Quicksand Gospel Analogy

“Sandra McCracken, on her album Live Under Lights and Wires, shares a story of two young boys in Missouri who spent their summer playing by some sandbag levees that had held back some of the extreme flooding that happened over the past decade on the Mississippi River. Tragically, the two boys found themselves in some quicksand resulting from a breach in the levy. When rescue workers finally found them and came to them, they found only the younger boy standing in the sand.
“Where is your brother?” asked one of the rescuers.
“I’m standing on his shoulders,” answered the young boy.
The older brother had sacrificed his life to save his younger brother.
Just as this young boy needed saving, we, too, were once sinking in the sand of our sin, and it took our older brother Jesus to sacrifice himself so we could be saved. And like the little boy, we are still in the sand of sin but saved from the death it would cause, and one day, the rescue worker Jesus will come and pull us out completely. This is the basic sense of what the Bible means when it says that we’re saved in Christ.”

Excerpt From: Mark Driscoll, Who Do You Think You Are?

World Religions vs. Christianity

The questions of “how does Christianity measure up to other world religions?” and/or “what’s so different about other world religions anyways?” always seem to be familiar inquiries for Christians either inside the church or outside the church. Recently, I was reading Who Do You Think You Are?, and one of its sections hits the nail on the head. Check it out:

“Man-made religion in its various forms seeks to have human works entirely or at least partially involved in salvation. In Buddhism, ceasing desire saves you. In Confucianism, education, self-reflection, self-cultivation, and living a moral life save you. In Hinduism, detaching from your separated ego and making an effort to live in unity with the divine save you. In Islam, living a life of good deeds saves you. In Orthodox Judaism, repentance, prayer, and working hard to obey the Law save you. In New Ageism, gaining a new perspective, through which you see how you’re connected to all things as a divine oneness, saves you. In Taoism, aligning yourself with the Tao to have peace and harmony saves you. What nearly all religions and spiritualities hold in common is the theme that, if there is a savior, it’s the person we see in the mirror every morning.

Christianity is also a religion of works—just not our own works. Only by the work of Jesus Christ are we saved. Only through faith in his sinless life, substitutionary death, and bodily resurrection can anyone be saved. Jesus saves us, which then results in our good works—what Jesus also often refers to as the “fruit” of his already accomplished work of salvation in us. This is a vastly different way of looking at the world than any other religion. Our works don’t justify us. Rather our works are an act of worship to a God who has already made us new.”*

This passage brought something significant to mind that I had never thought of before: in all religions except Christianity, you cannot know if you are saved while on earth.

In Buddhism, is there a definite level where your lack of ‘desire’ saves you? And what is it? Can you ever come to a point where you can be assured of your salvation based on how desire-free you are? If there is not an external standard, how do you measure it? And if you can’t measure it (externally), then how can you be assured (internally)?

In Confucianism and Hinduism, how much is enough? Is it merely existential ‘salvation’ on earth? Sure, education, morality, and success are generally good endeavors–but what is this salvation based upon? An inner feeling of happiness that may or may not be conferred to eternity? And if you assert so, then how do you know? And how do you know if you were ‘existentially’ happy enough to pass into paradise or that ‘better stage of life’? Compare yourself to others? That’s once again using internal, personal standards as a barometer for external realities, which cannot be true, especially since all people would have different (and self-advantageous) criteria.

In Islam and Orthodox Judaism, you don’t know if you are saved until after you die. All through life you strive harder and harder under the burden of “is this good enough?” without ever knowing if it is. Only looking to your own strength, ability, and fortune to produce ‘good enough’ moral results to save you into paradise. Even the morally best of the best cannot know if they are saved until they die, just as much as the morally worst of the worst. Those who think they are ‘not good enough’ are rendered to go about life with worry, anxiety, and despair, and those who think they are ‘good enough’ are rendered self-righteous with condescension towards others whom they compare more favorably to. Each extreme is a moral dead end. Inevitably, both beliefs produce moral compulsiveness to earn the love, favor, and blessing of God. Because their moral works determine their standing with God, they don’t know if they have been found on the ‘A’ side of the bell curve until the teacher passes the results out–on judgement day. Thus, all of life is spent depending, hoping, worrying, and placing the weight of your soul–not on God for salvation–but on yourself: your ability to keep the commands, your moral performance, your works. At that point, you become your own savior and God becomes nothing more than a heartless, pitiless gate-keeper. But in both cases, that’s so far from the truth.

And in New Ageism and Toaism, one must again look inward into his/her own ‘god-ness’ for assurance. But how do you know if you are saved? A feeling? You can’t place the weight of your assurance upon something that changes like a rollercoaster. Then, the issue of your assurance will become a blur, a constant change of direction, and a chaotic ambivalence; indeed, it just causes spiritual nausea–something, after all, to be avoided at all costs.

Yet, Christianity is–and implies–none of these things. The fact that salvation is not based upon people’s moral performance at all is why it is such ‘gospel’ (good news) in the first place. Instead of looking inwardly to our own ‘goodness’ and ‘god-ness’, we look outwardly at the cross and resurrection and know that the full price for our salvation has been paid. Therefore, by placing faith in Jesus’ full accomplishment of salvation for us, we are freed to love God and others–not out of compulsion to earn God’s acceptance/approval/love or for the sake of our moral resume into paradise, but simply because we have already been saved to do so. 

To conclude with gospel-ridden implications:

Christians can’t boast in their works–for they did nothing to earn salvation–Christ did.

Christians can’t be self-righteous–because their good morals did nothing of contributing worth to save them at all, nor to gain an ounce of favor with God–rather, it is all given as a gift through Christ.

Christians can’t live in despair–because their sin has been already been atoned for by Christ. They are covered in his righteousness now, and their future performance can’t forfeit that standing. Our standing with God is not contingent upon our doing for God.

Christians can be assured of their salvation–because Christ is our assurance, we don’t look ‘in’ but ‘out’. In the resurrection, we see that Christ’s sacrifice for our sins was sufficient for justice. Thus, our salvation is as sure as Christ’s immovable position beside the Father in heaven.

Like the great hymn proclaims,

Behold Him there! The risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless righteousness
The great unchangeable I AM
The King of glory and of grace
One with Himself I cannot die
My soul is purchased with His blood
My life is hid with Christ on high
With Christ my Savior and my God

Christianity, therefore, is different from all other world religions.

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*Mark Driscoll, Who Do You Think You Are?, p. 111

Our Freedom = Our Design

People talk about personal freedom a lot. However, we typically don’t realize that our idea of freedom is based on our own presupposition about our design. In this blog, I’ll mainly cite two sources of information which I have found particularly helpful in understanding how human freedom follows human design, and then further discuss some concepts mentioned. Both are by Tim Keller, so that gives you more than enough reason to read. ha. Check it out:

“Modern people like to see freedom as the complete absence of any constraints. But think of a fish. Because a fish absorbs oxygen from water, not air, it is free only if it is restricted to water. If a fish is “freed” from the river and put out on the grass to explore, its freedom to move and soon even to live is destroyed. The fish is not more free, but less free, if it cannot honor the reality of its nature. The same is true with airplanes and birds. If they violate the laws of aerodynamics, they will crash into the ground. But if they follow them, they will ascend and soar. The same is true in many areas of life: Freedom is not so much the absence of restrictions as finding the right ones, those that fit with the realities of our own nature and those of the world¹.

So the commandments of God in the Bible are a means of liberation, because through them God calls us to be what he built us to be. Cars work well when you follow the owner’s manual and honor the design of the car. If you fail to change the oil, no one will fine you or take you to jail; your car will simply break down because you violated its nature. You suffer a natural consequence. In the same way, human life works properly only when it is conducted in line with the “owner’s manual,” the commandments of God. If you disobey the commands, not only do you grieve and dishonor God, you are actually acting against your own nature as God designed you. When God speaks to disobedient Israel in Isaiah chapter 48, he says, “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-­being like the waves of the sea” (Isaiah 48:17–18)².”

Freedom, then, is found when we actively accept our design (image-bearers of God), despite our wants, preferences, or personal ideals. Therefore, when we strive to understand our design, we cannot look ‘in’ per se–to ask ourselves what our design is–because we did not design ourselves in the first place. Our designer did, and knows exactly how he fashioned us and intended for us to be. Rather, we must look ‘out’ and outside of ourselves–which is distorted by sin’s toll on our wants, preferences, or personal ideals anyways–to a standard that is external and independent of us: God. In fact, if everyone looked ‘in’ for their design, then everyone would have a different answer–one that would be personally preferable and at odds with our neighbor. Indeed, if our preference is grounded on sin, then how can we know if we are giving ourselves what is best? Since we are flawed, we cannot trust our own personal diagnosis to be correct or most helpful.

And that is a characteristic of sin:

Sin prevents you from knowing what is best for you because it encourages you to consult with anyone but Your Designer for freedom–most of the time prodding you to consult with yourself to look deeper ‘in’ instead of farther ‘out’, only enhancing sin’s hold and deception in your life.

In fact, the great reformer, Martin Luther, once described sin and the overall predicament of the human race as being homo incurvatus in se, meaning, “humans curved in on” themselves. To look to self for salvation in all areas of life and not to God (for substantive biblical illustration of this, see Romans 1).

Thus, it is true when speaking in a context of human design that “sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay”.

I think CS Lewis also hits the nail on the head with his description of the nature of sin in his renowned book, Mere Christianity:

“A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not when you are drunk. Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either.”

And the only thing that will free us from constantly looking ‘in’ to the liberty of looking ‘out’ is the gospel: the good news about all things “whether on heaven or on earth” being reconciled by Jesus, who perfectly redeemed us inwardly so that we can start looking outwardly. He made peace in the tragedy of personal and cosmic design by his blood (Col 1:20).

Creation: The Designer creating the designed in a perfect way for a perfect order

Fall: the designed believing in a better design than what The Designer created, and so rebelling against The Designer, thus disrupting and corrupting the intended order (sin)–both personal and cosmic ramifications

Redemption: The Designer becoming like the designed in the person of Jesus to show the designed what the perfect order looks like (miracles) and to pay for sin with his life (crucifixion/resurrection)–to redeem the personal and cosmic effects of sin

Restoration: The Designer coming back to restore the perfect order with a new heaven and new earth and to eradicate all sin that disrupted this order once and for all

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¹ Tim Keller: “Is Christianity A Straitjacket?”, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism

² Tim Keller: “The Freedom of Our Work”, Every Good Endeavor

The Gospel Enables Us To Truly Enjoy Earthly Blessings

The gospel enables us to truly enjoy earthly blessings.

At first glance, many people might object and express that, “well…the gospel frees us from feeling like we have to live for those things in order to be happy, but I don’t know if there is a connection between the gospel of Jesus then allowing me to enjoy material things…that seems a little far-fetched, or unrelated”. Well first off, it is completely accurate to say that the gospel frees us from feeling like we have to live for material things. However, let’s go one step further:

If the gospel frees us from feeling like we must have material blessings in order to be existentially satisfied or full, then it also means that since our joy is not dependent on those things anymore, we can now truly enjoy them.

Think about it this way: If I am on an island where resources and food are scarce, and I haven’t eaten in two days, what do you think will happen when I spot a juicy red delicious apple hanging from a nearby tree? Will I nonchalantly walk towards the tree and yawn as I take my time picking it off and cleaning it before a slow consumption? Absolutely not. I am going to disregard all obstacles and everything else in my path, sprint to that tree, yank the apple off the limb, and devour it as fast as I can.

Now, let’s go to the far opposite side of the spectrum and hypothesize that it is Thanksgiving day and my grandma cooked (which means by her grace we will have leftovers until Christmas morning). Because of the endless abundance of incredible food offered to me here, how would my approach be different from the island episode?

Well, for starters, that juicy red delicious apple would be multiplied and transfigured into an amazing batch of cinnamon baked apples. But the point is that I can truly enjoy the Thanksgiving meal because I am not depending on it to survive. In addition, there is abundance that cannot possibly be depleted, so I don’t need to worry about its fleetingness once each bite passes. My stomach will exhaust the food, yes, but there is an inexhaustible supply, so I am free from having to worry about running out, which gives me the peace in my feast to truly enjoy it.

But let’s go one step farther: Even after a hearty dinner for satisfaction’s sake, let’s say ice cream is served simply as a bonus. Well, because I am already full, I am able to truly enjoy that sweet bonus; indeed, I am not depending on it to fill me anymore, because I am already about to bust at the seams in fullness. In the case of the island, the apple was not enjoyed because it was seen through consumer-needy spectacles as an essential for satisfying my hunger.

And I use the food analogies of Thanksgiving meal and island starvation to make an extravagant point. But how much more so does the fullness of joy in Christ fill us to truly enjoy any other blessings?

Similarly, apart from Christ, we depend on luxury, earthly comfort, wealth, status, opportunity, and any other blessing to bring us ultimate joy. And when we desperately depend on those things to quench our soul’s thirst that only God can satisfy in the gospel, we don’t really get to truly enjoy them as blessings. Rather, we approach earthly goods as a means of extraction and consumption, only to move on to the next. All the while wondering why those things—in whatever amount—still aren’t enough. Thus, we approach earthly blessings as a means to fulfill our satisfaction, the ends. However, if we fully value and partake in the fullness of the gospel, we are freed to not approach earthly things as means to fulfilling those ends. Instead, because we are already full, we can enjoy the earthly blessing simply for what it is. No transaction necessary of blessing for satisfaction. The gospel says you are full. Now enjoy everything else.

In addition, when we depend on luxury, earthly comfort, wealth, status, opportunity, and any other blessing to bring us ultimate fulfillment, it makes our joy and its capacity very shallow. Indeed, it is only as deep as the temporary objects it is being rooted in to nourish our soul.

To be sure, your joy is only as deep, full, wide, and strong as what you are rooting it in. 

But if the gospel becomes your ultimate and deepest joy, then you are freed to truly enjoy all material blessings because you are not depending on it for your joy. It then becomes a blessing of grace, instead of a quick fix for a longing.

The gospel frees you from depending on earthly things to be happy, but it frees you to truly enjoy earthly things. It frees you from despair when those things are depleted or simply unavailable altogether. But it also frees you to enjoy everything else that is afforded to you—thus creating a person who is “truly content and rejoicing in all circumstances” because their treasure is above in the heavenly places where moth and rust cannot destroy and is not susceptible to earthly circumstances (Phil 4). When earthly blessing is afforded to you, you can rejoice. But when it is not, you not only don’t have to despair, but you can also rejoice. The gospel creates an impeccable person in the midst of all circumstances, because it grounds them in the things of heaven which do not change.

Earthly blessing are an added ounce of another form of grace in your life that you don’t deserve. Earthly blessings therefore become an additive blessing to your joy, not an essential for your joy. It’s a world of difference.

God is Just and the Justifier

Romans 3:22b-26

For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

One thing that stuck out to me in this passage is the necessity but goodness of God’s justice demonstrated through His grace. The illustration of God’s justice shown in the above passage could be summed up in this dichotomy:

If you are clothed in Jesus’ righteousness through faith, you receive the justice of Christ: reward. If you are apart from Christ, you receive the justice of your sin: punishment.

There are two implications of this:

1. God does not punish those in Christ. “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Instead of the Christian receiving the wrath of God for our sin—which God hates and must destroy—those in Christ receive loving discipline. That’s a big difference. We now don’t approach God as our condemning judge but rather as a loving father who desires what is best for us. In your sin, you were once an enemy of God (Eph 2, Col 1) but now in Christ you are a son/daughter of God (Eph 1, 1 Jn 3). God’s love for you isn’t based on your moral performance, it’s based on your position as a son or daughter. Because your position before God is immovable in Christ, His love for you is unconditional in Christ. 

2. In addition, it would be unjust for God to punish the Christian in the present or in the future, because the Christian’s sin for all time was justly paid for in full on the cross in the past. If God were to punish our sin now, it would be unjust because He would punishing us twice for our sin that was justified once and for all. Don’t think that God is up in the heavens with a lightening bolt ready to zap you when you fail. Who would love a God like that anyways? But because Jesus took the bolt of God’s wrath on the lightening rod of the cross for us, we instead get treated with the Fatherly love that was Jesus’. So when we mess up and fall into ‘that’ sin over and over again, He doesn’t scowl or mock or punish—He helps us up in forgiveness (1 Jn 1), He holds our hand in persistence (Heb 13), He gives us support in church community (1 Co 12), and empowers us to walk with the Spirit in a lifestyle that reflects His character (Gal 5).

God’s justice for our sin was poured out on Christ so that God’s justice for Christ’s righteousness could be poured out on us. #hallelujah

Only the piercing of His hands in our place is what will loosen our clinched hands of self-reliance to receive His grace.

 

BUT HOW CAN WE KNOW?

But how can we know for sure that all our sin was justly paid for? Where can we find assurance that all of God’s justice was poured on Christ, and that there isn’t any more in reserve for our sin now?

The resurrection. The resurrection proved that the sacrifice was sufficient and that it was acceptable before God to honor on our behalf. We know that Christ’s life was perfectly obedient and that it fulfilled the requirement of a sacrifice because we see God’s stamp of approval in the resurrection. The resurrection confirmed the legitimacy and sufficiency of the sacrifice.

Think about it this way: if I bought a $50 pair of shoes (no sale, etc), you would inductively conclude that I had $50 to pay for them. And the fact that I’m wearing the shoes and that you see the shoes on my feet testifies to the fact that I had the finances to buy it in the first place. The current presence of the shoes proves the past reality of the payment. In the same way, the resurrection proved that the debt of our sin was paid for in full and that justice was completely satisfied. All that is left for us is goodness and mercy, to follow us of our days (Ps 23). All we have to do is to metaphorically wear those “purchased shoes”–to actively live in what has been afforded to us and put on us: His righteousness.

Indeed, we can find great assurance in knowing that the debt was sufficiently paid for by looking at the resurrection (in fact, over 500 people testified to it). This assurance helps us to know that through our faith in Christ, God only sees us in Christ’s righteousness. All that is left for us is love, grace, and mercy found in our new position of sonship. Assurance in His work for us translates to eager confidence in our work for Him—without fear of punishment—but by His love (1 Jn 4, 2 Co 5:14).

God was just in that our sin was paid for. God justifies us by placing righteousness on us. He is just and the justifier.

We Have Been Given…In Christ // “Gospel Deeps” Excerpt

I am currently working my way through the book “Gospel Deeps” by Jared Wilson, and came across a gold mine in one of chapters that I couldn’t help but share. It talks about all that has been given to those who are by faith in Christ, starting with the promises given in the book of Ephesians and then chronically listing further promises of being in Christ up to 2 Peter.  Also, what I am sharing is actually Wilson’s referencing of another book, “Victory Over the Darkness” by Neil Anderson, as you will soon see.

Nonetheless, check it out:

“While I do not agree with all of what Neil Anderson has written—particularly as some of his work appears at odds with the concept of simul justus et peccator—I greatly appreciate the following list of gospel affirmations he includes in his book “Victory Over the Darkness”, and have used it personally and in counseling:

Since I am in Christ, by the grace of God . . .

I have been justified—completely forgiven and made righteous (Rom. 5:1).
I died with Christ and died to the power of sin’s rule over my life (Rom. 6:1–6).
I am free forever from condemnation (Rom. 8:1).
I have been placed into Christ by God’s doing (1 Cor. 1:30).
I have received the Spirit of God into my life that I might know the things freely given to me by God (1 Cor. 2:12).
I have been given the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).
I have been bought with a price; I am not my own; I belong to God (1 Cor. 6:19, 20).
I have been established, anointed and sealed by God in Christ, and I have been given the Holy Spirit as a pledge guaranteeing my inheritance to come (2 Cor. 1:21; Eph. 1:13, 14).
Since I have died, I no longer live for myself, but for Christ (2 Cor. 5:14, 15).
I have been made righteous (2 Cor. 5:21).
I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The life I am now living is Christ’s life (Gal. 2:20).
I have been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3).
I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and am without blame before Him (Eph. 1:4).
I was predestined—determined by God—to be adopted as God’s son (Eph. 1:5).
I have been redeemed and forgiven, and I am a recipient of His lavish grace.
I have been made alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:5).
I have been raised up and seated with Christ in heaven (Eph. 2:6).
I have direct access to God through the Spirit (Eph. 2:18).
I may approach God with boldness, freedom and confidence (Eph. 3:12).
I may approach God with boldness, freedom and confidence (Eph. 3:12).
I have been rescued from the domain of Satan’s rule and transferred to the kingdom of Christ (Col. 1:13).
I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins. The debt against me has been canceled (Col. 1:14).
Christ Himself is in me (Col. 1:27).
I am firmly rooted in Christ and am now being built in Him (Col. 2:7).
I have been spiritually circumcised . . . (Col. 2:11).
I have been made complete in Christ (Col. 2:10).
I have been buried, raised and made alive with Christ (Col. 2:12, 13).
I died with Christ and I have been raised up with Christ. My life is now hidden with Christ in God. Christ is now my life (Col. 3:1–4).
I have been given a spirit of power, love and self-discipline (2 Tim. 1:7).
I have been saved and set apart according to God’s doing (2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5).
Because I am sanctified and am one with the Sanctifier, He is not ashamed to call me brother (Heb. 2:11).
I have the right to come boldly before the throne of God to find mercy and grace in time of need (Heb. 4:16).
I have been given exceedingly great and precious promises by God by which I am a partaker of God’s divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4).

Isn’t this cause for confidence? This is not self-help. This is God-help. This is not self-esteem, because none of these affirmations can come from self, none can be accomplished through pulling up of bootstraps or the turning over of new leaves. These statements—and many more found in the Scriptures—are God-esteem, because they are what God does for us and what God says about us.”

Excerpt From: Jared C. Wilson. “Gospel Deeps.” Crossway, 2012. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.

Check out this book on the iBookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=566046331

Prosperity Gospel vs. Gospel

The prosperity gospel has unfortunately become a well-liked, cheap pseudo-gospel all around the world, fooling countless proclaiming Christians by disguising itself and marketing itself as the real gospel. However, the heart of its message pumps theological implications that deny such similarities with the gospel of Christ. In fact, the prosperity gospel could be referred to as the gospel of wealth and health—a belief system which subserviates Jesus to being our accomplice to gaining those things, among many others.

Since when did God become a servant to further accomplishing our own idolatry? Since when did God become a vending machine, such that if we hit the right spiritual buttons, He’ll give us what we really want? Surely God does not gladly work to attain for us our idols that He died to save us from all along. More than anything—out of His grace—hopefully God will lovingly strip out of our hands everything we have held on to more dearly than Him.

The prosperity gospel says God is the means to achieving selfish, worldly ends. The prosperity gospel says the good news is that God can get us all the earthly treasure we want if we just trust His ability to do so. This approach practically reduces God to being our stepping stool that allows us to reach all we want to gain in life. That God is the gateway towards something greater, more desirable.

The gospel says God is the good news—the means and the ends towards giving us the greatest gift: Himself. He, Jesus, is the means towards giving us the greatest end of all joy–God–through reconciliation with Himself.

He reconciles us to the “fullness” and “forever” dimensions of His love—the immeasurable height, depth, length, and width of His love.

The prosperity gospel encourages you to invest your life in the fleeting nature of money and comfort that are limited to time and jeopardized by circumstance.

The prosperity gospel says God will help you serve your own sin: the love of world, lust of the eyes, and pride of life (I Jn 2:15-17). The gospel says God will help you get back to Him, the source from whom all good things flow (James 1:17).

The prosperity gospel drives you deeper into sin and worldliness. The gospel liberates you from it.

The prosperity gospel says life is about you and your happiness. The gospel says life is about God’s glory—the fount of all joy.

The prosperity gospel is about building a kingdom on earth. The gospel is about building a kingdom in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy.

The prosperity gospel is about your wallet and 401(k). The gospel is about God’s heart.

The prosperity gospel is about your merit being exchanged for your blessing—your “good” deeds being transacted for luxurious goods. The gospel is about Christ’s righteousness being exchanged for our sin—our penalty being traded for His perfection—His merit and immortality for our treason and immorality.

The prosperity gospel declares us lords with God at our service. The gospel declares us righteous sons with God as our Father and Lord who served us.

The prosperity gospel calls us to worship Jesus for what he can get us (what we really worship). The gospel calls us to worship Jesus for who he is. The gospel frees us from the hollowness of worshipping infinitely inferior things, and in that freedom, to be awakened to worship the superior One who alone can superiorly fulfill our soul.

The former theology breeds hollow egotism, nasty arrogance, self-entitlement, and worldly indulgence. The latter theology breeds deep humility, great awe, radical sacrifice, and fiery mission. One theology glamorizes worldliness and sin; the other absorbs sin and displaces it with something, Someone greater.

“Is what you’re living for worth Jesus dying for?”

Money as THE functional god

Jesus warns us about the nature of our relationship to money: “You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matt 6:24b). It is interesting to note that Jesus does not say, “God and sin”, or “God and sex”, or “God and health”, or “God and fame”. Instead, He specifies “God and Money”, probably emphasizing that money can easily be our functional god that we place our faith in, lean our weight upon, and depend on to give us all the things that only God can truly give us—security, validation, identity, satisfaction, and rest. Jesus knows not merely the danger of trusting in the fluxivity of wealth, but also the tragic act it entails to the human soul: filling it with something inferior to what it was designed to exist upon.

“But God loves us, and therefore will give us what we really want” Objection

I am sure people have said in resentful resistance to this stance against the prosperity gospel that “God loves us and therefore will get us what we really want”. Yet, if we say this, we are basically saying that 1) we know what is better for ourselves than God does, 2) God does not consider idolatry as a grievous matter, thus implying that 3) He is not the best thing to offer us—that He must offer us something apparently better than Himself—health and wealth, and therefore we must conclude that 4) God doesn’t really love us if he is committed to giving to us something other than what is ultimately best for us (anything but Himself).