jesus cited Old Testament examples of the sovereignty of God to grant or withhold miracles of material provision and healing, according to the Divine plan. In both cases Jesus was making the point that God dealt miraculously with a Gentile widow and a Gentile leper, while not so dealing with anyone in Israel at the time:

I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. (Luke 4:25-26)

In 1 Kings 17:8-16 we read this account of God's dealings with this widow:

Then the word of the Lord came to [Elijah], saying, "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." So he arose and went to Zarephath [a Gentile city in Phoenicia, north of Israel]. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink." And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." So she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."

And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.' " So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. So she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?" And he said to her, "Give me your son." So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. Then he cried out to the Lord and said, "O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?" And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, "O Lord my God, I pray, let this child's soul come back to him." Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives!" Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth."

Jesus continued in Luke 4:27 by citing a second example of God's sovereignly healing according to His perfect plan - in this case a Gentile leper, while at the same time He left many Israelite lepers unhealed:

And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian. (Luke 4:25-27)

The Apostle Paul spoke of the sovereign dealings of God in his own case, in not healing Paul of an infirmity that affected him greatly:

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me [literally, to strike me with the fist], lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

After Satan severely afflicted Job by the sovereign permission of God, the Lord then appeared to Job and declared His sovereignty. This was Job's response:

I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, "Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?" Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. (Job 42:2-3)

Likewise we may say with Solomon, "There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the Lord's counsel - that will stand" (Proverbs 19:21).

References:

1. Costi W. Hinn, "Healthy, Wealthy, and Lies", Answers magazine, January-March 2022, page 73. Used by permission.

Next: The Prosperity Gospel Weakens the Atonement

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