One of the tragedies about the health and wealth ‘gospel’ is that it excludes any who aren’t perfect. If you are sick, you are a sinner or you lacks faith. Those in poverty, illness, disabilities, trials and suffering are told that they are faithless, under God’s judgment or have sin in their lives. Does the Bible support this view? We will examine the doctrine and compare it to scripture to see if they agree.
Benny Hinn wrote the following in his book 'Rise and be Healed':
The Bible says in Ephesians 5:23 that Jesus is the Savior of the body. If Jesus Christ is the savior of the body, then your body ought to be made whole.
Let’s look at the passage Hinn is quoting to see if scripture is teaching that everyone’s body should be healed. Ephesians 5:
23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
What is the body according to this passage?
It is not our body, but the body of Christ – or the church. To understand this fully, let’s also bring in two other passages:
Romans 12
4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,
5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
Colossians 1:
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
Colossians leaves no doubt – the body is the church. Jesus is the Savior of the church. Our physical bodies will one day be redeemed, but while this world is under the curse of sin and death, our bodies will decay. 2 Corinthians 4:16 says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” The Bible teaches us that our flesh is subject to corruption, but our inner man is a part of the Body of Christ – or the church. There is a reason why we are promised a new body when Christ returns. Our old body suffers from the curse of sin. The new body will be because of His redemption.
If the body is referring to the church, are our bodies guaranteed to be made whole?
How do teachers of the guaranteed health doctrine explain the aging process that even they are subject to?
Word Faith teachers teach that we should refuse to acknowledge sickness or symptoms of sickness. In a discussion on TBN, Paul Crouch explained that the devil could create a physical manifestation in our flesh that is a trick of the devil and an illusion of sickness. These could look very real and even convince doctors. It is up to us, Crouch claims, to have enough faith to overcome these manifestations. Faith teachers go on to claim that medical treatment is for the weak in faith. Kenneth Copeland describes how to use faith to deny sickness.
Now remember, pain has come, disaster has come; now for a while you're going to have to stop and control and discipline yourself. Every time you are going to have to make the decision - I refuse to consider my body. I refuse to be moved by what I see and what I feel.
…
I've had people die with me standing there saying, 'bless God you ain’t gonna die'. And they did anyway. And I glad I stood. I ain’t never stood for anything in my own life that didn't come to pass. I can only use my faith just so far with you. – Kenneth Copeland
Is there a single passage in the Bible that tells us to refuse to acknowledge sickness?
Is this faith, or self-delusion?
Does the Bible discourage the use of medicine or doctors?
It is alarming the Kenneth is acknowledging that some people have died under the belief that they did not need treatment. I was stationed with an aspiring Word-Faith preacher when I was in the military. We were very good friends but we also seldom agreed on scripture. We spent hours discussing scriptures, but I could never get him to show me scriptures that supported his beliefs. It was always something he was taught outside of scripture that persuaded him. We were stationed together for 2 years. Once he fell during training and broke his wrist. For three days he refused treatment. When the pain became unbearable, he agreed to have it put in a cast. He believed that denying symptoms showed faith but getting treatment was for the weak in faith. Over the two years we were together, he caught his share of colds, the flu and other common ailments. I noticed that his sniffles lasted as long as the rest of us.
I can’t bring myself to believe that Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagan, Frederick Price and other faith teachers never get colds or other common illnesses. I know for a fact that Kenneth Hagan had four cardiac traumas while claiming that he did not allow sickness into his life. In March of 1999, the healing pastor Oral Roberts, appeared on TBN and was supposedly healed of pain he was having. After leaving he suffered a heart attack. He did not use faith to heal, he went to the hospital. He had an angioplasty procedure to clear the blockage. Faith teachers claim that we should not seek treatment while they are treated. It is dishonest to hide their ailments from their congregations who are trying to imitate them.
What could be the reason why Word-Faith teachers don’t practice what they preach?
Why would they hide these things from the people they teach?
Faith teachers claim that they are problem free because of their own faith, but they can only go so far with you. However, consider the story of the paralytic in Matthew 9:2. His friends brought him to Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, He healed the sick man. Why didn’t Jesus respond according to the paralytic’s faith? According to this passage and the line of reasoning of the Word-Faith teaching, if a church member can’t be healed, it is a reflection upon the faith of those around him or her.
It is tragic that so many people are living in self-delusion because they believe that if they acknowledge a problem, they have excluded themselves from the grace of God. I have seen doctors give a diagnosis to people who proudly say, “We refuse to accept this. They don’t have cancer, they are not sick”. Is this faith? It is good to pray for healing and to lean on God for strength. But it is equally important to trust God even when it hurts.
What takes more faith, refusing to accept the obvious and demanding that God heal us here and now on our terms, or submitting ourselves to God and trusting Him regardless of what path He takes us down?
Word-Faith teachers claim to have the power to choose their quality of health and even to determine their own life span.
Some people get upset and say, "I don't believe that". Go ahead and die then. The Bible says, 'according to your faith, be it unto you'. Now if I believe that and stay here and die when I get ready to die and leave here, that's on me. If you don't believe in that, go ahead and die. I will believe and be healed and you can not and be sick. You can die of cancer; you can die of a stroke. That's ok. We can stay in love in Jesus; you can be sick and I'll be well. If you don't believe then stay sick. Fredrick Price
Can a man really determine when he will die and stay on earth until he is ready?
Do Word-Faith teachers live longer than the average person?
Have you ever heard a Faith teacher brag about turning 200 years old? 150? 100?
This teacher is claiming that he will choose when to die. Because of his own faith, he will stay in this life until he is ready to go. That is quite a claim. If you look at scripture you will see that the grace of God is always given without merit. The reason is so that no man can boast. In spite of this, Faith teachers continuously boast that it is ‘my faith’ that keeps me healthy; it is ‘my faith’ that makes me wealthy; it is ‘my faith’ that destroys my problems. Then why don’t faith teachers peacefully lay their life down and yield their spirit by their own power when their lives come to an end? I have yet seen any man predict their own departure from this life. It is also ironic that Word-Faith teachers and their students do not have any longer life span than the rest of the population. Where is the evidence for the bold claims of power?
If someone can brag about themselves, they are not under the grace of God. Word-Faith teachers claim that Jesus is the Savior of the body as well as our souls. If their interpretation were true, Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that it is the grace of God not of works (or our own efforts) so that no one can boast. If the grace of God eliminates any possibility of boasting, then anything boasted is not the grace of God. The Bible warns against this kind of boasting in Romans 11. We are told not to boast because we don’t support Christ (who is the root of our salvation), but rather Christ supports us.
The apostle Paul stated, “I will not boast of myself, except in my infirmities” (2 Corinthians 11:30). The next chapter Paul says, “I will boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ might rest upon me”. Let’s examine this passage closer. 2 Corinthians 12
7 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, lest I be exalted above measure.
8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
9 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.
10 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.
Did the apostles brag about their abilities, or their weaknesses?
Was Paul healed of his infirmity?
Did the apostle Paul have less faith than Faith teachers have today?
The health and wealth gospels claim that we should be healed and in comfort, yet the apostle God used above any other refutes this. He first acknowledges that he has an infirmity and then identifies it as a problem in his flesh. It created shame and embarrassment, so he begged God three times to heal him. God’s answer was no. This ‘thorn’ kept Paul from thinking to highly of himself. Apparently it was necessary. It would be very easy to become proud when God has revealed so much to Paul and commissioned him to reveal it to the world. Not only does Paul acknowledge a physical problem, but he also acknowledges persecution, needs (poverty according to 1 Corinthians 4:11), and distress. Did Paul have problems and troubles? He testifies that he did. Then Paul says that because of these weaknesses, he becomes strong because of Christ. Where we lack, God is strong. When I think I am strong, the Bible says that God resists me because of pride. God’s strength is made perfect in weakness.
Why did God allow Paul to suffer?
If God resists the proud, what can we assume about how God views us bragging about our ability to have faith?
Perhaps the most unjust quote is this tirade by Fredrick Price against those in need:
How can you glorify God in your body when it doesn't function right? How can He get glory when your body doesn't even work - and the Bible says you are the temple? The Holy Spirit lives in your body. What makes you think that the Holy Spirit wants to live in a body where He can't see out the windows and can't hear out the ears? What makes you think the Holy Spirit lives inside a body where the limbs and the organs and the cells do not function right? You don't want to live in a house with a leaky roof; you don't want to live in a house with the toilets running over in the floor; you don't want to live in a house where the electricity doesn't work and the wires are hanging out of the wall. You get it fixed. What makes you think God wants to live in a temple where He can't see out of the eye and walk with the feet and He can't move with the hands? Because the only hands that He has in the earth realm is in the body. The only eyes that He has in the earth realm is in the body. If He can't see out of them God is going to be limited and he can't be helped. – Fredrick Price
Is God repulsed by the crippled, paraplegic, and handicapped?
Does God consider those whose cells malfunction into cancer as being the same as a house whose toilet is overflowing?
I have to confess that every time I see this quote it makes my blood boil. Here, Word-Faith teachers are abusing the very people who need compassion the most. One day Word-Faith teachers will stand and apologize to all those whom they have insulted with this horrible doctrine. What an insult it is to equate someone’s infirmity to overflowing toilets. The gospel is not for those who are perfect. In fact, those who need God the most understand grace the best.
In this massacre of grace Price has taught that those crippled, disabled, blind and suffering from disease as being useless to God. Faith teachers claim that God cannot use a blind man because God needs the eyes to see in this earth realm. In spite of what anyone might claim, God does not need us to do His will. His will is accomplished with the strong and the weak. All are weak, we just don’t realize how truly dependent we are on God. Romans 11 says:
18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
What arrogance it is to think that God depends on us. If it were not for God’s sustaining hand, we would all cease to have our being. God does not need your eyes to see anything.
2 Chronicles 16:9a "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.
Does God need our bodies to ‘work in this earth realm’?
Notice, it is the Lord that shows Himself strong on our behalf, not the other way around. We are all blind to everything except our shortsighted point of view. Also consider Exodus 4:
11 So the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?
According to the Bible, who is responsible for a man or woman is born with a physical problem?
Why would God create someone with infirmities?
If this world is someone’s only focus, how would this affect the way they look at disabilities?
God said that He has made us the way we are. Psalm 139 tells us that God knits us together in our mother’s womb. Why does God create some people with physical infirmities? Perhaps when we look at the eternal scope, they are not infirmities at all. From the temporal, human perspective, problems are a tragedy, but from an eternal perspective, we will thank God for these ailments that shape our character and the character of those around us. We often struggle to grasp this reality. So did the disciples of Jesus. Look at John 9
2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.
Did Jesus relate this disability with sin?
What happened to the physical bodies of everyone that Jesus healed?
Don’t miss the important statement of Jesus. This man did not sin, nor did his parents. His infirmity was the result of circumstances completely outside of human control. God created this man blind so that the works of God could be revealed in him. In this case, the man was healed. However, healing is not the only works of God. In fact, physical healing means nothing on the eternal scale. His healed body is now dust. It is the inner man that is renewed day by day – not the physical man.
Word-Faith doctrine teaches that if you are sick, the temple of the Holy Spirit has been polluted. They are assuming that God is bound to the physical world, but as we have seen earlier, God is Spirit. It is for our benefit that the Spirit of God indwells us. What defiles the temple of the body? We’ll let the scriptures explain. Look at 1 Corinthians 3
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
If anyone defiles the temple of God, He will judge them. Does this mean God will judge those who have ailments? 1 Corinthians 6 explains what that defilement is:
18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
Does God condemn the disabled, or those who pollute the temple through sin?
Read Romans 6:14-18. What is a greater hindrance, someone who has cancer, or someone who submits to sin?
Does the Bible say that God cannot tolerate sickness or that He will not tolerate sin?
Where does a cripple come into this condemnation? Many healthy people defile their temple every day. The Bible does not say that God cannot tolerate sickness, it says that God will not tolerate sin – especially sexual immorality. God can and will use those crippled, blind, disabled, and who suffer from any number of infirmities. The only requirement is a heart that is completely His. God looks at the heart, not the body.
It is a shame that those who need Christian compassion the most are ridiculed because they can’t get up and walk. Those who suffer are under God’s blessing, yet the church today calls them cursed. Look at Psalm 72:
12 For He will deliver the needy when he cries, The poor also, and him who has no helper.
13 He will spare the poor and needy, And will save the souls of the needy.
14 He will redeem their life from oppression and violence; And precious shall be their blood in His sight.
Does God call us to condemn the needy or support the needy?
The biggest threat to the Word-Faith doctrine is the testimony of Job. Job’s suffering was only eclipsed by Jesus Christ on the cross. Job lost his family, health, possessions and friends. Even in the worst of suffering, Job praised God and remained faithful. The Word-Faith movement teaches that all suffering is the result of sin, unbelief or some type of personal failure. So how do they explain the testing of Job? Instead of learning from the testimony of Job, Faith teachers attempt to assassinate his character. There is no shortage of examples, so I selected two quotes that affirm the Word-Faith position clearly.
Fredrick Price - We've even used the statement that Job made - which is an incorrect statement. Job has said, the Lord has given and the Lord has taken away - how many times have you heard a preacher say that? [The phrase is repeated in a mocking tone] How are you going to bless God when He just took your wife? Now that is the dumbest thing in the world.
Why is the statement ‘The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away’ an incorrect statement?
God did not this was incorrect, therefore, how can Faith teachers claim this? God said that in all that Job said, he never sinned with his lips. If Job was blaming God for taking from him when God did not, wouldn’t that be sin? If our claims about God put God in a bad light, it would be sin.
Benny Hinn - We people say things at times that we are not even supposed to say. You know what we have said this a million times but it is not even scriptural - all because of Job. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord [mocking and laughing]. That is not Bible. I have news for you, the Lord giveth and never taketh away. Just because he [Job] said 'blessed be the name of the Lord', don't mean that he is right. He was just being religious. When you say something that is contrary to the word of God, you are literally being controlled by Hell.
Could Job be controlled by hell and God say, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips’?
God called Job blameless and upright, but Faith teachers claim that Job was being controlled by Hell. The Word-Faith movement’s attack on Job is a direct and blatant challenge to the Word of God. God said that Job did not sin with his lips; Faith teachers say that he being a hypocrite acting religious and controlled by Hell. The Bible says, “the Lord gives and the Lord takes away”; Faith teachers say, “The Lord gives and never takes away”. In the Garden of Eden, the devil only added one word to God’s word and reversed the meaning. Eve testified that God said, “If you eat of the tree in the middle of the garden, you will surely die”. The devil said, “No, God said you shall surely not die”. One word is all that was changed. This isn’t much different than the tactic to discredit God’s work in Job’s life. Faith teachers have only added the word ‘never’ in an attempt to discredit Job. However, the Bible warns that we are not to add to God’s word or else He will rebuke is and we will be found to be a liar. To reword what God has said simply because it does not fit our doctrine is a serious offense.
Read Proverbs 30:5-6. Does Hinn’s rewording Job to fit Word-Faith doctrine fit this warning?
We know who was right by how God dealt with Job’s friends. If you read the story of Job, his friends came under the pretense of comfort him during his suffering. Instead of comfort, they offered condemnation. They accused Job of some secret sin. They said that something was wrong in Job’s life. The presumptuously claimed that God would never allow these things to happen to a righteous man. They were filled with advice and holy rebuke. When Job declared his faith in God and stated that this was not the result of anything wrong in his life, they rebuked him for being proud and unrepentant. In all of his trials, God stated that Job was blameless. God’s declaration against Job’s friends are a different matter entirely. Look at Job 42:
7 And so it was, after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.
8 "Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has."
Why did God condemn those who claimed Job was wrong, but praised Job for speaking what was right?
God Himself is testifying that what Job has spoke was right and what his friends stated was sin. Not only this, but God refused to even hear the prayers of repentance from Job’s friends. God required that they had to go to Job and then Job could seek atonement on their behalf.
According to the Bible, who was just being religious, Job or his friends?
In spite of this clearly stated fact in the Bible, Faith teachers accuse Job of sin just as his friends did. What’s more is that they also condemn those who suffer just as Job’s friends did. Like Job’s friends, those who condemn those who suffer for God’s purposes will one day offer apologies just as God required of Job’s friends. Job spoke rightly of God when he declared the greatest statement of faith in the Bible, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). An amazing statement of faith is also found in Job 19
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;
26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,
27 Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
Can there be any greater faith than what God revealed in Job? Even in suffering, Job declared his trust in God. Even when his skin was so covered in boils that he had to sit in ashes, he affirmed that his flesh would be redeemed and his heart yearned for God. His love was not for the things that were lost, but for the Lord Himself. The truth about faith is that if we love things, we can never truly enjoy things and we can never truly love God. If we love God then our relationship will not waver even if we lose everything. We cannot lose the promises of God. A man whose faith is in the blessings of God will waver when the storms of life threaten. A man or woman whose faith is in God will only grow closer and cling tighter when trouble arises. Only God has life and hope. Everything else will fail.
Who has true faith, the one who, in the midst of suffering can proclaim that God will redeem and restore, or the one who refuses to accept suffering because it doesn’t fit their beliefs?
I believe that God wants us to be healthy and blessed. I also believe that God will not give us those things at the expense of the eternal blessings He wants to give. There is a reason behind everything. We will only see the true blessings if we are faithful even in the storm. We can only be faithful in the storm if we truly trust and love God.
Exchanged Life Outreach
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