The Encourager
“The "Health and Wealth" Gospel - Jeff Curtis”
The “Health and Wealth” Gospel
By Jeff Curtis
Some preachers today proclaim a “health and wealth” gospel. Their message is that God wants His people to do well physically and financially. They teach that, if Christians will follow in the ways of God, He will guarantee that they become rich and never get sick.
To prove this doctrine, these preachers often refer to the Old Testament, claiming that the promises to Abraham and the promises in passages like Leviticus 26 apply to Christians today. In doing so, they ignore several facts. Abraham was indeed wealthy, but he was a special individual who had a certain role to play in God’s plan of redemption. No one can claim to occupy the same place in God’s plan that Abraham had; therefore, no one can claim that he is guaranteed to receive the promises made to Abraham. As pointed out earlier, the promises made to the nation, not to the individuals. Righteous individuals among God’s people were often poor. What the Old Testament teaches doesn’t apply directly to Christians today, since Christians no longer live under the old covenant.
Sometimes false teachers appeal to New Testament passages such as Luke 6:38 to prove their assertion that God will always bless faithful Christians with health and wealth. That appeal has problems. Many Christians were martyred (for example, Stephen). The principle of martyrdom is incompatible with the “health and wealth” gospel. While some Christians were rich in New Testament times (1Timothy 6:17), many were not (1Cornthians 1:26).
If the “health and wealth” gospel were true, all faithful Christians should have been rich. Also, Christians got sick in New Testament times and were always healed by the Lord (2Corinthians 12:7-10; 1Timothy 5:23; 2Timothy 4:20). If the “health and wealth” gospel were true, how could that fact be explained?
What does the New Testament teach about material blessings? Only two promises teach related to material blessings are given in the New Testament. 1) God promises to meet our physical needs (as He defines them) if we seek His kingdom first (Matthew 6:33). 2) If we live righteously, He had promised that He will be persecuted (2Timothy 3:12). We must conclude that the claims of the “health and wealth” gospel are false. The blessings promised Christians in passages like Luke 6:38 were spiritual in nature, not physical or material.
What are the blessings and the curses of the new covenant? Those who obey the Lord will receive the greatest blessing of all: They will be saved (Hebrews 5:8,9). Those who disobey, on the other hand, will be condemned (2Thessalonians 1:8,9). Jesus pictured the ultimate blessing, and the most terrible curse in Matthew 25. There He said that, in the day of judgement, those who have failed to help others will hear the dreaded words “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire” (Matthew 25:41). Those who have done good to others will hear the welcome words “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you” (Matthew 25:34). The ultimate blessings and curses of the new covenant will be pronounced on the last great day, when each person will hear either, “Depart…accursed ones” or “Come, you who are blessed.” Which will it be for you and me?