The Characteristics Of The Soft Prosperity Gospel, Part 4

The Style of Worship

Let’s be honest, in one sense, the Lord’s Day gatherings for the church are very unspectacular. We sing, read, and respond to God’s Word together. We probably don’t walk out of church like we walk out of a movie saying, “Wow! That was spectacular! I can’t believe how it ended! I never saw that coming.” No, we do the same thing every week with some variation of songs or Scripture. We do this because God tells us to do it; He says it is good for us (Heb. 10:25). We trust Him. But sometimes we want a little more.   So churches have gone to feeding the people at every service, providing them with coffee, snacks, and pastries.  It is as if we are telling them, “We know you won’t be truly satisfied with just singing about Jesus and hearing His Word taught, you need something more. We will do what we can to make it as comfortable for you and as entertaining so you can keep coming back.   Because to tell you the truth, we don’t think singing about Jesus and hearing His words preach is enough to keep the staff employed.”

Dissatisfied by preaching, prayer, and singing, we want worship to be a little more “our style” and to fit “our tastes.” Soon, we find ourselves looking for that perfect place for us rather than the faithful place to God. Somehow it becomes our show. This subtle shift shows that we are at least susceptible to soft prosperity thinking, if not fully on board with it.

End of Part 4

Four Hidden Issues That Satan Uses To Divide the Body of Christ, Part 4

1. The Inability to Understand God’s Paradox.

2. The Confusion of Temporal with Eternal Principles.

3. Incorrect Motives of the Heart - 1 Cor 13:1-3

4. The Religious Spirit - Luke 9:51-56

The reason Jesus rebuked the disciples is because, in one moment, they threw out the teaching of Jesus to love your enemies and those who despitefully use you (cf. 6:27ff). Instead they wanted to kill an entire population of people in the name of Jesus. While they thought they were righteous, Jesus’ rebuke showed them that their true motive was evil before God. Jesus said to them, “You do not know that kind of spirit you are of.” They had a religious spirit.

What is a religious spirit? A religious spirit is when we take the Word of God and use it to destroy others. It was the spirit of religion (viewing yourself better than others) that found reasons to put Jesus to death though there was no evil in His actions. Too often we have been deceived into thinking we are defenders of the faith when really we have succumbed to a religious spirit. From the Great Inquisition to an over aggressive argument in Sunday school, the religious spirit both disrupts and divides.

“When Satan spoke through Peter, Jesus sternly rebuked him as well. But He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men'" (Matt 16:23). Peter had no idea that the thoughts that came into his mind were not his own. Jesus pointed out the true author of his words and would have nothing to do with them.

The religious spirit is a divider of the body of Christ. Its purpose is to cause us to be caught up in doctrines and disputes rather than yielding to the Holy Spirit of love (1 Tim 6:3-5 & James 1:12-13).

We are not approved by our knowledge of God or our doctrines, although solid doctrine helps to define and regulate the nature and quality of love; we are approved by what manner of spirit we are. Does the spirit of love rule your heart, or are you ruled by disputes and self-righteousness?

It is time for the whole body of Christ to come together to present a unified spirit of love to the world. The religious spirit is hated by the world. Even they can see it is full of hatred, murder, and condemnation.

None of us have arrived yet. We all agree Jesus is Lord and it was God who sent Him to give us life eternal. Maturity in Christ is not gauged by mere knowledge of God alone, but by the Spirit of God, who in us has control over us (2 Cor. 10:5).

End of Series

The Characteristics Of The Soft Prosperity Gospel, Part 3

The soft prosperity gospel gets the role of suffering wrong (Part 2), and secondly,

2. The Role of God

This is why it is so important not to buy into this sort theology from prosperity preachers. The soft prosperity gospel teaches that if you work hard for God, then He should work hard for you. Many have bought into this lie. We go to church, keep our noses clean, and do whatever extra we can. Then we hope God will do His part and bless us with good kids, a nice house, a steady job, and plenty of money.

Then it happens -- the company downsizes, kids start taking drugs, the 401(k) shrinks, and then we go into private litigation in our minds because God has not kept His end of the bargain. We want to sue God for the prosperity promises that we have signed on to. The trouble is, God does not stand behind this soft prosperity thinking; He stands behind His Word which teaches the exact opposite. And He has shown us how to understand His Word through the work of Christ. Do you think that God owes you?  He does. He owes you and me nothing and He certainly is not in a bargaining relationship with any of us.

End of Part 3

Pursuing Christ AND Right Feelings Will Follow

In the church, you’ll discover two kinds of Christians – emotional and stoic.  Those who are emotional tend to allow their feelings to interpret their ideas about God, circumstances and the Bible. Those who are stoic, tend to root their faith in theology but it produces a cold, try and a lifeless demonstration of faith and worship. This tendency removes feelings from faith altogether. While it is true that our emotions should not lead our theology, it is vital to our faith that theology lead to a deep experience of our triune God.

Human beings are emotional creatures. We love or hate, feel happy or sad, angry or joyful. And yet Christians sometimes struggle with integrating emotion into their spiritual lives and end up falling victim to dangerous tendencies when it comes to their emotions.

Good doctrine is critically important to the health of the Christian and the church. But the church doesn’t need men and women who can merely define repentance, saving faith, the Trinity, inspiration of Scripture, and the nature of the gospel. Rather, the church needs people who hate sin and love righteousness. Memorizing important aspects of theology is important, but it is useless if it isn’t also producing in us awe, humility, love, and worship. “Zeal without knowledge is dead,” but knowledge without deep affection is just as lifeless.

It should be obvious that Scripture calls us to be a people who feel what we believe, who not only know truth but experience it. There is a righteous order to this. Our feelings and emotions must be governed and guided by truth. We are to fear the Lord, hate evil, love the truth, mourn over sin and injustice, and rejoice in our sufferings. These are not naked commands but precepts given by God in light of who He is and what He has done. We are supposed to feel the weight and the power of the truth revealed in Scripture. Theology should do more than inform us—it should warm and stir our hearts. And if it doesn’t, then we have missed the connection that God’s revelation is designed to make between the head and the heart.

The key is not to pursue feelings themselves but to pursue the Lord Jesus Christ by looking to Him, knowing His ways, pondering His promises, and obeying His commands. Faith is what gives birth to feeling. The emotional component of the Christian life isn’t always as present as we would like. Faith must first go before, and then feeling will follow.

Consider how often we find ourselves afraid when we face the unknown or the dangerous. When we run up against the fragility of life or the potential of loss, anxiety and fear are right beside us, working their way into our hearts. This is precisely when God calls us to “fear not.” yet the hope for relief from fear is not found in ignoring what lies ahead, but in looking to the God whose sovereignty is certain and whose promises are sure. It is when we seek the Lord and ground our faith in Him that our fears are overcome (Ps. 34:4). The trouble itself may not disappear, but the knowledge of God conquers what makes us afraid.

Pain and suffering are not only common to all, but for the Christian, they are to be expected as a consequence of following Jesus. We know the feeling of dread that can accompany severe trials. But the lifting of our heads and the courage of faith is tied to God’s character and promise. We know that He is “near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Ps. 34:18). We can cast all our anxieties on Him because we are assured that He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).

When we struggle with assurance and long for a confident hope in Jesus, we must learn to trust Him more. The assurance of our salvation is first and foremost based on the mercy and merits of Jesus Christ. We fix our eyes on Him by faith and find in His life, death, and resurrection all the hope necessary to stand before the presence of God without the threat of judgment. Christ alone is our surety. This transforms us from a people who despair over our sin into a people who sing the praises of the Savior who has delivered us from our transgressions.

God has created us as emotional people. There is a time to weep and laugh, to mourn and dance, to hate and love (Eccl. 3:1–8). Neither stoicism nor emotionalism are marks of healthy faith. What is needed is robust, biblical theology that informs and transforms our emotions and gives life to the faith we possess in God. 

Cultural Christianity Is Changing

Seeker-sensitive churches seem to be on the decrease now days. There was a time (not that long ago) when people were saying to unbelievers, “You can gain a bit of social capital by coming to join with us. There’s some value added to your life if you come and join with us. If you just come and be with us, we’ll add meaning and spirituality to your life in a non-threatening way.”

But in the hardening secularization that we are now experiencing people are going to pay social capital (jobs status, money, etc.) to hang around with anyone believes the gospel of Jesus Christ. They’re going to forfeit social capital. They’re going to run a risk for being member of our churches. There once was a time when, especially someone—who wanted to come to a church, meet new people and find possibly someone to marry, raise children, do business, receive advice and counsel, be surrounded by family, all this in order to have some form of credibility, love and security. This is what people did in the age of cultural Christianity.

Well now, you may fail to land a job because you’re a member of a Bible-believing, gospel-teaching church that is known for its teaching on pro-life, pro-marriage, conservative beliefs and possibly filled homophobes, Islamaphobes, and the pastor may very well known to be a supporter of Donald Trump.

The cushion of being part of a bible believing church is slowly disappearing. To be denied a job, a promotion, or something of personal value to you because of your membership with a bible believing church is a form of persecution. As a result, people simply will not want to join your church and will not see it as something to gain.

Those who do join will take the risk and count the cost (which is very good!). This is really what you want.

But take a look around you. Are there very many seeker-sensitive churches? Enough to show that liberal churches will change everything including the message of the gospel to fit the world’s standard in order to become more appealing. 

What is an apostle?

Many years ago I served in the ministry and rode motorcycle with a friend who would come from the Mainland now and then to check up on churches he was overseeing.  He called himself, “Apostle John.”

You might have come across people who have used the apostle designation.  What do they mean? 

In the Bible, there are two kinds of apostles:

First, are apostles of Jesus Christ.

These are the original 13 – including Paul. Remember, there were twelve who followed Jesus.  One dropped out – Judas, and Matthias was chosen to take his place (Acts 1:24-26).  In the height of severe persecution, God reached down and chose Saul (who later had his name changed to Paul) and made him an apostle (Acts 9 and Gal. 1).

In order to be an apostle of Jesus Christ – i.e. one of the twelve -- there were some qualifications:  ²⁰ “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms: “‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, “‘May another take his place of leadership.’ ²¹ Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, ²² beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection” – Acts 1:20-22.

Peter states what the qualifications were:  The person who was chosen to take the place of Judas had to be with Jesus from the time of His baptism to the time of Jesus’ ascension when he ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9-11). 

Therefore, based upon these qualifications – no one today can ever be rightly viewed as an apostle of Jesus Christ. The office of an apostle of Jesus Christ ceased to exist when the last apostle – that would be John, died on the island of Patmos at the age of 100, right around A.D. 98.  There is no such office as an apostle of Jesus Christ today.

But, there is another category of apostles mentioned in the Bible, and that is:

Second, Apostles of the Churches.

2 Corinthians 8:23:  “As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ.”

See the word “representatives” in the above verse?  It comes from the word, “apostolos,” meaning, “apostle.” An apostle is a representative or messenger of someone.  A missionary who is called by God to plant churches can rightly be called an apostle or representative.

But notice carefully what they are representing:  “of the churches.”  Not an apostle “of Jesus Christ.”  That office died with John the apostle. But apostles (or representatives or messengers) “of the churches.”

This category of apostles – “of the churches” still exist today. These are men who are chosen to be placed as representatives or messengers of a church or group of churches.

So when someone comes along and says to you, “Aloha, my name is John. I am an apostle.”  Ask him, what kind of an apostle are you?  If he says, “I am an apostle of Jesus Christ,” then you say to him, “How can that be? For one to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, he had to witness the resurrection of Christ. You look mighty young to be that old.”  Then you can politely say out of respect, “I know what kind of an apostle you are.  You are a representative of a church or a group of churches that have chosen you.” 

Just how important is truth – Gospel truth?

Two men had an argument. To settle the matter, they went to a judge for arbitration. The plaintiff made his case. He was very eloquent and persuasive in his reasoning. When he finished, the judge nodded in approval and said, "That's right, that's right."

On hearing this, the defendant jumped up and said, "Wait a second, judge, you haven't even heard my side of the case yet." So the judge told the defendant to state his case. And he, too, was very persuasive and eloquent. When he finished, the judge said, "That's right, that's right."

When the clerk of court heard this, he jumped up and said, "Judge, they both can't be right." The judge looked at the clerk of court and said, "That's right, that's right."

Truth by its very nature is narrow. Liberals like to put down absolutes for relativism which tries to encompass everything as being true.

To show you how passionate the apostle Paul was for the truth, I’ll give you an example.

The Corinthians were a sorry bunch when it came to visibly living out the Christ within them. They had problems with divisions (1 Cor. 1:10-4:21). They suffered from moral disorders (5:1-6:20). They had to have their concepts corrected concerning marriage and divorce (7:1-40). Religiously, they were eating food offered to idols (8:1-11:1). Their public worship was out of hand (11:2-14:40). They had to be corrected on the doctrine of the resurrection (15:1-58). And then there were some additional personal matters that Paul needed to address (16:1-24). This church was most certainly out of control.

But when Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he takes the time to commend them: “I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimonyabout Christ among you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1:4-9).

Unbelievable!

But when you come to the Book of Galatians, another book that Paul wrote and to a different group of saints, Paul does not even commend them once! Instead, right from the start, he launches into a rebuke: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” (Gal. 1:6-9).

Why the difference? The difference was that, as bad as the Corinthians situation was, the major problem there (with the notable exception regarding the resurrection, see 1 Cor. 15) did not pertain so much to right doctrine (truth) as to right living (application of the truth). In the Galatian churches, on the other hand, the very heart of the gospel was being undermined by false teachers. And the Galatians were falling for it. Paul wastes no time in giving words of commendation to a church that was allowing people into their fellowship preaching and teaching a different gospel. Instead, Paul bursts forth and rebukes them heavily because their spiritual status and the criticalness of the situation were far more serious than that of the Corinthians.

With a lot of patience and a little help, people can make adjustments to their living. But the poison of false truth into the minds and hearts of others by those who disguise themselves as Christians who pretend to be concerned for the souls of others is a lot more damaging and has eternal consequences.

The lesson is obvious. When it comes to changes in matter of living, patience and kindness is in order. When it comes to the entrance of someone perverting the gospel of Christ, rebuke and sternness is in order. Remember, the gospel is Grace alone, Faith alone and Christ alone. Anyone who challenges this, remember this, it is a different gospel and the person who teaches such is “devoted to destruction” (Gal. 1:6-9).

Four Hidden Issues That Satan Uses To Divide the Body of Christ, Part 3

Satan knows that a divided body cannot stand effectively. Even Jesus said this about Satan.  “If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?” (Matt. 12:26).  So Satan works his ways into trying to divide the church and he does so by –

First, The Inability to Understand God’s Paradox. 

Two, The Confusion of Temporal with Eternal Principles.

And Third, Incorrect Motives of the Heart - 1 Cor 13:1-3

When did God ever make our relationship with Him and people about knowing all things, gifts of the Spirit, or pious acts? Too often we make fellowship too much about gifts, doctrines, good works, and sacrifice.

According to the Scripture above, none of these things matter to God if they are not motivated by love. All gifts of God are wonderful, but they are not an evidence of a right heart. They should never be seen as a badge of spirituality. Even our sacrifices to God do not impress Him if we are not motivated by love. 

The true mark of a Christian is not his knowledge of the Bible or bible doctrine, but rather is the spirit of love. Now in saying that, let me also say this:  A correct knowledge of God’s word helps to affirm whether our love has a biblical base to it or whether it simply is fueled by human sentimentalism.  Casting aside biblical truth and grabbing onto love for the sake of love is not a biblical approach. Love and knowledge must be together.  Love without correct biblical knowledge can take you places where you ought not to be.  And knowledge without love can hold you back from giving your best to God. Again, both knowledge of God’s Word and love are essential together.

Nevertheless, Satan has deceived Christians into believing that fellowship must be based on particular viewpoints and doctrines. How sad to see the division in Christianity because of differing doctrines many of which are not essential to salvation. Too often Christians accuse one another of heresy, blasphemy and the like, thereby becoming an accuser of the brethren. We must be careful not to take on the role of accuser. This role belongs to Satan and we should always steer clear of it. If I am motivated by anger and hatred, how can I say the love of God abides in me (1 John 4:20)?

We need to understand that God is perfectly fine with differing levels of understanding. Not all children learn at the same rate or are they the same in gifts and personality. We should never be angry or hateful when a brother has been taught or experienced a differing view. There is truth in most doctrines, but perhaps the balancing paradox has been overlooked. One person may have come out of the bondage of fear and can only see the grace of God, while another may have come out of the bondage of anarchy and appreciates the discipline of law. One may focus on law while the other focuses on grace. The key is not to focus on grace at the exclusion of the law, and not to focus on law at the exclusion of grace. One might be caught up in gifts while another might be focused on the Word.  Why should either focus upset us? Rejoice that they have received understanding of God’s truth, especially when they needed that part of the truth at a critical time in their life.  

Be patient and love your brethren and perhaps they will be more attuned to what God has taught you. Both sides can be wrong if motivated incorrectly. If my focus on the law is because I’m afraid God will get me, then I am really motivated by the spirit of fear, not love. If I take advantage of grace and violate the law, I am motivated by the spirit of selfishness, which has no love in it. The subtlety of wrong motives divides the body of Christ.

End of Part 3

Question: Does God love everyone the same?

Question: Does God love everyone the same? 

Answer:  No He does not.

A careful reading of the Bible shows us three kinds of love from God to others.

1.   Love of Benevolence – this is a general spirit of kindness God has toward others.

Luke 6:35:  But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Notice the last phrase says that God is “kind” to the ungrateful and wicked. It does not mean that He loves them unconditionally which we often hear preachers say flippantly.  It says that God has a spirit of kindness toward the wicked.

Ezekiel 18:23: Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

Ezekiel 33:11:  Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’

The passages in Ezekiel makes plain that God has a general kindness toward the wicked and does not take delight in their death and destruction.

We can also add to this 2 Peter 3:9:  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

God has a spirit of kindness toward those who are opposed to Him and His ways. He does not delight in their death or destruction. This is a love of benevolence.

2.   Love of Beneficence – this is God’s concern for the welfare of others.

Matthew 5:44-45: But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 

God sends his rain on those who are both just and unjust.  He has a general concern for the welfare of others.

So then, God has a love of benevolence, beneficence, and thirdly,

3.   Love of Blissfulness – this is God’s love for His own children. This kind of love is a supreme satisfactory love reserved for only a few.

1 John 4:19:  We love because God first loved us. 

You see, the reason we even love God was not because we first chose to do so.  No, first God chose to love us, and then we in response to God’s love for us, chose to love Him in return. Does everyone love God? No.  Why not? Because God has not chosen to love everyone the same way as He chose to love His elect.

Ephesians 5:25: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. . .

How is a husband to love his wife?  Should he love his wife and show equal love to another woman? Of course not. A husband loves his wife blissfully – a supreme satisfactory love that is reserved only for her and her alone, just like Christ loved the church and only the church by giving Himself up for her.

Romans 8:31-39:  What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus loves His people (the church) so much that there is nothing that can separate them from His blissful love.  This cannot be said of all people.

Revelation 1:5:  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.

Those whom Jesus loves blissfully, He has freed. And those whom He has freed are those whom He loves. 

Conclusion:  When one reads carefully the Scriptures, it is clearly seen that God does not love everyone the same. Second, it is also clearly seen that God does not love people unconditionally.  If God did love others unconditionally, then there would be no need to repent, turn from your sins, and obey Him in all things. God would have the same love unconditionally for all people all the time regardless of their behavior and the condition of their heart. But the Bible never espouses such a thought. Those who do so simply add to the bible and in doing so, confuse people about the love of God. 

Biblical Curses

When you read the Bible, you will come across curses that come from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 28:15-68).  God pronounces curses on people who turn against Him. 

One might think, “Yeah, but that is all in the Old Testament under a different time, but we are living in the New Testament time period. There are no curses there.” Wrong.

Remember when Jesus cursed the fig tree (Mark 11:12-14, 20-21)?  When Jesus cursed the fig tree, it was a symbol of a divine curse on the nation Israel for its rejection on their Messiah. The curse that comes out of the mouth of Jesus is directly from heaven. There is a curse from God when God is not pleased. That curse is severe and everlasting.

“Okay,” you say.  “But that curse came upon the nation Israel.  No other curses can be found coming out of the mouth of God.”  Wrong.

Check out this one:  ^“If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed!” (1 Cor. 16:22).  Damnation is pronounced on anyone who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever your religion, if you do not love the Lord Jesus Christ you are cursed.

But hold on, there is more.  Over in Galatians 1:8-9, Paul pronounces a curse on anyone who preaches or teaches a different gospel – “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! “As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!”

The word “curse” in these passages is the word anathema, and it means, “devoted to destruction.” So what exactly does this mean? We find the answer over in Romans 9 – ^“I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ.”

So what does it mean to be cursed?  It means to be cut off (or separated) from Christ forever.

But there’s more. Over in Matthew 25:41, Jesus said these words:  “Depart from Me, you accursed, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” Therefore, to be cursed – devoted to destruction -- is to be separated from Christ in eternal hell forever.  Those cursed in the Old Testament are there now. Those cursed by Jesus in the nation of Israel at the time they rejected Him are there now. Those propagating a false gospel during the apostolic era that Paul addresses in Galatians 1 are there in the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, and separated from God and Christ now. And continually throughout all of human history, those who do not come in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ to love Him, acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior are cursed and are sent to eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Biblical curses are very severe! It applies to anyone who perverts the gospel of grace, who hates Jesus, who rejects Jesus Christ – all of whom are cursed!   A biblical Anathema is pronounced on all of them.

Why don’t we hear this from the pulpits of our churches?  Is it because we wish not to offend anyone?  In the church are two kinds of people – fans of Christ and followers of Christ. Fans of Christ are taking Christianity much like one takes a class for audit. A person takes a class for audit because they just wish to hear the lecture, the teaching, no homework, no tests, no requirement other than to show up. Many of our churches have these kinds of people frequenting the Sunday services. They are there only as “fans” of Christ.

But true “followers” of Christ are not so in abundance. They are present to suffer, to take tests, to persevere, to serve, and to surrender their lives to Christ in humble obedience. They take God’s curses seriously and they seriously warn others about it as well.

If we are not careful, we will expound the gospel only up to a point where it does not become offensive. When we do this, are we then preaching a different gospel? 

The Characteristics Of The Soft Prosperity Gospel, Part 2

The prosperity gospel is not a gospel at all, but variant or a camouflage of the true gospel.  It is so insidious, it has aspects that has made its way into mainstream Christianity and into the pulpits of many evangelical churches. Below are some ways you can identify in your church and root it out quickly.

First is The Place of Suffering

No one likes to suffer let alone welcome it. We do our best to avoid it and fix it when it is upon us. But suffering for righteousness sake for the Christian is part of the very fabric of being saved.

When you encounter suffering, do you have an unresolved answer to the question of why? Do you find yourself beginning to question God’s goodness? Or have you become somewhat bitter about what you are going through? The Christian, of all people, should know that suffering is part of the Christian life (John 15:20; Phil. 1:29).

Let’s not forget that we follow a Savior who suffered and was crucified. The soft prosperity gospel has shaped our thinking to see that suffering is an intrusion in our lives. We ask questions such as, “Why is this happening? How could God let this happen?” It is happening because we live in a fallen, broken world. But, it is also happening because God uses suffering to strengthen and sanctify His people. He makes us more like Jesus through our suffering (Rom. 5:3–5; Heb. 5.7; James 1:2–4; 1 Peter 1:6–9).

As Luther observed, it is suffering that God uses to fashion our understanding of the gospel. Far from an intrusion, suffering is an instrument from God for our good and His glory.

If your church or pastor preaches a gospel that does not included suffering for Jesus as an expected role for believers who desire to live godly in Christ (2 Tim. 3:12), then that is a sure sign of the soft prosperity gospel which is really a different gospel (Gal. 1:6).

End of Part 2