Facts On ---- False Teaching In The Church -- Chapter Sixteen

#16 The Facts On False Teaching In The Church
 

    Positive confession is not a biblical teaching and the scores of Scriptures used to support it are typically misinterpreted or misapplied. For example, in Matthew 6:20 ("Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven") we are told by Kenneth Copeland, "Jesus was not referring to when we get to heaven. He was teaching about God providing for us now." Anyone who wishes to prove to himself how extensively such verses are taken out of context need only examine positive confession literature and then consult standard commentaries to prove their errors.
    For example, 3 John 2 (that you may "prosper and be in good health") is a personal wish for Gaius, not a divine promise of money and health to every Christian. It was a standard greeting in antiquity and had nothing to do with money. How many of us would really end up "spiritually prospering" if we were rich? Likewise, Mark 10:29, 30 ("the hundredfold return") is not literal but figurative since believers do not literally receive a hundred mothers and sisters and brothers as well. So why is it used literally only in reference to money? Also, Jesus says this is true only of those who have nothing now because they left everything behind to follow Him, which is not true of most Christians. It is especially not true of the prosperity teachers who are generally very wealthy.
    Instead of having the poor people send them money, if the hundredfold return is really true, why don't the prosperity teachers (such as Robert Tiltion, Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Oral Roberts, Jerry Savelle, Charles Capps, etc.) send $100 to every person on their mailing list in order to get billions of dollars in return? But it doesn't seem to work that way.
    The Bible, far from stressing the spiritual benefits of wealth, encourages us to be content with what we have. We are told, "Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have..." (Hebrews 13:5). In fact, it often warns about the perils of money. Jesus said, "You cannot serve both God and Money" (Matthew 6:24, cross-reference James 5:1-5). The Apostle Paul "suffered the loss of all things" (Philippians 3:7, 8). He was content to live in poverty, hunger, and to suffer need (2 Corinthians 11:9; Philippians 4:12). He also noted that most Christians were "poor" and "had nothing" (2 Corinthians 6:10). Paul said not wealth but "the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance" (2 Corinthians 1:5). If these "prosperity" teachers really came from the Lord, why did the Lord Himself and His disciples end up poor and martyred?
    Paul also said that greed was the same as idolatry (Colossians 3:5). The Bible teaches we are to place God's will first in our lives - not self-will. We cannot "write our own ticket with God." And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us" (1 John 5:14). Even Jesus Himself, when He prayed for deliverance before the cross did not demand of God but said, "If you are willing..." (Luke 22:42). James taught that it was "arrogant" and "evil" to presume of the Lord. He said, "Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.' But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil" (James 4:13-16). Paul himself said, "If the Lord will..." (1 Corinthians 4:19). He referred to those who supposed that godliness (religion) was a means of financial gain and he said, "For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And 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 a pang" (1 Timothy 6:7-11).