Does God Promise Health and Wealth? (The Prosperity Gospel)
The question of whether God promises health and wealth to believers is at the heart of one of the most pervasive and controversial theological movements of our time: the Prosperity Gospel. Also known as the "Word of Faith" movement or "health and wealth gospel," this teaching asserts that God desires all believers to be financially prosperous and physically healthy, and that these blessings can be obtained through positive confession, visualization, and "seed-faith" giving. While the allure of a life free from sickness and poverty is undeniable, a careful examination of the King James Bible reveals a far more nuanced and, at times, contradictory picture to the tenets of the Prosperity Gospel.
The Allure and Tenets of the Prosperity Gospel
The Prosperity Gospel thrives on the promise of an abundant life, often interpreted solely in material and physical terms. Its core tenets typically include:
- Divine Health: It is always God's will for believers to be healthy and free from sickness. Sickness is often attributed to a lack of faith, sin, or demonic oppression.
- Financial Prosperity: God desires all believers to be rich. Poverty is seen as a curse to be broken, and wealth is a sign of God's favour and blessing.
- Positive Confession: Believers can "speak" their desired reality into existence by verbally declaring God's promises, believing that faith is a force that obliges God to act.
- Seed-Faith Giving: Giving money to ministries (often with the expectation of a financial return) is presented as an investment that God is obligated to multiply back to the giver, often many times over.
- Victory Over Adversity: Through faith, believers can overcome all obstacles, including financial hardship, illness, and relational strife, ensuring a life of constant triumph.
While elements of these tenets might seem appealing, a thorough biblical review reveals that they often misrepresent God's character, His purposes, and the nature of Christian discipleship.
Wealth in God's Economy
The Bible certainly speaks of God's ability to bless His people materially. Deuteronomy 8:18 states, "But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day." This verse highlights God's sovereignty as the source of all provision, but it does not promise universal wealth to all believers. Rather, it emphasizes that any ability to gain wealth comes from Him and is often tied to His covenant purposes.
However, Scripture also contains numerous warnings against the dangers of wealth and the love of money. The apostle Paul unequivocally states:
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Jesus Himself warned against accumulating earthly treasures:
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
He also famously declared, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24). This is not a condemnation of wealth itself, but a stark warning about the spiritual dangers it poses and the difficulty of serving God when one's heart is set on earthly riches.
The Bible consistently emphasizes contentment and reliance on God's provision for our daily needs, not guaranteed affluence. Paul wrote, "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content" (1 Timothy 6:6-8). God promises to meet our needs, not our greed (Philippians 4:19). True riches, according to Scripture, are spiritual and eternal, found in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3).
Health and Healing in Scripture
God is indeed our Healer. In Exodus 15:26, He declares, "I am the LORD that healeth thee." Jesus' ministry was undeniably marked by miraculous healings, demonstrating His divine power and compassion. He healed the sick, cast out demons, and raised the dead, giving us a glimpse of the kingdom where all suffering will cease. However, to extrapolate from these instances a blanket promise of perfect health for all believers in this life is to misinterpret the broader biblical narrative.
Consider the examples of faithful individuals in the New Testament who experienced physical ailments:
- Paul's Thorn in the Flesh: The apostle Paul, who performed many miracles of healing, himself suffered from an unspecified "thorn in the flesh" that God chose not to remove despite repeated prayers. God's response was, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). This passage directly contradicts the idea that sickness is always due to a lack of faith or that God always wills physical healing in response to prayer.
- Timothy's Infirmities: Paul advised his beloved disciple Timothy to "use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities" (1 Timothy 5:23). If divine health were an absolute right for every believer, why would Paul not simply command Timothy to confess healing or declare his health?
- Trophimus Left Sick: Paul mentioned that he "left Trophimus at Miletum sick" (2 Timothy 4:20). Again, an apostle with healing power left a fellow believer ill.
These examples demonstrate that while God can and does heal, physical healing is not a guaranteed outcome of faith, nor is it always God's will for every believer in this temporal life. Sickness can sometimes be for God's glory (John 9:1-3), to teach us dependence on Him, or to refine our character.
The Call to Suffering and the Cross
Perhaps the most significant biblical contradiction to the Prosperity Gospel is the consistent theme of suffering in the Christian life. Jesus Himself, the Son of God, did not live a life of earthly health and wealth. He was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3). He taught His followers:
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
The cross is the central symbol of Christianity, representing sacrifice, suffering, and death to self, not guaranteed earthly prosperity. The apostles and early Christians faced immense persecution, poverty, and physical hardship. Paul recounted his own experiences of suffering in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, including imprisonment, beatings, hunger, thirst, and nakedness. He declared, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12).
Suffering, far from being a sign of a lack of faith, is often presented in Scripture as a means by which God refines His people, strengthens their faith, and draws them closer to Him. "We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope" (Romans 5:3-4).
God's True Promises
While the Prosperity Gospel offers a temporal, conditional promise, the Bible's true promises are far richer, more profound, and eternally secure. God promises:
- Salvation and Eternal Life: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
- Forgiveness of Sins: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" (Ephesians 1:7).
- The Holy Spirit: He is given as a Comforter, Guide, and Seal of our inheritance (John 14:26, Ephesians 1:13-14).
- Peace and Joy: "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7). "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice" (Philippians 4:4).
- God's Presence and Strength in Weakness: "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).
- Provision for Needs: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). This promises provision, not necessarily surplus or opulence.
- A Heavenly Inheritance: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:3-4).
Conclusion
The Prosperity Gospel, with its focus on guaranteed earthly health and wealth, offers a distorted and ultimately unbiblical view of God, faith, and the Christian life. It often places the believer at the center, rather than Christ, suggesting that God exists primarily to fulfill our desires rather than for us to live for His glory. It can lead to immense disappointment and spiritual crisis when promised blessings do not materialize, causing believers to question their faith or God's goodness.
While God is certainly capable of blessing materially and physically, and sometimes chooses to do so, these are not universal entitlements for believers in this life. The true gospel calls us to repentance, faith in Christ, and a life of discipleship that includes taking up our cross, enduring trials, and setting our affections on things above, not on the earth (Colossians 3:1-2). Our ultimate hope is not in a perfect earthly existence, but in the glorious return of Christ and the eternal inheritance awaiting us in heaven. The greatest promises God gives us are spiritual, leading to eternal life and a relationship with Him, which are far more valuable than any earthly treasure or temporal comfort.