Sunday Sermons
The Word of Faith Movement
The Word of Faith Movement
The Word of Faith Movement is said to be one of the fastest growing religious movements in the country. “In brief, the teachings of these men may be summarized as follows: God created man in “God’s class” (or, as “little gods”), with the potential to exercise the “God kind of faith” in calling things into existence and living in prosperity and success as sovereign beings. We forfeited this opportunity, however, by rebelling against God in the Garden and taking upon ourselves Satan’s nature. To correct this situation, Jesus Christ became a man, died spiritually (thus taking upon Himself Satan’s nature), went to Hell, was “born again,” rose from the dead with God’s nature again, and then sent the Holy Spirit so that the Incarnation could be duplicated in believers, thus fulfilling their calling to be little gods. Since we are called to experience this kind of life now, we should be successful in every area of our lives. To be in debt, then, or be sick, or (as is often taught) be left by one’s spouse, and not to have these problems solved by “claiming” God’s promises, shows a lack of faith. While certain aspects of the above doctrine may vary from teacher to teacher, the general outline remains the same in each case”– Source: Robert Bowman, CRI speaks out on the errors of the Word-Faith movement
The Gospel of Health?
"I am fully convinced – I would die saying it is so – that it is the plan of Our Father God, in His great love and in His great mercy, that no believer should ever be sick; that every believer should live his full life span down here on this earth; and that every believer should finally just fall asleep in Jesus" (Kenneth E. Hagin, Seven Things You Should Know about Divine Healing, p. 21).
One Scripture that is twisted in the attempt to prove that people who have faith are immune from sickness and disease is the statement in Isaiah 53:5 “And by His scourging we are healed”. The argument is that when Jesus died on the cross He removed all our past and future sins and even removed all sickness and disease from our lives. That the salvation Jesus offers includes deliverance from disease and poverty.
Biblical Response
The problem with the above point of view is that it does not harmonize with Scripture:
- Timothy was an incredibly faithful Christian, in fact Paul said, “For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare… but you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel” (Philippians 2:20-21). This same Timothy was told “No longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Timothy 5:23). Timothy was not rebuked for being sick, he was not told that he needed more faith to overcome his ailments, and neither did Paul quote Isaiah 53:5 to him.
- Timothy is not the only faithful Christian worker that we find in the New Testament that struggled with sickness or disease (2 Timothy 4:20 “Trophimus I left sick at Miletus”). This is a really strange statement for Paul to make if Christians have been freed for all disease and illness. If would be the equivalent of saying, “I left Trophimus in sin at Miletus”.
The Biblical View of Medicine
As I have listened to people in this movement, they do not talk about doctors or modern medicine in a respectful way. Often they will say something like, “I went to the doctor and he said that I have cancer and I said, ‘That is a lie’”. Yet the Bible has a different perspective:
- “But when Jesus heard this, He said, ‘It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick’” (Matthew 9:12). If the word of faith movement is true, Jesus should have said something like, “Those who are sick need more faith”.
- “Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings” (Colossians 4:14). If the word of faith movement was rooted in Scripture, then this passage should read something like, “Luke, the former physician greets you”.
What people easily forget that is physicians are simply seeking to study the amazing body that God created (Psalm 139:14), so they can discover how the body can heal itself with various medicines and procedures. They are simply obeying the Divine command to exercise dominion over the creation (Genesis 1:28). Thus, a doctor is not trying to do something contrary to the will of God, rather they are simply seeking to work within the natural laws that God gave to govern this universe. When Jesus said that the sick need a physician He is reminding us that the medical community exists to help us when it comes to the healing of the human body, and that doctors are within the will of God, rather than being outside of the will of God.
- When God heard Hezekiah’s prayer in 2 Kings 20:1ff, healed him and granted him 15 years of life, it is equally noteworthy that the text mentions a medical procedure or cure in the chapter, “Then Isaiah said, ‘Take a cake of figs’. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered” (2 Kings 20:7). We need to realize that God is powerful enough to heal and work through natural remedies and procedures. If the word of faith movement is true, Isaiah should have never suggested such, or if anyone would have attempted to treat the boil in that manner, Isaiah should have said, “We don’t need that, we only need faith”.
- Thus, going to the doctor, taking a prescription, having a medical procedure is not a lack of faith.
- Remember, faith is not simply believing something strongly, radically or with great emotion. Faith is the result of hearing the word of God and obeying it (Romans 10:17; Hebrews 11:1ff). To say that we don’t need a doctor is not a manifestation of faith, for the Scriptures say the exact opposite.
My Words are Powerful?
“The Theology of the Spoken Word (Rhematology), or thought actualization, is commonly known as positive confession. It stresses the inherent power of words and thoughts. Each person predestines his own future by what he says verbally and by how well he uses spiritual laws. As such, it is as if we live in a mechanistic universe instead of a personal one (see, Kenneth Copeland, Laws of Prosperity, p. 15; Charles Capps, The Tongue A Creative Force, pp. 117-118; Releasing the Ability of God, pp. 98-99, 101-104; http://www.apologeticsindex.org/139-prosperity-teaching)
The idea here is just as God called the universe into existence through speaking (Genesis 1:1), we can call things into existence. If we are diagnosed with cancer we can rebuke it. A passage that is twisted to teach such is Jesus’ statement in Matthew 21:22 “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive”. Yet other passages make it clear that this passage was never intended as a blanket statement, or a “name it and claim it”. Even Jesus when He prayed made it clear that the answer was dependent upon the will of the Father and not on His own will (Luke 22:42). The same is true for us (1 John 4:14).
2 Corinthians 12:8-10
The apostle Paul had plenty of faith and prayed three times that God would remove a thorn in the flesh, and yet God did not remove it. Paul was not told that he needed more faith, but was told that the thorn in the flesh was actually something beneficial to him spiritually.
Faith and Wealth?
If being faithful brings lots of wealth, the promoters of this doctrine should be giving money to their followers, rather than telling their followers to give money to them or their ministries. The Bible has examples of people that were incredibly faithful, yet very poor (Hebrews 11:35-39). In addition, the early Christians were very faithful, but were often suffering and were losing possessions instead of gaining them (Hebrews 10:34). If it is God’s will that all Christians be prosperous and healthy, then why is Job brought up as an example for Christians? (James 5:10-11). This movement actually teaches that Jesus and His apostles were wealthy men. They say Jesus must have been wealthy in order to travel for three years without working at a job. Yet, Scripture says otherwise (Luke 9:58; 8:3). Unfortunately this movement is convincing a lot of people that this life is all about them, that they have a divine right to a disease-free life and wealth, the idea often taught by Jesus and the apostles, that suffering could be our lot (Matthew 5:10-12; Acts 14:22; James 1:2-4; 2 Timothy 3:12; Hebrews 12:1-3) is ignored.
Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net
